Must of been lucky. Bought an MTD at Ace hardware (Ace Special Edition) with a 42" cut and 16hp Tecumseh. Aside from the normal problems of your MTD of that era IE having the grille mounts break off after a few years) it's been great, and it was only replaced as it was really starting to not work well on hills, and in the last year has been a case of "What's going to break next when I mow?". A key to remember is any NEW tractor in that range is going to be light duty. If you have more an acre to mow with it, a newer, higher end, used model is a probably a better option. You'll get a lot of life out of one though if you keep it well maintained. Take care of it and there is no reason why you should not get a good, usable life of about 10-12 years. one other thing to keep in mind; the chief complaints of many people on a mower it seems is the motor. That is the most important part of a mower besides the transmission on a Hydro equipped tractor. The engine is going to what will go wrong 9 time out of 10 on a mower, and is often going to be to blame for issues with cutting (due to lack of power) and reliability.

I'm hoping that the Little Giant bases (Miele calls them plinths) are beefed up like the washer itself. The 19" open "octoblue" base is $571.20, more than the lowest priced LG and Samsung FLs at A.J. Madison. I guess I could hedge my bets and go with a 12" base if I'm not convinced about the taller one. Then there's the 30" base...imagine putting 250 lbs. of spinning washer on top of that. On the other hand, Miele Professional is putting their name and the Little Giant name behind it.

Mike - I am not sure if Laura has been using LEDs but I bought these daylight (~5000K) LEDs last year - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YEMKJE2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Plus I had some of the soft white 2700K as extras from when I bought a couple packs for some floor lamps and small table lamps. The price this year is about $10 cheaper for the bulbs than what I paid last year. Mine are all non-dimmable which is cheaper, but the key is to go for the "100W equivalent" (~14W actual). The actual watts are a bit less than 1/2 the CFLs (14W for LED vs 23W for CFL). I can only speak for the Philips brand but I noticed that Amazon has their "Basics" brand with 6-packs of either daylight or soft white for around $20 for a 6 pack, which is not bad (am not sure of the quality though) - https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Equivalent-Daylight-Non-Dimmable-6-Pack/dp/B01MSMKBG3/ref=pd_sim_60_14?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=5J7B762QBAH2KS9PVGV9&th=1 I have the LEDs mixed in with the CFLs in my basement setup (and in the middle are 2, 4ft daylight T5 HOs). What I just realized is that the "daylight" LEDs are 5000K and the "daylight" CFLs are 6500K, so by putting those along with my 2600K/2700K LEDs & CFLs, I apparently created a nice range there!

Hey C! Sorry to miss your message. The extra depth worked perfectly for me b/c I design ALLLLLLL my Kitchens w 30" deep counters ;) That said, you could do 30" for the cabinet (even if it's just an 8" spice cabinet) on either side of the range to help integrate an 'extra deep' oven. YES! Pots + pans not fitting was a huge issue for me. Thankfully, not anymore! I also use a lot of commercial-sized pots and pans, so am very happy w the depth of the Caliber range. I think the 'spoon rest' also helps - not just as a handy place for spoons, but for extra deep pots and pans to have breathing room. I haven't used the broiler, but the oven yet. I still don't have a completed Kitchen, so haven't fully been able to utilize all the things! My thinking is the same on the salamander. Oven seems to heat well - AND EVENLY! Which FYI I will also say for the 'star' burners - the entire pan, no matter how big, has the same bubbles when I cook, which tells me the pans are being heated really evenly. I did make Macarons - a very fussy little cookie - and the second batch (my mistakes on the first batch) turned out even and perfect. If you would like, you can follow my Instagram or website where I have / will more so talk about my own new Kitchen - including the Caliber - in the next few weeks. You can also find my initial 'decision process' and an Instagram LIVE on the Caliber on their website. https://instagram.com/alisonkenthomekitchen https://www.thehomekitchen.com https://caliberappliances.com/appliance-decisions-the-caliber-range/ @Caliber Appliances Good luck - keep me posted!