My first "job" was a business that I started myself when I was about 12 or 13 years old. It was the typical lawn-mowing-gig that a lot of us start off with. But I had bought my own equipment, tools, machines, fuel, etc etc. What I lacked was a driver's license at the time. But at that age, such a thing was still a few years away. I would cram as much as I could into the trailer and hitch it to my largest rider. I had 3 riders actually, a pair of push mowers, and a string trimmer or 3 and various "gardening" tools like rakes and such. I had dozens of accounts back then as a kid. I couldn't hit all of my accounts by simply driving the rider & trailer. For the longer distances, I actually paid my father to tow my trailer out to each site.
I called it a business, because that is how I ran it. Counting from Friday evening until Sunday, my weekend haul was on average about $500. I paid dad for his drive time and fuel. ( I paid him rather well too...) Being a kid, and having the time and energy to do it -I would collect dead and broken mowers and equipment. I would fix them up, and use them until they died again. I have to thank my father for that, as it was he who taught me how to make repairs and keep the machines maintained and serviced.
After a few years, my interest in computers took off. It was time for a career change. I couldn't afford to learn about computers and mow lawns at the same time. So I sold the whole business to my little brother for some ridiculous low amount. I think it was the price of new 5 gallon gas tanks or something... It was cheap, and he made a good go at it until he got his driver's license a few years later.
Even though I don't run a lawn care biz anymore, I still have a habit of dragging home the odd small engine powered "thing" now and then. This time, I drug home yet another mower. But this one is a bit of a cream puff compared to the wrecks I usually haul. I picked up a short mowing gig this summer. After I was done, the homeowner offered me this rig.
She said they lost the gas cap on it while mowing. It had about 2 hours on it when the cap went awol. Without the cap they couldn't return the thing, and they couldn't find a new cap for it. It also came with a bagger, shiny new and still in it's plastic wraps.. woohoo! Bonus: it's a self propelled unit. After I got it home, I fired up the confuser..er.. computer, and hit Google for some info on the machine & cap. Turns out it's a 2015 Snapper P70 model, and they are known to actually spit off their factory gas caps. -_- So I thought..heck, soooomeone must make after market caps for this thing...right? Yup! Briggs & Stratton came up with a newer, better cap for these engines. They call it a: Fuel Cap 594061, and Amazon.com has em on their AtoZ listings for cheap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01ARITJW4/ref=olp_page_previous?ie=UTF8&f_all=true
So I show my Mrs what I found, and it turned out she has a gift card balance.... mwahahahaha: new cap on it's way for under $3. Win! (AND free 3 day shipping from the seller) While I waited for the cap to arrive, I gently cleaned up the carb and got the engine tuned up. The garbage gas we have here in the US is awful tough on small engines. This one had sat with old gas in it & no cap for a few years. But with the low hours on it, there wasn't much that had to be done to make it a runner. The cap arrived yesterday and we've put a few hours on our new machine. The bagger is kinda small, but it works well. And my Mrs. says that it starts really easy. Did I mention the self propelled drive?? hehe... Gotta appreciate all that father-son time waaaaay back when.... makes for great memories, and great opportunities on $$$-saving repairs like this.