Got a chance to put her to work. I am very pleased. Mower worked great, excellent cut and fairly even and I am getting used to the Hydro Trans. I did not even use full power when mowing, just 3/4. Tip - for a tight turn, slow down, otherwise you have the front end sliding.
Some things service did not do even thought asked...they were in a rush as bumper took longer than thought.
I need to drop the tire pressure. After reading the manual they are overinflated to ship, otherwise trying to back out of a tight corner cause tire spin, and I had to raise the deck. Second, deck is not level - they eyeballed it, but when I took the tape measure out after the first cutting , it is 1/2 inch high in one corner. Should not be a big deal to do as I figured it out. It's simply backing off a locking nut, pulling the pin, and spinning the fitting to the correct level (on the rear), the front is a one nut operation to adjust up or down. Before I do this I will be calling the service folks to ask if this should have been done by the crew they sent.
Once I get past the change is service culture, I believe I have a very good garden tractor/mower. For fun I am going to try and get my old one running again. I'll replace the pulse pump with a newer model, modify the fuel and pulse lines according, rebuild the carb and see how it goes. I enjoy tinkering.
BTW if your getting a new one based on my experience, be very careful when ordering. They put a new model in the line up last week that appears identical to this one, but lacks cruse and has a weaker hydro trans. MY model number is 917.98645. The new one is Calif compliant too.
Hope this helps