The Lawnmower Thread
- Thread starter Capt Worley PE
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Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
Yee, haw.
I was going to mow just the back yard, but because the city sprayed some crappy grass that grows like a weed on the front yard after they repaved the street, I was forced to do the front yard, too. I got the front yard done, then got two passes on the back yard when, bag, freakin' right rear wheel comes off at the hub. The entire hob failed, leaving the center peice on the mower(or, really, just a very little of the venter). After making another pass, doing the Morgan three wheeled bit, I decided, fthis, I'll get a new wheel put on.
Loaded it up, took it to the shop. "Hey, we don't have time, but we have an identical used wheel...how bout five bucks and you put it on?" Well, OK. Loaded it back in the car and took it home.
Shorty box ends and ratchet set don't have enough leverage to get the bolt out. Borrowed the neighbor's Craftsman with a foot long + handle and had the wheel replaced in a jiffy.
Decided that since I had the tools out and the mower on the porch, I'd replace the aircleaner. Old out, new in....wtf...this doesn't fit!
Compare the old to the new, and what a mess. Old design had a pinched area in the AF assy to clear a styling shroud on top of the B&S engine. Probably half of the old filter did no filtering. Decided fthis, I'm going with a standard filter and assy, and trash the styling shorud. So, wto bolts undo the plastic, anther three bolts undo the metal shroud THAT sits on, and off it comes.
Well...no. I have to undo the starter rope from the handle so I can get the metal shroud off.
Well, I finally got Humpty Dumpty back together again, mowed about a third of the backyard and ran out of gas. Luckily, it was about 65 degrees, because if it had been in the 90s like it usually is in the summer, cursing and throwing of objects would have ensued.
Got the yard finished at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Started at about 11:30. YEA me.
Then went to MIL's house the next day, and her old B&S ran like a champ. Started first pull for the first mow. I'd already changed the AF that had been installed probably 20-25 years ago.
I was going to mow just the back yard, but because the city sprayed some crappy grass that grows like a weed on the front yard after they repaved the street, I was forced to do the front yard, too. I got the front yard done, then got two passes on the back yard when, bag, freakin' right rear wheel comes off at the hub. The entire hob failed, leaving the center peice on the mower(or, really, just a very little of the venter). After making another pass, doing the Morgan three wheeled bit, I decided, fthis, I'll get a new wheel put on.
Loaded it up, took it to the shop. "Hey, we don't have time, but we have an identical used wheel...how bout five bucks and you put it on?" Well, OK. Loaded it back in the car and took it home.
Shorty box ends and ratchet set don't have enough leverage to get the bolt out. Borrowed the neighbor's Craftsman with a foot long + handle and had the wheel replaced in a jiffy.
Decided that since I had the tools out and the mower on the porch, I'd replace the aircleaner. Old out, new in....wtf...this doesn't fit!
Compare the old to the new, and what a mess. Old design had a pinched area in the AF assy to clear a styling shroud on top of the B&S engine. Probably half of the old filter did no filtering. Decided fthis, I'm going with a standard filter and assy, and trash the styling shorud. So, wto bolts undo the plastic, anther three bolts undo the metal shroud THAT sits on, and off it comes.
Well...no. I have to undo the starter rope from the handle so I can get the metal shroud off.
Well, I finally got Humpty Dumpty back together again, mowed about a third of the backyard and ran out of gas. Luckily, it was about 65 degrees, because if it had been in the 90s like it usually is in the summer, cursing and throwing of objects would have ensued.
Got the yard finished at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Started at about 11:30. YEA me.
Then went to MIL's house the next day, and her old B&S ran like a champ. Started first pull for the first mow. I'd already changed the AF that had been installed probably 20-25 years ago.
Road Guy
Well-known member
I have a weird sized lot, its basically a long circular lot on the front and the rear property line is much smaller than the front, anyways, years ago i had a law service just to fertilize because my house had been dormant for a year and no work was done on the lawn during that time..
Anyways, if you look at the front of my house from the streets it looks like my side yard is an un-developed lot, but since it wasnt deep enough for a house I just got some extra yard, which is nice. but when i met with the yard guy i said, make sure you include going "all the way over" to my neighbors property line bordered by a red fence when you do your thing.. well of course the actual guys doing the work never got this memo so a few times my wife noticed that they were not doing the side part of the yard (which was all sod) and after calling and calling I finally cancelled..
so a few years ago i grew tired of working on the lawn and hired a smaller service to come to fertilize and then I kept noticing the same exact thing kept happening.. I think they are just so used to all lots in subdivision ares 120 X 200 or something that they never gave word to the crew that my yard was twice as long as the other yards on the street..
so that annoyed me and I just started having my kids do it. they also do a ****** job but at least its cheaper and I can make them do it over again
Anyways, if you look at the front of my house from the streets it looks like my side yard is an un-developed lot, but since it wasnt deep enough for a house I just got some extra yard, which is nice. but when i met with the yard guy i said, make sure you include going "all the way over" to my neighbors property line bordered by a red fence when you do your thing.. well of course the actual guys doing the work never got this memo so a few times my wife noticed that they were not doing the side part of the yard (which was all sod) and after calling and calling I finally cancelled..
so a few years ago i grew tired of working on the lawn and hired a smaller service to come to fertilize and then I kept noticing the same exact thing kept happening.. I think they are just so used to all lots in subdivision ares 120 X 200 or something that they never gave word to the crew that my yard was twice as long as the other yards on the street..
so that annoyed me and I just started having my kids do it. they also do a ****** job but at least its cheaper and I can make them do it over again
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
I hope this doesn't jinx me....My 15+ year old Craftsman (~$200) has wobbly/ding-toed wheels on the front, but otherwise works great. I saw a sale flier on new ones at sears ~3 weeks ago and went and bought a new mower (~$250). I never took it out of the box and have used the old one to do the lawn twice since. My son questioned why get a new one when this one works OK. He convinced me...so I returned the new one and will run this one until it actually fails.
snickerd3
Taking suggestions
i like the way your son thinks
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
^I do too.
Road Guy
Well-known member
At least sears tends to keep repair parts around? Maybe you can get a new wheel/axle?
We have an old sears vacuum. It was boss at the time. Last month we upgrade but I was able to order a lot of new parts from sears to use the old vac(19 years) in the basement..
My newer mower was garage kept all winter , I think I got a new one last summer or summer before.. Thing wouldn't crank for **** this spring.. Pulled plug, soaked it ion gasoline. Cleaned and reinstalled and fired right up...
Never had that happen on a new one?
We have an old sears vacuum. It was boss at the time. Last month we upgrade but I was able to order a lot of new parts from sears to use the old vac(19 years) in the basement..
My newer mower was garage kept all winter , I think I got a new one last summer or summer before.. Thing wouldn't crank for **** this spring.. Pulled plug, soaked it ion gasoline. Cleaned and reinstalled and fired right up...
Never had that happen on a new one?
^for a $200 lawn mower I'm not going to bother buying parts. It's about 15 years old. I got my money's worth out of it.
sears partsonline is great. not cheap but you can get the parts if you need them
sears partsonline is great. not cheap but you can get the parts if you need them
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Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
yeah, but we've bonded over fifteen years.
My wife pointed out that sooner or later something $$ would die on it and I'd have to buy a new one. I told her, "But we've been together fifteen years!"
I just tell myself a $8 wheel is a lot cheaper than a $140 mower. And since I jacked it up, I haven't been bending blades like the last two summers.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
I'm thinking about getting a Black and Decker cordless hedge trimmer. Anyone have experience/opinions on them?
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
Cordless electric.
jeb6294
Well-known member
What kind of battery does it use? I thought my Ryobi 18v tool set was about done for. Someone doing some work at the house while I was deployed forgot one of their newer batteries and all my tools ran like new on that. Apparently the new Li Ion batteries are much better than the old NiMH batteries.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
^I noticed that from reading some reviews.
Honestly, I guess we use the hedger a couple/three days out of the year. batteries would just be a PITA. probably stick with the power cord.
Honestly, I guess we use the hedger a couple/three days out of the year. batteries would just be a PITA. probably stick with the power cord.
jeb6294
Well-known member
The nice thing about a lot of those cordless sets is the number of tools you can use the batteries with so if there's other stuff that looks useful it may be worth looking into.
