My history with mowers

I have fears regarding lawnmowers. My dad, who had me work with him on almost everything, wouldn’t let me near a lawnmower after a little girl in our neighborhood ran up to her dad while he was mowing and lost the part of her foot. This left a deep impression and fear of lawnmowers in me.

My mom and dad were out-of-town when I was 18 years old and dad’s beloved yard was looking really scruffy and I didn’t want him to come home to a mess so I pulled out his mower, figured out how to start it, and had the yard looking beautiful when they returned. But I was afraid of the thing and really respectful of the damage it could do.

After years of mowing my own yard the whole situation was exacerbated a few years ago when I was trying to lift a non-functioning mower into my SUV to return it and things went all wrong. I lost hold of it, slipped and fell, and the mower came down on the end of my right ring finger and completely removed the fingernail. A trip to the ER and referral to a plastic surgeon to have the tip of the finger and nail bed stitched back together did nothing to improve my relationship with mowers.

CAUTION: Remove the wire from the spark plug and secure it so it can’t accidentally reconnect every time you work on your mower.

The reality

My mishap didn’t alter the fact that I’m a homeowner who prefers to mow her own grass so lawnmower maintenance is a natural by-product. Enter the fear. I’m okay running it and walking behind it, but accessing the underneath to drain the oil and remove the blade is another story. The oil would get changed, but the blade was ignored.

This spring when I dragged out my 15-year-old mower I knew it should have some serious TLC if I wanted it to continue running. I bought a new air filter, spark plug, fresh oil and fuel. While under the mower to change the oil I had the wire removed from the spark plug and a 2×4 bracing the blade so it couldn’t move.I decided it was time to screw up the nerve to take the blade off to be sharpened.

My trip to the local lawnmower repair shop confirmed my belief in patronizing small businesses. Not a peep out of them about how bad the blade was (never sharpened in 14 years) and $8 and 15 minutes later I walked out with a nicely sharpened blade.

Back home I put the blade back on, poured in a little Seafoam, started the mower to make sure it was running and put it away since the grass didn’t need to be mowed yet.

First mowing

Three weeks later I pulled the mower out to mow the grass and no matter how much I yanked the cord, that engine wasn’t showing any sign of even trying to start. Groan.

I pulled the spark plug and it seemed to be bone dry so back in the house to research on the internet.

Back outside I removed the piece behind the air filter so I could get to the fuel line to check for clogs. I disconnected the line and gas flowed freely. In the process of removing the filter piece a gasket had torn so I headed off to the lawnmower repair shop for a replacement. $2.45 for the part and lots of advice. They suggested I spray carb cleaner in the carb and see if it would start. It did and promptly died.

Me rebuild a carburetor??

So that meant the carburetor was probably gummed up in some way, but I had never worked on a carburetor in my life. Back in the house for youtube videos and back out to remove the carb. Once off the mower and the bowl removed I found gummy deposits that I cleaned up, but didn’t know if it would solve the problem. The o-ring around the bowl was completely shot so I headed back to the repair shop with the carburetor in hand.

The rebuild kit for the carburetor was $9.95. Do you believe it? Less than $10. The man behind the counter cheerfully offered to put the rebuild kit on for me. I had to resist the urge to leap across the counter to hug him. Fifteen minutes later I walked out with a freshly rebuilt carburetor and once home I re-installed all the removed parts and the mower started on the first try.

Lessons learned

1. When I had added fresh fuel I had dumped in Seafoam, run the mower for all of 60 seconds and then put it away. I wonder if the Seafoam liquified crud and since I didn’t run the mower long it made it possible for it goo the carb up. I love Seafoam and use it in my car and motorcycle, but I think I will be cautious to add it only when I will run an engine for a decent period immediately following.

2. The internet makes it possible to successfully repair things I never would have attempted before. There are kind folks who take the time to video step-by-step how to diagnose and repair. Bless them.

3. Local lawnmower repair shops are wonderful. I think my experience with my motorcycle has made me cynical. Motorcycle shops don’t want to offer advice because they want you to bring your motorcycle in for repairs. So I was pleasantly surprised by the help and advice I received despite only buying items for a few dollars. Even other customers were making suggestions that helped. I called the shop the next day and thanked them for their help after I mowed my lawn with the newly repaired mower 🙂

4. With a little love and care even a cheap lawnmower like mine can give years and years of service.

5. While I always add fuel stabilizer to the gas can where I store fuel for mower I think I will change that fuel to premium grade. All the guys at the shop seemed to think it would hold up better over time.

6. Do not forget to remove the wire from the spark plug and secure it so it can’t accidentally reconnect every time you work on your mower. I know — I’m nagging, but mowers scare me.

The only tools this required were a couple screwdrivers,  a wrench, and some carburetor cleaner. If I can keep a mower running for 15 years anybody can.