rant - a story about the crazy things we find

[keakar]

i just had to post this rant but im sure we have all had these mowers from time to time

i just bought a 2013 46" ariens mower to repair and flip, the ad said it wouldnt run but should be an easy fix. it was raining when i got there and i couldnt get that good of a look at it, but i could tell there was some jacked up stuff but being only 7 yrs old i figured it has to still be well worth putting a little money into it.

i could tell he messed with the wiring and rigged up a metal tractor gas tank and cut a fist sized chunk out of the plastic steering wheel upper housing to access the gas cap on it as well as removed the parking brake arm and lever to make room for the funky gas tank so i knew i was going to have to put a bit of work into it.

at first i thought the toggle switches and missing ignition switch was because the switch went bad but apparently he couldnt figure out the brake has to be pressed to turn the engine over so he took out the key switch and cut all the wires, and i mean all the wires, and added toggle switches to turn on things like the carb solenoid and starter solenoid and a kill switch so new wiring harness it is. then i get the steering wheel upper housing and wiring harness replaced and its finally a functional lawnmower again. i was lucky and bought a parts lawnmower with a good running engine, no deck, and a bad tranny for $20 to get all the parts and wiring harness i needed.

it looks like the CR went bad on the cam, so i need to pull the engine and fix that later but i just swapped it out for the running engine from the parts mower since they were identical.

so i move on to rewelding the cracked welds deck hanger bracket. i swear, when will people learn to drop the decks all the way when trailering lawn mowers. any way i flip the still nearly new deck over and lordy lordy, he has put new blades on it and welded the nut washers to the blades and then welded the nuts onto the washers because he apparently rounded the nuts off and welded everything together rather then buy new blade bolts for it. i have spare spindle shafts on hand so cost wise this mower turned out to not be a loser but the level of stupid involved in the things done to this 7 year old still new looking mower is shameful.

in the end, even though i put a lot more hours into it then i ever wanted or planned to, im still gonna make good money on it but only because i scored the perfect doner parts mower with everything i needed on it for $20.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I quit flipping mowers. If i count the hours at my shop rate i lost money on Every one of them except 1. I can flip chainsaws and some push mowers but not riders. Glad it worked out for you. I would have taken it to the shredder.

 

[keakar]

I quit flipping mowers. If i count the hours at my shop rate i lost money on Every one of them except 1. I can flip chainsaws and some push mowers but not riders. Glad it worked out for you. I would have taken it to the shredder.

i just do it as a hobby not as a source of income and i try to just buy nice ones without needing much work that i can buy for under $200, and i usually just pay $100 for them like in this case i paid $80 for the mower and $20 for the parts mower to get the parts i needed so im all in for $100 on it and will make a few dollars.

some times it just pays enough to cover for my labor and expenses and im ok with that because i enjoy fixing things, but usually i make around $300-$400 profit on them

 

[tom3]

Welded on blades. That's a new one. Hate to ask, but how much is a 7 year old rider worth anyway?

 

[keakar]

Welded on blades. That's a new one. Hate to ask, but how much is a 7 year old rider worth anyway?

depends on condition but in this case it still looks new and its a 46" so im thinking $800

the average price i get for a used mower is $600, $500 if its an older model

 

[PTmowerMech]

I quit flipping mowers. If i count the hours at my shop rate i lost money on Every one of them except 1. I can flip chainsaws and some push mowers but not riders. Glad it worked out for you. I would have taken it to the shredder.

I don't flip mowers like the OP is describing. Those go in the back for spare parts. One can have a great looking mower that runs half arse. And one that doesn't look so good, that's in tip top shape, with a ton of new parts on it. But people will buy the good looking one over the ugly one, almost every time.
Flipping mowers is a money maker for me. Simply because I don't put too much money and time into them. They're used with no warranty, other than I give them a break on the labor if something does go wrong with them after the purchase. (which I don't tell the customer they're getting a break)

None the less. Back to the subject:
These mowers that come in that the customer describes as an easy fix, many times turn into tar babies. It's one thing after another. Especially Troybilts and Craftsman mowers. I've got one in here now that started out just changing the battery and replacing the fuse and fuse plug. Has ended up with those things plus, 2 drive idlers, deck belt, blades and deck idler. Carburetor, heat shield, fuel lines, filter and shut off valves, linkage bushings for the carburetor, flywheel key, resealed valve cover & new cable ends.
Each time I find something, you gotta call customer to find out if they wanna pay for the repairs.
This customer is tired of me calling. I'm tired of calling. But like the tar baby it is, I just can't seem to get rid of it. Last night, when moving it around back, the rear end started whining.

 

[keakar]

I don't flip mowers like the OP is describing. Those go in the back for spare parts. One can have a great looking mower that runs half arse. And one that doesn't look so good, that's in tip top shape, with a ton of new parts on it. But people will buy the good looking one over the ugly one, almost every time.
Flipping mowers is a money maker for me. Simply because I don't put too much money and time into them. They're used with no warranty, other than I give them a break on the labor if something does go wrong with them after the purchase. (which I don't tell the customer they're getting a break)

None the less. Back to the subject:
These mowers that come in that the customer describes as an easy fix, many times turn into tar babies. It's one thing after another. Especially Troybilts and Craftsman mowers. I've got one in here now that started out just changing the battery and replacing the fuse and fuse plug. Has ended up with those things plus, 2 drive idlers, deck belt, blades and deck idler. Carburetor, heat shield, fuel lines, filter and shut off valves, linkage bushings for the carburetor, flywheel key, resealed valve cover & new cable ends.
Each time I find something, you gotta call customer to find out if they wanna pay for the repairs.
This customer is tired of me calling. I'm tired of calling. But like the tar baby it is, I just can't seem to get rid of it. Last night, when moving it around back, the rear end started whining.

yep, thats why i dont do repairs, way too much BS involved and they always want to blame you when they have a flat tire after yoiu replaced the belts or the engine "sounds different" and some people like those you just dont want to ever deal with.

what i mean by simple problems is a major issue like blown engine or broken deck, because those are mostly mowers you know where in use and can assume the rest is in relative good working order. i dont buy the ones that were sitting in back yards for 5 years unless im buying strictly for a parts mower because the ones that sit are rarely worth the time and effort to fix

i buy one with a good running engine that drives and just needing a deck, then buy another with a good solid deck on it and redo the spindle bearings and replace the belt and idlers and put it up for sale, i rarely have more then $250 and a couple of hours labor into them and sell them for double that.

occasionally i get screwed over but thats life and i just strip them down for spare parts and send the rest off for scrap metal. when buying at $100 i know i will usually get some decent tires, starters, alternators, starter solenoids, seats, tranny out of it even if i scrap it

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Some folks think if you sell them a used mower for a few hundred dollars you should fix it free forever. No thanks.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Some folks think if you sell them a used mower for a few hundred dollars you should fix it free forever. No thanks.

I've never had any problems from people I sold a mower to. I have repaired some minor things on a couple. But never within a month or two. And the customer's didn't get out of sorts about it.
I guess I've just need lucky.
At my shop now, I wished I had 20 push mowers and 10 riders for sale. I'd make a killing.
Every morning, I gotta push all the stuff I'm working on out the doors. And at least 5 people a day stop and ask if they're for sale. As soon as I get something I can sell, it's gone that same day.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Most folks around me are looking for non self propelled push mowers for trimming. I could sell lots of those. Pretty much everyone around me has some type of rider. I had a JD RX75 36" mower i had for sale for a few years. Nobody wanted a 36" mower. Finally sold it for $300. I had a 76" Yazoo that sold in a couple days for $1500. Now if i had used chainsaws, especially Stihl, i could flip those easily. Most of the people around me either want and will pay for a good new mower or they want the $100 beater. The folks who want the $100 beater want the new mower warranty. I work on lots of Green mowers. When you live in a town called Farmersville green is the predominant color of mowers.