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The Ongoing Trial of the Lawnmower
2 years ago
Last year, at the end of fall, my gas lawnmower broke. The entire front left wheel assembly fell off. Yes, fell. Yes, off its welds. Yes, welds.
So I bought an electric mower, because my neighbor two doors down loaned me his and it was amazing. But it didn't come with a battery, so I ordered one over the Internet and put it on the charger over the entire winter.
I didn't notice that the "charging" light never turned from red to blinking red to green. It was a dud battery.
So I borrowed a battery off the two-doors-down neighbor and mowed the lawn. It was light and quiet and easy to handle and worked beautifully.
Fast forward two weeks. I start the mower to mow the grass again. Ten steps later, it shuts off. And won't restart. Troubleshooting, check. Battery, safety key, and mulching plug securely in place? Check. Battery fully charged? Check. Mower still dead.
The nearest repair shop for it is 100 miles away, and the mechanic there said it didn't sound like something that could be quickly repaired, so I'd have to leave it there until he got around to it, then make another 4 hour round trip to pick it up.
As a final Hail Mary, my one-door-down neighbor offered me his lawnmower. Which he hasn't used in five years, and which has been sitting outside for that full time, because he uses a lawn service.
I poured gas into the empty tank.
It poured right back out the bottom.
...
*@#$@%.
I went inside and made dinner. Screw the lawn.
So I bought an electric mower, because my neighbor two doors down loaned me his and it was amazing. But it didn't come with a battery, so I ordered one over the Internet and put it on the charger over the entire winter.
I didn't notice that the "charging" light never turned from red to blinking red to green. It was a dud battery.
So I borrowed a battery off the two-doors-down neighbor and mowed the lawn. It was light and quiet and easy to handle and worked beautifully.
Fast forward two weeks. I start the mower to mow the grass again. Ten steps later, it shuts off. And won't restart. Troubleshooting, check. Battery, safety key, and mulching plug securely in place? Check. Battery fully charged? Check. Mower still dead.
The nearest repair shop for it is 100 miles away, and the mechanic there said it didn't sound like something that could be quickly repaired, so I'd have to leave it there until he got around to it, then make another 4 hour round trip to pick it up.
As a final Hail Mary, my one-door-down neighbor offered me his lawnmower. Which he hasn't used in five years, and which has been sitting outside for that full time, because he uses a lawn service.
I poured gas into the empty tank.
It poured right back out the bottom.
...
*@#$@%.
I went inside and made dinner. Screw the lawn.
I'm not familiar with electrics, but I did work in a lawn service for five years. Sometimes there are jackass safety devices that will shut things down and you need to be a contortionist to get to work.
The "mulching" function with sometimes clog the blade when the grass is too thick, like in early spring, or pretty much any time. The blade can't turn, the machine won't start. Try taking the mulching guard off so it spits the grass out the side like God intended.
I don't know if your machine comes with a shear pin on the blade, but that will shut things down, too, if the blade gets stopped by, say, a rock and the shear pin does as its name implies.
If you have a regular small engine repair shop locally, the guy should be able to at least troubleshoot the thing for you. Maybe the battery leads aren't tight enough--had that happen to a car once.
The free lawnmower with the bad tank--you could get a replacement tank.
Honestly, though, gas push mowers are about two hundred bucks. You an get used ones at garage sales.
The mower remained dead.