u/Forged_Trunnion_

The branding on this mower has changed - mine is the dark gray but it looks like the exact same is still available it just has a new paint job.

Wanted to give a short review here. I bought this mower knowing it would be similar to the TimeMaster, in that it would require more maintenance than the standard mower due to the dual blade assembly, and the additional belts, etc.

At the time I couldn't see forking out the extra $500 or so for the TimeMaster so I got this. Even with the extended 5 year total warranty, it was cheaper than the Toro.

In the first year, I broke the plastic where the handles and levers all sit. It was my fault I'm pretty sure, I was too quick on pulling the lever before disengage the lock. The lock is just a piece of plastic and it broke when I closed the lever to release the blade brake.They replaced it for free. The battery was also dead and they sent a new one.

Also, in the first year the rear wheel got loose and it destroyed the bearing. Got a new wheel for free.

Finally, in the first year I hit a rock and it chipped an edge on the aluminum deck. The guy said these decks are tough and it must have been a defect for it to crack like that. Got a new deck for free. Still have it on the shelf as the old deck works fine still.

I also replaced one of the belts which had torn. I decided to run the machine without the belt cover because debris would get up in there and tear up the belts. Replaced two belts because of that and afterwards, I haven't had to replace any of them at all.

Year two I didn't do anything other than run the machine and change the oil. Oil changes are recommended at the start of season and every 10 hours (about every other month for me). I've also changed the filter every season. I left gas in it over winter this last season but I'd run it for a few minutes here and there (along with my genny), and put some preservative in the tank. Seems to have taken it just fine.

Year three the transmission engagement lug (little thin bit at the end of the cable that pulls the release on the hydro) snapped. I was able to fix it with an electrical box wire retention clamp of all things, but they sent a new cable, which I haven't had to install yet. Also sent me a new rear wheel (other wheel) because I noticed some of the plastic turning white on the inside from stress? Near the gears. Also the height adjustment handle broke somehow, got a new one and it was a pain to replace but it was covered as well.

I've sharpened the blades once and also bought new blades once though I haven't used them yet. Changed all the belts once as a preventative as after 3 years I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Has it been worth it? It produces a nice cut, that's for sure, and it's fast, doesn't bog down when I go on vacation and come back for a 2 week cut. I've only stalled it once and it was a patch of wet hay that I was running over to mulch up, excess from the garden.

Plenty of TimeMaster stories on all the above similar things breaking, belts snapping, etc so I don't think I'm any worse off. Just wanted to share my experience for those on the fence of the Toro vs the DR for the 30" consumer mower space. I've been happy with it.

The cost, as many of us in the USA know, of monthly premiums for insurance is ridiculous. It just feels like a vacuum year after year. We don't see very many traditional doctors offices, pediatricians etc - they're never covered, since we see naturopathic doctors or doctors of that sphere etc. Even our midwifery services have never been covered.

So, I've always done the HSA option and load up the HSA because we end up using it mostly.

But, it seems crazy to me to be paying for 1) the privilege of having an HSA, and then essentially a what-if...

What if I have an accident and need surgery at the hospital, what if one of us gets cancer, etc type of thing.

Idk, it seems to me like what I really need is something like a fixed benefit insurance, critical illness etc and then honestly just bank the rest in a HYSA. Yeah it's not as good as an HSA but if I can dump an extra $600 a month into a savings comparatively by not having an additional premium...it makes sense?

Idk, is this a dumb idea or what?

Who else is here paying $10k+ in premiums just for it to not be worth a damn anyway, and have to dump another $7-8k into an HSA to cover out of pocket costs. In reality it's $18k/year, with most of that being lost to the vacuum of the insurance industry.

If I can put $18k/yr into a separate savings account used just for health care, and have critical illness (50k benefit, etc) plus the fixed benefit insurance ($$ per event, $$ per day for hospital stays, etc etc), and just be essentially an all-cash health care scheme.

Most places give you a discount for using cash anyway, so idk I don't see a downside. Other than if like, tomorrow I get hit by a truck, etc.

Is this a bad idea? Signing up for benefits right now as I got a new job and looking at these prices like BRO....

Just something I've thought of. I have a few BP pistols, they're fun but worth the centerfire conversion cylinder it seems like that would make it subject to the new serialization law.

In fact I guess that makes it somewhat defacto illegal to install a conversion cylinder unless your BP pistol was already serialized? Because the conversion cylinder turned it from a BP antique to a modern center fire pistol.

Am I thinking about that correctly?

MD63, MD65, MD90, AMM, AMMS, AMD-65, M70B, M70B1, M70AB, M72 (yugo RPK) PSL, Circle 11 AKMS, M77, Galil 556, VZ58, - kits I've built, or that I have all the parts for and will build just enough to get grandfathered in before the due date. My state is about to ban these as assault firearms so thinking about if I should get another kit with some extra receivers I have.

Working on a franken 556 using a Bulgarian triangle folder on a 74 frame and a WBP trunnion 😝. Have another 74 receiver and trunnion set, was gonna do a 545 but haven't decided. I thought about an AIMS (MD86) build, I had a full parts kit and matching receiver, barrel etc but unfortunately sold it on GB in like 2021. Made bank, to be sure, but ever since...I miss it, lol.

I have 2 more 80% AKM receivers. I sold a handful on GAFS recently and I have two more left. Debating if I should pick up the east German kit from royal tiger and start on one of those clones. I have another Romanian triangle folding stock so I was thinking of another one of those clones, or another feanken build of some kind. Or, just sell them and put the money towards some barrels I need.

Need some ideas, cash available is about $500. The east German sets from RTI are $199. They're incomplete but would be enough to get started, the important parts are there anyway. East German stock sets routinely under $50, etc.

What do you think? If you can't tell I love AKs, haha.

For example, "the r/millennials mods are gay," etc.

I grew up never using gay to mean homosexual, it grew from a word meaning happy (I'm so pretty, oh so pretty and witty and gay!) to meaning *that* kind of happy, and also had I feel like a second parallel meaning of...generally something that...what? What's the meaning, in English lol, of how we used "gay" pejoratively?

Struggling to articulate exactly. Like something wasn't fair, or wasn't right, or...something like that.

Anyone have a non fudd FFL in RVA they can recommend who does engraving?

The one I've been dealing through has been questioning stuff like my AK receivers - "Well you know if those are foreign made I'm going to have to report you to the ATF.."

Yes, foreign military receivers, they're illegal for import. When you buy kits, frame parts etc they are torch cut. But not foreign made receivers universally..like there would be no AKs, no Turkish guns, no FN, no Glocks, lol. Wow!

And then, when I picked up a 100% milled receiver, he said Now remember you're going to have to do a form 1 for that.

No, bro! I don't, lol, it doesn't apply, I'm not making an SBR. I'm not making a firearm, this receiver is literally the firearm, which is why I'm transferring through you. Even if I was making a PMF, a form 1 doesn't apply.

Who is someone else I can use? I feel like I'm going to get reported by someone who doesn't know how the rules work.

I buy AK kits and receivers and get them engraved to match the kit, the trunnion serial numbers, etc. It's a fun hobby to rebuild these battle used kits and whatnot. Some of them are 80% and so I want a good option to get those compliant as well.

Sitting on 10 kits or so that I've collected over the years so I'm buying frames right now and would like to get the rest of them transferred through someone else, but who also does engraving.