LOL at your mower issues! My old ‘Craftsman’ mower allowed the mowing deck to be raised and lowered that way with the ‘pin.’
You’re so RIGHT! My ‘new’ (four seasons in) Zero-Turn? I physically CANNOT change the mower deck because I’m not strong enough to push that pedal to move it!
They need to take a survey or something because I’d guaran-damn-tee that the MAJORITY of owners of Zero-Turns are women; especially the sizes you and I are using to mow!
The mower pedal issue is getting harder for me because I’ve lost 1/3 of my body weight over the last 2.5 years. When I was little & tried to do something that was “bigger” than I was, my dad used to tell me that I “needed more bricks in my pants”. Well, I need more bricks!! Pushing the darn pedal on Clyde takes everything I’ve got - I pretty much brace myself in the seat & use my whole body to push it. I think JD taking into account all the women who mow would be a “good move” on their part.
As I was cleaning the mower last evening before putting it away, I noticed the belt has a couple of good “dings” in it. The belt is the original so this is the 2nd season for it. I’m hoping I can get through the last mowings without it breaking. On the tractor style mower, the belt would jump off & I got so I could put it back on myself. Looking at the diagram & then where the belt all goes on Clyde (way back underneath), even if I had a new belt, I couldn’t fix it. My brother & I are considering getting a lift (sharing the cost) which would make changing out blades a whole lot easier .... if I could get the mower high enough, then maybe I could put on a new belt. Always SOMETHING going on! I try to appreciate the times I mow & everything goes well, because those times when it doesn’t, it’s a royal pain in the patootie.
The 4 new raised bed project is progressing nicely. Lots to do before Wednesday when it’s looking like rain/showers for the next 6 days. I’ll be climbing the walls if I can’t get outside for 6 days. The pole barn where I park Clyde needs a lot of cleaning up - that might be something I can do. The only issue is cleaning it up requires hauling away stuff & dad is a major ‘pack rat’. When you grow up during the Depression, you hang on to everything ... you might need it several decades (in his case, a half century!) down the road.
The latest mower adventure ..... I got MAJORLY bogged down in mud on Monday. When I mow, mentally I’m off somewhere else so generally not paying strict attention. Anyway, I decided to go around the perimeter of the back field first, especially since there are roots I have to deal with along the back fence & I hate doing that part, so I wanted to get it over with.
Tootling along the back fence and ran right into a “bog” - I was in it by maybe 5 yards before I realized “ruh roh - big trouble”. I got the mower cut off & started trying to back out (going forward obviously NOT an option). Actually, I did pretty well, but still had about 2 yards to go & was just working in deeper & deeper. I did get off (that was “interesting” - had to ‘jump’ for some ground that wasn’t over my ankles deep in mud) & gathered some sticks, etc. to go under the wheels - it helped for about 2 feet & then I knew I wasn’t getting out under mower power.
As I was assessing the mess I was in, along comes my SIL, doing the evening walk with the dogs. I asked if she’d wait while I got the old truck & some tow straps & she agreed to help (we’ve “been there, done that” before, getting my dad’s golf cart unstuck in that same back field). So I revved up the old PU, grabbed tow straps, & headed across the fields.
My biggest concern was getting the PU stuck, but there was fairly solid ground reasonably close to the mower. The mower had two holes, one on each side of the metal around the back that were perfect/solid enough for hooking an end of one tow strap into each hole. A 2nd strap gave me the length I needed back to the hitch on the PU. I stayed on the mower & my SIL drove the PU - it turned out that leaving the mower in neutral rather than trying to back at the same time was the best way to get pulled out - worked like a charm the first time. Whew!!!
Boy did I have a mess to clean up. I think the only place there wasn’t mud was in my ears! Clyde got a major wash & despite that, I was still finding stray, dried mud the next day. Fortunately, Clyde is working well, so no damage appears to have been done. We currently have almost 4 inches of rain in the gauge since yesterday (& heavy rain today thru 2:00), so I’m sure the mud hole I made looks like a pond today.