<p>This time it’s the lawn mower. We have a John Deere about 4 and 1/2 years old. It’s self-propelling. The engine works but something in self-propelling gave out. It doesn’t respond. We can’t repair it ourselves. Klutzy and no tools to open up. Getting someone to come out and just look will cost about $100. What do you think?</p>
<p>Take the mower to a shop to avoid the $100 trip charge. If the shop can fix it and tune it up for $100, or less, get it fixed.</p>
<p>We’ll have to disemble it to fit in the car to take it to a shop. Then I have worry engine oil spilling over soiling the car. I’d pay a $100 to avoid the hassle.</p>
<p>The oil won’t spill out of mower unless you put it in your trunk upside down. If you have money to blow, ditch the mower and hire someone to mow your lawn.</p>
<p>If you do replace, consider a Honda. We had a long discussion at a wedding reception yesterday about lawn mowers. Ours is 20+ years old and still works great. We have it tuned up every 5 years and that’s about it. My H sharpens the blades and changes the oil about every other year. Others with Hondas have had the same experience.</p>
<p>only 4 1/2 years? I would spend the $100 to find out what it will cost to fix.</p>
<p>We have been through this equation. Assuming you had it four years and you pat three hundred dollars you paid seventy five a year. Cheaper than a gardener by far and you got some exercise. Replace it. (assuming that you have a way to dispose of it. Otherwise you may have to put it in your car anyway.). Around here you can find the neighbors gardener and give it to them as they will be able to fix it themselves or know somebody who can or know somebody just starting out who doesn’t care if it doesn’t self propel.</p>
<p>I know! It’s $50 to get it cut each time. I used to have someone cut it for me. The trouble is we need to cut high since we don’t apply chemical fertilizer on the lawn. Contractors can’t always remember going rounds from house to house. They shaved my grass off a few times. They were sorry but too late. </p>
<p>$50 will dispose it. Good idea looking for someone to give away.</p>
<p>Honda 20+ years old. That’s amazing. My mower handles a lot. In addition to cutting, it also mulches leaves in the fall, a lot of leaves, two truck loads.</p>
<p>If the engine runs, the fix woukd seem to be uneventful…perhaps the cable came undone from the handle to engine…i would look into fixing this…if it were the engine, i’d replace it</p>
<p>Put it on craigslist and sell it. We sold our 12 year old rider with the wiring all burnt out (dh set it on fire) for $400. Otherwise, many repair shops pick up. Look on craigslist for someone to repair it. A John Deere should last longer than 4 years. I would repair it.</p>
<p>I gave up on selling of any kind. When my kid grew out of her toddler gears, we tried to sell. It seemed sensible thing to do. Many of them were practically new. After receiving many phone calls and visits from strangers interrupting my light sleeper’s nap time, may be we made $50? Car seat Preggo strollers, etc. </p>
<p>The cable is attached to the handle. I see it moving slightly when I apply pressure. To make sure it is, I need to open up. The thing is it requires a star shaped wrench. I don’t have the right size.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to sell and just want to get rid of it, put a “curb alert” on craigslist. You can list it as a free item for pick-up. You put it on the street, and it magically disappears. Someone is happy to have it, and you are happy it’s gone!</p>
<p>Anyone handy with tools should be able to fix this type of problem in a few minutes. Cable or belt would be first on my check list … or perhaps one of the (two) pulley’s came loose. You’d be really unlucky if the problem was any more complex than that. If the engine was bad, yes, junk it. If you choose to replace I’d suggest putting up a “For $50 it’s yours” sign. Mowers that run sell fast.</p>
<p>I agree it’s a simple probelm to fix. Is it my old age? Dealing with small screws and nuts seems such a struggle. I have already taken on a lot physical labor as it is.</p>
<p>I doubt that it’d take more than a couple of hand tools to get access to see what’s going on and those tools probably wouldn’t cost much so you should probably dismiss the “I don’t have the tools” excuse. Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, and auto parts stores probably have the tools needed.</p>
<p>But if really you just don’t want to work on it yourself, you could rent a pickup truck to take the mower to the repair shop and retrieve it for way less than $100. Better yet, see if a friend has a pickup or SUV (depending on the size of the mower) who’d be willing to cart it there and back for you. </p>
<p>If you know of a neighborhood teen/young adult who’s into working on cars/motorcycles (not so many people like that anymore) or a ‘handy’ neighbor, and especially if you have whatever tools are necessary to remove the cover, then maybe they’d be willing to take a quick look at it. I’d be willing to do that for a neighbor (and have) and wouldn’t charge them anything.</p>
<p>I had a 20 year old Toro with the cast-aluminum deck, I loved that mower but the engine finally died and it wasn’t worth fixing. The cable for the self-propel broke at some point, but I decided that instead of fixing it I would embrace it as a way to get more exercise. 
</p>
<p>The new ones are all stamped steel, I do not expect to get 20 years out of my new one.</p>
<p>In this case I would fix it. Even if it costs $200, it should last at least 4 more years, so you come out ahead. And it’s much “greener”.</p>
<p>I already tried the mower without self propel. Couldn’t. My yard is too hilly for that. We had a Toro before this one. Our brand-new driver drove my new car, 3 month-old at that time, into it. Got it repaired. It cost me about $200. It kicked the bucket anyway about 6 month later. There’s certain satisfaction in using something to their natural death. I am not getting it when it comes to lawn mowers. My mowers are heavily used.</p>
<p>uc… dad, there are only about 3 people who cut their grass in my block. We have the most tools among them. These wrenches, you need right shape and right size. I can get them but…</p>
<p>^^^Whoa, wait a minute! You’ve got a driver, as in chauffeur, and you’re asking for advice on what to do with a lawn mower? We should be getting paid by you by Pay-Pal for giving you advice on this blog!</p>
<p>Oh no, I meant a newly licensed driver!</p>
<p>Self propelled mowers usually have a lever to engage a tensioner wheel against a belt that engages the mower’s drive wheels (some front/some rear). If the mower doesn’t move when you engage the lever, the likeliest suspect is the belt that is broken, stretched or has slipped off a pulley wheel (much like the serpentine belt in your car). Or it could be a broken or detached stainless steel spring that provides the tension between the cable and the tensioner wheel. If you “feel” a difference in the way the lever engages, it could be the belt or the spring. Either way, it’s probably not an expensive repair. Your owner manual may even have an exploded view of the drive mechanism.</p>
<p>Still, without tools to help you disassemble the cover plate to get at the belt or spring, this is all academic. No offense, but how do you change out the spark plug on your mower? Change out the oil? Replace the air filter element?</p>
<p>My concern is that you’ll buy another mower and in four years time be right back to where you started from…</p>