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Our mower decided to do a no-start condition.
The local repair place wanted $50 to diagnose it, and that $50 would go into any repairs needed.
A direct replacement mower is $450 at Lowe's.
We figured we'd be money ahead having it fixed.
They called back today.
Another $250 to fix the carb, oil change, spark plug and air filter. With a sharpening.
A whole new carb with plug and filter is $24. A quart of oil is less than $10.
Since the diagnosis was all labor... $266 to diagnose and replace about $35 in parts.
Yeah... no.
While still cheaper than $450 for a new mower, swapping a carb is within my skill set, so $24 is a LOT cheaper than $250 more.
I don't begrudge them the $50 diagnostic fee at all. Thanks!
But $216 for another hour of work is excessive.
I've replaced several Briggs & Stratton carbs over the past 10-15 years. Once you've done it a couple of times it is really easy. The older 2-3 HP models a whole new carb can be had off eBay for < $15. I used to actually take the carbs apart and rebuild them but it actually costs just about as much for the rebuild kit as an assembled carb does and it saves 15 minutes to 1/2 hour of work fiddling with gaskets and springs and stuff.
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That's how you price yourself out of business. For that much you can get two throwaway mowers (use one season, then throw it away) from Wallyworld.
ReplyDeleteBonus: if you keep the one you use one season (and either broke the powerhead or the deck) you can use it to frankenstein a functional mower out of the second season dead mower (with the broken deck or powerhead.) Done it for years. At the end of the season, pull the carb and disassemble it and you can probably get another season out of them. A chunk of aluminum plate (like, oh, say similar to sign metal) and you can reinforce a broken deck from below, extending the life of the throwaway mowers for another season or two.
Carbs are cheaper than carb kits nowadays.
As long as your fuel system is clean at end-of-season, even a crappy motor can be kept going.
Angus - Here is the methodology for keeping any mower working every year without worries. Order a 10 pack of cheap fuel cutoff valves with 1/4 or whatever size fuel line goes from the tank to the carb, cut the line or add a small piece of hose and insert the shutoff. Every end of season, I put some Stabil in the fuel tank, fill it to the top, run the mower about 5 minutes with the fuel now in the tank, then shut off the cutoff and let the mower (or any other machine) run until it quits - this leaves the bowl empty with the needle valve open and what little fuel is there evaporates. Next season, turn on the valve and away you go. The only machines I have had to rebuild (or as noted, just slap on a new Chinese knockoff) are used ones where other owners did not follow this simple process. Granted your mowing season is months longer than mine (Meecheegan) but it works just the same.
ReplyDeleteOur no-mow season is well within storage limits without using Stabil as long as we stick to E-0.00 gas.
DeleteThe current mower is 8 years old and has only failed two previous times, both from crud from ethanol.
This time is conventional crud, but it presented as a valve problem to me... It was acting like no compression, but that's how a clogged jet will also act, I have now learned.
New carb, plug, filter and oil change and we're prolly looking at 8 more years with this mower.
I've got one mower that was the cheapest one Wal-Mart sold back in 1996, around $100 I think. It's an MTD I think. The motor is one of the old school flathead Briggs & Strattons. It's on it's third carb now and probably 5th spark plug. I've added oil a few times but never really flushed it. I've had to replace a couple of the plastic wheels because they became brittle and broke. I've crudely sharpened the blade with an angle ginder a couple times. The deck is rusty as hell... But the damn thing still runs. And I don't even bother to put the (expensive) Ethanol free gas in it or do anything over the "winter". I usually plant winter rye grass in late fall after it quits getting over 90 degrees every day to provide ground cover when the St. Augustine/Bermuda goes dormant so there really isn't a month that is completely mow-free around here. I've got a 2nd mower that is very similar to the MTD, it's a Murray, but same basic design and the same series B&S motor. I got it for free off the curb about 20 years ago when a neighbor moved. It wasn't running but a carb rebuild and a new plug was all it needed. I've put a couple of carbs on it since then but it's been a similar experience to the other one unsurprisingly. The B&S motors out of that era just don't seem like you can mistreat them enough to kill them. The newer OHC models don't seem to be nearly as reliable. I have one the neighbor gave me that seems to have broken something in the valve train. I keep it because the deck and wheels are good and I figure sooner or later another motor will come along. I have another one of those newer ones where I've had to repair the deck similar to what Beans was talking about. Right now I need to find some nuts to property secure the cover over the pull start because it has come loose and is rattling. I think I can steal the parts off the bad motor, I just haven't gotten around to it because it has been so hot and dry there has been no need to mow. Even the weeds are looking sickly.
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Bolens is our brand. It's an MTD made for Lowe's. The 500E B&S engine is incredibly common and, it turns out, simple to work on.
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