Feast or Famine, right?
For the last 5 years I have been wanting a Riding Lawnmower and The Wifely Unit kept shooting me down.
All at once it’s OK for me to get one because she finally figured out that her Dad can’t do it anymore and there isn’t anyone else available, except me, of course and I literally can’t walk behind a self propelled mower to cut the grass on a quarter of an acre of lawn that is on a hill with two levels anymore.
I wouldn’t last five minutes.
If you have been following along with my adventures and the absolutely crazy generosity of some folks, you will know that I now have not one, but two, John Deere riding lawnmowers outside.
One I got running and it works, the other has the engine torn apart but is otherwise good condition.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the little trailer that my buddy gave me too.
So Plan A was for me to get one running, fix the trailer and then drag the thing 75 miles back and forth to the Father In Laws as needed.
Plan B was to fix both of the things and then take one over there to leave and use as needed.
Plan C was Plan A with a twist.
Fix one and drag it back and forth and turn the other one into a Yard Dog tractor.
I guess that means as of today, I am on Plan D.
I was talking to some guy at work about riding mowers and he asked me if I wanted to buy that one.
For $150.
He said his wife told him to go buy a new one.
He has 5 acres and doesn’t like to mess with them.
He has a Husquvarna rider also but the crank is snapped on that one and I don’t want anything to do with that.
He says it still has a good seat on it and he is going to give that to me.
This one ran last Summer and he parked it when he got the new one.
It even came with two brand new blades still in the plastic.
It needs a battery right out of the gate but not only did it come with the plastic tote style double bagger set up, it even has a key!
No WAY!
Hell that Bagger set up is worth what I paid for the whole show.
The thing looks to be in pretty good shape so I am hoping it won’t take much to get it going.
When I get it up to snuff I am dragging it over to the Father In Law’s place and dumping it off.
That would be a huge problem taken care of and would take the pressure off of me having to thrash that motor back together or drag the one back and forth all the time.
Now I will be able to take my time.
I may still just swap the engine that runs on to the the better mower and go from there.
I has possibilities now.
Thank you Jesus, what a heck of a deal and a huge break my way that I really needed.
Update;
Nope, The Wife freaked out.
Says her dad absolutely won’t allow a riding lawnmower to sit around anywhere.
He has a basically empty garage, a quarter of an acre with two sheds on it and nope.
She still wants me to drag a fucking lawnmower back and forth 75 fucking miles every time he needs his damn lawn mowed.
Fuck me.
Looks like I either fix and use this one or sell the fucker.
Somehow this whole deal sounds a bit unreasonable to me.
Maybe I’ll wait and see who jumps up and volunteers to mow that yard before I do anything else.
Awesome Phil! So happy for ya!
Look at the update.
That is fucking unreasonable as hell!
There are, how do I say, some contentious discussions going on right now. Some even more unreasonable demands have been handed down and I am about two seconds from TSHTF.
It’s already ugly.
Sorry ya gotta go through that, never fun and too damn stressful.
Just wait and see how tall the grass gets before the acquiesce to storing the riding mower. I have zero fucks to give on shit like that! Someone expects me (you) to do them a favor, an ongoing favor no less, but seeks to impose limitations on how I (you) do that favor? Fuuuck That shit!
Well fuck. When you’re doing someone a favor, they should be willing to accommodate you. Put your foot down. Or up someone’s ass, whichever is applicable. Sorry for your woes.
Damn! I sure am glad I’m an old widow woman these days. You have my sympathies.
Well, at least with Wifely Unit’s plan, you won’t have a trailer sitting around doing nothing. *runz* (Well, more like shuffles off dragging one leg, cackling madly)
I would tell the Wifey Unit AND Dad that the second mower goes over in his garage or the lawn doesn’t get mowed. Period. Dot.
Stand your ground, what they both want is unreasonable.
” her dad absolutely won’t allow a riding lawnmower to sit around anywhere”
I was taught to respect the elderly (and loved my grandmother, who lived with us when I was a wee child, dearly) but FIL needs to get a grip and be grateful that you’re mowing his lawn at all.
UNLESS, FIL didn’t make that demand at all, but it comes solely from wifey her own self, for Reasons.
I’m with Igor and Mike_C. Mike_C put his finger on what I was wondering, are you not speaking to your FIL directly? Is there a communication problem? This is something to sort out man to man, if your FIL is not succumbing to dementia.
My mother was exactly in this level of unreasonable about getting help from us as she approached her 70th birthday. I finally had to go completely limp on her so that she learned the most important lesson I had:
You can either accept the help I CAN give you, or get NOTHING. There is no third option..
Eventually, it worked itself out.
FormerFlyer
Worse that can happen , is you get written out of the will…
That’d be me cuz , that asshole could just mow his own grass.
Hell , my mom was still riding her mower , up till she passed last year at 88 yrs old
Some people..
Does the Dad Unit have a neighbor close by who has a place to store the rider? Driving it 3-5 minutes to/from beats hauling it 150 miles round trip. If you have to make it look like you’re still hauling it, an inflatable or plywood mockup to put in the truck might work.
“She still wants me to drag a fucking lawnmower back and forth 75 fucking miles every time he needs his damn lawn mowed.”
– fuck that.
*blinks* Look, I was taught to respect my elders, but there’s been more than once I’ve wanted to give a certain older woman (likely my mother’s age, sorry Phil) a piece of my mind here.
Either she can get your help, without dictating terms, or she can do it her ownself. That’s how I run my life…
AFTER you drop off said riding lawnmower, have the old lady put an ad in the paper to HIRE some kid to ride the thing around the old man’s yard. That has got to be cheaper than driving, hauling a trailer, YOUR time, and aggravation.
Offer to give it to one of his neighbors for free if they’ll store it and mow his lawn.
That would put me in ‘take it or leave it’ mode.
I’d take the one you fixed over, leave it, and dare him to move it.
If he does, he can pay for a lawn service.
Yeah, you got all the advice I could give. But it does remind me of a story. When the old cowboy cook got tired of all the griping, he said, ” next one of ya that complains gets to cook!” Then he started putting coal oil in the beans. So, I guess, not mowing is about the same thing.
I’m all for harmonious marriages but sometimes….
Get on the tractor. Tractor time is some of the best time and peaceful. Listen to head banger music while riding and you will have a better attitude I promise.
How long do you expect that little trailer to last dragging it loaded with a riding mower 75 miles every week or so? And, I am sure you don’t want to be loading/unloading a riding mower into a truck bed instead of onto a trailer every time.
75 miles. For the cost of gas to drive that to and fro, you could hire a kid & mower and still have $$ left over. You know, like for tools and material and such.
I’d buy the meanest, orneryest, stinkiest billy goat I could find and go stake it to his lawn…there, now his grass will get cut.
And fertilized at the same time. 😉
What is with people wanting favors but only a certain way?
Makes far more sense (maybe that’s the problem?) to leave the mower there.
I do not want to say anything bad about your Lovely Wife, but dang…I wouldn’t even consider telling my Hubby he had to drag a mower both ways everytime to do my Dad a favor.
Hope you guys can come to a resolution that makes sense for everyone.
Especially for the guy doing all the work!
Buy the one for $150, fix it good, sell it for $750. Buy some canned veggies with the money.
That’s fucking horseshit Phil. I know you know that but ffs…
and I willing to bet you don’t get any money for gas even ?
I stop doing shit like that a long time ago. you end up helping more people out with shit and never get anything you want done.
one can always point out there are guys that do this shit for a living- pay them to do it. if he got that much land, he can afford to pay someone to cut it if he going to be a asshole about having a mower there. my 2 cents. for what it worth.
and forget about being in the will. that shit always goes to some other worthless fuck who never help the clown out. why ? I don’t know, but it always seems to work out that way.
fix the other mower and sell the damn thing, get YOURSELF something nice with the cash.
Fuck that noise. His yard would look like the Amazon Rainforest and I wouldn’t loose a wink of sleep over it.
Retired lawn mowers were relegated to the proverbial junk pile. Four generations of stuff along with purchased or otherwise acquired building equipment, equipment, possibles, et cet, finally the DIL said “it has to go.”
Well, in your 70s the kids have the Say. So, I scrapped stuff on the installment plan. Iron, copper, aluminum and brass. Saving the good stuff, I still have taken tons to the recycler. Made room for the new(-ish) farm implements, plus provided “ammo” (receipts) against anyone giving me Green crap.
What model Husky mower? I love mine now that it’s fixed.
As far as the mower stay or go shenanigans I think most of the comments are
spot on. You’re going out of your way to help and NOPE no reciprocation??.
That ain’t right.
Find a kid over there. Offer him, her the mower to make money mowing lawns.
150 miles round trip at 20mpg is 25.00-30.00 in fuel alone+time+energy+bullshit.
Cheapest option is the kid. One rule is they have to send you a picture when it’s done. My 2c.
On a positive note, if you get the right “kid”…..
Voila, “Bustednuckles Get Off My Lawn Care Co.” is in business!!
You know, divorce lawyers are worth the money spent.