Good-bye Toro Recycler

[RSteve]

Temperature in St. Paul was ridiculous for April 5, 84 F., in my sunny backyard 87 F. I have large landscape boxes (retaining walls) on two sides of the backyard. They were filled with leaves and overgrown grasses. At sunrise, I began raking the leaves and clipping the grasses from the boxes to the lawn, so I could mulch them with my lawn mower. It's an old Toro recycler push mower. Last fall, it sounded like it was about to die. Today, it wouldn't start and when I pulled the starter cord, I heard loud banging from the motor's guts. I changed the gas and oil; bang, bang, bang. No complaints, as I had it for over 20 years.

But what the hell do you do with an old broken lawn mower? I called around...no, no, no...we don't take them and don't know where you can legally dispose of one. I called a local repair shop, "Of course we'll take it, but there's a $100 drop off fee, or we could repair it, but that might cost you more than a replacement.

I tend to have emergency back-ups for a lot of things. For the mower, I have a very lightweight corded electric mower. It did a great job with the mulching, but dealing with the cord was a sharp pain in the burro.

Tomorrow, I'm going to buy a battery powered electric. My city lot is 50' x 150'. I thought I'd just hire a lawn service, but that's $150 to $175 a month, April-September, about $1000.00 for the season and that doesn't include fall lawn clean-up. I can afford it, but can't justify it. Tomorrow, I'll buy this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-2...Battery-Charger-Included-RY401110-Y/311084745 It's a crazy price because the battery alone sells for $179.00. And, hopefully, I'll get my Vet's 10% discount.

So, I spent the afternoon taking apart the old mower, draining all the fluids, then completely dismantling the entire mower; every screw, nut, bolt, washer, etc. It's all in heavy duty plastic construction bags in my trash can for pick up tomorrow and I am exhausted. The only thing I couldn't bag was the mower's platform. I was really surprised to find that the motor was only attached to the platform with three bolts.

 

[RSteve]

Oops. Double post? Magic?

 

[Zeno Marx]

Take it to a scrap yard. The Twin Cities used to have a great one. I can picture it, but I can't remember which highway, other than it is on a big curve (I know...not any help). I found some great, unusual metal scraps there for a project at one time. They'd probably even unload the car for you.

 

[RSteve]

That was the historical H. S. Kaplan Scrap Iron, now defunct. It was massive in size and became a regional scrap metal wholesaler. The owners passed away and the city purchased the property from the heirs for million$. In 1984, I went there looking for cheap rebar to stabilize a landscape wall I was building. Not only did they have huge piles of rebar, but they cut it to size for me for a fraction of what I expected to pay.

 

[Hermit]

I wouldda put it out at the street .
Some industrious fellow prolly wouldda picked it up and fixed it.

 

[Zeno Marx]

That was the historical H. S. Kaplan Scrap Iron, now defunct. It was massive in size and became a regional scrap metal wholesaler. The owners passed away and the city purchased the property from the heirs for million$. In 1984, I went there looking for cheap rebar to stabilize a landscape wall I was building. Not only did they have huge piles of rebar, but they cut it to size for me for a fraction of what I expected to pay.

Rust. Nothing stays the same. But thanks for the update.

Yeah, I have to agree with leaving it on the curb. Scrap metal is so low right now for the average home owner/purger of junk that it isn't worth the gasoline and time to drive to a scrapper. Let some less fortunate, industrious folk throw it in the back of their truck and either get the money or fix it. I'm just now remembering that last Fall a neighbor loaded up their SUV with old X-mas lights, metal lawn furniture, and a couple other things. They got like $6. Nothing lasts on the curb in our neighborhood. Put it out front with a sign "FREE", and it gets swiped up right quick.

 

[RSteve]

Nothing lasts on the curb in our neighborhood. Put it out front with a sign "FREE", and it gets swiped up right quick.

I wish I could have done that in 1976 with my first wife.

 

[Corncobcon]

Yeah, I had the same problem except my Husqevarna mower was only 6 years old. What a POC. Anyway, I took it apart piece by piece
and put it in trash bags for the dumpster. I kept the wheels and the handle just in case I needed them. I cut the body in half with my
saws-all! Yes, the body was cheap. I have an old old Toro that I still use for rough areas and in the woods. It's at least 10 years old and
is still running! I ordered a new Toro self propelled mower and hope it gets here soon. The wife will use it on the hillside.

 

[daveinlax]

I’m junking my Toro Recycler. It’s not that old and looks new but the drive went out. I’m planning on getting a Honda from a dealer and not the big box store.

 

[RSteve]

The best laid plans. Besides the old Toro that I dismantled and trashed, I also have a Toro Recycler, self propelled with electric start that I bought in 2014, but haven't used in a couple of years because the self propelling mechanism wasn't working and pushing it was almost impossible. My daughter persuaded me to see if it was repairable before I bought a new electric mower.
She took it to a repair shop. New blade, spark plug, oil change, and belt for the self propelling mechanism. $165. ouch
Yesterday morning, I took the repaired mower out for a trial run. Instead of my determining the speed of the propelling, the machine ran very fast and I had to keep up. 10 minutes into the mowing the machine began to make loud noises and the self propelling was DONE.
My daughter picked it up and took it back to the repair shop. I got a phone call from the shop, "I guess it wasn't the belt that was the problem. The self propelling transmission is broken and not repairable for less than the cost of a new mower. We can junk it for you or remove the self propelling transmission and you'll have a functioning push mower.
So, now I have a push mower that hopefully will cut grass.

 

[Brewdude]

Frankly I'd be getting in the face of the repair shop and demanding a refund due to their inexpert diagnosis.


Cheers,

RR

 

[RSteve]

Frankly I'd be getting in the face of the repair shop and demanding a refund due to their inexpert diagnosis. Cheers, RR

I got a "sue me" when I requested a partial refund.

 

[Brewdude]

I got a "sue me" when I requested a partial refund.

That certainly shows a lack of integrity on their part. Hope you rated them appropriately on Yelp.


Cheers,

RR

 

[RSteve]

I'm back to buying a cordless electric. The Toro Recycler without the self propulsion is far too heavy as a push mower. I used it a bit today, and the shoulder I tore apart in 2013 is quite sore tonight. Damn, it's tough getting old.

 

[Timbo]

Steve, you need to find yourself a local teenager to cut your lawns for $20 bucks.

I used to do it fairly often as a kid for pocket money, hell, my sperm donor wasn't going to give me any pocket money so I had to do something. That and paper boying which I presume is as outdated in your country as it is mine these days.

 

[RSteve]

Bought an EGO LM2101 electric. EGO is allegedly the most reliable of the cordless electrics. In Mpls-St. Paul, they're only carried in any quantity by Lowe's and Ace Hardware. Lowe's has been OOS for weeks and I was told to order and pay on line, then wait for delivery to the store. "We tell people 7 to 10 days, but it could take 3 to four weeks." I went into the neighborhood Ace hardware and they were OOS, but the beautiful co-ed (Macalester College is nearby) said, "I can check inventory at the other ACE Hardware stores, if you've got a minute." Bingo. Apple Valley Ace Hardware, minutes from my older daughter's house. I shot over there, paid for the mower, and a few hours later my daughter picked it up in her SUV and delivered it, then set it up at my house.