First of all, I have to comment again about how dead this place is... AGAIN!! Almost no real posts for 3 days now?
It seems that mazdas247 is also slower than usual too.
wsoape281 hasn't been around at all. Neither has icspots. What's going on??

OK. Update on the mower situation:
1) Yes my homeowners insurance is covering most of the loss. In fact since I bought the Huskie as "last years model" I actually got a very good deal on it. My homeowners Claims Adjuster could not find my particular model in his books, so he based his decision on a larger, more expensive model. It will almost completely cover my initial outlay for the Huskie before my deductable... after discounts and some hard negotiations w/the original salesman.
2) After a couple of days searching, hours and hours online and the phone and being quite disappointed in this year's selection of riding mowers, I finally settled on a "Big Box" version John Deere LA135 series. Wish I could have afforded to get one from an official JD dealer, but don't make the kind of $$$ that I could spend another $1k-$1.5k on a riding tractor. Even with the insurance settlement, this means a few hundred out of pocket for what I believe is a lesser machine than the one I had.
They (Lowe's) threw in a real cheap dump trailer (retail $109) as part of the deal. I also dealt in an extra key, oil filter and air filter, but when I got to the checkout, they were charging me for them ($4, $11 & $19 respectively.) I said, "no way. These are twice what they would be for my car and only half the size too. If you will not live up to your end of the deal take them off completely." So they did... except the extra key, and they gave me a "discount" on that.
I will say that the engine on this one, basically the same B&S Intek as was on the Husqvarna (except "Specially Built For John Deere" as is stickered all over the place,) is noticeably smoother and quieter. That Huskie was loud!!

Will be delivered Sunday morning. We'll see......

 

bah good stuff on getting it all sorted out but its a big pain in your *** for having to deal with it in the first place. i really wonder how people managed not to see it in broad daylight

 

and your also right... this forum has been dead.. ive been busy with work and the girlfriend i havent done much lol

 

Sorry to here about the Mower, but since Mower keys are the same for said brand it makes it a lot easier to get 1.
As for being dead, all the sites I visit are, it is warm and people are doing more on the weekends and plus Show season is going strong.

 

It's finals month for me...I'd love to be more active, anyone want to do my calculus/theoretical statistics work for me?

 

I never had calculus, but if you really want me to blow it for you, I can try?

Yeah, very possible, Ken. When I was looking for another key for the Huskie, it seemed no one had one. All the Deere and other keys were different. Now my new key for the Deere is the same as the Huskie was, so I have 4 keys for this one... well, 3. I gave one to my neighbor a while ago when his tractor went bad and told him to keep it, should he need/want to use mine.
It's supposed to come today, but it's also supposed to rain, just like the first day I got the Husqvarna.

And Jaimie, the only people around here during the day is a 75 yr old woman who lives on the other side of us and who's home access faces away from where my tractor is. Besides, she doesn't seem to come out of doors all that much. That's how they took it w/o being noticed.

 

I know my old Coop mower key fits my Craftsman, as well as the 4 keys I have for the Craftsman.
For larger tractors Bobcat and Case tractors share the same key, Almost all the new Caterpillars are the same and the old ones had a key that could be replaced by 2 nails and a pair of pliers.

 

That's so silly! Not that these things aren't pretty basic and could easily be hot-wired anyway, but to make it that easy is just silly, imo. Go to Lowe's or HD and buy a key for $4 and rip-off your neighbor's equipment. DUH!!!
I want to somehow make this one harder to rip off and am wondering if I could replace the ignition switch with an old style universal automotive switch.
What do you think, Ken? How can I make this thing more secure. And parking it indoors is not an option right now.

 

Hey, what about the swine fever eh?
I'm not taking any chances. Last night I took the air filter off my '99 SE 1.8L Protege and replaced it with a surgical mask.

The last thing I need is for that virus to mutate into something that throws a CEL
like damn near anything else you can think of will do.

I tried to contact the W.H.O. about this, but for some reason all the lines were busy.

 

To Virgin 1: re. your tractor.
If you have an alarm system in your house, you can use a motion sensor to "oversee" your tractor; talk to your alarm service provider, local police, insurer, whatever.
If you don't have an alarm system, you can still improvise something along the same lines to spook them at least. Put some appropriate decals on the tractor, but put the lights and alarm on the house (that way the scumbags will get the message that it's part of an integrated system).
Another good thing to do is to have some obscure part spark engraved, so that if stolen, the police and you will have a positive means of i.d. (Some insurers will even pay for this, also give premium discounts for anti-theft equipped risks).
There are organized rings of thieves out there who steal stuff like yours, haul it out of town, and resell to shady landscapers etc. either as a going machine or stripped for parts. They're bold S.O.B.s too, quite capable of keeping an eye on your place just ready and waiting to steal your next tractor or whatever.