Curley thanks to you and your husband for his service. Sorry about the pup also. As to glow plugs at 96 degrees, will depend on your engine. My little Kubota will crank without their use at such temps with an extra turn over of the engine. My bigger Kubota does not even have glow plugs.
You probably know this but when mowing you need to run the engine to get the
PTO speed to 540 RPMs which probably is shown on the tachometer. You then use the gear you need for the ground speed you need.