OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Power Equipment...Mishaps and Funny Stuff Some People Shouldn't Have Mowers

A month or so ago I sold a 4 stroke mower to a bloke obviously from the sub continent. A couple of weeks later he rang me and said it wouldn't start. I told him to bring it over so I could see what the problem was. He came over New Years Eve, first thing I did was pull the air filter off to check the primer was working, nothing,then opened the filler cap and bingo, no fuel. Put some fuel in it and it started first pull. Then today I had a bloke ring and ask if I could look at a 2 stroke mower he bought from KMart about a year ago and now it won't start. Said his wife had used it and it must be her fault. When he arrived it was obviously a Chonda so I said I'm not really interested in looking at it but he pleaded with me to see if I could get it going. I put it up on the bench, looked in the fuel tank, not much fuel, pulled the fuel hose off the filter, fuel there, then looked along to the carby and the fuel tap was shut. Turned on the tap and it fired straight up.Going to be an interesting year

I just hope they don't lose any fingers or toes.

Do they offer you payment or just take up your time with their own uselessness?

Paul, they are from the sub continent, enough said, I try to avoid them as much as possible, the bloke yesterday I have no idea where he got my number. When I explained to him that it wasn't a 2 stroke he just looked at me in a dumb fashion. I had another one wanting me to find him a ride on mower, I had to tell him he wasn't capable of using one, they just have no idea

It is even worse when they use the mower to mow rocks and stones then wonder why the blades need replacing!

That reminds me of a bloke who brought in a Honda quad bike that wouldn't start.

The problem was he was pushing a black bolt on the handle bar rather than the starter button!

Was this one of an ethnic non English speaking background too?
I look at films of Sydney in the 1960s and 70s from NFSA's channel on YouTube and think to myself, what have we done t this place???

This is why I'm not in the business of fixing and selling mowers. The shame of it is that some of the older mowers were built to last many years and they can indeed stand up to harsh conditions more so than some of the mowers I've seen at Bunnings, Aldi etc. There is a fair bit of work that goes into refurbishing the mowers but you never get close to a reasonable return considering the hours you've put in and then someone will say they want the mower and try and negotiate down to ridiculous amounts such as $30 or so.

I remember a bloke who also was from the Subcontinent, who demanded that I keep a mower I was selling for him. He pleaded not to sell it to anyone else as he had been looking for one just like it and had resisted buying others. He arrived at my place late, started up the mower, it ran just as I had described in the ad and a few seconds later said it wasn't what he wanted. He took a few steps away and then said he would give me half what I advertised it for. I said no, he then stated he did like the mower and said look I'll give you my old watch, it's a beauty, it doesn't really work but for a few dollars you can get it to work. I eventually sold the mower for the advertised price to someone who couldn't believe the price and knew how good the machine was, he couldn't stop thanking me enough. Pity you can't screen some of these interested buyers. For the record, I've seen firsthand what NormK does to get his mowers ready for action. The work he does is exemplary and he sells them for far too cheap considering how much life the mower will provide, I understand that the Market sets the price but some of the older machines really are dependable and long-lasting, there are just too many people that don't understand quality and end up wasting our time with ridiculous offers.

Please tell me you didn't relent to his outrageous demand and turn away potential buyers for this charlatan. The tone of his phone call would have been a red flag for me and I would have told him not to bother and slammed down the phone.

Sadly I did but I said I'd keep it for a day or 2 only. Lesson learnt.

Well at least it ended up with a deserving and appreciative buyer who will likely get a long service out of the machine and hasn't ended up in the grubby hands of the other guy.

Here is an interesting spin on how a 4 strokes works if you think you have a 2 stroke

Seller's description
Date Listed: 01/01/2017
Last Edited: 01/01/2017
Condition: Used
A used 4 stroke lawn mower, in very good condition, it starts every time, no need for petrol mixing, it mixes its own, using unleaded petrol and lawn mower oil in a seperate tank.

G'day Norm

Thanks for that gem.