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Lets say your Lawn Mower broke down, and it would cost $200 to fix - But, there was a mower with the same specifications as your current one for sale for $200 brand new...

What would you go for ?

Fix your current Mower, or buy a new one and dump the other ?

I would fix my current mower, as I believe in keeping things going for as long as they will, rather than giving up and throwing something away just because it would be easier to buy a shiny new one.

Your input please!

jmurray01 said:

Lets say your Lawn Mower broke down, and it would cost $200 to fix - But, there was a mower with the same specifications as your current one for sale for $200 brand new...

What would you go for ?

Fix your current Mower, or buy a new one and dump the other ?

I would fix my current mower, as I believe in keeping things going for as long as they will, rather than giving up and throwing something away just because it would be easier to buy a shiny new one.

Your input please!

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On the better built stuff that I own, no question; fix! On the cheaper stuff, if it augers in, I'll just kick it to the curb and see what other adventures await..:biggrin:

Always fix the old not because I dont care for the new stuff but because I love to fix things!:smile:

if u have a snapper or honda mower fix it, any others junk it and get a new one preferably a snapper or honda

harleyman959798 said:

if u have a snapper or honda mower fix it, any others junk it and get a new one preferably a snapper or honda

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Oh, I see. So the folks who have invested thousands in their John Deeres, Simplicitys, Ex marks, etc. should just arbitrarily drive them off to the recycler? Yeah, sure.

I have a lot of mowers, all different kinds from Honda to MTD and honestly I don't have any favorite brand honestly they all get the job done for me and I have no preference. But I do hold the higher end mowers to higher standards and the less expensive ones to lower standards but sometimes I am very surprised with how things work out but I can make the cheapest mowers last a very long time because I maintain them very well and truly enjoy working on things on the other hand I have seen people take Snappers and Hondas wear them out in a year or less so I guess what I'm saying is that machinery is what you make of it . Calling certain brands junk is usually not very logical at least to me.:thumbsup:

Ive bot one brand new tractor way back in 92 - rest have all been free ( yes FREE) up to $100 - the free to $50 ones have been actually the best ones, lil work and they still run good.

I have like 28 tractors in my 'collection' of misfit tractors... murrays, dynamarks, MTD's , craftsmans, lone simplicity and wheelhorse.

I recycle em at my house and save a ton of cash- tractors not worth fixing get taken apart for ones i have and keep - just saved myself around $150 the other day, had a spare magneto and mandrel assembly for my 90 murray ( both conked out) - was a freebie fix.

I had a snapper RER- was a rusted piece of junk that i got free- motor ran, stripped all the good pieces off and shipped what was left to the scrapper......

From what ive read in tractor forums, new tractors have too many issues - ill keep my old stuff ......

If it is worth owning ..... then it is always worth repairing... :smile:KennyV

That is so true KennyV!

jmurray01 said:

Lets say your Lawn Mower broke down, and it would cost $200 to fix - But, there was a mower with the same specifications as your current one for sale for $200 brand new...

What would you go for ?

Fix your current Mower, or buy a new one and dump the other ?

I would fix my current mower, as I believe in keeping things going for as long as they will, rather than giving up and throwing something away just because it would be easier to buy a shiny new one.

Your input please!

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you say 200.00 is the price to fix a current mower,or 200.00 to buy a mower with the same specifications.that means that the new mower has to be identical in every way to the broken mower.right? so i say that a 200.00 mower is probably not going to cut/mulch very well,being likely that its a lower level - entry level mower, so i'll take that 200.00 bucks and add some more cash and buy a mower that i believe will cut/mulch better than the broken mower that i had been using.:biggrin:

Fix it. The older snappers with the I/C Briggs are tough. I mowed soda cans with one and didn't even shear a flywheel key or bent the crankshaft/mower blade.

There has to be a time throw away, buy new.

reynoldston said:

There has to be a time throw away, buy new.

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That time happens when a rod puts hole in the block.

Do whatever makes you happy, fixing them makes me happy and I have to admit a shiny new one doesn't make me sad either, well after the buyers remorse wears off!

Davbell22602: "That time happens when a rod puts hole in the block."

Not really- swap another motor on and keep on mowing , specially if theres nothing wrong with the tractor. I did that with one - i sold a tractor, guy gave me his broken one free- i swapped another motor on and was running in 2 hours- couldve stuck it right back out front if i had wanted- was nothing else wrong with the tractor.

Ill be the first to admit sometimes older ones will try your paitience - why i have 'backups for backups' - but hey new ones can have issues also - ive herd of tractors less then a year old having mechanical issues already.

Considering average cost of a tractor is like $2000 and up - repairing them is cheeper in the long run - keeping a new tractor in warranty isnt easy - thier guidelines are so tight ( specially for motor failures) you still might pay out of pocket for a repair - not to mention waiting for parts under warranty ( ive herd wait times of 2 months) and the service guy repairing it.

Dangeroustoys56 said:

Davbell22602: "That time happens when a rod puts hole in the block."

Not really- swap another motor on and keep on mowing , specially if theres nothing wrong with the tractor. I did that with one - i sold a tractor, guy gave me his broken one free- i swapped another motor on and was running in 2 hours- couldve stuck it right back out front if i had wanted- was nothing else wrong with the tractor.

Ill be the first to admit sometimes older ones will try your paitience - why i have 'backups for backups' - but hey new ones can have issues also - ive herd of tractors less then a year old having mechanical issues already.

Considering average cost of a tractor is like $2000 and up - repairing them is cheeper in the long run - keeping a new tractor in warranty isnt easy - thier guidelines are so tight ( specially for motor failures) you still might pay out of pocket for a repair - not to mention waiting for parts under warranty ( ive herd wait times of 2 months) and the service guy repairing it.

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I can get a new troy built at lowes for around $1200.

Simple answer to a simple question...fix it!

Don't understand why would you repair. You have a 200 dollar mower and it is going to cost 200 dollars to fix. Now you have a old worn out repaired 200 dollar mower. why not have a new 200 dollar mower. Now lets keep dollar for dollar and same mowers. When someone brings me a repair job like that I refuse to work on it. There is a time to stop unless you are into restoring old mowers for a hobby.

I think there is a difference between repairing something...
And taking it to someone else for them to repair it.

If you are having buy parts retail Plus labor, you will be hard pressed to justify owning any piece of equipment...
Take the time to learn how to do your own Work... and become familiar enough with parts & Distribution that you know what you need and Where to get it... Not only is it fun to do, but it us Very rewarding & affordable...
:smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

I think there is a difference between repairing something...
And taking it to someone else for them to repair it.

If you are having buy parts retail Plus labor, you will be hard pressed to justify owning any piece of equipment...
Take the time to learn how to do your own Work... and become familiar enough with parts & Distribution that you know what you need and Where to get it... Not only is it fun to do, but it us Very rewarding & affordable...
:smile:KennyV

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I think you better get in the real world, just because you know what you are doing there are a lot of mower owners out there that don't the difference between a bolt or nut and aren't about to learn. So what are you saying those mower owners just let there grass grow or have it done. They might enjoy cutting grass but too bad if you don't know how to fix it you can't own a mower. I am sure glad you are not running this country. I don't know what type of neighbor hood you live in but it isn't going to happen here. What is rewarding to you or me (I enjoy repairs) isn't to the next person. Now back to this cheap throw away 200 dollar mower, repair for 200 dollars or buy new. I am going to tell this non mechanic buy a new mower. Now a hobby of repairing mower is a different story rewarding and affordable. Even myself I won't spend 200 dollars to repair a 200 dollar mower. If it was me I would buy a top name used mower and repair and keep for years but as I remember that isn't what this poll was about.

reynoldston said:

I think you better get in the real world, just because you know what you are doing there are a lot of mower owners out there that don't the difference between a bolt or nut and aren't about to learn. So what are you saying those mower owners just let there grass grow or have it done. They might enjoy cutting grass but too bad if you don't know how to fix it you can't own a mower. I am sure glad you are not running this country. I don't know what type of neighbor hood you live in but it isn't going to happen here. What is rewarding to you or me (I enjoy repairs) isn't to the next person. Now back to this cheap throw away 200 dollar mower, repair for 200 dollars or buy new. I am going to tell this non mechanic buy a new mower. Now a hobby of repairing mower is a different story rewarding and affordable. Even myself I won't spend 200 dollars to repair a 200 dollar mower. If it was me I would buy a top name used mower and repair and keep for years but as I remember that isn't what this poll was about.

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I would replace to if the cost was same as buying new. But some customers would fix anyways and say "This mower been the family for 20-30 years go ahead fix it. I wanna keep it running in the family for generation use." This could poll question could go either way it boils down to the cost to fix vs the cost of a new one.

davbell22602 said:

I would replace to if the cost was same as buying new. But some customers would fix anyways and say "This mower been the family for 20-30 years go ahead fix it. I wanna keep it running in the family for generation use." This could poll question could go either way it boils down to the cost to fix vs the cost of a new one.

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Now don't forget we are talking about a 200 dollar throw away mower. I don't know what mowers cost where you live but here that would be bottom of the line mower here. Now this is something that wouldn't last no 20-30 years and not made for family generation use unless maybe you lived in a third world country. Now a top quality mow yes to all of the above. Like I said early for my self, if I was to buy a mower it would be a top quality used mower and repair it as needed. Now if the poll was for a top quality mower I would agree with everyone on this post. As I recall it a 200dollar repair for a 200dollar mower and that is nuts unless you payed 200 dollars 30 years ago when your money went somewhere.

reynoldston said:

Now don't forget we are talking about a 200 dollar throw away mower. I don't know what mowers cost where you live but here that would be bottom of the line mower here. Now this is something that wouldn't last no 20-30 years and not made for family generation use unless maybe you lived in a third world country. Now a top quality mow yes to all of the above. Like I said early for my self, if I was to buy a mower it would be a top quality used mower and repair it as needed. Now if the poll was for a top quality mower I would agree with everyone on this post. As I recall it a 200dollar repair for a 200dollar mower and that is nuts unless you payed 200 dollars 30 years ago when your money went somewhere.

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I know. I can get weedeater/poulan pushmower for $150 at walmart but I won't cause the decks are cheap and split easy on the side. I have almost 30 year old electric start/gas selfpropelled with the 4hp I/C Briggs. The white colored Briggs engines. Its still kickin and running. Now back on a

davbell22602 said:

I know. I can get weedeater/poulan pushmower for $150 at walmart but I won't cause the decks are cheap and split easy on the side. I have almost 30 year old electric start/gas selfpropelled with the 4hp I/C Briggs. The white colored Briggs engines. Its still kickin and running. Now back on a

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Now would you spend 200 dollars to fix that poulan push-mower you bought at walmart for150 dollars. A fool and his money is soon parted. I would say just buy another 150 dollar mower for parts it would be cheaper.

reynoldston said:

Now would you spend 200 dollars to fix that poulan push-mower you bought at walmart for150 dollars. A fool and his money is soon parted. I would say just buy another 150 dollar mower for parts it would be cheaper.

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Yes, I would just buy another $150 poulan pushmower and keep the other for parts. All the ones I got frre lately that dont run the decks are very cheaply made and they split easy on the side. Its almost like the 3.5 briggs is too heavy for the deck.

Buy a new one, considering other things that could break on the old one and with the new one you have a warranty. Then put the old one on craigs list for 50.00 and one of the people on this list will buy and restore it! Sorry guys but I just can't get emotionally attached to a piece of power equipment enough that I want to make sure it is around to hand down to my family years after I am gone.

As another poster said earlier if a customer brought something like this into the shop I would refuse to take it in for repair, if they are that attached to it then they will expect me to cover anything else that goes wrong with it for the next 2 or 3 yrs for free.

Duffer72 said:

As another poster said earlier if a customer brought something like this into the shop I would refuse to take it in for repair, if they are that attached to it then they will expect me to cover anything else that goes wrong with it for the next 2 or 3 yrs for free.

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Your totally wrong on that theory dude. You warranty the work you do not the whole mower when you work on it. So if something else breaks not related to your fix the customer has to bring back and pay have it fixed also not the repair.

I know what you are saying but not sure if you have had a shop or not, but people expect you to cover anything on thier machine if they have spent a large amount of money on it, was taken to small claims court for a bad transmission on a rider, it went bad 6 months after we put a new engine on the mower, the mower wasn't worth the price of a short block but I did the job as it was the father of a very good customer and freind of mine, MISTAKE!!!! Even thought they didn't get any $ I still was out of the shop most of the day for the court day so I lost anyting I made on the job plus I am sure he bad mouthed me to his freinds.

Duffer72 said:

I know what you are saying but not sure if you have had a shop or not, but people expect you to cover anything on thier machine if they have spent a large amount of money on it, was taken to small claims court for a bad transmission on a rider, it went bad 6 months after we put a new engine on the mower, the mower wasn't worth the price of a short block but I did the job as it was the father of a very good customer and freind of mine, MISTAKE!!!! Even thought they didn't get any $ I still was out of the shop most of the day for the court day so I lost anyting I made on the job plus I am sure he bad mouthed me to his freinds.

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How did you loose out? What does replacing engine have to with a bad transmission? Dont remove a trany to replace a engine so its not your fault. He should have bought the transmission to go with the new engine.

I spent a day at court when I could have been in the shop billing out work!

Duffer72 said:

I spent a day at court when I could have been in the shop billing out work!

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You should have counter sued for lost wages if you won the case. Thats how it works here my town.

Not in NJ it doesn't, and I would have had to go back again to do that as you couldn't file until the original case was decided, what I am saying is it is just not worth the hassle, easier to say sorry your machine is not worth repairing and move on to the next customer. I found that most people understood and actually appreciated the honest answer. If they didn't I would just give them a "rough" estimate that was so high they wouldn't want to spend the $. I had a large profitable shop with plenty of work so we didn't need to do that type of job to pay the bills, if it had been a small mom and pop operation I might have looked at it differently. but the topic of this thread was should somebody spend the same amount of $ to repair a unit as it would cost to buy a new one and I still say no.

Duffer72 said:

Not in NJ it doesn't, and I would have had to go back again to do that as you couldn't file until the original case was decided, what I am saying is it is just not worth the hassle, easier to say sorry your machine is not worth repairing and move on to the next customer. I found that most people understood and actually appreciated the honest answer. If they didn't I would just give them a "rough" estimate that was so high they wouldn't want to spend the $. I had a large profitable shop with plenty of work so we didn't need to do that type of job to pay the bills, if it had been a small mom and pop operation I might have looked at it differently. but the topic of this thread was should somebody spend the same amount of $ to repair a unit as it would cost to buy a new one and I still say no.

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Doesnt work around here in VA. If were to refuse to repair something that the customer bought in and it wasnt worth fixing. The customer then yes go ahead and fix it anyway. Then word would get around that I refused to fix his mower and I would start loosing customers based on that rumor that wasnt completely true.

we can agree to disagree on this all day long, but if someone says that I refused to do a repair because the unit was not worth it then so be it, would rather have that go around than I charged them more for a repair than what it was worth. I mean what is being said that isn't true, if the repair is not worth doing? I also did not take in cheap mowers & 2 cycle stuff w/o an estimate fee up front, people tend to think because it is a cheap unit that we should charge them cheap to fix it. I was never able to get my guys to work for less $ when they worked on a 59.95 trimmer. It must not have bothered people too much as we always had business and I still to this day will do the same thing and most will say ok, thanks for an honest answer, and actually get more business that way even here in NC, if they want it fixed they can go to rip off joe a few miles away and he will do his usual thing of charging a ton and only doing about 1/2 the work he claims to have done. I will gladly let him have the headaches. I get alot of work out of him as he has done the same thing and now that the customer is into the machine for so much money they have to keep repairing it to justify the original repair.

Duffer72 said:

we can agree to disagree on this all day long, but if someone says that I refused to do a repair because the unit was not worth it then so be it, would rather have that go around than I charged them more for a repair than what it was worth. I mean what is being said that isn't true, if the repair is not worth doing? I also did not take in cheap mowers & 2 cycle stuff w/o an estimate fee up front, people tend to think because it is a cheap unit that we should charge them cheap to fix it. I was never able to get my guys to work for less $ when they worked on a 59.95 trimmer. It must not have bothered people too much as we always had business and I still to this day will do the same thing and most will say ok, thanks for an honest answer, and actually get more business that way even here in NC, if they want it fixed they can go to rip off joe a few miles away and he will do his usual thing of charging a ton and only doing about 1/2 the work he claims to have done. I will gladly let him have the headaches. I get alot of work out of him as he has done the same thing and now that the customer is into the machine for so much money they have to keep repairing it to justify the original repair.

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I know what your saying but around it doesnt take much to put small engine repair shop out of business cause of some bad rumor that wasnt true.

And I will ask again what rumor isn't true?

I can refuse any work I want in my shop because its a hobby not a business and cash only. I am in my 70's and retired and not about to start a business or care who comes to my shop or not. It just seems like I am never lacking customer. maybe it,s my low labor rate at 10 dollars a hour and I will only do repairs right and my way or take it to someone who makes a living repairing. The shops around here the labor rates run 45 to 65 per hour and they charge 65 dollars for a pick up. I charge 20 dollars for a pick up. Also not that it always work out that way but I try to do only one job at a time seeing I have a small shop. If the government wants there nose in my business the door will be locked for good.

Too many variables to answer that question without qualifiers. To make that determination you need to take into account whether the old and new are of the same quality and whether they have the same or similar features and if you were satisfied with the old one. Assuming you liked the old one and quality and features are the same, then sell the broken one to the local repair shop for $10 and buy the new one.

reynoldston said:

Don't understand why would you repair. You have a 200 dollar mower and it is going to cost 200 dollars to fix. Now you have a old worn out repaired 200 dollar mower. why not have a new 200 dollar mower. Now lets keep dollar for dollar and same mowers. When someone brings me a repair job like that I refuse to work on it. There is a time to stop unless you are into restoring old mowers for a hobby.

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I'm with reynoldston on this one. A $200 repair bill on a $200 lawnmower has got to be at least a complete engine rebuild. If you maintained your mower and this still happened, I'd look for a different mower.

A friend brought me an almost new Honda Pressure washer. Tried my best on it, couldn't get it to run. Put my hand over the exhaust when I pulled the cord a few time, no puff or anything.

Unscrewed the 4 screws that cover the OHC, saw a chain and what looked like bits of pepper that had just gone through a grinder... It was a plastic gear.... on a pressure washer...

I reuse the frames on them for hauling things like my 4000 watt generator around that must be 30 years old. I even have a homebuilt compressor that haul around on one of those frames.

I kept the pump off the pressure washer as they're usually at least $200 for a new one.. will I ever find a pressure washer that needs that pump?? Who knows.. Kinda hard to toss it though.

If you called me about that mower, I'd usually offer a very small amount to take it off your hands. I'd put another motor on the deck IF the deck was in decent shape.

But yeah, if you told me it had something wrong that the repair guy estimated a $200 repair bill, I could probably do it for a lot less but, then again, I'll have maybe $100 in a mower I can't get $100 out of.

Find on on CL that has a decent motor and a rotten deck, and swap them motor if that's the issue..

With your original premise the logical answer would always be buy the new.
However if we are talking about $ 200 I would be surprised to see any one asking you to fix a throw away priced item.
the next question is warrantee.
However the most new mowers will not be identical to the one you are repairing unless it was almost new itself
I give a 1, 2 or 3 year warantee on my rebuilt second hand mowers and 12 months on all repairs.
A lot of budget priced mowers do not have a warrantee as long as I offer on repairs.
most time a big ticket repair gets done is because the old is substantially better than the new.
Either the new one has idiot safety features which makes them a PIA to use or the new item is made in China from tissue paper or is simply not able to be repaired.

I repair a lot of HRC215's because they do not have the blade brake, are lighter and have optional heavy duty blades that the replacement HRC216's don't.
The 216 eat clutch springs because of the modified handle bars to accomodate the blade brake which also makes the bars unacceptably thick with the clutch lever pressed onto the brake lever pressed onto the bars.
And of course all the professionals have the blade brake taped/ glued/ bolted to the handlebars
the last big rebuild job on one was $ 1400 as I can no longer get the 2 speed gearbox so I had to rebuild it , rebuild the engine, rebore and do a dozen or more welds to the chassis.
Trade proce on the new mower is $ 1400
Costumer left with a big grin on his dial and dropped the No 3 mower for its make over the next week.

I'll choose the devil I know, if my lawnmower can be repaired, why shoud I buy a new one?

I haven't seen a $200 mower that I would want to own. I'll keep fixing my 20 year old mower thank you.

Some one GAVE me a $200 mower. A wallyworld special. No choke, no primer bulb. "Guaranteed to start or we fix it free". It kept throwing the drive belt. It would take 10 or 20 hard pulls to get it to start. Sheesh. I sold it for $35 and was happy to see it go away. The $35 covered all the parts I put on it.

Maybe philosophical but I believe a mower reflects the owners
personality, and more so than vehicles which can be dual purpose
and shared (ownership).

I reckon I am worth spending more than 200 enchladas on :tongue:

KK

All depends on what that $200 repair is for

My old HOP mower with a Honda engine... every time I'm working on it, my wife says "Just go buy a new one!" I've looked at the new ones - and until something major breaks, I'll just keep fixing it. She doesn't get that that new mower is going to suffer the same wear & tear as this one. This is the first I've had that didn't rust through the deck, break axle bolts, etc. Only had to put in the shop once when I hit a root & thought the shaft was bent. Dealer told me then I was lucky it was a Honda engine. So I replace worn out cables, do the preventive maintenance, etc - keep on mowing!

Don't know much about the devil but I do get attached to things

I'd buy the new one, fix up the old one, and sell the new one for 500 +

Or like me you get sucked into the hole of fixing and fixing before you realize that you either spent more money in repairs than on the cost of the mower or a new one altogether. I once spent $1,100 on what I thought was a good used machine and by the time I put another $800 into it I was over it. I could have just bought a brand new one for the $1,900 and potentially had zero issues for years after.

Your mower is just like your car, washing machine , air conditioner or any other consumer durable item.
Every year they get more features and less service life.
Every year they get fewer service replaceable items.

So it is a simple matter of a proper evaluation to make an informed decision.

The down side is few people have the technical capacity to be able to make the evaluation.
Most dealers are solely focused on quick high profits from selling new mowers so give you a list of problems that is 10' long in the hope you will buy a new one.

The classic example is a customer had their mower serviced and got an $ 950 quote for a deck rebuild and new engine pulley.
I subsequently replaced 6 spindle bearings $ 120 replaced 1 idler pulley $ 45 and fitted a 1.5" shorter belt $ 75 to compensate for wear in the pulleys and deck lifts & fitted 3 new blades $ 75 + $ 120 for a full service.
So for $ 570 the customer was back mowing.
That was 3 years ago and it has just gotten another new belt which should go another 3 years or so.
By that time the engine will be getting a bit long in the tooth ( 1995 Yard Man ) and there is a better than average chance the owner will be beyond mowing as he is an 80 year old pensioner.

People have a funny idea about mowers and fail to realise what is a routine service replacement item so consider the replacement of these as an extra cost item and not a running cost item.

bertsmobile1 said:

People have a funny idea about mowers and fail to realise what is a routine service replacement item so consider the replacement of these as an extra cost item and not a running cost item.

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:thumbsup:

I will prefer repairing the old one because you known how to deal with the older one instead of learning the new one. So repairing is the best option in my point of view.

RjMaan said:

I will prefer repairing the old one because you known how to deal with the older one instead of learning the new one. So repairing is the best option in my point of view.

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It depends where you live. I suspect that living in Pakistan, it is more cost effective to repair and maintain old power equipment like small gas lawn mowers than to buy new replacements. Here in the USA where the cost of shop labor is astronomical and new items are relatively cheap, it is usually more sensible to replace a small item that costs only a few hundred dollars than to have it repaired. Few people in the USA have the knowledge or tools to do more than the most basic maintenance on their OPEs, and most of the cost in repair shops is for labor.

I think you should repair the older model or you can also compare the specification of both i.e. the older one or the new one and see whats the difference.

Buy that new one and sell the broken one for half the price or even lesser, it's a win-win choice!

RjMaan said:

I think you should repair the older model or you can also compare the specification of both i.e. the older one or the new one and see whats the difference.

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The problem is that 99% of the population do not have the necessary knowledge to make a meaningful comparrison between products which is why there are so many billionairs who made all their money by selling junk to greedy selfish ill informed fools who will happily go buy a new inferiour often dangerous poorly made & designed product every year "cause it is cheap"

On top of that, I am a repair technician and I have trouble understanding what the makers print about their products and most of it is tripe designed to make the product sound 200% better than it is.