My mower repair thread

[hanyoukimura]

Is that a Snapper deck?

 

[Vervepipes]

Yes, these ones were rebadged Snappers, aparently they had less than stellar reviews, like wheels breaking apart and the self propel driveline failures, but with it being several years old already I bet this wasn't a friday or monday build.

 

[Vervepipes]

I've had that issue a few times with Quantums as well.





I'm the opposite. I try to make the mowers I sell look as nice as possible. The reasoning is threefold: they stand out from the crowd of dirty mowers, and I can charge a bit more. Aesthetics count, and I've had at least one person tell me that he selected my mower because it was the nicest looking of the mowers listed. Some mowers I put mower effort into their appearance than others, but I try to make them all look nice. Lastly, I really enjoy the before and after. :biggrin: Some mowers really clean up well.

Naturally, I make sure they are running well too. I try not to sell mowers with any problems, which is why I still have the Ariens.

I've only ever had a couple mowers come back with a problem, and if they recently got it, I'll fix it for them for free.

That said, your reasoning makes sense too. There's several of your mowers that have cleaned up really well though! :thumbsup:

If it weren't for Nova Scotia rust and if it was only surface rust from paint peel I'm sure I'd touch up the paint, but the nature of the rust would require a lot of prep to remove so that it wouldn't show through the paint in a few months. I do clean even the rusty ones though and here there is a large market for beater mowers that run well, in fact I think they make up over half of my sales. They sell much faster here too, a very clean, rust free mower priced slightly less than the market value (I search before I post an add for most of my mowers) may take a week listed to sell, a rusty deck with no holes but running very well and priced accordingly usually sells hours after it's listed, with 5 more people asking if I have any more. The rust free ones I give much more attention to detail and the price reflects it. I also make a point to not sell anything that hasn't mowed my 1/4 acre of lawn, so sometimes my lawn gets a trim 5 days per week!

It didn't take me long to figure the market out in this city, a lot of my customers who buy a beater have just moved back here from out west or from another part of the province and have had a lot of expenses, just wanting something to last a few years.

I haven't had to repair any mower's I've sold, I even tell people with every sale to call me if they have any problems at all. However, I had a string of emails from somebody who thought I sold him a mower that only lasted two mows, I finally convinced him that I wasn't the guy he was looking for but it gives me confidence in my work over the other guys around here.

The hodgepodge that attracted so many no-shows is finally gone, with that money I'll buy the engine brake cable that I need for the John Deere. For sure I've decided to keep it and sell the Chonda, no question there. It's overall just a superior mower. Sure I could get more from selling it, but in the end if I decide to stop doing this, I'll have a few top notch mowers in my personal collection.

 

[hanyoukimura]

If it weren't for Nova Scotia rust and if it was only surface rust from paint peel I'm sure I'd touch up the paint, but the nature of the rust would require a lot of prep to remove so that it wouldn't show through the paint in a few months. I do clean even the rusty ones though and here there is a large market for beater mowers that run well, in fact I think they make up over half of my sales. They sell much faster here too, a very clean, rust free mower priced slightly less than the market value (I search before I post an add for most of my mowers) may take a week listed to sell, a rusty deck with no holes but running very well and priced accordingly usually sells hours after it's listed, with 5 more people asking if I have any more. The rust free ones I give much more attention to detail and the price reflects it. I also make a point to not sell anything that hasn't mowed my 1/4 acre of lawn, so sometimes my lawn gets a trim 5 days per week!

It didn't take me long to figure the market out in this city, a lot of my customers who buy a beater have just moved back here from out west or from another part of the province and have had a lot of expenses, just wanting something to last a few years.

I haven't had to repair any mower's I've sold, I even tell people with every sale to call me if they have any problems at all. However, I had a string of emails from somebody who thought I sold him a mower that only lasted two mows, I finally convinced him that I wasn't the guy he was looking for but it gives me confidence in my work over the other guys around here.

The hodgepodge that attracted so many no-shows is finally gone, with that money I'll buy the engine brake cable that I need for the John Deere. For sure I've decided to keep it and sell the Chonda, no question there. It's overall just a superior mower. Sure I could get more from selling it, but in the end if I decide to stop doing this, I'll have a few top notch mowers in my personal collection.

Definitely makes sense for the market!

From doing this little hobby I've also gone from having no lawn mower to several very nice ones!

 

[Vervepipes]

Yeah, I pretty much started with a craftsman and now my no-sell list include a twin blade Sunbeam, a Toro 4 stroke Suzuki, Lawn Boy with F100, Honda HR194 and now the John Deere. Maybe a bit much, but I like machines lol.

 

[hanyoukimura]

Yeah, I pretty much started with a craftsman and now my no-sell list include a twin blade Sunbeam, a Toro 4 stroke Suzuki, Lawn Boy with F100, Honda HR194 and now the John Deere. Maybe a bit much, but I like machines lol.

Nah!

I started with a Brute 7800583 that had no engine and now I have it, plus a a Lawn Boy (that I still need to fix), a 2 cycle Suzuki powered Toro, 2-cycle Briggs and Stratton powered Toro, a Simplicity with a funky drive system and a deck similar to Lawn Boys, a Honda HRB215, an Ariens, a Jacobsen, a a Poulan Pro similar to the Rally I just got, an older Craftsman, and finally an 18" Toro deck in need of an engine. I might have too many, but they're s neat!

 

[hanyoukimura]

Oh, and the Grand Prix if I can't part with that. :laughing:

 

[Vervepipes]

A little accomplished today. The green rear bagging beater mower with the 4HP Tecumseh is running perfectly now that it has a new primer bulb, so it's listed for sale, the Chonda on the YardPro deck is listed as well, cheaper than I wanted to list it, but who knows when I'll come across a bag for it but I have no desire to keep a mower that serves the same purpose as the John Deere, but is inferior in almost every way. I also tore down a few of the basket cases that I had piled up from last year. It'll give me something to do in the slow season, tearing those motors apart for my own stock, to sell the surplus stuff on Ebay and to make an aluminum pile to scrap.

I bought a new engine cable at the John Deere store in town, it was cheaper than buying online since it costs your first born to ship anything to Canada ($40 shipping on something that probably really only cost the seller $5 to ship, really??)It runs very well, first pull start even with just a slow leisurely pull. A few areas of concern I have with it being a keeper are needing to find a bag at some point, replacing the cracked discharge chute, replacing the rear plastic flap and the self propel only seems to work in top speed. The belt from what I could see looked new, but who's to say the previous owner installed the correct belt? The system looks very easy to access, there is a large cover on the back and it gives good access to the various bits. These snapper based mowers have a less than stellar reputation, plagued with self propel issues supposedly, but then again, for every whiner on the internet there are thousands of people happy enough not to cry about it. I'll investigate the self propel when it gets nice out.

 

[primerbulb120]

Have you tried eBay? I get mostly all of my parts from eBay. Very good prices, and most of them have free shipping. Some of the carb kits, which come all the way from China, sell for about $6, shipping included. I am in the USA, but I don't think shipping from China to Nova Scotia would cost much more than China to USA.

 

[Vervepipes]

Yes, I've checked ebay, although they are less that online stores, it's still cheaper to buy cables right at a local store. Some things like gaskets are much cheaper on Ebay. I used to have a full list of every usual consumable part and what store (or Ebay) was the cheapest place to buy, but I can't find the list anymore. I took pictures of the store shelves though and just need to re-make my list.

Rain rain, go away, can't get much done in this until I clear out some more parts mowers. The green rear bagger that I recently replaced the primer bulb on is sold, now the only one still listed in the Chonda. I had a dozen replies saying they would come "right away" but the first person actually was serious this time. Yesterday I picked up an old Craftsman with a backwards facing Tecumseh on a familiar looking deck typical of '90s Craftsman mowers, but it seems somehow smaller. Maybe an optical illusion since it has smaller wheels. I'm not fond of backwards facing engines, but I'll see it runs, and if I have anything to put it on. Man, no joy for me this year, yet another Tecumseh... I want some Briggs, this is getting ridiculous.