This is my son in whom I am well pleased...

II Brady 3:9,10

"And Dennis looked down from heaven and saw his son, Jeff, changing the oil and replacing the blades on his mower and he said, "this is my son in whom I am well pleased." And many thought they heard the voice of Dennis; others thought it was just thunder or a train on the tracks at the bottom of the hill..."

Yip, I did it. First time I ever changed the oil on The Tank. It was easier and a bit messier than I thought it would be. There is a rubber hose with a bolt in the end at the back of the mower. You have to unscrew the bolt and the oil will come pouring out into a strategically placed container. The oil was dark black. Not sure when Dad changed it last, but it was well passed time. Getting the oil filter off was a bit of a challenge. It was in a tight place next to the engine and it was also very tightly screwed in. I finally maneuvered a monkey wrench in there and got it loose. Once the filter was off, I put the new one on and the bolt back into the hose. It took two quarts of synthetic 10W-30 oil to fill it.

With that done, I proceeded to replace the blades. I got the blades and filter at P&P Small Engine. The new blades were spray painted black and labeled "bottom" on the side that was to face the ground. My first thought was, this sounds easy. It was not. It's really a two man job, but I figured out how to make it a one man job (much like life). My Dad had more tools than Craftsman I think and so I used those.

I used two hydraulic jacks to raise the mower high enough to get under it and work. Once the mower was up, I placed two axle stands under it to ensure it did not come down on top of me. Once in place, I got down on the ground and had a look underneath the mower. There was a great deal of dirt and grass caked under the deck and all three blades were worn and split on the ends, probably from Dad mowing rocks and stick and cans. He never liked walking the yard to pick up those things prior to mowing.

Anyhow, I quickly figured out that these blades were not going to come off unless something was holding the pulleys in place from the top. So I took a long handled wrench of the correct size and placed it on the bolt head of the pulley, bracing the long handle of the wrench against the mower itself. This gave me the leverage I would need to remove the blade nut from the blade. The nuts were on tight. I could not budge them, even with the long handled ratchet I was using. I pulled a spray can of penetrating oil off the shelf in the garage and sprayed each blade nut heavily. I let it set for awhile to give the oil time to do it's thing. The nuts finally came loose with repeated efforts and I got the blades off. Here they are.

 I wish I had gotten a picture of the new blades for comparison purposes because these blades are very badly worn. Putting on the new ones was much easier than taking off the old ones. When I was done, I was too worn out and stiff to mow the yard, but I did test them and they wonderful. I am going out now to do the whole place. I will let you know how it goes. I also aired up the tires and now the mower rides much better.

I'm getting pretty good at this 'man stuff' that the rest of you have been doing all your lives. I am learning much. Time to mow.