Not sure why the word red neck is not allowed.

 

******* is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.[1][2]
Its meaning possibly stems from the sunburn found on farmers' necks dating back to the late 19th century.[3] Its modern usage is similar in meaning to cracker (especially regarding Texas, Georgia, and Florida), hillbilly (especially regarding Appalachia and the Ozarks),[4] and white trash (but without the last term's suggestions of immorality).[5][6][7] In Britain, the Cambridge Dictionary definition states: "A poor, white person without education, esp. one living in the countryside in the southern US, who is believed to have prejudiced ideas and beliefs. This word is usually considered offensive."[8] People from the white South sometimes jocularly call themselves "********" as insider humor.[9]

 

I'm new to snowblowers but if it goes braap and has fasty spinny things in it it's better to keep the steel wire patent fixes to an absolute minimum. I've fixed and/or owned more mopeds and motorbikes I care to remember but can still count with just my fingers all the ones that didn't have any jerry rigs in them like the oh so popular twist 'n tape wire fixing method that will without fail, well, fail with a year or so as the moisture seeps in corroding the wire ends sometimes leading to failing regulator/rectifiers, actually frying the alternator coil (muchos pesetas) etc. Heck one time I found someone had replaced a piston of a rear brake caliper with a piece of random steel rod wich would actually have been fine if it were turned in a lathe but nope, hacked with an angle grinder and nowhere near straight; press on the brake and the piston would get kinked and lock the rear wheel not letting go. Lucky I spotted that BEFORE riding the thing.

 

I only do Donald Duck repairs, no Mickey Mouse repairs for me.
But I know what you are saying. 😎

 

I refer big Dumping of snow as THE BIG WHITE and that has been fixed by something or someone here in the past.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

 

Yes some owners have no clue. My next door neighbor has no clue about fuel stabilizer. I told him to add it to every tank of gas. I stopped mentioning it and he keeps wondering why his OPE stops working 🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Here's the guy who bought this machine ( pic) 3 years ago. It has an impeller seal kit and he came from 4 hours away.
I love it when i hear from happy owners.

 

I get to see four of the ones I sold over the years just by walking around my neighborhood ..... . It does give one a good feeling .....

 

As orangepueth mentioned, mickey mouse repairs have a time and place. Getting you through a storm is one thing, don't make it permanent.

Sad to say the only way people learn to do it right is by doing it wrong and having to do it again. (Speaking from experience here.)

 

LOL ... I don't really see any mickey mouse repairs, but I mostly see the pure neglect of maintenance and abuse. ... but I get my units for free .... gives me something to do and make a few bucks to boot ... win -win.

 

I still hate to see otherwise or once-great machinery reduced to non-op over lack of good maintenance. Folks expect machinery to last forever. "It ran fine when it was parked..." is a favorite. Remind me -why- it was parked? Maybe "it ran right up to just before it was parked."

It started fine last time it ran. I lost a few parts. I found some parts but couldn't figure out what they did so I threw them away. It leaks oil so I just add some when it gets low; that way it changes itself. I had a bolt that was close enough so I used it. Bolts tightened to "that's not going anywhere!" tight. Stripped threads stuffed with toothpicks. Epoxy thread repairs. I just keep ramming it into the frozen snow pile. It makes a bad noise but still runs. Yeah I just leave it under the deck when I'm not using it. I've had the gas in that can for over four years; it's always been fine. It only fails to start when I go to use it. Was that wire important? I adjusted [this] and now it doesn't work -- what could it be? No oil in there?-- I just checked it! Somebody must have sabotaged it! But it was cheap! For the price I paid it should last forever.

 

winner winner chicken dinner

I'm not called the grumpy ol troll for nuting.......i have told people it's criminal the way they took care of their machine and will refuse service.......
Plus I tell them upfront it will cost them extra for me to fix their half ass repairs. ..funny thing they keep coming back.

If they start asking how much it's gonna cost I tell them to take to dealer or another shop.

 

When I first started working in high school my first two jobs were in gas stations/service stations, back when they hired guys to pump the gas, check the oil, clean the window, etc. Since me and Dad had started working on our cars when I was about 10 I also did light service work like oil changes and tire balancing. When I was done with those two jobs after college I vowed to never ever work retail again.

Anyway, one of the stories that came from that experience was on a Sunday morning we could hear this car coming from two blocks away - it sounded like a crash going someplace to happen, and the sound was from the engine pinging and banging and making some other noises that I'd never heard an engine make before, but I knew wasn't good. That engine was due to seize up any second now. The guy driving it pulls into our station and says "I think there's something wrong with my car".

Uh, yeah, we had that part figured out.

So I pop the hood on it (using a rag so I didn't burn my fingers on the hood latch) and strangely there isn't any water vapor rising. I guess it had all boiled off a couple of miles back. Not surprisingly when I took the radiator cap off it was bone dry in there. I've see wetter deserts. So I'm looking around under the hood and I notice that there's a small piece of water line missing, one that normally connects the water pump with the engine block. This was in 1968, the car was maybe 10 years old and many cars had separate water lines connecting the water pump to the block at the time.The thing about it was that there weren't any pieces of it left, and no clamps holding the ends of it on to the stud ends. It's just gone, like it was abducted by aliens or something. So I tell the guy, "There's a piece of water line missing from there" and I point to it.

"Oh yeah, that was leaking so I cut it off."

And I remember just standing there, trying to understand the logic of why the guy would cut the line off and not think that not replacing it would perhaps, just maybe, cause some problems down the road.

And what is scary is that people like that are allowed to reproduce.

 

ha, fun thread to go back to......I'm grumpier than ever. Now before I take a repair job I ask a few questions like was it last serviced at a dealer? if they say no "I have done all the work to it since it was new ." BIG red flag. I'll probably deny the work.

Last week I had a machine that was serviced at a dealership just 2 years ago. They must have used a new mechanic or apprentice since I had to do some repairs that didn't make sense. the spark plug was cross-threaded and the choke was improperly adjusted for just 2 examples......

I really couldn't believe a dealer serviced that machine.

I tell people all the time that if they are not sure about a repair to please take to a shop or let me look at it.
It saves time in the long run.

 

ha, fun thread to go back to......I'm grumpier than ever. Now before I take a repair job I ask a few questions like was it last serviced at a dealer? if they say no "I have done all the work to it since it was new ." BIG red flag. I'll probably deny the work.

Last week I had a machine that was serviced at a dealership just 2 years ago. They must have used a new mechanic or apprentice since I had to do some repairs that didn't make sense. the spark plug was cross-threaded and the choke was improperly adjusted for just 2 examples......

I really couldn't believe a dealer serviced that machine.

I tell people all the time that if they are not sure about a repair to please take to a shop or let me look at it.
It saves time in the long run.

I can believe it. If you do not think some techs at Dealer cut corners or BS their way in to a job you are naive. Then their are the dealers that pressure their techs to work at lightening speed. In my area if you are a residential customer you are at the bottom of the barrel at a dealer. They want to sell new equipment and prioritize their commercial customers who may have a whole fleet of machinery that they service. They may buy some new stuff every year. Your region may be different. That is why I say look for an independent mechanic in your area who you can trust.