Kind of feel bad...

Picked up a free push mower about a mile from home last night. Talked to the guy in his driveway, and he just said it wouldn't start. He asked me what I would do with it, "try to fix it, but I'm not very good at that. So it will likely get scrapped." When I got home I gave it a pull and it seem locked up. What a shame I thought, here is a very nice Toro GTS 6.5 HP 22" rear drive personal pace with bagger that someone didn't put enough oil in. It was late so I didn't do any tinkering. This morning I was prepared to rip the motor off the deck and get things ready for the yard. First thing though I flipped up the lid that covers the grass chute, so that it mulches and doesn't shoot the grass out the side. On the back edge of the chute was a stick perfectly wedged in place to stop the mowing blade. Pull the stick out, shut the lid, and the mower ran like a champ. Nicest push mower I've ever owned, kinda feel bad but I know the guy had a brand new mower in his garage already anyways.

Don't worry about it I once found a snowblower without a primer, put a screw in it and used starting fluid to start it and it ran for 4 seasons.

If you want to ease your soul....drop back by with a $20 bill for. him. Tell him you got it going, and would love for him to call you if he hears about any junk equipment, metal, or electronics.

Could be the best $20 you ever dropped.....in any case you still got a hell of a deal.

Too bad he already bought another one..i wouldve tried selling it back to him lol...

Either way, u made a buck or several due to ur knowledge that others do not have...you shouldnt feel bad that you take the time to look something over thoroughly before tossing it..someone else considered it worthless and you made a profit...

Thats the way the ball rolls..i say, Nice Job!!!

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Originally Posted by Enoch43

If you want to ease your soul....drop back by with a $20 bill for. him. Tell him you got it going, and would love for him to call you if he hears about any junk equipment, metal, or electronics.

Could be the best $20 you ever dropped.....in any case you still got a hell of a deal.

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This thought did cross my mind. The wallet doesn't have $20 in it at this time. Maybe after a run to the yard tomorrow. Still won't tell him what it took to fix it. I'll have to make up some story of pulling the carb off, replacing gaskets, polishing rusted spots, replacing the plug, and adjusting the linkages.

Could just say you sold it off for more then scrap to a fella that repairs them, etc. Either way, I think your doing right by him to drop him a couple bucks. Others may disagree but it'll make him happy an gain you some nice karma in the bank. He'll also remember you an tell his friends about you hopefully.

Nothing means more then a man/woman's rep/word.

Sirscrapalot - Sometimes doing the right thing means giving up a bit of profit. - Me..far as I know

No shame in that game, my friend. No need to make up stories, just say that a half hour with a beer and a fluff and buff and she started right up. The future is the story, not the past. The cash you press into his hand bought the past.

i'm with sirscrapsalot here give him a few bucks when you have it and be known as the honest scrapper. I received a chainsaw that was "broken" which meant he pulled the pull start apart and the spring came out he didn't have the patience to put it back together. I did, sold it as a used chainsaw, after a couple of cords of wood that needed to be bucked, and returned $20 to him. Have picked up a few loads from the same guy over the years and he ALWAYS remembers that saw and guess who he calls to pick up his stuff.

No! He could have looked and found the stick, but he chose to buy a new one, and to give you his old one!

I had an apartment on the lower level of a little old lady's home in Nashville, and noticed two mowers out by the road. She said the mower guy was supposed to haul them off, but if they sat there another week I could have the one I'd asked about, a Craftsman with a B&S 4HP push mower. She said her son had hit a tree root sticking up, and it sounded like the engine was flying apart, but it looked great on the outside, so after a week I grabbed it. I was doing some work at a country club there, and asked a guy in their shop if he'd give it a look. He said it was likely a sheer key on the blade, which was exactly what it turned out to be, and for $5 it ran like new again. By this time I'd already moved and it stayed in storage unneeded until I moved to a more country type place (where I had to mow my own grass ; ). I did pure bush hogging with that thing for about 10 years there.
You got a lot better deal than I did, but I kinda know the feeling
Good luck with it man

I've never bought a mower. Nor anyone I know has had to buy a mower, unless they wanted to. Don't feel bad some just need a tweek here or there.

o:)He should pay you ,for your removal services!>:)

Reminds me of when I once bought this old lawn runner a john dear from my neighber for $20 . He never could get it started ???
This was about 5 years ago and I was not even scrapping yet but I knew that was a good deal
I put fuel into it , new batteries and it started perfect hydrostatic trans works fine also
I felt bad also from his confused look when he saw me using it. But thats being in the right place at the right time .

You say you feel bad for fixing something that was given to you, and you think lying about it will make you feel better???

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Originally Posted by happyscraper

You say you feel bad for fixing something that was given to you, and you think lying about it will make you feel better???

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Not about me, me, me. I wish to thank the guy, teach the guy, without totally pissing the guy off. How abouts I say, "I changed the gas, changed the oil, changed the plug, cleaned out the carb, adjusted the safety shut-off linkage and there was no change. It was then that I noticed the stick wedged in the deck. Removed it and it runs fine. It's a heck of a mower let me give you $20 as a thank-you for it."

He gets taught what fixed it, I get to offer him $20 as thanks, and hopefully he sees that we all overlook simple things once in a while.

Or I could try, "Hey dumby, there was just a little stick stuck in the deck holding the blade from turning. Let me give you $20 bucks for that $370 mower you just gave me."

....

I decided to give it a little time before going back and thanking him. I've used the mower for all of 10 minutes and it could have some other defects hiding that I don't know about. If the mower lasts awhile I'll stop by and thank him then.

Why is it so many reply with a few words about how a member can lie about what happens instead of telling the truth.
I like the idea of offering to pay a few bucks for it, and hoping he will give you future business. like Sirscrapalot says.... Nothing means more then a man/woman's rep/word.

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Originally Posted by Bear

I had an apartment on the lower level of a little old lady's home in Nashville, and noticed two mowers out by the road. She said the mower guy was supposed to haul them off, but if they sat there another week I could have the one I'd asked about, a Craftsman with a B&S 4HP push mower. She said her son had hit a tree root sticking up, and it sounded like the engine was flying apart, but it looked great on the outside, so after a week I grabbed it. I was doing some work at a country club there, and asked a guy in their shop if he'd give it a look. He said it was likely a sheer key on the blade, which was exactly what it turned out to be, and for $5 it ran like new again. By this time I'd already moved and it stayed in storage unneeded until I moved to a more country type place (where I had to mow my own grass ; ). I did pure bush hogging with that thing for about 10 years there.
You got a lot better deal than I did, but I kinda know the feeling
Good luck with it man

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One time I found a brand new lawn mower and I mean like they took it out of box and threw it away. It had this weird shaking so I thought it was the key. Nope either at the factory or the dumb people put the spacers on the blade wrong and it bent the shaft. ):

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Originally Posted by Caveman

Picked up a free push mower about a mile from home last night. Talked to the guy in his driveway, and he just said it wouldn't start. He asked me what I would do with it, "try to fix it, but I'm not very good at that. So it will likely get scrapped." When I got home I gave it a pull and it seem locked up. What a shame I thought, here is a very nice Toro GTS 6.5 HP 22" rear drive personal pace with bagger that someone didn't put enough oil in. It was late so I didn't do any tinkering. This morning I was prepared to rip the motor off the deck and get things ready for the yard. First thing though I flipped up the lid that covers the grass chute, so that it mulches and doesn't shoot the grass out the side. On the back edge of the chute was a stick perfectly wedged in place to stop the mowing blade. Pull the stick out, shut the lid, and the mower ran like a champ. Nicest push mower I've ever owned, kinda feel bad but I know the guy had a brand new mower in his garage already anyways.

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dont feel bad, its life. I once had a mechanic who i took my car to do an an oil change, try to charge me $11 labor to REPLACE (not for the part) an air filter . Only reason i was gonna have it done, was because i didnt want to make another stop that day. NEEDLESS TO SAY i ended up stopping, buying and installing myself

I wouldn't even mention the stick. Might make him feel stupid and he might not call you again.

Just some tinkering and some time and you got it up and running, slip him a $20 and your card and thank him.

UPDATE!

Well it turns out the mower was an oil leaker. Slowly a puddle formed in my garage. It appeared someone over-tightened the oil drain as the block was cracked there, even missing a little chunk. I ripped the motor off the chassis, and tried to put another good running motor on it, but things didn't line up.

The chassis sat in the backyard for the summer. It was just too nice to scrap. This week I found a similar mower, or near identical. But this one was beat up. The tires were wobbly, the handles bent, the plastic motor cover broken, dirty black oil, and......a recently frayed cable running to the safety switch on the motor. Pulled that motor off and had it on the old chassis in no time. Didn't even have to put gas in it. Probably should have changed the oil, but I only ran it for a minute.

So, not really a day in the life of a Scrapper, but rather a couple days, or a Scrapper Summer.