I was at an auction yesterday and saw a row of pushmowers, a couple of tillers, and a chipper-vac up for bid. The ugliest mower in there was this 18" cut, 3.5 hp B&S Sears, aluminum frame mower with zig-zag teeth in front that made it look mean. She was faded out red with mostly aluminum showing. White original motor with a black shroud put on later. She was definitely "Old". The other newer mowers brought anywhere from $75 on up. The pretty John Deere and the shiny Troy Built made the poor little mower look even worse sitting near her. When her time came to hit the auction block, the poor thing only fetched a $5 opening bid. There was an eerie silence as the gavel almost fell as the auctioneer pleaded for a $10 bid. Just before the gavel fell, I raised my hand. The gavel fell and ol' DaveTN bought the poor thing and took her home. On the way out to the car I thought I'd give her a few pulls on the cord and see if she'd fire up and run. On the 4th pull she roared to life and I named her Christine after the 57 Plymouth in the Stephen King movie! I took Christine home, set her out in the driveway and only did a minor tweak to lean her out on the carburetor as she was not quite up to full RPM on high throttle. When she hit the honey spot I started mowing with her, and true to her nature...Christine HATES grass like the car in the movie hated people! When her governor kicks in with high grass she'll throw a Rooster Tail clean across the county road at least 15 feet! Yes, there is a mower in East TN named Christine and she is MEAN!! lol
I'll have to borrow a digital camera and get some shots posted. She is a character for sure. It's those TEETH on the front that makes you take a 2nd glance! Out in the yard I sometimes glance at her and wonder..."What if she suddenly starts up on her own?"
