Yesterday, between painting jobs and waiting for the last load of laundry to finish, I decided to cut the lawn. It doesn't take too long, just 45 minutes, or an hour if I do the edging as well.
Nothing is easy.
The last time I mowed the lawn I noticed that the handle was a little sloppy and under inspection, found that the welding had cracked away and it wasn't holding by much. As I can't weld, I was just hoping it would last the summer, or until I can buy a replacement part. As you can see where this story is going,
It didn't last, nor can I get a replacement part for it.
The model is too old and even if I could get a part shipped in from somewhere, it would be over half the price of an equivalent replacement. It is definitely not money I wanted to spend, but without an option, we went to buy a new lawnmower today, getting one of the cheapest ones there, as it was on sale.
However, there was also some electric models we enquired about, but our yard is quite large and the guy said that even if it states it would do that square metreage, it probably won't and if the grass is wet, it will do even less. We'd need to have at least one set of additional batteries to ensure we could get the job done in one session.
And while we were there, I ran into an ex-client and his family, and they are looking to get a robot mower, and were trying to convince us to get one. They are good as they do a decent job and trim regularly, but they are pretty bloody expensive. Plus, as I was saying to the guy, both of our neighbours have robot mowers, and they are constantly out there adjusting it, and then going around with their old push mowers to do the parts it can't do well.
Seems like a lot of trouble.
I figure, if the mower we had (we inherited from our friend's dead grandma [I bought him a cook book as payment]) lasted since she had bought it, an engine is fine. Plus, while I couldn't fix the handle on the old one, I likely could do some work on this one, which I couldn't do with electric. It is a bit noisier and I have to push it for an hour or two a week during a few months of the year, but with some earbuds in I can listen to music or an audio book, and get a bit of exercise. As I did today after putting some oil and then fuel in the machine, and giving it a whirl.
Because the blades are sharp I think, it is a bit easier to push, but not too much easier. And I have to adjust the height setting again next time because I cut a bit too long. One better thing is that it has a wider cutting blade than the previous one, so it doesn't take quite as many runs. It is also lighter than the last, which matters because I have to carry it up a few stairs these days, after building a fence for the dog.
I didn't want to spend money, especially on this, but I have to accept that unfortunately, I had to otherwise the garden will get unruly very fast. The previous owners didn't have a mower - and it looked like it. I try to keep our yard looking neat during the summer and since I enjoy being out there these days, I don't see cutting the grass as so much of a chore anymore. I used to hate it, now I just deal with it and look forward to the result.
And I finished all the painting I could do, plus went to the gym
A productive day.
Taraz
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