Are mower repairers in Canberra killing the trade?

I have a Honda HRU196 mower that I bought for big dollars when I lived in Brisbane, and then came to Canberra and it has sat in my garage for about 8 years.

Until recently we only had a postage stamp sized lawn so we have got by with a cheap Victor mower over that time period. Now that I have ripped out a whole lot of dangerous trees and extended our lawn I thought I might as well get some use out of the Honda.

Just wondering what will happen if I just tip some petrol and oil into it and crank it up. Should I get it checked out first? Not sure what happens to these devices when they just sit unused for nearly a decade.

I am thinking that it would be more sensible to get it serviced than gamble on blowing the thing up.

Maybe 00davist should post an email address, his services will obviously be in demand now spring is coming

Hi OP, please PM me your details – I have some business for you!

Hi 00davist, I need urgent mower advice repair. If you could please contact me or send your contact details to ss592393@yahoo.com.au. Or if anyone else knows a good repairer, please let me know – Cheers

Hi 00davist

Please pm me. My mower needs pull starter repair and a service, if you’re available.

Thanks

Mr 00davist,

Could you please drop me a line at crypto50@gmail.com ?

Re fixing/replacing mower blades

Thanks

00davist I have been in this game for a loooong time and nothing here is suprizeing me. I only do chainsaw repairs now days as there does not appear to be a competent servicing agent for the big two brands of saws. They can’t even make a chain from a roll or sharpen a chain to suit a particular cutting style or timber. And wouldent know how to dress a bar to save them selves.

Hi Whitey can I get in touch with you pls?

Took my mower up to 00davist’s recently for a service and I am wrapped.
Great communication, timely turn around and very good price!
I hope I don’t burden you with too much business 00davist but if your mower needs a service before summer, get in touch, I highly recommend!

Hi Whitey, Message has been sent!

00davist will you pm me please – I may have an interesting deal for you. Thanks

EvanJames said :

Russ said :

I’ll put in a +1 vote for RFG Mowers in Crawford St Queanbeyan…

Uriarra Road. Corner of that and Federal Avenue (Crawford St peels off at the pub and heads for the railway). The back yard of RFG is full of lawnmowers, bibs and bobs too.

This thread is making the servicers of motor cars look… almost… good.

Oh there’s plenty of crooks there too, perhaps it’s just more regulated, so they need to try harder to hide it??

Russ said :

I’ll put in a +1 vote for RFG Mowers in Crawford St Queanbeyan…

Uriarra Road. Corner of that and Federal Avenue (Crawford St peels off at the pub and heads for the railway). The back yard of RFG is full of lawnmowers, bibs and bobs too.

This thread is making the servicers of motor cars look… almost… good.

MsCheeky said :

00davist said :

MsCheeky said :

I bought a new Victa, (as recommended by Choice magazine), when my old mower finally died. As I only have a very small lawn, it didn’t get a lot of use – maybe 6-8 hours. The manual recommended an oil change and service at 10 hours. But it stopped going. Replaced the spark plug, changed the oil, but no result. While I’d had it for a little more than 12 months, I thought it should probably be fixed under warranty. I took it to the authorised Victa shop in Fyshwick, explained the problem, provided receipts and floated the idea of a warranty repair. I got a flat no on that – refused to even raise it with Victa.

After parting with $90, (approximately 1/4 of the price of the mower!) I got the mower back but it was hard to start and blowing smoke, so I took it back to the authorised repair shop. The woman behind the counter there told me that it was because the fuel was old. She told me that after five or six weeks, the fuel is cactus, and therefore, the new spark plug was now also cactus. I wasn’t too sure of her qualifications as a mechanic, but she was such an aggressive and surly cow, that I couldn’t be bothered to pursue it any further with her. Yes, fuel does get old, but five or six weeks? No.

I’m not of the throw-away mindset. I like to look after things and have them for a long time. This left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Victa is an iconic brand, and my experience has been nothing but negative. As for the authorised repair shop in Willuna Street in Fyshwick, I’ll never darken their door again.

Fuel does get old, yes, but that will not cause a 4-stroke too blow smoke, nor will it kill a spark plug, after 6 weeks a mower will still run fine on the fuel inside, it’s best not to leave it there that long, but it will still do the job fine, I have used much older fuel without issue.

It sounds like the mower Just needs a good tune up and a clean out of the carby, it’s a simple enough procedure if you want to try and getting running properly yourrself, or if you want me to take a look, A basic service with carby clean would come in at about $30-$40 depending on the engine, provided that is all that is needed, which it sounds like it is.

If you are interested, let me know, and I’ll message you my details, and if you still have the old mower that this one replaced, I’d happily take it off your hands in return for a discount on your repair bill.

Well, it’s in retirement until spring of course, but probably a good time for a service. You can message me at cheekytech@hotmail.com. Sorry, don’t have the old one anymore, but it was a beauty. Went forever.

I’ve sent a message with my details, if you want any work done on it, Don’t hesitate to contact me!

00davist said :

MsCheeky said :

I bought a new Victa, (as recommended by Choice magazine), when my old mower finally died. As I only have a very small lawn, it didn’t get a lot of use – maybe 6-8 hours. The manual recommended an oil change and service at 10 hours. But it stopped going. Replaced the spark plug, changed the oil, but no result. While I’d had it for a little more than 12 months, I thought it should probably be fixed under warranty. I took it to the authorised Victa shop in Fyshwick, explained the problem, provided receipts and floated the idea of a warranty repair. I got a flat no on that – refused to even raise it with Victa.

After parting with $90, (approximately 1/4 of the price of the mower!) I got the mower back but it was hard to start and blowing smoke, so I took it back to the authorised repair shop. The woman behind the counter there told me that it was because the fuel was old. She told me that after five or six weeks, the fuel is cactus, and therefore, the new spark plug was now also cactus. I wasn’t too sure of her qualifications as a mechanic, but she was such an aggressive and surly cow, that I couldn’t be bothered to pursue it any further with her. Yes, fuel does get old, but five or six weeks? No.

I’m not of the throw-away mindset. I like to look after things and have them for a long time. This left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Victa is an iconic brand, and my experience has been nothing but negative. As for the authorised repair shop in Willuna Street in Fyshwick, I’ll never darken their door again.

Fuel does get old, yes, but that will not cause a 4-stroke too blow smoke, nor will it kill a spark plug, after 6 weeks a mower will still run fine on the fuel inside, it’s best not to leave it there that long, but it will still do the job fine, I have used much older fuel without issue.

It sounds like the mower Just needs a good tune up and a clean out of the carby, it’s a simple enough procedure if you want to try and getting running properly yourrself, or if you want me to take a look, A basic service with carby clean would come in at about $30-$40 depending on the engine, provided that is all that is needed, which it sounds like it is.

If you are interested, let me know, and I’ll message you my details, and if you still have the old mower that this one replaced, I’d happily take it off your hands in return for a discount on your repair bill.

Well, it’s in retirement until spring of course, but probably a good time for a service. You can message me at cheekytech@hotmail.com. Sorry, don’t have the old one anymore, but it was a beauty. Went forever.

Russ said :

MsCheeky said :

As for the authorised repair shop in Willuna Street in Fyshwick, I’ll never darken their door again.

If it’s anything like a similar shop in a similar location, I’ve always been impressed by the sheer amount of “attitude” provided at the counter, seemingly for free!

I also appreciated when putting my expensive-brand chainsaw in with them to be fixed, their failure to secure the chain drive cog properly – oh how I laughed when it, and the chain, came off at speed!

Wow, that’s a pretty major stuff up, a thrown chain can do some nasty damage!

I’m not liking the sound of this place at all!

MsCheeky said :

As for the authorised repair shop in Willuna Street in Fyshwick, I’ll never darken their door again.

If it’s anything like a similar shop in a similar location, I’ve always been impressed by the sheer amount of “attitude” provided at the counter, seemingly for free!

I also appreciated when putting my expensive-brand chainsaw in with them to be fixed, their failure to secure the chain drive cog properly – oh how I laughed when it, and the chain, came off at speed!

nicnacvb said :

A couple of stories in this vein.
A while ago my partner and I decided to purchase a 2nd hand mower and found a suitably priced mower on Allclassifieds. I think it’s a Scott Bonnar from the 1970’s. So we take it home and the OH fires it up and mows the lawn with a whole lot of smoke coming out of the thing. Over the years he’s serviced it once or twice and it’s always been loud and smoky. So one day the OH decides to sharpen the blades. He upends the mower and undoes a few bolts etc and finds that the blades are on upside down. So instead of cutting the grass it’s just been beating it to death. No wonder it was struggling!
He also bought a whipper snipper from Revolve a while ago for $5. Turns out the only thing wrong with it was that it need some new line. People are seriously lazy and/or stupid!

You get a few like that, as a further aside, I also pick up mowers from Tiny’s, scrap yards, curbside, etc. to repair and sell off in spring, and I’ve seen a few odd home rerpairs!

I rmember one fella who’s catcher kept falling off, so he used some tin sheet and pop rivets to fix it on…Permanently! He realised his mistake the first time he tried to empty it, and decided it was time to get a new catcher.

I’ve picked up mowers from Tiny’s with wooden wheels, tied down engines, coke bottle fuel tanks, and one with steak knives bolted on for blades!

And a little while ago I drove past a man who was using a home made whipper snipper, it was an upturned pedistal fan, with rope instead of blades, feet off and bent to suit the job!

A couple of stories in this vein.
A while ago my partner and I decided to purchase a 2nd hand mower and found a suitably priced mower on Allclassifieds. I think it’s a Scott Bonnar from the 1970’s. So we take it home and the OH fires it up and mows the lawn with a whole lot of smoke coming out of the thing. Over the years he’s serviced it once or twice and it’s always been loud and smoky. So one day the OH decides to sharpen the blades. He upends the mower and undoes a few bolts etc and finds that the blades are on upside down. So instead of cutting the grass it’s just been beating it to death. No wonder it was struggling!
He also bought a whipper snipper from Revolve a while ago for $5. Turns out the only thing wrong with it was that it need some new line. People are seriously lazy and/or stupid!

MsCheeky said :

I bought a new Victa, (as recommended by Choice magazine), when my old mower finally died. As I only have a very small lawn, it didn’t get a lot of use – maybe 6-8 hours. The manual recommended an oil change and service at 10 hours. But it stopped going. Replaced the spark plug, changed the oil, but no result. While I’d had it for a little more than 12 months, I thought it should probably be fixed under warranty. I took it to the authorised Victa shop in Fyshwick, explained the problem, provided receipts and floated the idea of a warranty repair. I got a flat no on that – refused to even raise it with Victa.

After parting with $90, (approximately 1/4 of the price of the mower!) I got the mower back but it was hard to start and blowing smoke, so I took it back to the authorised repair shop. The woman behind the counter there told me that it was because the fuel was old. She told me that after five or six weeks, the fuel is cactus, and therefore, the new spark plug was now also cactus. I wasn’t too sure of her qualifications as a mechanic, but she was such an aggressive and surly cow, that I couldn’t be bothered to pursue it any further with her. Yes, fuel does get old, but five or six weeks? No.

I’m not of the throw-away mindset. I like to look after things and have them for a long time. This left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Victa is an iconic brand, and my experience has been nothing but negative. As for the authorised repair shop in Willuna Street in Fyshwick, I’ll never darken their door again.

Fuel does get old, yes, but that will not cause a 4-stroke too blow smoke, nor will it kill a spark plug, after 6 weeks a mower will still run fine on the fuel inside, it’s best not to leave it there that long, but it will still do the job fine, I have used much older fuel without issue.

It sounds like the mower Just needs a good tune up and a clean out of the carby, it’s a simple enough procedure if you want to try and getting running properly yourrself, or if you want me to take a look, A basic service with carby clean would come in at about $30-$40 depending on the engine, provided that is all that is needed, which it sounds like it is.

If you are interested, let me know, and I’ll message you my details, and if you still have the old mower that this one replaced, I’d happily take it off your hands in return for a discount on your repair bill.

I bought a new Victa, (as recommended by Choice magazine), when my old mower finally died. As I only have a very small lawn, it didn’t get a lot of use – maybe 6-8 hours. The manual recommended an oil change and service at 10 hours. But it stopped going. Replaced the spark plug, changed the oil, but no result. While I’d had it for a little more than 12 months, I thought it should probably be fixed under warranty. I took it to the authorised Victa shop in Fyshwick, explained the problem, provided receipts and floated the idea of a warranty repair. I got a flat no on that – refused to even raise it with Victa.

After parting with $90, (approximately 1/4 of the price of the mower!) I got the mower back but it was hard to start and blowing smoke, so I took it back to the authorised repair shop. The woman behind the counter there told me that it was because the fuel was old. She told me that after five or six weeks, the fuel is cactus, and therefore, the new spark plug was now also cactus. I wasn’t too sure of her qualifications as a mechanic, but she was such an aggressive and surly cow, that I couldn’t be bothered to pursue it any further with her. Yes, fuel does get old, but five or six weeks? No.

I’m not of the throw-away mindset. I like to look after things and have them for a long time. This left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Victa is an iconic brand, and my experience has been nothing but negative. As for the authorised repair shop in Willuna Street in Fyshwick, I’ll never darken their door again.

VicePope said :

+1 to almost everything here. I have an ageing 4 stroke of impeccable lineage and usually good behaviour. It needs a serious look (sometimes slow to start) but more generally a proper service. My technical abilities tail off at the point of chucking in fuel and sometimes oil, though I have removed the spark plug and looked quizzically at it, in the manner of a corgi trying to understand an idle particle accelerator. It would be easy to buy a piece of rubbish 2 stroke and certainly less than I would expect to be charged by the chap in Kambah (I live in Tuggers) who last worked on it. So where do I start looking for someone who will do a proper job at a price that makes it easier to hold on to the current one?

If you are willing to go with a Hobbyist, I’m more than happy to give it a look for you, or reccomend some of the other hobbyists I know.

I have not had to deal with many shops first hand for repairs, but I do hear a fair bit about them, and I need to go to them for parts, so I get a rough idea.

From what I have heard, Aco’s over in Higgins would be a good place to start if your after a shop.

I’ll send through a message to you with my details, and if you are interested in me having a look for you, feel free to contact me.

+1 to almost everything here. I have an ageing 4 stroke of impeccable lineage and usually good behaviour. It needs a serious look (sometimes slow to start) but more generally a proper service. My technical abilities tail off at the point of chucking in fuel and sometimes oil, though I have removed the spark plug and looked quizzically at it, in the manner of a corgi trying to understand an idle particle accelerator. It would be easy to buy a piece of rubbish 2 stroke and certainly less than I would expect to be charged by the chap in Kambah (I live in Tuggers) who last worked on it. So where do I start looking for someone who will do a proper job at a price that makes it easier to hold on to the current one?

Sandman said :

I recently had to go pick up a clients Honda Whippersnipper that she had dropped into one of the larger shops for a full end of season service. I struggled to see any difference’s that warranted the $180 she was charged. The spring was still missing from the line head and the old piece of line I had tied in there was still in place. The oil in it really didn’t look that clean (it’s a 4 stroke) and the engine hadnt been washed or degreased or anything. The day I picked it up i was trimming some pretty long stringy grass and the line head got jammed up. I used a couple of makeshift tools from the back of the van to remove the shaft and found not only the new grass jamming the bearing sleeve but plenty of old grass in there as well, so obviously checking the shaft/bearings/centrifugal clutch isn’t included in a $180 service. Apparently they replaced a diaphragm in the carby, (total parts and oils for the whole job was only $25) yet the engine still stalled in exactly the same way when you released the throttle completely as it did before the service. That was simply a matter of adjusting the idle screw, but you’d think that would be something that got checked and adjusted in a service. Perhaps they thought the customer liked the fact that you couldn’t let the throttle go without the motor shutting down.

Quite frankly, with a shoddy service job like that I’m not surprised you’ve got so much demand for your time. I just told my client I’d do the service for her next time.

I’ve seen a few like that, there seems to be plenty of repairers out there willing to take advantage of anything customers do not know.

Not to say that all repairers are bad, there are definitely some shops about that offer honest service, My concern is that in an industry that is suffering due to cheap imports, are dodgy repairers only making it worse.

And what can the industry do to adapt, there’s allot of Idea’s I personally would not take on, as I am not a professional and do not have the time to put full time effort into my hobby, but for those who do this for a living, what would be a good way to operate?

One person once mentioned to me it would be nice to see some of the repairers (Mower or otherwise) using a more dynamic approach to the internet, some have websites, but they lack information, this person suggested it would be good to have a simple way of tracking progress, as they found that for repairs, be it a mower or a car, sometimes you drop it off, and then have no idea what’s happening for some time.

I understand there will always be a difference in rice between hobbyists such as myself, and professionals, and each has it’s advantages and disadvantages.

I’m hapy to use reconditioned parts and re-sharen blades where this can be done, this keeps costs down, I also use the mower repairs as an extra income, mainley to fund the work on my own collection, and it’s all done from home, so I can afford to charge less for my time.

On the other hand, there is work i have little experience in (ride-ons for example) and I would only be able to take on minor work in these area’s, I also take longer to get some parts, as I dont have direct suppliers, nor can I offer the same garauntee’s as a shop, so there is a trade off.

I susect the industry may become more home based (not like myself, but more Like Aco over in Higgins, who runs a professional shop from home) to save costs, and will see less staff, as people bring costs down to compete with relacement.

Overall, taking care of your machine, and finding a reliable, affordable reairer can be more cost effective in the long run, if you have a good machine.

Keep your filters clean, and oil topped up, and check the lawn for solid objects before you mow, if odd sounds appear, or oil is dropping too much, get it looked at, and make sure your using good equipment, you can easily get 20 years or more out of a mower, with very minimal costs spent on repairs.

A cheap machine will last no were near as long, even with care, and replacing it every 5 years add’s up.

And if you know a good repairer, put their name up here, the more business the good guys get, the less is left for the dodgy ones.

I recently had to go pick up a clients Honda Whippersnipper that she had dropped into one of the larger shops for a full end of season service. I struggled to see any difference’s that warranted the $180 she was charged. The spring was still missing from the line head and the old piece of line I had tied in there was still in place. The oil in it really didn’t look that clean (it’s a 4 stroke) and the engine hadnt been washed or degreased or anything. The day I picked it up i was trimming some pretty long stringy grass and the line head got jammed up. I used a couple of makeshift tools from the back of the van to remove the shaft and found not only the new grass jamming the bearing sleeve but plenty of old grass in there as well, so obviously checking the shaft/bearings/centrifugal clutch isn’t included in a $180 service. Apparently they replaced a diaphragm in the carby, (total parts and oils for the whole job was only $25) yet the engine still stalled in exactly the same way when you released the throttle completely as it did before the service. That was simply a matter of adjusting the idle screw, but you’d think that would be something that got checked and adjusted in a service. Perhaps they thought the customer liked the fact that you couldn’t let the throttle go without the motor shutting down.

Quite frankly, with a shoddy service job like that I’m not surprised you’ve got so much demand for your time. I just told my client I’d do the service for her next time.

Russ said :

I’ll put in a +1 vote for RFG Mowers in Crawford St Queanbeyan – very clearly a mower repair shop, as the there’s only a narrow path through to the counter, the rest of the floor is covered with repaired lawnmowers and a collection of dogs who all demand pats before you reach the counter, and again before you can leave.

I quite like the sound of that setup.

I’ll have to check it out, being a collector and restorer (hence the intrest) of vintage mowers, I always like to see what parts the shops have for sale, many shops still have stock of older parts that can be hard to find, and are very needed to keep originality for older machines when restoring.

I’ll put in a +1 vote for RFG Mowers in Crawford St Queanbeyan – very clearly a mower repair shop, as the there’s only a narrow path through to the counter, the rest of the floor is covered with repaired lawnmowers and a collection of dogs who all demand pats before you reach the counter, and again before you can leave.

00davist said :

Sadly for him, the engine failed gloriosly half way across in a ball of smoke and flame, requiring an extingisher to be rushed out.

He he he, too funny.

imarty said :

00davist, I too would like to use your services, can you get in touch with me through here?
Cheers,

Message Sent.

I also recall a story from years ago from the southern highlands (Where I used to live)

We used to see a fella named fred, who ran a repair business, he was very much a dishonest salesman.

I remember the old ride on he sold us, it was a shocker, after a few years it went back to him, permenatnly.

He got it running, and decided to use it to boost his business, so at a local footy match, he drove it across the feild at break, with sighns on the side reading along the lines of “With Fred ****’s mower repairs, you can have a mower like this”

Sadly for him, the engine failed gloriosly half way across in a ball of smoke and flame, requiring an extingisher to be rushed out.

Last I heard, he’d moved to the central coast.

BigD said :

HI , I have a mower nth side that I need repaired. Pls contact me.
Thanks

Message sent, I think if you go to “I want to” in the top right corner, and choose view/edit profile, you will then see a link to messages on the left.

00davist, I too would like to use your services, can you get in touch with me through here?
Cheers,

HI , I have a mower nth side that I need repaired. Pls contact me.
Thanks

caf said :

00davist said :

I’m involved in a forum that provides free assistance to those who want to do it themselves (A very affordable and actually easier than you would think option) which is combined with the online store of a repairer in sydney.

Link?

Certainly:
http://www.outdoorking.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

Membership is free, if you have a problem, just ask, and if you don’t know where to start, just put up some pics of the mower/machine, and tell us what’s going on/what you want it to do, I’m there under the name “Mr Davis”.

00davist said :

I’m involved in a forum that provides free assistance to those who want to do it themselves (A very affordable and actually easier than you would think option) which is combined with the online store of a repairer in sydney.

Link?

Rangi said :

I took my ride on mower to a retail mower place in Yass, they said it would cost about $350, when i went to pick it up they said it was $650.

When I reminded them about the estimate and that no one had called me to say it was going to be so much more than the estimate, they knocked a little bit off.

Admittably they were good about letting me take the mower and pay the extra later. But since then I have come accross 2 other people that have had the same experience with the same shop. I regularly recommend people to steer clear of that particular shop.

(some of the stickers on the mower came back damaged also the service took a week longer than they said it would when booking it in)

Incidently, the lady with the pump also refferred to a shop in Yas being the culprit, as well as mentioning the pump had previosly undergone a $900 service there, I’ve since worked out you could fully recondition the machine for less than 1/2 that!

I’d love to know more about this place in Yass…

I took my ride on mower to a retail mower place in Yass, they said it would cost about $350, when i went to pick it up they said it was $650.

When I reminded them about the estimate and that no one had called me to say it was going to be so much more than the estimate, they knocked a little bit off.

Admittably they were good about letting me take the mower and pay the extra later. But since then I have come accross 2 other people that have had the same experience with the same shop. I regularly recommend people to steer clear of that particular shop.

(some of the stickers on the mower came back damaged also the service took a week longer than they said it would when booking it in)

I have noticed a few of the surviving ones run their shops from home (on a much more professional scale than I do) Like Aco’s over in Higgins.

I’m involved in a forum that provides free assistance to those who want to do it themselves (A very affordable and actually easier than you would think option) which is combined with the online store of a repairer in sydney.

I guess alot of my curiosity comes from watching a number of industries trying to work out what to do with themselves these days, with the influx of cheap replacements, an increase in a throw away attitude, and a lot less focus on traditional advertising and sales, some industries seem to be finding great ways to evolve, but others are fighting to hold on to a way of life that is not sustainable.

Even with cheap imports, done right, repairs can still really save money, especcially if you want to learn to do it yourself.

Felix, a mower with donor base from Tiny’s would have been no more than $20, and I can think of a number of hobbyists, including myself who would not charge more that $20 to do that job, hoever even that could have been saved as the procedure is really simple, just unbolt the blade bar, then undo 3 bolts, pull off the engine, pop it on the other base, do up the 3 bolts, and refit the bar, it takes about 10 – 15 minutes.

If you ever want to try, message me, advice and instructions are always free for anyone who wants to DIY, I think it’s important to be able to fix things if you want to.

Felix the Cat said :

I guess the mower repair shops have an hourly rate they charge based on what they have to pay for wages and other on-costs like rent/electricity/phone/Yellow Pages/other misc expenses. This may work out to be $50-$70 p/h or more. You being a confessed hobbyist don’t have all these expenses so can charge a much lower rate.

The mower shop is more than likely paying tax as well.

I’d say that kind of unscrupulous behaviour and/or apparent poor value us likely an symptom of a market which is already stressed. As you say, people running shops have big overheads, and a lot of customers aren’t going to want to travel for to get a mower serviced, so the customer base is small.

Add to this the fact that you can get a cheap (add really crap quality) two stroke these days for the cost of a complete overhaul has just taught the market to toss it and get a new one – as you have identified.

I really can’t see a easy answer for you – I imagine that the “good” mower services survive mostly on long term repeat customers (and word of mouth referrals), and the bad ones come and go or operate as a small part of some larger business.

Sorted, thank you.

I guess the mower repair shops have an hourly rate they charge based on what they have to pay for wages and other on-costs like rent/electricity/phone/Yellow Pages/other misc expenses. This may work out to be $50-$70 p/h or more. You being a confessed hobbyist don’t have all these expenses so can charge a much lower rate.

Plus (some) shops may not have qualified or experienced staff performing the servicing – this is certainly true in the automotive industry. Being a mechanic (talking auto, I imagine lawnmower mechanic to be worse) isn’t a particularily well paid or glamorous job and so hard to attract decent people to do it. So it can be easier and simpler for the shop to just sell someone a new mower/fire fighting pump (probably made in China, price not much more than repairs needed to old unit) rather than fix it.

I don’t get my mower serviced, I just use it until it stops working and throw it away and buy a new one. My last mower lasted 10 years, a cheap Victa 4 stroke I bought from K-Mart, the motor was still working fine, the body of the mower cracked. I could of bought a cheap body from Revolve/Tinys Shed but I would of had to pay someone to swap all the good bits onto the “new” body but it would probably of cost as much or more than another brand new mower of similar quality. My current mower, while not as good as the former Victa, is now about 3 or 4 years old and still goes well with out having a spanner laid on it.

Naturally that’s part of it, it may only be a hobby business, but word needs to spread.

However, dont let the thinly veiled lines of advertisment distract from the rest, I am actually curios about the industry;

1) I’d like to work out HOW it can adapt to survive

2) I’d like to know others mistakes to avoid them myself.

So if you have a good story, please add it.

I’ve sent you a ‘Friend Request’ on here, so that I can message you my details, I can take on a few more Jobs this winter, but I dont want to just throw my details up again (did this once before, not a good idea, I’m a hobbyist with a full time Job!)

Okay, your quasi-advertisement has worked for me. My mower needs a tune up, how do I get in touch with you? 😛