It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Topic: It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)... (Read 1275 times) previous topic - next topic

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

July 22, 2006, 11:41:35 AM

Hell, what a week I've had. First I blew the garden tractor up. Then I borrow another tractor to finish the lawn - it was more of a test drive to see if I wanted to buy it - and that engine starts smoking like hell and knocking (needless to say didn't buy it). Then I finally give up and go buy a brand, new tractor yesterday, and while coming home I blew a tire on the utility trailer (I had sold my Dakota, so I was towing the trailer behind the T-Bird). Of course, it's pouring rain (Tropicsal Storm Beryl was in full swing) and I have no spare anyway. I'm about 20 miles from home, so what do I do? If you guessed "Drag that sumbitch home anyway" you're correct. I sure as hell wasn't gonna leave a brand new, pricetag-still-hanging-from-the-steering-wheel tractor on the side of the road. The 5.0 had no problem whatsoever towing the trailer with a flat (that eventually degraded into no wheel at all), but when I got home I got out of the car to look at the trailer (still pouring rain) and discovered the T-Bird's brake lights were stuck on. I disconnected the trailer and pulled the 'Bird into the garage and disconnected the battery. I then got under the dash to see the problem and discovered the two wires at the brake switch had fused together and had been burning - good thing I disconnected that battery!!! So I start following the harness back and found a spot where it had been chaffing on the steering column tube and shorted. I repaired the wires, rerouted them to prevent a repeat, and the T-Bird is all good.

Now today, five days after I started, I finally got to finish mowing the ed lawn. The final cost of this mowing:

$1500 for a new tractor
$50 for a new tire and wheel for the trailer
~$500 for a new (used) engine for the original tractor (if I can even find one)
Almost a 1988 T-Bird

I think I'd have been better off paying some kid to mow the ed thing

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #1 – July 22, 2006, 11:44:59 AM

Maybe you should cut it before its 3ft long so those tractors don't need to work so hard:giggle:

Hope next week is better for you. What kind of mower did you buy?

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #2 – July 22, 2006, 11:45:33 AM

That's more then I pay the landscaper I have for an entire year. He also does a spring cleanup and fertilizes too. How much property do you have?

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #3 – July 22, 2006, 12:06:32 PM

You know, it probably would've been cheaper to pay me to put my riding mower in the bed of my truck and drive it up there at a very optimistic 12 mpg. :p

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #4 – July 22, 2006, 10:07:41 PM

4MyKid: It was the cheapest lawn tractor Canadian Tire had: An MTD Yard Machines 13.5 horse, 38" cut. $1299 plus tax, which came to just under $1500. It's the model in that link, but red instead of black.

Paul: I have 3.5 acres. Cal me Hank Hill, but I kinda enjoy mowing the lawn, when I'm not destroying mowers...

Bird351: It may have been cheaper, but I wouldn't have ended up with a brand new tractor for my effort :p

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #5 – July 23, 2006, 04:21:39 AM

So when is the new mower getting nitrous? :D

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #6 – July 23, 2006, 09:08:19 AM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken

Paul: I have 3.5 acres. Cal me Hank Hill, but I kinda enjoy mowing the lawn, when I'm not destroying mowers...

pfftt.. Thats my yard....

Let alone what has to be taken care of on a brush hog.

It's been Monday all week (or Carmen's adventures in Lawn Mowing)...

Reply #7 – July 23, 2006, 12:08:49 PM

Wow, thats pretty messed up.

On the good side, MTD is a very good brand; my dad has been using his for 15 years and has only had to do minor repairs to it (keep in mind that he takes great care of his stuff).

But the south is starting to take over my dad (we're a very Northern, Italian family btw); he has picked up 3 lawn mowers over the past couple of weeks from guys wanting to get rid of theirs. A small regular tractor, a bigass Sears mower, and an old Gravely industrial lawn mower. Dad and his buddy are planning to make a wild, rediculous show mower out of them; they plan to use a 4cyl out of a Chevy Luv truck, and since the guy is a paint and body guy, he is going to paint it up really nice. I'll try to get pics when the project starts. (sorry for going off topic!

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