As The Mower Blade Turns

CUE THE ORGAN MUSIC....

ANNOUNCER: And now it's time for "As The Mower Blade Turns." The story of a man, his lawn mower and the grass that must be cut ...

With the improvement of my physical health and ability to move we decided that this summer it was time I took back some of my responsibilities as a homeowner. I'm referring to mowing my grass. For the past 2 years we have had a neighbor mow and trim for us. His rates were reasonable but writing the weekly check from March to November added up.

So this mowing season I decided, to save some money, I was going to start moving my lawn myself again. To make a long story short we decided that I'm going to mow the lawn every other week and pay our lawn care man to mower and do the edge trimming twice a month. I hate using the weed eater and it plays havoc with my back. I'm not quite ready or physically able to do that myself yet.

So yesterday was the day for my first mowing of the season. James had changed the oil and tuned up the mower for me last week so I was ready. I did the front lawn in about an hour and things went well. I always enjoy mowing but being able to listen to my MP3 player while doing it now makes it seem much less like work.

As I got about 1/3 of the way through the back yard I ran the mower over the stump of one of the hedges we had cut down last summer. Hitting the stump bent the mower blade so badly that the mower couldn't run right.

I turned the mower over on it's side and removed the blade. I went into town and bought a replacement blade. I brought it home and installed it. Once that was finished I had just enough time to finish the back yard before dark. Except for one thing; the mower wouldn't start. Now matter how hard I pulled the rope it just wouldn't start. I was very frustrated.

The smell of gasoline that had spilled onto the mower deck and motor was obvious. I thought perhaps while I had the mower on it's side changing the blade I might have "flooded" the engine and that's why it didn't work. Frustrated at my own incompetence as a lawn mower mechanic, I gave up the idea of mowing for the night. I let the mower set outside hoping perhaps the gas would drain from the engine or evaporate and allow the mower to start the next day (today)

This afternoon when I got back to trying it again the mower still wouldn't start. I took the mower to a neighbor at the end of our block. He repairs mowers. He graciously looked at the mower and found out that the air filter had been saturated with gas because the mower had been on its side. This didn't allow the engine to get any air allowing it to run.

I got a new filter at the local hardware store, changed it and the engine started right up. I was then able to finish mowing the lawn. So my decision to try and mow over the hedge stump subsequently cost me the price of a new mower blade and a new filter. The total of the repairs was probably about $25.

I guess I've learned my lessons. Never run over a hedge stump with a mower and never tip a mower on it's side. Given the fact that I should now be able to run my mower the rest of the season with no other problems, and save some money by cutting the lawn every other week myself, the price I paid was not too bad.

So now I'm back to cutting my own grass. I love spending the time out doors and the sense of accomplishment when I've finally cut that last patch of grass. Not to mention a nicely cut law looks really nice. Ah, I feel like a homeowner again.