NFR Riding lawnmower discovery

krusty said:
We had a huge terraced double lot...and my job as an only child) was to mow and keep all of the brick terrace walls where they abutted the lawn neatly manicured with those damn shears. I would have killed for a 'weed whipper'...something that was invented about 40 years later.

I hated the whole business of lawncare (though taking care of neighborhood lawns did provide some childhood income).

On our own big lawn I thought, (in my 10 year old mind) that I might possibly avoid the whole ordeal if I 'accidently' sheared off a few sprinkler heads with our Craftsman mower. I knew just the right candidates for a reasonably plausible accident.

Didn't work...the old man just added sprinkler repair to my repertoire of landscaping duties.
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Underground sprinklers...you must have been one of those rich kids. :ROFLMAO:
 
Old406Kid said:
Underground sprinklers...you must have been one of those rich kids. :ROFLMAO:
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No...the old man (who was also a licensed electrician) just had a lot of firefighter friends...and those guys always had a lot of small-time contractor businesses they operated on the side! Lots of barter economy deals!
 
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krusty said:
No...the old man (who was also a licensed electrician) just had a lot of firefighter friends...and those guys always had a lot of small-time contractor businesses they operated on the side! Lots of barter economy deals!
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I'm guessing those brass heads, back in the day, could really wreak havoc with a mower. :ROFLMAO:
 
When I was a kid, my dad handed me the “mower” to do the lawn…it resembled a golf club with a flat serrated blade at the end. Boy was I happy when we got a gas push mower…
 
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This model or very similar of ~1970 vintage was the mower of my childhood. It was already old when I got to use it—old, heavy as hell, clunky, loud, and terribly reliable with a Briggs and Stratton motor that burned oh so . The bagging system was so awkward, and my dad always had me bag clippings. He also had me mow twice a week—which I thought really sucked in North Alabama’s hot ass humid summer. Did that motivate me to get up early and get it done before it got really really hot? No. Fall time? Get out there. Grass ain’t growing but a mow picks up the leaves.
As I got a little older I mowed neighborhood lawns for cash and learned how much better mowers had gotten—self propelled and better running. But the damn Cooper would. Not. Die. He waited until the week I moved out for college and boom—new self propelled Toro with an E-Z bagging system. 🤣
 
Matt B said:
View attachment 117973

This model or very similar of ~1970 vintage was the mower of my childhood. It was already old when I got to use it—old, heavy as hell, clunky, loud, and terribly reliable with a Briggs and Stratton motor that burned oh so . The bagging system was so awkward, and my dad always had me bag clippings. He also had me mow twice a week—which I thought really sucked in North Alabama’s hot ass humid summer. Did that motivate me to get up early and get it done before it got really really hot? No. Fall time? Get out there. Grass ain’t growing but a mow picks up the leaves.
As I got a little older I mowed neighborhood lawns for cash and learned how much better mowers had gotten—self propelled and better running. But the damn Cooper would. Not. Die. He waited until the week I moved out for college and boom—new self propelled Toro with an E-Z bagging system. 🤣
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North Alabama = chiggers. UGH!!
 
Matt B said:
View attachment 117973

This model or very similar of ~1970 vintage was the mower of my childhood. It was already old when I got to use it—old, heavy as hell, clunky, loud, and terribly reliable with a Briggs and Stratton motor that burned oh so. The bagging system was so awkward, and my dad always had me bag clippings. He also had me mow twice a week—which I thought really sucked in North Alabama’s hot ass humid summer. Did that motivate me to get up early and get it done before it got really really hot? No. Fall time? Get out there. Grass ain’t growing but a mow picks up the leaves.
As I got a little older, I mowed neighborhood lawns for cash and learned how much better mowers had gotten—self-propelled and better running. But the damn Cooper would. Not. Die. He waited until the week I moved out for college and boom—new self-propelled Toro with an E-Z bagging system. 🤣
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Mom and I were the ones who mowed the lawn, front and back on a jr acre. Dad was a licensed Electrician who later had his own Biz. Yup, that Toro was a blessing for both of us. When Mom got cancer, Dad had to do the duties of mowing, I had moved out by then. What a shock to see him mowing.
 
Old406Kid said:
Underground sprinklers...you must have been one of those rich kids. :ROFLMAO:
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Well my wife’s family were certainly not rich . We got married in 1970 . My father-in-law had underground sprinkling system when I met my wife . If her memory is fairly accurate he put in a galvanized metal pipe system in the 50’s . That had to be fun . Being raised in northern Montana , not sure I’d even seen a sprinkler system , we certainly didn’t have one , and just a manual push reel mower , I learned pretty quick you didn’t let the lawn get very long . 😄
 
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