Back in business

Yesterday (Thursday, June 26, 2008), our dreaded zero-turn mower was returned; complete right-side hydrostatic installed at no charge.
The shop-owner indicated Husqvarna didn’t wanna replace the complete right-side hydrostatic unit. They wanted him to take it all apart so he could replace the case.
The pump-pulley had come loose, and then the cockeyed pulley-shaft had worn a slot in the case-top, making replacement of the case mandatory.
“I wanted to do it right,” he said. Mower-man is also the railfan I badgered to visit Horseshoe Curve and the web-cam.
He finally went, and was blown away.
Of course. The Curve is the BEST railfan spot I’ve ever been to.
“Around-and-around I went with Husqvarna, but they finally sent me a complete right-side hydrostatic unit.”
“So were ya also able to grease the rotor-spindles?” I asked. “You’ll need money for that.”
“Also no charge,” he answered. “Only took a minute. I figured it was worth the aggravation. You’ve been without a mower almost three weeks.”
I sure am glad I didn’t buy it at Lowes.
“You and I both know this poor thing was assembled on Friday,” I said. “Since when does a rotor-spindle fail? I don’t think the spacers were even on it.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a drive-pulley come loose. It’s a lock-nut, and whoever tightened it musta been weak.”
“Or drunk,” I said.
As a consequence I mowed the entire lawn — took about 3-4 hours.
No mowed trees or flowers; no ditch-excursions.
Our entire lawn was farmed out once, and the Back 40 twice.
Still no Greenie. Probably shoulda taken it to mower-man insteada John Deere. It was just the drive-belt.

Our “zero-turn” is our 48-inch Husqvarna riding-mower; “zero-turn” because it’s a special design with separate drives to each drive-wheel, so it can be spun on a dime. “Zero-turns” are becoming the norm, because they cut mowing time in half compared to a lawn-tractor, which has to be set up for each mowing-pass. —“Dreaded” because my macho, blowhard brother-in-Boston, the ad-hominem king, who noisily badmouths everything I do or say, insists I am unable to master such a thing; which explains “no mowed trees or flowers; no ditch-excursions.” (I’ve had it three years.)

Horseshoe Curve, west of Altoona, Pennsylvania, is by far the BEST railfan spot I have ever been to. Horseshoe Curve is a national historic site. It was a trick used by the Pennsylvania Railroad to get over the Allegheny mountains without steep grades. Horseshoe Curve was opened in 1854, and is still in use. (I am a railfan, and have been since I was a child.) —Horseshoe Curve has a web-cam (for viewing Curve-action over the Internet), but it’s awful.

“Lowes” (the home-improvement outlet) has a big-box store in Canandaigua.

Our “Back 40” is a large open field behind our house.

The “Greenie” is our small John Deere SRX95 riding-mower (38-inch cut). It was the mower I used before the zero-turn, but took about twice as long. We kept it. I brush-cut our paths with it.