The lawn needed mowing….

So of course Lady Luck decided to go on the rag….

I bought an older Craftsman L1000 from a guy a couple years ago cheap.

Had some issues but finally got it going. It has been fairly dependable. until this evening.

I had to mess with it a bit because it’s been sitting for a while but I finally got it running and went out and started in. Every other time I went to back up, it felt like I was running over something. So I just avoided backing up and finally got it mowed.

I had been having some trouble with the starter hanging up and the blade engagement cable sticking and not letting the blades disengage. So I pulled it up between the cars and went and got the WD-40. The starter mounting bolts were loose so I tightened them up and sprayed the Bendix so it would spin and disengage, then started in on the cable. While I’m messing with that, the Wifely Unit comes and  and is watching. I’m sitting in the seat and pretty soon she points down at the deck and asks what is that hanging down?

I knew the deck was rusting out already and it had some holes in it. I got off and looked and the entire right front pivot arm was laying on the ground, dragging.

It had rusted out at the weld and the whole weld had pulled off. So I unpinned it and threw it off to the side. Time for another deck, this one is too far gone to patch. After I got done messing around, I started it up and because the driveway is slanted, it started rolling backwards. I threw it in gear and let the pedal out, nothing.

It sat there and shit the belt when I shut it off.

The only lucky thing was that it shit the bed, after I got done mowing the yard,

We ended up pushing the damn thing around the cars, up through the rocks past the garbage can, through the gate and into the side yard.

That was it for me. No blood flow to the legs. Both of them cramped up with Charlie Horses and it was all I could do to lean against the mower to stand up.

I am currently on Craigslist and Fake Book Marketplace looking for another deck….

I found an entire mower that looks to be a bit older less than 5 miles away for fifty bucks that has a good deck but no answer and message box is full.

Found a couple other decks for about a hundred, will be making phone calls tomorrow after I get done having a Cat Scan and get back to work.