As promised the plumber called at 8:00 AM and arrived about 8:30 to install the new water softener. This one was more expensive, but I am told is completely rebuildable if needed, and also has a life expectancy of 15-20 years. No sooner than he left the rain started that is forecast to continue for the rest of the day and into Friday.
A few hours after that, the completely unexpected call came from the delivery guy to deliver the new Troy-Bilt Mustang rear tine tiller that I'd ordered last week. It wasn't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow but that's fine by me. Although it has the Troy-Bilt name on it, it's an MTD product sold under a lot of various brand names like Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Poulan Pro, and the like. There are a lot of reviews on Youtube under the Cub Cadet model RT65, and the manual for this one has no brand name on it but does say model RT65. I'm not planning on starting a farm and I don't care if it still runs for three generations of family so this will be fine for my needs.
All that said, it seems to be of perfectly adequate construction, and is strong where it needs to be. At the moment it's in the unfinished part of the basement where I could take the wheels and tines off in dry comfort to apply anti-seize so they won't get "rust-welded" on there in the future. Those tines are heavy! That and check all the adjustments for clutch engagement and the like. Of course there's no fuel in it. I'll do that a few days after the rain stops.
One thing was unusual, was the motor oil came in a plastic bag instead of a bottle. I'd never seen that before. No sign of a leak though.