Sometimes it's the simple things.

Hi my name is Bryan and I am an idiot. Each year at the end of the summer and into the fall, I like to mow the grass as low as possible then run the aerator over the lawn really good. This helps to decompact the soil, allow for more Winterizer fertilizer to penetrate deeper into the roots and supposedly provide for a healthier lawn in the Spring. Incidentally, the Winterizer I use is also supposed to help kill weeds and ensure that fewer of them return the next year. Not in this part of the universe. I am not sure that anything stops weeds from coming back except asphalt.

So in the midst of all the other projects that I have been undertaking such as power washing the house and fence, cleaning out the garage, staining the fence, and trimming all the hedges back, I decided to get to that project which seemed to be the easiest on my list...mowing the grass. I was actually excited about the last mow of the year. The grass has been slowly moving towards hibernation although I have still been watering it so it would grow another half inch.

So one day last week, it was time. Perfect weather for mowing. Out to the garage I went. Eyeglasses in place, hearing protection on, a quick turn of the ignition key and nothing. Let me repeat myself here. NOTHING!! Not a single noise came from the trustworthy mower (it's a Craftsman) I have been using for 3 years. I ran into the same issue last year when I had to replace the battery, but that was just a year ago. I was not a happy camper. Why would my mower die with only one cut left? It was a conspiracy.

I quickly got out the jumper cables for a quick start and after a few minutes turned the key and again NOTHING!! I grabbed Julie and the kids and ran to Sears to get a replacement battery. After all it had been only a year since this thing was replaced. Surely, it was under warranty. "You missed it by 10 days" is not a phrase you want to hear when you are ticked off. Long story short, I bought another battery brought it home and installed it. A quick turn of the key and silence!! It was time for me to phone a friend. Who else but my trusty neighbor Scott. He has had plenty of practice on mowers. His wife ran theirs into the house and he had to rebuild the front end so I figured he would be able to figure out what this problem was.

A few minutes later Scott came over and analyzed the situation. The battery seemed fine. Scott asked me for a wrench which he pressed against the Solenoid. A quick turn of the key and Whammo!!! The engine was on. The good news was that we knew that the Solenoid was bad. The bad news was that I just purchased a new battery for nothing. It was too late to mow the grass so I shut the mower down and was set on getting a replacement part and be up and running in no time.

A day or so later, I managed to get a replacement Solenoid part for the tractor and Scott came over to help install it. Within a few minutes, the new part was in and the tractor was all together again. I was finally ready to go. A quick turn of the key and again with that silence thing! Scott and I could not believe it! We checked all the connections and everything seemed to be fine. We were dumbfounded as to what could be the problem. I was all set to call Sears to have a technician come out and dreading the $180 service call when Scott started to go through the checklist. He reached the part about this certain lever that engages the blades when I got a really stupid feeling inside me. You see I glanced at the lever and sensed that something wasn't quite right. I went over and confirmed what I thought. The lever that engages the blades was in the "ON" position. In this position, the mower will NOT start because the blades would immediately start rotating. A Safety NO-NO. I pulled the lever down to the "OFF" position. Scott turned the key and WHAMMO!! The engine roared to life. A simple solution which I turned into an $80 dollar problem. Too late to return the battery.

So my tractor now works again and I have a replacement Solenoid for when the actual one really goes out. I still haven't cut the grass yet. I have no idea how the blade lever got into the up position, although I have a sneaky suspicion that it may involve a 10 year old or two. Having lots of projects to do is a good thing. However, trying to do too many too quickly usually means getting nothing done. In my case, it also cost me money I didn't have to spend.