It was only a matter of time. I mean, honestly, the thing was over twenty years old. So I wasn't surprised a few weeks ago when the fuel tank on the old cobbled together mower sprung a leak. Made of plastic, it looked a bit difficult to change; and honestly, it hadn't really been cutting all that well. Since the shaft on the motor was a bit short, keeping the blade too high from the bottom of the mower deck.

 

 

 

Now that my mother had sold the farm and moved into the retirement community, she had a person who mowed her lawn for her. I asked her if I could have the mower that she had purchased to do trimming on the farm. It was only six or seven years old. She relented and I brought it home. I really did not like it. The height of cut could not be adjusted, it did not mulch, and it didn't have a bagger - but it was free.

Today I rolled it out of the shed, intent on mowing. I noticed the number of leaves on the ground, and again lamented the fact that it didn't have a bagger. Then I thought "Hmm. It worked once, wonder if it would work again?"

 

I checked the bottom. The bolt patterns looked the same. So, I began removing parts. First I ran them both to drain all of the fuel. Then I pulled off the blades from each mower.

 

 

 

 

 

So far, so good. Now to removed the three bolts holding each engine to the deck. I supported the engine with a small bucket while I undid the bolts.

 

 

 

 

Then I began to undo the cables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I pulled the engines from their respective decks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reversing the order, I put the engine from the newer Bolens mower on the, by now well used, Troy-Bilt deck.

The blade was pretty dull, so I took it down and sharpened it. (Remember - SAFETY GOGGLES!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I went to put the blade on. And discovered a wee bit of an issue. Oops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The blades were different, so I decided to pull the blade mounts off the shafts. The Bolens mount just fell off. The old K-Mart / Troy-Bilt wasn't so easy. I didn't hold out much hope - like I said, it had been on there for over twenty years. I grabbed my trusty gear puller and fought with it for twenty minutes. It won, however - breaking before it came off of the shaft. I should have sprayed it with WD-40 or Kroil and let is soak, but I was in a hurry...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I looked at the blades again. One had an X pattern, the other just a hole.. wait, a hole with a spacer in it. I knocked out the spacer and tried the old blade - it FIT! I took the old blade down to the grinder and sharpened it, also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, I had the old blade on the new enginge (mounted to the old deck). I checked the oil and fueled it up. Off to mow the lawn. The clippings and leaves were bagged and added to the compost bin and piles. Later this Fall, the mulched and bagged leaves will just be put the garden and flower beds. They add a lot of nutrients and break down well over the winter months.

This mower is starting to sound like the old joke my father used to tell about the Red Wing work boots he'd owned. "I had those boots since I was a kid. I replaced the soles twice and the uppers three times, but them's the same boots..."