Impending decisions
I decided to cut the grass yesterday.
In preparation I put the charger on the mower battery on Friday and kicked the tyres. All seemed fine so I left it for a few hours in anticipation of a trouble free session on the meadow the following day.
So yesterday I kicked the tyres again [you can’t be too sure?] and fired up the mower. It sounded very sick but I managed to get it going. Off I went……
The mowing went remarkably well if it weren’t for the mayhem and mass slaughter of frogs. There were dozens of them and the little buggers insisted on waiting until the last second before hopping out of the way. I kept slamming on the brakes but sadly many didn’t make it in time. I just hope they don’t bring a case of genocide against me.
I was nearly finished when I discovered why the steering was a bit stiff – a fucking tyre was flat again and I had been driving on the rim. Fuck!
Now the mower is quite old – at least thirty years – and is badly in need of a service. It must have done at least twenty miles by now?
But therein lies the problem.
Getting the engine serviced is straightforward but it also needs a new battery and I might as well get tubes for the tubeless tyres while I’m at it. But it also needs a new bit – the pan that covers the blades has rusted away and that is going to make a very nasty dent in the nest-egg.
So do I fork out and get all those things fixed? Apart from the rusting pan and the battery it’s in great nick and should be good for another ten miles at least.
Or do I do a royal fuckit and go for a new mower? Tractor mowers aren’t cheap and the cheapest [decent] one I could find is still over two grand. Fuck! That’s a shed load of cash.
Or do I buy an ordinary motor mower and just confine myself to cutting paths through the meadow and leave the rest grow wild. The frogs would go for that option no doubt.
Or do I just give up and let the cat and Penny get lost in the long grass and make visitors to the back of the house wade through waist-deep wet grass?
Decisions, decisions……
There's generally a decent mechanic in most places, working in a shed in his back garden, who will do lawn mower repairs.
When I lived in Co Down back in the 90s there was a neighbour who did only lawn mowers, who would curse at being inundated with work at the beginning of spring when people had had 4-5 months in which to get their mower serviced. Once I counted three rows of sixteen mowers lined up in his back garden.
The mechanic isn't actually the problem. It's all a matter of weighing the pros and cons of the various options.
I used to have a grand standard motor mower as well and left it in one year to be serviced while I went on holidays. I came back to find the repair shop had gone bust and had been cleaned out. Despite many attempts, I never got that mower back.
Sheep. Someone else's.
I'm not sure how Cat or Penny would react to that idea. It would have been fun back in the days when Sandy [Rough Collie] was around as she would have spent the day happily herding them.
Leave it long. Handy for burying the tourists. 🙂
Sadly tourists are a rare beast this year. I miss the sport.
You spell 'tires' funny.
I subscribe to the frog's blog too, and they're really upset with you. Watch your back.
You spell 'tires' funny. Isn't it about time you lot over the Atlantic learned to spell? I do my best to educate but it appears that I am failing. Sorry about that.
OH NOW I FOUND IT. SO NEVER MIND MY COMMENT IN THE THREAD BELOW.
It wasn't showing up. Honest. Had nothing to do with my eyesight or the amount of cannabis I consume.
HONEST.
Over here we have separate words to distinguish between 1) someone who becomes slow and weary and 2) rubber things that go on wheels. Helps avoid confusion.
That's probably for the best. In the USA we obviously embrace confusion.
Okay, if it was me…I'll say it again…if it was me, what with all that's wrong with the current
rather ancientold lawn tractor, I'd spring for a new one. Considering that all the repairs needed on the old beast would make a rather large dent in the bank account with no guaranty that it wouldn't break again–I'd risk a bit more for the sake of [warrantied] reliability.But that's just me.
I am tempted but the machine is in fine condition apart from an ageing battery and some corrosion on the wheel rims and the blade deck. The engine and everything else is fine and in great condition. The deck is the only really expensive thing [if it's even available these days] but should cost considerably less than a new machine.
I’d look for a low hour used one. New are OK, but now and then you’ll find one where the owner bought too little machine for too much lawn. I don’t know how big your yard is (mine is 3 acres). The cost of a new deck (the pan that covers the blades as you said) is well over what repairing a 30 year old mower is worth. That’s my opinion as a mechanic. You want a Cadillac to low with, look for a used John Deere 445. They…are…smooooooth. You start getting new and dependent upon model, they have controllers and CANbus in them. It’s a fucking lawn mower, not a car!
I know the repairs will cost more than the machine is worth but should cost considerably less that a new machine. I did a little research and the cheapest I could find was around the €2,000 mark. I had a look at the John Deere market and I would be looking at €5,000 or more for a second hand one. The pension ain't that good!
Bloody hell, Ryan. Three acres? That's not a yard (garden?). It's a bloody small holding!
Can’t you employ someone to do the job for you. Then stand waving a stick at them.
I used to have a very steep long narrow garden that was a nightmare to control. I had to use a strimmer, which was a terrible time-consuming chore. Then my new neighbour acquired a goat. Problem solved! Mind you it was a nasty bugger and stank like the devil. Still, a comparatively small price to pay.
If it's a pressed metal deck and simple panel rust or a bracket broken loose a decent welder or car restorer (even a hobbyist) could probably patch repair it cheaper than a replacement. A cheap job might not be pretty but does that matter?
Strange that I keep getting reply answers on my comment about tyres/tires – one from you and one from someone else – but they don't show here. Wanted to throw back a silly into the thread but can't find it. Not sure if it's in the threading or on my end or you *GASP!* deleted it because you're offended that I said you have a funny way of saying tires, lol. Well I know that's not true so must be one of the above? Silly blogging platforms and their little bugs.
Was going to say, "What do you MEAN we lack education over on this side of the Atlantic? I'm in San Francisco, so that ocean about 4.5 miles from me is the PACIFIC. I'm nowhere near the ATLANTIC! Geez, who needs the education? 🙂
Err, the bit of wet stuff between Ireland and Merca is called the Atlantic. Please write out "I must study my geography" 500 times by tomorrow morning. [But don't write it here.]
Can't right now, I'm busy.
*slips on virtual reality headset*