Hi maifleur, my wife whom I'm separated from has gardenship of the girls, as I'm not Blood relation to them Here in Missouri they stopped the parenting grand parents program, but we get medicare on them and $200.00 in food stamps to help feed them, that is all we get. If we were foster care parents we could get a lot of help. I love the girls as if they are my own and will not turn my back on them, no matter how bad it gets. I was at the V.A. Clinic and did my monthly weight program and had my Blood taken to see if My blood sugars are where they need to be, they wasn't and I ganined the weight back I had lost from walking. They set me up with some more light stretching exorcises and said I should stay with the cane for balance, so that my upper back and neck will remain strong. I had my depression medicine incressed from 150 milligrams to 300 milligrams and was given a new medication to help with pain at night and help me sleep better. I had my primary care doctor, look at my bruise hip and back and had a couple Xrays done on it. Its still sore along with the muscles that I pulled when falling and the abrasions are starting to heal. I used the neck stretching device every other day for three months and all I got from it was more and more neck pain and Migrains, so now I do a few light neck stretches and hope that will help some. They did have me on a lot of exorcises at first when they found out that surgery was out of the question do to the bone disease, many of which I couldn't do, but some did help a little and I still do them as they help me walk better. As Medicare says I make to much money to get most of the help my wife does which house care and nurse that comes in to look at her feet because she is Diabetic and so on, also if she has to go to the Emergincy Room that is all paid for, My Medicare just pays a little over half of any emergincy room visit. I'm still paying on the last one as my share was $563.00 the total was close to $2,000 so I was luckey there. I don't see how they figure I get to much SSI money as a $1,000 isn't very much to begin with and then I cut that in half to give to my wife ,because we still care for each other, but just can't live together, do to economic reasons and the fact I suffer from bad dreams from the War and can get real mad for no reason at all, so we get along so much better since we parted and I take the kids for the weekend or when ever she needs me to, although having them is really stressful, I do yell some, but most of the time I'm in control. It helps if we all take a long walk while they are with me. I have even salvaged a old computer for them to play on although they won't be able to use the internent. George W. Z5-6 Mo

I don't know of any other mower that has a fully open diff like the Snappers. All the others will ratchet forward but not backwards when the drive system is engaged. That's why they maintain 2-wheel-drive on hills, which is helpful there. But the downside is that they don't allow as good maneuverability with the drive engaged, because a sharp turn requires that the operator actually push forward (increase the groundspeed) to make the outside wheel ratchet faster, while the inside wheel continues at the drive system's gear-driven groundspeed. That's a list of pros/cons for each system that must be weighed for each person's particular yard and needs. Unfortunately, there's no cost-effective way to have the best of both. I've been a Snapper user all my life, and moved to a house with a significant hill in the back about 1.5 years ago. I've actually been surprised so far that I can mow across the grade and it keeps driving pretty well. I was worried about this potential traction problem. However, my turf is not very bumpy, and this may be the big difference between the OP's and my results.

keeferb, Well I just used your step-by-step process of filling tires with one execption: my method of breaking the top bead included two very carefully aimed swats with a sledgehamer--much easier logistically speaking. Just last year I tore the sidewall on one of my 23x10.50-12 turf savers. I wanted to replace both of the rears (even though the other was like new) with some HDAP (aka: HD Field Trax), but alas, they're not available in that size. I wasn't confident that the 24" would provide enough clearance, so I just replaced it with a like tire. But after slipping around for the rest of the season on my turf tires (and getting stuck while tilling), I decided to go all out and fix the traction problem once and for all. It would be nice to have a good all-around tire, but since I already had two like new (and expensive) turf tires, I decided to pick up a set of old rims on eBay and mount some serious traction tires. I found a set of rims off an old JD 200 series, which fit the GT225's bolt pattern but had about another inch of offset. They were a little rusty but straight. Then I found a pair of 4-ply Carlisle Tru Power lug tires (just a little heavier than the Super Lug) for $207 after shipping. I worked my way through college mounting tires, but after wrestling with a pair of crowbars for about 5 minutes, I figured I'd just run down to the local service station and pay them the $10 a tire fee to mount them (tires this size or bigger will fit on a standard automotive changer). I tried to get them to fill the tires for me but they were afraid of making a big mess, so declined. When I got home I removed the valve cores, gave them a whack with the sledge, jammed a paintbrush handle into the bead to keep it away from the rim and poured 5 gallons of cheap washer fluid into each tire (about 40 lbs per wheel). I probably could have squeezed 6 gallons into each wheel. I inflated the tires with the core out to seat the bead; then put the core in and reset the pressure. I did a little leaf bagging and was amazed at the difference in traction. The tires didn't tear up my lawn at all. All things considered (used rims, can of JD yellow, two tires, mounting, 10 gallons w/w fluid), it cost me well under $300 to turn my deere into a traction monster.

Sears wheel weights are proprietary for their mowers, and may or may not fit other brands with the same size wheels. The exception is their WW for 12" garden tractor wheels, which they claim are generic for most std. 12" GT wheels. For other sizes, dealer or ebay. Typically, I don't think you'll find WW in stock at a Sears store. So if you wanted to order a set and try a test fit, you could be out shipping and restocking fees if you return them. t