I knew that if I was to face my nemesis on this great run of luck I am having, I would have the first chance in YEARS to defeat it.
Enter the TORO Recycler 53cm lawnmower.
Somehow this model ended up in the UK, and I bid on it and won. Was sick of plastic bladed electric nonsense and wanted a petrol mower. Did absolutely no research whatsoever, but something about this cheap lawnmower drew me in. I think I got it for about 90 quid, which wasn't bad at the time - New ones were 150+ and were tiny little things made of plastic - This was 1000 dollars worth of mower and knew it would be a bit tired but all spare parts were available if needed. It started easily for the guy I bought it off, and I checked it was cold before he pulled the cord effortlessly once, and it immediately fired right up. wheels were a bit wobbly, some bolts were missing, but it worked, took unleaded petrol, and I was happy with it - apart from the WEIGHT.
Had to go back and pickup my trailer! This mower was all metal and weighed about the same as a saab 9000 gearbox! - got it home, and immediately put it to work - bingo! The BEST cut ever, perfectly striped too which was new to me. I felt like a groundsman at Wimbledon, or imagined being a newcomer at the National Mowing Championships who just trounced the opposition. Damn, this felt good after years of curse word mowers/cut leads/plastic blade nonsense.
Used it throughout that summer and although getting difficult to start, I persevere. Even emptying the carb of fuel, along with the fuel in the tank - getting it ready for the long unused winter months. Next summer however - refused to start. I am not particularly unfit but the action of starting a lawnmower with a pull string should be an olympic sport - I tried sooooo much to get this to start - I imagined my return to the National Mowing Championships being stuck on the first mow with the commentators going 'Is this the same guy who took the trophy last year? He can't even start it!' - so I left the mower in the shed as I was given another to borrow.
The new mower was ok but not a patch on the Toro. It was some chinese thing that stole the logo BMC from the defunct car company, and called themselves the 'BRITISH MOWER CORP' - Didn't quite do the job but it worked and kept the other half happy.
Every now and then I would try and get this thing started, and it soon occured to me that it pretty much needed everything that could be removed. Coil, spark plug, carb, governor spring, fuel line, air filter, fuel filter, coil lead & drive belt.
Well, With this new found confidence - I bought all the parts. totalling the same as the cost of the mower which was a surprise.
First issue, most of the bolts were stripped, and were a strange american thread pitch. managed to get hold of some online. fitted new carb along with the governor spring, fitted the coil, gapped it with the spark plug box paper, gapped spark plug same way, spark plug was an absolute pig to remove though, and in desperation I used a far too powerful impact driver. The wrong direction. one unfortunate trigger press and - oops - oh, that will be fine - wrong direction - reversed it and out it popped. In with the new plug.
Primed the carb, pulled the start lead ...... right off in my hand. curse word. Found some suitable cord and repaired it. Tried again and BANG!
The spark plug launches itself out the mower with a puff of compression - don't know how fast it was going but it made a noise as it flew somewhere down the garden. I don't even flinch, and go straight to the garage to the box of old spark plugs I had for no reason at all - Found an old AC plug from a 79 Chevette with a longer thread which went in perfectly, and this time whilst starting, It was making a horrible noise at the flywheel. It had come loose. Easily tightened. Won't be using the impact, tried to tighten but nope. that threaded too.
Now, normal people give up at this point, but trouble is - I can weld. Found an old box spanner that fit over the thread, found an old drill, found a 3/8 adapter, a socket to fit the top of the box spanner and within 30mins had an electric start (via drill) mower - perfect. still won't start - forgot to gap the new plug. Got it started. Huge noise and scraping of the patio as the blade decided to detach. No problem. Tighten that up. Didn't thread this time.
Nope. No start. have a mower that looks like some art exhibit now and will try again next summer.
Get a petrol mower, they said - So much easier than electric - Those words in my head as I ask to borrow the neighbours plastic bladed electric mower.
Luck over! Knew this would be tough. Beaten by a lawnmower. Until next year...