Okay, it is John Deere and my tractor refused to start when I went out to mow the lawn. It didn’t even try. The battery didn’t have enough charge. I put the battery charger on it.
That’s the charger on the left-front tire. There’s an electrical problem in the glow-plug system. They use them in the modern diesel engines so they will start in cold weather. The circuitry is complicated and buried inside somewhere. The guy from the dealership will pick it up this morning and take it in for repairs. With all the hydraulics and fancy systems on this modern marvel, I don’t work on it.
It’s like my car. I used to work on it. Drive in and buy the parts. Pray :pray: I had everything I needed. (Of course I had double and triple checked, but sometimes . . . 😥 ) Then take it apart, work on it and put it back together. Fortunately, I never completely embarrassed myself.
I did the mowing I wanted to do, but not with John. Instead, I turned to Yan. He’s been around for quite a while and with me for over a decade.
Like me, Yan is a high-mileage unit–and he is relatively simple. 😀 I’ve worked on him quite a bit. I even bought the metric tools so that I could. When he stopped working late last summer, I scoped out the problem, ordered parts and fixed him.
Great machine, right? :up: Perhaps not. He has a higher center-of-gravity, no power steering and the rear-mounted mower is difficult to maneuver around obstacles. Also, in cold weather he doesn’t want to start. :down:
Despite all that, Yan came through for me and we got the lawn care job completed. Not only that he’ll be here with me while John is in “the hospital.”
Do you know what John and Yan have in common? They both have Yanmar diesel engines.
My neighbor once asked me why I chose to move out here in the country in retirement. I responded, “I moved out here under the theory that it would cure me . . . or kill me.” So far it’s working well. My blood pressure is back under control. :up: I’m saturated with feelings of peace and contentment.
I could have saved a lot of money on tractors and repairs if we’d have bought a house on a small lot in town. I think we made the right choice.
Oh my gosh, John needs a dr. here too, and my husband couldn’t be sadder, lol. He loves, Loves, LOVES that darn mower, and I just get aggravated with it. And we need to charge the battery every time too…as of late this summer. But we will have John repaired and welcome him home w/open arms. He’s family, you know. 😉
The loyalty of Deere fans is amazing. Yes, I know how they become “family.” :up: Good look with your John.
I used to work on all the older stuff, but I never touch anything new. I could probably figure it out, but it’s all packed in there too tightly to get to.
I understand. My hand tremors are bad enough that it frequently requires two hands to insert a screwdriver into a slot. :frustrated:
Yes, but mowing a small lot in town does not provide the requisite time to actually think about something long enough to figure it out.
If I had a small lot in town, I’d use a small walk-behind mower. That still would take a lot less time than mowing about 5 acres. I guess you do have an excellent point. AND the scenery is much better out here. :up:
It seems inevitable that technology will outpace the abilities of the DIYer. Anyway, there’s not much left that I can do. 😀
I’m not saddened by the first part. What do you reckon an I-Phone would look like if it used vacuum tube technology? 😯
Neither is there much left that I can do. 😥 Frequently, that has nothing to do with technology :rofl:
There isn’t much you can fix yourself nowadays. Remember when we could take apart the washing machine and fix it? The car? The lawn mower? The TV??! Yeah, those days are long gone.
I remember those days well. 😐 As I watch my HD TV, I have no great desire to go back to those long gone days. :nono: Or as someone once said, “The good old days aren’t what they used to be.” :2c: