Saturday, I had decided to go into town to check out an auction. I had some reservations regarding it, given the person involved, and so I went to the auction site to check out the vehicles scheduled to be auctioned, and they were, as I suspected, junk (all but those that had been listed in the ad were 4 cylinders, and the few full sized trucks and vans were not worth waiting around to try to buy). So, I decided to hit the pawn shops looking for lawnmowers (I'm trying to get some lawn jobs come spring, and thus, need lawnmowers). The first pawn shop I went to was a bust, though there were a few tools I might go back for if the lucre fairy visits anytime soon. At the second pawn shop, I got to check out the mowers they found there, and found one that ran nice, and bought it along with a weedeater with a bent shaft (for parts). I then went to Salvation Army and found a nonrunning mower, but the engine recoiled nicely, and the throttle worked, so I bought it along with. So then, I had two mowers, one working, one not, and a nonworking weedeater when I arrived at home. When added to my collection, it made for a total of three push mowers(to be fair, one nonworking mower was bought as part of the deal to get the riding mower cheap) , one working, a riding mower (motor works, transaxle doesn't), and a nonworking weedeater. Add to that the old Dodge in the backyard and you have the makings of a small redneck empire, I figure.

Well, later on at night, still infuriated after my encounter with Rev. Jack (see blog prior), I decided to tinker. I needed to pull the transaxle off the riding mower, but was stymied by some incredibly stubborn bolts and couldn't borrow the tools I needed till morning. So I turned my attentions to the second push mower I had bought. I put it through every test I could, and was delighted to find it passed every one. The valves were seating, it was getting spark, and the throttle was working. So, I cleaned off the fouled spark plug and putzed with the carb for a little while, and the engine roared to life very soon after. This morning, I pulled the transaxle off of the riding mower.

So now, the count's three push mowers, two working, one not, a riding mower (in pieces due to the transaxle removal), a nonworking weedeater and the aforementioned Dodge. I might have to move my broken down Olds back into the yard to complete the ensemble.