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| My new WEEDEATER lawn mower. |
The other day, I picked up a used lawn mower for only $20 dollars from a man out in Spanaway. It has a very nice bag that came with it and plenty of power to cut through grass. I admit, it's a Weedeater re-brand of a Poulson, however, it does what I need it to do. It was a complete fluke that I found this on Craigslist when I did because I had just spent the last hour or so looking for lawn equipment. I cleared the last search results I was looking through and typed back in "lawn mower" and here it was. The guy was moving ASAP and it had to go that night, so I told him I was on my way. He only wanted $20 dollars for it.
I have a Troy-Bilt TB575ES string trimmer that I bought several years ago for my own back yard. It is a "pro-sumer" grade 4-stroke straight shaft string trimmer that was just a trooper, until earlier this year. I was cutting my Aunt's back 40 with it when it died on me. I saw it was pretty darn low on fuel assuming that was the issue. After having filled it up again, I pulled and pulled and pulled to no luck. She was dead. I let her sit for a few hours and I grabbed my Aunt's Troy-Bilt 2-stroke curved string trimmer. I came back to mine to attempt to start it up again and it did eventually start but it just did not sound at all good. I came to find out that the engine is shot and this particular model only had a 25-hour operating life span. I have put at least double that on it since I bought it. It really pisses me off since it was a $200 dollar string trimmer that should still be working, otherwise I could have better spent my money on an ECHO or Stihl product. A lesson learned, I guess. With all of that now being said, I am trying to find a used ECHO, Husqvarna, or Stihl with any available money I have, which isn't to say very much. A used Stihl 90R at a pawn shop or just on Craigslist still goes for $180 dollars or more easily. The other two are not far behind, so I need to work more. I just hope my Aunt's doesn't crap out on me before I buy another. I like to fix what I break, unless it is one of my sisters'. ;-)
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| Isn't she dreamy?! My future PJ Trailer Dual Dump. |
Eventually I will get my PJ Trailers: one for my lawn business and the other for dumping dirt, beauty bark, or hauling trash. I have been known to some pretty serious trailer envy when I see someone else using their PJ Trailer, although it is more of a joke than anything. I want one, bad. I will get one, someday. I just wish I could have it now. :-P Anyway, I can rent one from a company down in Olympia area for not too much. So, if I can keep my costs down, my business up, I can rent a trailer until I can actually buy one. There is just so much stuff I need to get that I will be buying over time that is kind of overwhelms me. I do not want to look like I am a hack who just needs beer money, because that is not me. I seriously want to do a great job and have returning customers even though this is not my ideal career. Eventually I will get back to what I truly love and that is carpentry, which is also part of my current business. Until then, baby steps.
