Sorry, ducati996 for delay in responding : Parts of the lawns are not perfectly smooth and have rocks scattered thru out...part of the CT landscape look. Others are very smooth and manicured looking. Some are sloped and a bit hilly. It's definitely lawn, not a pasture with an irrigation system thru out. I have a John Deere 955 (diesel) with a 70a Bucket loader... I also have a 413 Rotary Cutter for it. I was told this was mainly a brush cutter for mowing down a field or pasture and in the 7 years I've been here, it's never been used. I don't think the John Deere would be good due to it's size and manueverablity...bronze sculptures, trees, rocks, slopes, and slightly rolling lawns. The Gravely 50" Promaster has been a great machine but I wanted to investigate other options. I know I'm looking at a $10-15k investment so I want to make sure I make the right choice. When I talk to the tractor salesmen, they of course want to sell me their machine whether it's the best or not :P Thanks so much for all your input :)

From www.simpletractors.com: Homelite The first Homelites were painted red and reputedly made by a firm called "Brady." Beginning in 1971, Allis-Chalmers produced Homelite tractors at the Lexington, South Carolina plant. The T-10 and T-16 used AC B-Series frames with the seat decks, steering wheels, and pedals from the Simplicity 3300/3400 series. The hood used a 3300/3400 series front, turned upside down. Hitch spacing was different from AC/Simplicity models up until early 1973. The dash/cowl, running boards, and front axles were exclusive to Homelite. The Lexington built T-8Âs were identical to the AC Homesteader series except for using dash and hoods from the bigger Homelite tractors(T-10 through T-16). The FE Series appears to be totally unique. After the 1973 closing of the Lexington plant, Homelite models were made in Port Washington. These later models appear to be nearly identical to Simplicity models of the same time period (except for paint, front grill, and mower decks). AC/Simplicity built Homelites were painted blue with white hoods, most had electric PTOÂs, and all had Briggs engines (although a Kohler powered T-16 has been reported). Textron Corporation had purchased Homelite in 1954. In 1975, Textron purchased Jacobsen, putting an end to Simplicity-built Homelites effective the end of that model year. It appears as if Jacobsen bought tillers and possibly other attachments from Simplicity for a few years. Jacobsen built Homelites were painted red and had Kohler engines. Jacobsen also built Ford garden tractors as well as Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver, and the early White branded models (prior to MTD). So, you could have a Allis/Simplicity/Homelite/Jacobson tractor there. Worth a chance to check out those leads. Cheers!

So guess what? I actually mowed the other day! It was only for about 15 minutes because my right rear tire won't hold air for any longer than that. I noticed that, in spite of having been doused with belt dressing, the drive belt still slips and it's worse after it gets warm. So I've ordered a new drive belt and a tube for the tire. Gosh, after that I think all that would remain is to rig some sort of cup holder. ;-) Actually I will have to address the steering. It turns more sharply to the left than to the right. But that seems like a comparatively minor issue. The front wheel bearings will also need attention at some point. Also, the Motion Control Lever seems to be out of adjustment. Don't know if the lever itself is bent or if it's simply an adjustment that needs to be done. But it still mostly works.

Nancy, I am already beat! Another roughly day and a half of all this activity and I might be dead, but we are having fun. It is good training for the upcoming planting season. Kim, I hope the meeting with the landlady isn't about her having different plans for your house. Enjoy your time with the little man. Jennifer, His name is Frankie and we've been trying for about three years to tame his feral side well enough that we can pick him up, touch him, pet him or exert any sort of control over him. Some feral cats never can acclimate to more domestic behavior, but we are winning him over with canned food. He still looks pretty wild and is incredibly lean and muscular as are many feral to semi-feral cats, but we were able to get him into a crate and take him to be neutered (and to get his shots). He was mad at us yesterday but also at the same time relieved to be back here and no longer at the vet's office, but not so mad he wouldn't let us feed him and pet him. A lot of people say feral cats cannot be tamed, but they can. Sometimes it takes a few years to do it though, and often it is a very slow process where you're forever taking one step forward and two steps back. He and Lucky seem to know each other from their feral journeys. Lucky is fully domesticated now, and I think there is hope for Frankie to someday be as calm and gentle as she is now. Kim, I'm sorry you're ill and hope you recover quickly. Your seeds and planner are a sign, I think, that you'll be gardening somewhere. Bon, The good thing about the cold weather here is that it usually passes through fairly quickly, as least compared to many other states. I hope y'all are toasty warm again soon....without the need for the wood-burning stove to provide that warmth. I think it stays cold here for two more days and the warming trend starts around Monday. If that has changed, I don't want to know it because I'm just hanging on and waiting for the warm weather to come back. Jennifer, Great job, Finbar! He's doing his job as far as he is concerned, and I think dbarron's ID as a shrew is the right one. You have something I've never seen here. I'm not saying we might not have shrews around, just that of all the god-forsaken-wild-things that ours cats and dogs have killed and brought home, there's never been a shrew among them. Nancy, This does feel like a more normal winter although we still haven't been nearly as consistently cold as we were our first few years here. Everything seemed to change around 2005 and since then winters just have gotten warmer and warmer, except for 2010-2011 which was the last really persistently cold winter that I can remember. Rebecca, They really expected more snow and ice flurries in north and central Texas than they received in general, but it isn't because the clouds weren't trying. A lot of snow and ice were falling from the upper levels of the atmosphere but in the very low dewpoints closer to the surface level, the precipitation was evaporating before it could reach the ground. Our dewpoint here was only 12 so I'm not surprised that adjacent areas of north Texas were the same. It was odd to see the Winter Weather Advisory covering the area south of the D-FW metroplex yesterday, but I bet everyone in the DFW area is glad the precip missed them. Nancy, I doubt DFW gets much warmer than we will today, but I think they usually warm up a day earlier than us, so if we are expecting the warmup on Monday, they may get it beginning Sunday. So much flu is running rampant down there now that we are carefully avoiding going south this weekend. Of course, flu is running rampant to our immediate north, so we aren't going far from home at all since Love County seems to have, so far, avoided the widespread flu and strep that now have closed down 8 school districts in the Texoma region. I cannot believe how cold it has been the last couple of days. We are up to 38 degrees and it isn't even noon yet, but I don't think we're expected to get much warmer than what we are right now. The 4 year old is lobbying to go to the playground in Gainesville, but I think it is still too cold for that. Maybe tomorrow will be a touch warmer. Or maybe the sun will come out. Dawn