This TORO walk behind is in the shop for possible repair. A customer and friend of Mr. Fix-its who lives on Marthas Vineyard asked him to look at it.
The history of this story is interesting....last summer our friend, Anna, called Mr. Fix-it, the small engine shops on Marthas Vineyard would not fix this machine.There happen to be power equipment repair shops on Marthas Vineyard Island. I know this because several years ago Mr. Fix-it and I were trying to decide if we wanted to move there and hang a shingle. We are still thinking of it, but it hasn't come to fruition yet.... They claim that because they were not a TORO dealer they could not fix it.....never heard that one before, if they are power equipment repair shops not signed by a contract to do work only for a certain manufacturer, I would think that they could repair anything should they choose to repair it.
The same shop could, though, sell Anna a new Husqvarna walk behind for approximately $400.00, and after she bought it, they might consider repairing her TORO. They must have seen her coming a mile away.....
So , Anna, kept this TORO in her garage, or out of it if you have seen her garage, I am not sure you could step foot in it, never mind push a lawnmower in there. Until my sister recently visited them with her Quigley 4 x 4 van with enough room to haul it off the island on a ferry......
So, long story short, it is now in the Fix-It Shop! The machine brand new was around $299.00. When the lawnmower engine was assembled in BRAZIL They pushed the oil seal gasket in crooked. What that caused was a myriad of problems. First, the seal was damaged, Mr. Fix-it found this by completely removing the engine from the deck, on the underside. We could not figure out why there was so much apparent blow-by all over the machine. The oil was seeping out of the seal, and when the machine was running, the spinning blade would fling the oil, causing the air-borne oil to coat the entire engine and deck. The over load of oil on all the parts caused some of the rubber parts to break down , causing the breather assembly under the flywheel deteriorate and crack, which can only be accessed by taking the entire starter housing off. . The air cleaner was also in need of replacement, and finally the blade holder was cremated because Anna's husband , John, is the one and only cemetary maintanance guy and he uses his personal lawnmower for cutting at the cemetary, and he must have struck a grave marker or two causing the damage.....
So, the question would now normally be to repair or to replace.....well, they have already replaced the mower with the Husky, so should they repair this one as a backup?
The parts for the machine are almost $100. with shipping and handling. And if Mr. Fix-it throws an hour or two at it for $100 or $150 we are up around the cost of a new machine.....
What would you do?..................
