A happy Mike is a mowing Mike

My husband Mike destroyed our lawn mower last fall.  He isn’t very mechanical and he forgot to check the oil level.  He heard the valves clicking but he only had “a little more to do.”  To no one’s surprise, he heard a loud pop and found a gaping hole in the side of the mower’s engine.  Into the garbage it went.  This Spring, Mike called my sister Kat to see if he could borrow her lawnmower since we hadn’t bought a new one yet.  She did him one better.  It turns out that Kat had 3 mowers in her shed.  She felt bad for Mike and gave him one of her “extra” mowers.  It was a red MTD mower.

It was like Christmas to Mike.  He happily brought home his “new” mower.  His joy dimmed an hour and a half later when he came into the house with two of his fingers rubbed raw.  It turns out that the mower would not start.  Mike tried everything that he knew how to do.  He finally realized that he would never be able to start the mower.  Mike called Kat and asked her “Kat, was is the trick to start this mower?”  Kat replied, “It doesn’t start.  It hasn’t run in two years.”  Mike says, “Ohhhh, ok.” and quickly says goodbye.  He turns to me and starts grumbling, ”What the hell!  Why would your sister give me a lawnmower and forget to tell me it doesn’t work?  She knew I was planning on mowing.”  He was pretty hot about it and I could not stop laughing.  He forgot the cardinal rule when dealing with my family, assume nothing and ask lots of questions.  There is always a back story.

It all started when Kat purchased a red MTD lawn mower at Hechinger’s in 1996.  She paid $200 for the mower.  It worked fine for a few years and then it became “problematic”.  My sister Sue and I suggested she take it to Gary the lawnmower guy.  Gary is the best small engine repair man and is super fast and inexpensive.  At the time, he would fix anything for $25.  Kat wouldn’t listen.  She needed the lawnmower “NOW” and she didn’t have time to drive it to Gary’s.  She took it to a tool shop down the street.  Three weeks and $88 later, her lawn mower was ready.  She took it home and it would not start.  She took it back to the repair shop so that they would fix it for real this time.  Another week later they called to tell her that it was ready for pickup.  She took it home again and of course it still didn’t work.  She took it back a third time and of course it did not work when she brought it home.  Kat knew she wasn’t taking it back to the tool shop but she couldn’t trash it either as she felt she hadn’t got her $288 dollars out of the mower.  She placed it in her shed and borrowed my husbands for a week or two until she spotted a Lawn Chief lawn mower in the trash that had a sign, “FREE, needs new cord.”  She scooped it up.  Neither she nor her husband knew how to repair the mower themselves and she couldn’t take it to the tool shop that she had used.  She broke down and called Gary.

Gary had the Lawn Chief ready in a few days and for $25.  And it actually started when she got it home.  The problem is that the Lawn Chief is a beast.  It weighs 2 tons and I swear the wheels are square.  It doesn’t move.  You might as well start it and tie it to the front of your car and use the car to propel it over the lawn.  It is the nastiest lawnmower imaginable.

After a few weeks of mowing with the beast, Kat saw another lawnmower in the trash.  She threw it in her car and figured she’d gamble on Gary again.  He told her that the previous owner had put the wrong oil/gas mixture in the tank.  A few days and $25 later, Gary called to tell her the lawnmower was done.  It was perfect.  She never moved the Lawn Chief or the MTD mower again, until she decided to do Mike a favor.

Mike and  I took the MTD mower to Gary’s.  A few days and $30 later, the mower has a new carburator, pull cord and primer bulb.  Free lawnmower, inexpensive repair, fast service and a happy husband.  I ? Gary.