Takes a licking and keep on clipping
Every lawn mower eventually starts to show its age. Ours is no exception. I can’t even tell you how old it is because we bought it second had at Proudfoot Motors about 6 or 7 years ago. I hose it down about once a month during the season and a good cleaning at the end. The rust though never sleeps here in the Maritimes.
Whether it is a push mower or a ride on mower, the mower deck is usually the first to go. A couple years ago one of the pulleys on top of the deck rusted itself loose. I had no welding equipment at the time so I just sandwiched some steel to keep it together. Now, one of the front bracket mounts is about to fall off.
Time for another overall inspection. To my surprise I also found a significant crack in the frame under the motor and near the steering.
First is to tackle the hardest part, the mower deck. I cut out the rusty parts and then use a scrap piece of metal (formerly a 10″ circular saw blade) to put in its place. Its won’t be pretty when I’m done and I don’t want it to be. If I can get another year out of it, that’s ok by me.
Like I said, it won’t be pretty. If anything, its pretty ugly. 🙂 And given the kind of steel it is, I’ll be lucky that blade holds through the summer. Only one way to find out!
Next up is the frame. Its not pretty to look at, but its pretty functional. A little rust protection spray on it and it should last for a while longer.
The grass won’t stop growing just because we stopped mowing. Time to get at it again.