The Home Improvement Thread

Do we need a Space Thread?  They just scrubbed Dragon X…

So I sunk about $65 for a new battery and $50 to have the problem diagnosed. The diagnosis is the mower needs a new motor. That will cost me $300 minus the $50 I already paid them.

I can get a new mower for $300. Should have done that in the first place.

Now i have to order a new mower and the weeds in the yard are past my knees.

Personally I think you should have just ordered a new mower

Things cost so much to fix these days…in the old days a pair of shoes was worth fixing


Unless something is high end and quality it’s not worth fixing


My current mower I have had about 6-7 years and I expect to need a new one any day

My BBQ grill have had 8-9 years and it’s on its last legs

Stuff isn’t made to last any more..

Space wrote:
weeds in the yard are past my knees.

Yada had a sweat-dream about this

hutch wrote:
Things cost so much to fix these days…in the old days a pair of shoes was worth fixing

This is true…
You gotta factor labor into any of these equations
Something that costs $300, there is no way that it's not going to cost almost the price of the purchase to fix that
then you still have old equipment that could break again

It is a shame and landfills are being filled with this kind of toxic crap

But the flip-side would be.  They could make a mower with parts that are easy to replace and fix…but that mower would probably cost $800

glorifying wrote:

hutch wrote:
Things cost so much to fix these days…in the old days a pair of shoes was worth fixing

This is true…
You gotta factor labor into any of these equations
Something that costs $300, there is no way that it's not going to cost almost the price of the purchase to fix that
then you still have old equipment that could break again

It is a shame and landfills are being filled with this kind of toxic crap

But the flip-side would be.  They could make a mower with parts that are easy to replace and fix…but that mower would probably cost $800

When I looked online about the problem symptoms, there were suggestions that it could be part x or part y, all of which were cheap. Except for the motor. I was trying to be environmentally correct and avoid filling the landfill but i failed.

My previously mentioned tv and a worn out pc-friendly computer desk are going to the landfill this weekend too, assuming it's open. Arrgh.

Sometimes it’s a borderline call..where there is no right or wrong answer


I think you should feel good about having tried… I like making things last… I wish the “system” did too!


What kind of mower will you be looking to purchase?

Is this where I mention I bought a lawn mower in 2010 for $159.00 that still works perfectly fine?

Ole Space, the king of wasting time in the hopes of saving no money.

Yada wrote:
Is this where I mention I bought a lawn mower in 2010 for $159.00 that still works perfectly fine?

Ole Space, the king of wasting time in the hopes of saving no money.

You said you pay $30 a pop for someone else to cut your lawn. I'm assuming they use their own equipment and aren't using your seldom used and still working perfectly fine mower?

hutch wrote:
Sometimes it’s a borderline call..where there is no right or wrong answer


I think you should feel good about having tried… I like making things last… I wish the “system” did too!


What kind of mower will you be looking to purchase?

I dunno. I still am inclined to get another battery powered mower. This one was a dud but the previous one was very good. I'll add that to looking for someone who will re-finish our deck (a project we've done ourselves in the past but would rather just pay for it at this point) to my to do list this weekend….as well as putting together a birthday picnic for my wife.

I have one of those things that has no motor

Just blades that rotate


I can give you that Space if you want to try it!

But I can’t recommend it..probably only good for people with a 4 square foot lawn



One of the worst purchases I ever made but very environmentally friendly

hutch wrote:
I think you should feel good about having tried… I like making things last… I wish the “system” did too!

I back this sentiment

hutch wrote:
One of the worst purchases I ever made but very environmentally friendly

Not when it goes in the landfill

hutch wrote:
I have one of those things that has no motor

Just blades that rotate


I can give you that Space if you want to try it!

But I can’t recommend it..probably only good for people with a 4 square foot lawn



One of the worst purchases I ever made but very environmentally friendly

Ha! Thanks but not thanks…had one of those in my childhood (I'm not sure why, we always lived in the country and had huge lawns) and am sure using one on my weed intensive lawn would be a slog. When we bought this place the lawn was perfectly manicured like many of our neighbor's lawns and i tried to keep it up with fertilizer and re-seeding but it didn't produce great results and seemed anti-enviro (and we got a dog who likes to eat the grass), so gave it up.

No problem I totally understand

Well I am keeping it…not sure what Sidehatch is since if I can’t get anyone to take it it’s staying in the shed

Space wrote:keep it up with fertilizer and re-seeding but it didn't produce great results

I think this is key.  Wasn't doing this for years

then went and got some Organic fertilizer and it stopped all the clover (which was taking over) and lawn looks great
One application

altought the last two years have been pretty wet, so that is a factor

hutch wrote:
I have one of those things that has no motor

Just blades that rotate

huh?  then what makes the blades rotate?  in most lawnmowers, it's the motor…

sweetcell wrote:

hutch wrote:
I have one of those things that has no motor

Just blades that rotate

huh?  then what makes the blades rotate?  in most lawnmowers, it's the motor…

umm…

That’s it a! A beaut

Mine is the rarer red variant!!!

My brother was using one of those to cut his three acre lawn for awhile. Then he bought a riding mower.

On the flip side, I laugh every time i see my neighbor using his riding mower on his quarter acre lawn (and it's not like he moved here from a bigger space, he moved here from a townhouse.

These mowers really suck if the grass gets at all high…that is the main problem with the one I bought

I think for the right person and house they are great