I try, at least, especially if it’s something that I need in the short term, but far too often, local stores just don’t have what I’m looking for. I’m not sure how they can expect me to keep the money in the community when these places can’t keep anything on the shelves.
So this is my story.
This is a long tale to get to a simple conclusion in the end so bear with me. We got a ton of rain this year. We usually do and then comes the inevitable knee-high weeds before it gets warm enough to do anything about it.
This year, we put down pre-emergent weed killer. A lot of it. $200 worth of it. It didn’t do a damn thing. It comes in pellet form and once you put it down, you’re supposed to water it in. Considering all of the rain that we had this year, the last part wasn’t necessary. I put it down and let the rain do the work.
Too bad it didn’t work. We’ve got weeds again. I went out and bought some weed killer, but it only works at temperatures over 60F and we haven’t been having that. It’s sitting in the garage, the nasty chemical stuff for the front yard and the all-natural, pet-safe stuff for the back. Someday, I’ll be able to use it.
So, I pulled out the lawn mower and figured I could at least mow it down. I honestly only use the mower about 3-4x a year, but somehow, in that time, the fuel filter always gets clogged and I have to replace it. In the past, I’ve just gone to Home Depot because it’s one of the brands they carry. Even if I have to order it online, I can have it shipped to store in a couple of days.
This time, nope. It’s not on their website anymore. I go to the manufacturer and see if I can order it there. I can, but they’re ridiculously expensive, about $12 per filter and you’re looking at 6 weeks shipping time. The weeds will be over my head by then.
Off to Amazon. I got 4 filters for $15 with free shipping. It’s a much better deal. I ordered it and it got here yesterday. I disassembled the side of the mower, since it’s a pain in the ass to install and while I was there, I dumped the fuel tank and got fresh gas into the system. Oil was fine. Air filter was clean. I was ready to get mowing.
Except it wouldn’t start. I took it apart and removed the spark plug and it had significant carbon on the electrode. I scrubbed it off with a wire brush, reassembled everything and it fired right up…
For about 10 seconds. It’s a bad plug. Figures.
Today, I pull the spark plug again, no mean feat because it’s not like you just pull the boot and unscrew it, you have to disassemble the entire top of the mower first. I do it, stick the old plug in my pocket and vow to stop at Home Depot or Lowes for a replacement. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?
Except neither of them had it. It’s not an uncommon type either. So, back home. Get on Amazon. Find a 2-pack of the exact replacement for $10, with next-day free Prime shipping. That’s what it would have cost me for one of them at the big box stores.
My question here is why I even bother? Most stores can’t stock worth a damn. In the morning, I’ll have two new spark plugs, one to use and one to pack away with the other three fuel filters that I got for almost the same price as one. It’ll fire right up, hopefully, and I can get the weeds mowed down. It also looks like it might be warming up in the coming week or so and then I can spray and kill it all. I just need to get down to the roots and once mowed, that’ll be easy.
Why is this so difficult? Nobody has anything that I want and if they do, nobody bothers to put it on the shelves. I think I’ve said this before, but we have a constant problem with Walmart stocking their pet aisles. Cat food? Good luck. I have pictures of the aisle being almost entirely empty. Cat litter? Give me a break, yet we know that they have it. If I go home and order it online for pick up in store, it’s ready in 15 minutes. Someone just has to walk into the back room and throw it in a cart. So why can’t they put it on a shelf? I have no idea.
Maybe the reason so many stores are going under is because they can’t actually please the customers. Why go if they don’t make an effort? I can sit at home and have Amazon deliver all day long. I know that I’ll get what I want. I’d rather shop locally.
Too bad I really can’t.
re: Maybe the reason so many stores are going under is because they can’t actually please the customers. Why go if they don’t make an effort?
. . .Absolutely, they keep nothing stocked and force you to shop on-line.
re: no mean feat because it’s not like you just pull the boot and unscrew it, you have to disassemble the entire top of the mower first.
. . .Well, that’s a bad design because plugs often are the issue.
Re: I dumped the fuel tank and got fresh gas into the system.
. . .I use that Sta-bil (fuel stabilizer) because gas is so crappy. Keeps the fuel fresh for like 24 months, helps prevent all that damn ethanol damage.
Re: I scrubbed it off with a wire brush, reassembled everything and it fired right up…
. . .What about checking the plug’s gap too? Just in case wire brushing changed it?
Sometimes, in the past, I just sprayed some Super Starting Fluid right into the carburetor -never fails. But with the design you’re talking about you may have to disassemble too much to do that.
Yeah, these days it is so hard to get what you need without doing it on-line.
It’s really not a bad idea and it does protect all of the wiring and it keeps the rain off of the internals. It’s only 3 nuts, but to have to do it over and over again, that’s a pain.
I dump the tank at the end of every season, but what I had in the can was probably 6-7 months old. There’s no sign of water in the gas though.
The gap is fine, I checked. Spark plugs aren’t expensive so it’s just as easy to change it out. It’s at least 5 years old anyhow.
Did that. It’s what got it to fire up for a few seconds. The one thing I’m trying to avoid doing is pulling the carb and cleaning it out. Hopefully, when the spark plugs show up today, it’ll work.
Then everyone complains that you do it. Well whose fault is that?
—Absolutely.💯✔ Totally agree. You can’t have a thinly stocked store and expect people to come.
re: The one thing I’m trying to avoid doing is pulling the carb and cleaning it out.
One time it came down to the fact that it just must be the carburetor, so I looked at the price of a carb rebuild kit and the time cleaning it, et. al. Then I just decided, what the heck, just buy a whole brand new carburetor. For some reason, my model was amazingly inexpensive on Amazon. I just bought that new carburetor and bolted it on, connected the fuel lines -all good.