Spring is in the air, which means it’s time to get the lawn under control before my homeowner’s association starts sending passive-aggressive letters.
Got halfway through the lawn and one of the rear wheel on my lawnmower broke. This internal collar component cracked, and the bearings sandwiched between it and the actual wheel escaped. Didn’t roll so well after that.
This was already a replacement wheel, the originals were plastic and gave up on me a few years ago. I thought the replacements I got, with metal wheels and bearing, would be sturdier. Apparently not.
Went and got new wheels at Northern Tool. These are back to plastic, but they seem pretty solid. And fit a bit better than the metal ones did, which is a good thing. We’ll see how long they last. If they make it four years, that’s probably all I can ask.
I’m glad the wheel failures have been on the back wheels, not the front. It’s a self-propelled mower, so changing the front wheels is much more complicated, and you can’t use generic parts from the hardware store. I tried shopping around for them once, and even the manufacturer didn’t make it easy to get new drive wheels. I’m sure there’s a way, but I’m not in a hurry to find out.
Still, I can’t complain. Got the mower for free, used, and it’s probably fifteen years old now. Still starts on the first pull. Can’t beat that. Keep changing the oil and the air filter, and a small engine will run forever. I think the only other repair I’ve ever had to do was replacing the spark plug wire.