Art, I know that you know more about these things than I do, and I don't disagree that the front end loader is a good counter balance, if needed, but I sure did prefer removing the FEL when mowing, both for visibility and ride comfort. Naturally it made the front end a little light, but not enough to be a problem, when I picked up the mower, but when mowing with the tail wheel on the ground, I never needed anything on the front end. And yep, I sure liked the 4' Bush Hog Squealer on the B7100 and would have liked the 5' Squealer (which my cousin has for his TC29D New Holland), but I went with the Howse simply because I got it much cheaper in '99.