Situation: I work for a guy who runs a small landscaping company, and we also have a mowing circuit. We were going through about 5 yards, with him hitting the flat areas on his zero-point and me doing the slopes and trim work with a Honda self-propelled mower. I don't know the exact model number, but he claims he paid ~$1000 for it, so must be higher end.
We had mowed 4 yards earlier in the day, it was about 90-95 degrees out. On the fifth, with grass at about 8 inches tall. I had the self-propel lever fully depressed, letting it pull me at the pace it wanted to go (a brisk walk). After 15 strips on the last yard, the mower suddenly died (no slow down). I tried to restart it, but the rope didn't want to go, so I checked for clogs. No grass, but I did find a bit of mud and a lot of dried clay on the axle. I chipped away what I could until the blade moved easily, then tried to restart. It went a few feet, died, and gave off white smoke. Checked gas, saw it was pretty low, and I sent the owner's teenage daughter who was out helping to get a can and fill it up. Tried again after, still no joy, more white smoke. Called the owner over, and at that point he accused me of blowing it up by pushing it too hard. There was oil on the deck with gas mixed in, so it looks like a blown gasket. He claims the mower will feed faster than the blade can keep up if the self-propel is fully depressed, and that I blew it up by running it to fast.
Is there any truth to this? My husband is an engineer, he thinks this is crap (the mower was only a month old), and the guy either didn't have enough oil in it, or it was a lemon. Or possibly it overheated, since it was a hot day and it's air cooled. I just wanted to get some input from experienced operators before I cover the repair costs for his equipment like he wants me to. He claims the failure was due to operator abuse, which the warrant won't cover. Again, appreciate any input!
