Maintenanc or lack thereof

[RoyM]

We have all seen it. My buddy is a career long haul truck driver. He is anal about maintenance on his truck and his pickup, without them he doesn't eat. The lawnmower is a whole 'nuther story. He called today, it wouldn't start and he was ready to drop a match in the gas tank. I scurried out there before the whole subdivision became an inferno.
I checked the air filter, it is likely the original 2008. Filthy and wet with water (left outside and neighbor turned the sprinkler on). The zone control cable is stretched, the switch is not breaking contact when the bail is pulled back. I asked him if he did any more than add gas and pull the rope. He thinks he changed the oil a couple of times.
I'm going to do a complete service for the cost of parts, he has done me more favors than I care to count. No point trying to edurmacate him, you ever try to push a rope? Sigh.

[KE4AVB]

Agree there is no point trying as they won't listen anyway and think your trying to boss their business as one said here. I just do the repairs. Lack of maintenance is where a lot my income comes from anyway.

[Luffydog]

Lack of maintance leads to more breakdown that could be major and costly. They think they are saving money by not doing it but we all know that it leads to twice the money and more of. Most of time twice the money don't come to us but mostly for them as in the cost of repairs. Labor hurts as well but not as much if it's cleaned washed and maintained because most of time you can see a breakdown happening before it happens and causing less damage.

[RoyM]

This an entry level machine, mowing is not high on his list of priorities. As long as it starts and cuts grass he doesn't give it any more thought. You should have seen the last one, he ran it until the engine was ready to fall through the rotted deck.

[38racing]

A bit like my neighbour. Found his Kubota t1400 in my yard with a note saying something was likely seized as belt was burning. Blades were imbedded in hard baked grass that was not cleaned out last fall.

[38racing]

Friend said his mtd push mower with Honda engine was surging and my suggestion of seafoam had not fixed it. I had him drop it off and at first start it seemed ok so I cut a bit and then the surge started but it was accompanied by the black smoke. Air cleaner was dirty but not grossly so. Put in a new one. Cut a bit. Ok. Let run longer and still ok. Since carb has drain plug I will drain and see if any crap might be causing flooding. Then cut some more.

[RoyM]

I FINALLY received the cable yesterday, took a minute to install then drained the fuel system. It started on the first pull. The distributor, my former employer btw, had the cable in stock in the Vancouver warehouse but winning the lottery would have been easier than getting a local dealer to order it. Online options are limited in Canada, it would have to come from Ontario and shipping would have cost more than the part.

[KE4AVB]

This an entry level machine, mowing is not high on his list of priorities. As long as it starts and cuts grass he doesn't give it any more thought. You should have seen the last one, he ran it until the engine was ready to fall through the rotted deck.

This like the owner of the 10 year old Craftsman I just took apart for the parts. The ran it good until broke the rod because he didn't care and did put oil in it when all it would took to fix it before hand was a head gasket. It one 310000 series that like to blow them. The cylinder still had the factory honing crosshatch marks.

I FINALLY received the cable yesterday, took a minute to install then drained the fuel system. It started on the first pull. The distributor, my former employer btw, had the cable in stock in the Vancouver warehouse but winning the lottery would have been easier than getting a local dealer to order it. Online options are limited in Canada, it would have to come from Ontario and shipping would have cost more than the part.

That sounds like what I got go through sometimes just to get parts here too even in the US.

[rogerf]

Hallo folks,

Sadly it's the same in most places. My neighbour is the same, fixed up his old Briggs which was surging badly due to a broken inlet pipe. Put back a missing bolt to hold the carburettor which caused the broken pipe and changed the very low black goo for oil. Tell him he really should change the oil at least once a year.

The old mower gets sold and a new cheap Chinese made overhead valved mower bought. After about a year or so, I noticed that it was getting hard to start, but offer to look at machine was declined. Next I'm seeing blue smoke and start thinking maybe it's just fortunate that I didn't have anything to do with that mower. A few days later there's a bang when the grass next door is being cut and the mower stops. My neighbour doesn't think that it's worth fixing, and he's right on that point, so he goes out and buys a new one.

I'm sure that the oil in the cheap mower had never been changed, was probably low in level and that the dirty oil and perhaps the need of a valve adjustment had caused the early end of the mower. We'll see what happens to the new one, it's a Briggs with a label which indicates that the oil never needs changing! The dealer he bought from did recommend regular oil changes.

Strange thing is that he really looks after his car and never misses a service. Got me baffled!

Cheers, Roger