The Bananaverse

(Yeah that was lame. If the title doesn’t sound familiar, see if this helps.)

Today was Yardwork Sunday at Chez Fishbones. So off we went to toil in the mines-I mean, in the front yard. I did some weeding and The Scoot did a lap with the mower (around the outside edge). He started in with the edger and when I went to pull that mower engine pull it was REALLY hard to pull. I got The Scoot to try and he had the same issue, it was damned near impossible to pull that thing at all, let alone pull it with enough “oomph” to make it turn over. So we tried to figure out what to do about this mower, and I proposed we borrow the mower from Papa The Scoot and Momma The Scoot, since they were in Alaska visiting Sister The Scoot until a couple of hours ago. At least this way we can finish today’s ration of toil, and if ours is straight up busted we can find a new one, and if it’s not we can get it fixed. So we went to their house and got their rarely used mower out of their garage (since we were checking on their house for them while they were gone we had to go over there anyway) and tossed it in Papa The Scoot’s truck and brought it back to use it on our lawn so we could be finished mowing-we had to cut it shorter than normal today for fertilizing and re-seeding and can’t cut it again for like 3 weeks, so even if our mower is well and truly broken we have a little time to get it sorted. When we unloaded the Mower In Law we checked the gas and oil levels, and seeing that all appeared to be well, engine cord was pulled. Mower started forthwith and grass trimming commenced. (And commenced and commenced, I have some crispy red arms as proof.)

So now I come to the really interesting part of the story: Guess which mower is the one that broke down and which one is the one that saved the day?

First a bit of commentary on the photo: On the left we have the EAGER-1, a (presumably) mid-70′s Craftsman mower. Behold the individual height adjustments on each wheel! Behold the years of grungy exhaust! Behold the chipped and rusting body! On the right we have an early 21st century Craftsman mower with no catchy title like the EAGER-1. Behold the candy apple red paint! Behold the giant easy to handle bag for clippings! Behold the self-propeller control with bunny and turtle pictures!

Left mower is around 30 years old. There are a couple of spots near where the grass gets sucked up where it’s rusted entirely through. Part of the bag has come unsewn from the frame. That front left wheel in the photo is a little wobbly.

Right mower was purchased (I think) in 2001 and “driven off the lot”. It is self-propelled so as long as you can manage to hold down that bar and steer the thing, your grass gets cut. Plus, you know, lookit all that red! It has a giant (compared to EAGER-1) bag for clippings and a nicer system for attaching the bag.

Right mower is mine. Left mower is Mower In Law. Old chipped wobbly faded Mower In Law is what saved the day today when my (newer, nicer, bigger, purtyer, more powerful) mower had a fit of I-Don’t-Know-What and refused to mow any more yard.

So when people say “they don’t make em like they used to” they are absolutely right. And what irritates me more is that part of what influenced the Fishbones mower purchase was “my dad’s mower is a Craftsman and it’s lasted forever!”

We had a similarly disappointing experience with our Craftsman pressure washer as well (it went back though, and we got a Karcher which is outstanding). So far all the screwdrivers seem to be doing fine, however…

I wish I understood it. Do I have the one freakish lemon mower? Is it indicative of our disposable society? Is it just that I shoulda bought a Honda one from the beginning? Am I being punished for not getting the completely manual push mower? Is it really just that Craftsman is coasting on this rep for reliability? I want it to be the first one, but I expect it’s probably the last one.

Any other “reputable” brands I should be avoiding? Let me know!