I have two lawn mowers. One’s a walk behind, given to us by my wife’s mother’s mother. We’ve had it for 6 years and it wasn’t new when we got it. The second is a riding lawn mower purchased from my wife’s mother’s friend for $300, a real steal. It looks like my mother-in-law has the hookup when it comes to used lawn mowers.
Upon arriving home from the cottage for the long 4th of July weekend, I decided to give the lawn a run for its money. I use the walk-behind for the front because our house is on a teeny hill which the rider doesn’t negotiate well. Three passes in, the rear left wheel decides to practically fall off. 5 of 6 spokes completely cracked through. No problemo. Hop on the rider and giddy up. Upon finishing the front I notice the grass isn’t being sucked up into the bagger. That’s right, the belt for the bagger attachment shredded.
Did I mention we were scheduled to show our house to potential buyers at 6 pm? So off to Sears I go. I’ve got the broken wheel and the shredded belt in my hand. I find the mower parts section and belly up to it. I stand there for a few minutes looking at the choices like I’ve actually got a clue. Fearing someone’s going to think I turned to stone, I ask for help. The friendliest guy tells me they don’t have the belt nor the wheel. Strike 1. Let’s see if Home Depot has them. They had more choices than Sears in both belts and wheels and a cross reference book. That’s all they had. I did the same stare/pretend-to-know-what-I’m-doing until another super-friendly guy tells me they don’t have either. Strike 2. Not wishing to be rejected by Lowe’s I return home.
It’s clear I won’t be fixing these immediately so I finished the lawn without bagging and raked up where I could. I’m convinced our house is worth more if I don’t have grass clippings visible.
The showing scheduled for 6 pm cancelled, by the way. There are others scheduled so I guess that’s okay. Later that night, I found the belt online. The OEM part is $50ish. I found a guy on eBay selling the exact same OEM part for $5. There were two very convincing pictures of it. I’m not sure if this is the deal of the century or a waste of $5 plus $13 shipping.
Being that this lawn mower narrative is yet unfinished, here are some initial takeaways:
1) I have two lawn mowers which is probably two more than some people.
2) Though I have used a lawn mower for 20 years, I feel intimidated trying to fix one or even find parts for one.
3) If someone tells you bad news but it in a friendly way it still sucks to be told bad news.
4) Just because something’s cheaper doesn’t mean it carries the same amount of credibility. In fact, the opposite is often true.
5) My problems would easily receive an atomic wedgie from some people’s problems.
6) I might think it’s about the grass but it’s never about the grass, is it?
