Wednesday, September 01, 2010

I Must Be a Redneck

You know you might be a redneck when you need a slingblade to find your lawnmower.  My mower has an issue and I ordered parts which were promptly back ordered.
Ordinarily this would be OK because with the temps hotter than the devil's love interest, the grass usually doesn't grow. But it rained the last three days and the grass grew like kudzu. So now I can't find my mower. 
One problem is that the steering gear has worn badly which makes you look like a drunk when you try to turn the wheel. I tried to loosen the gear so that I could replace it, but it requires an impact wrench. I have an air compressor (which is needed to make an impact wrench work), but I didn't have a wrench. I bought one  yesterday.
When I hooked up the wrench and fired up the air compressor, it blew an air hose. I went today and bought a replacement hose and installed it. I then tried to fire the compressor up again, but the electric motor began to smoke and fire shot out from the internal parts before I could unplug it. 
I threw in the towel this evening and went inside for supper. If I don't have better luck tomorrow, I'm going shopping for a new mower.
Maybe the compressor gods will show favor.
More later.
The Frustrated Mechanic

6 comments:

  1. I would have clicked on "so sad!" if there was an option at the bottom of the post. I hate projects like that! Hope you get some of the cool we are enjoying this weekend. It seems like this has been a really long, hot summer. Good luck with the mower!
    tm

    ReplyDelete
  2. I must be a Northerner. What is a 'slingblade' ?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey TM,
    I'm planning a fresh attack today and I think I can whip it.
    Kris,
    A slingblade is a sharp blade with a handle that is used for cutting tall weeds and bushes.
    I'll see if I can find a photo and post it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now that looks like a really useful tool! Thanks for the pic.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like Murphy's Law in action. Good luck with the slingblade. I remember using a scythe to "mow" my lawn back in the 50's before I had a better mower.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think you're either a vert patient man or you have glossed over a few facts because if that was me it wouldn't have just been the electric motor that was smoking and spitting fire. I hope things go better for you.

    ReplyDelete

Please consider sharing

Email Signup Form

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required