Death of Lawn Equipment

Today after work, i decided i would break down and perform the first lawn work of the season. After all, i was nearly the last one in the immediate area to do so. Well, after about 18 pulls on the cord, the lawn mower finally started. Now, this has a Briggs and Stratton engine that is supposed to start in one pull. The most i've ever had to pull is 3 times. So, i suppose i'll do some general maintenance to see if that will solve that problem.

However, the self-propelled portion of the lawn mower is nearly toast. I was having major issues with it. While i don't mind pushing under my own power, the shaft is not straight through and it goes through some gears in the transmission. So, it's not as simple as just pushing. I could tear the transmission apart again and replace the gears, but call me lazy, too much work for the gain.

Alas, as I was about to blow the remnants of my victory off of the driveway, the blower/vacuum combo started to crap out. Luckily i was able to make it work long enough for me to get most of the clippings cleaned up. Now, I know what the culprit of the failure was on the blower--poor design. A simple electric motor with a rotating shaft. The rotor of the electric motor has a what appears to be an inferior bracket that holds the shaft of the rotor firmly in place. I think this inferior bracket was designed to fail after a few years worth of usage. This bracket has worn itself into a large oval...this is allowing the electric rotor to wobble and bind against the stator...this has caused a degradation in the motor...it's pretty much useless now.

Now, previously, i mentioned i was going to outsource the yard work duties. I've got a collection of cards that were left on the front door. Perhaps i'll see if i can find someone to do my yard for me. I think i might be able to get the gear working so i at least will mow my backyard...but we'll see?