Lawn Mower Fixed

I've always prided myself on being self-sufficient, being able to fix anything that comes up, growing my own food, etc.  That's the way I was raised and it just seems normal.  So when our lawn tractor died, I did what only felt right.  Instead of throwing it away or scraping it and getting another one, I took it upon myself to not only fix it, but to improve it.

The trouble with our tractor started the first summer we had it.  It has always thrown belts, ALWAYS.  Then my wife hit a piece of concrete and ruining the bearings in the middle spindle.  Over the course of 5 years, I've kept the bad spindle packed with grease and have kept the tractor mowing at least decently.  Then 3 weeks ago, I hit a very large stone which shattered the left spindle. 

I found a 2 pack of spindles on Amazon.com for 1/2 the price of one spindle elsewhere.  3 new OEM blades, 2 spindles, 1 belt, and 45 minutes later I was ready to mow.  We mowed our grass once without issue.  Then the next attempt the tractor stopped running and would only run on choke.  So I tore the carburetor off, checked everything, cleaned it up and we were ready to mow again.  However this time, it just kept throwing the belt every 50 feet.

The belt on our tractor is 147.75 inches, so I went to get a belt that was 147 inches, taking out any play.  Unable to find a belt that size, I decided to get an OEM belt and replace the tension spring on the deck. I bought a heavier spring at Tractor Supply, quite a bit heavier.  With everything in place I was finally ready to mow.  Finally, the tractor mowed as good, and actually better than when we first got it, no more thrown belts, no more lines where the blades missed pieces, but finally a good looking lawn.

So for a total of $157 we had working tractor that mowed better than when it was new.  Thinking about not only saving our tractor, but making it better is quite a satisfying feeling.  And for anyone thinking about being a homesteader or living a more self-sufficient life, more important than growing a garden or raising some animals, is being able to look at anything and say, "Yeah, I can fix that."  Once you can do that, you are ready to make your move.