Wednesday June 13, 2012 yesterday I worked on the big riding mower. I knew it had a problem and ordered parts for it a week or so ago. The mowing deck drive belt was worn and had stopped spinning and while I surveyed the situation I found a busted spring on the idler pulley. I had the new parts, (Briggs & Stratton are very proud of their parts and charge a considerable sum for them) and I finally got around to installing them. I fooled around for over an hour trying to install the belt and spring, to no avail. It just could not be done without removing the whole mowing deck. I removed it with great consternation and found it somewhat easier to install the spring with the deck removed. The belt was more difficult. It has two brakes on it that automatically engage when the drive belt is not engaged. I had to pry the brakes away from the pulleys to get the belt on them. In the process of tweaking and prying, the deck flipped from horizontal to vertical and that is when I saw why the belt seemed to be broken. There was a large rock that had somehow became wedged between the center blade and the deck. It was huge! I never heard it clang and can’t imagine how it got on top of the blade, but it did. The drive belt was ready to quit service anyway, but I had hoped to prevent changing it until next year. Oh well these things happen.
A while later there was a ground hog in the garage. I went out to chase him, but he was like an errant child, just out of reach, and determined to stay. I had to get my push broom to (wait for it) sweep him out of the garage.
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