HF Staplers

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  • WLee
    Forum Newbie
    • Jan 2004
    • 68
    • Elkhorn, WI, USA.

    #16
    Originally posted by cwsmith
    Your lawn mower statement made me laugh and reminded me of a story I had with my late FIL (bless him). When we bought our first home, I needed a lawnmower. My FIL was the manager of both the hardware and lawn and tractor depts at Sears. He told me to come down and see one of his sales guys and he'd give me a good deal. Well down to the store I went and looked a several. All asking a week or two of my pay back then. That was when Sears advertised their "Eager One" engines.

    While I certainly wanted a good lawn mower, it wasn't affordable, even with a good discount. So, I found myself at the local discount drug store that Saturday and I bought a $30 lawnmower. Briggs and Stratton engine I figured how could I go wrong. My FIL wasn't upset (he wasn't that kind of guy), but told me I'd probably be back in another year for something good.

    Well, every year 15 or so years, I'd call him on the phone... and fire that baby up with just one pull. I did have to put new wheels on it after about five years, and in the end the pan rusted and one of the engine mounting bolts fell out. So that was in 1969 and I was 25 years old at the time. So here I am now just about 74, I've owned four lawn mowers... all but the last being under $100 (and that was $129). I still have two of those, one here and one at my other house (I can't see carrying one back and forth between the two houses... both of these start on the first or second pull (even after setting through the winter).

    While I agree with you about some components and certainly a variance in assembly and QA practices, a decent tool should last if you take care of it.... but even there, your care doesn't have to be sparkle. (I did change the spark plug once on that first mower, and even the oil and air filter. I do change the oil every few years, but other than keeping the blade sharp and the filter clean, that's about it when it comes to lawn mowers. Oh, did I mention my Sears weed whacker... got that in 1970... I just had to buy a new one at HF, because the switch no longer works on the Sears..)

    Indeed. Actually I have a similar story myself. Likewise an "el cheapo" push mower (I think from WalMart, maybe $90 on sale?) with a (low-end) Briggs & Stratton engine... Bought it back in circa 1994/1995 when I was renting a small house and the Landlord's mower was in for service -- didn't want to (and couldn't afford to) spend much, plus the lawn was small, and I figured if I got a couple of years of service out of it, well that would be good enough.

    I still have it, and it still works... 20 almost 25 years later; starts right up (even though I rarely use it -- house I've been in for 18+ years now is a big 1+ acre property with steep sloping lawn, so mostly riding tractor mowing and NOT a lot of need for "trimming"), and in recent years, other than putting Stabil in the fuel, well I honestly can't remember the last time I changed the oil on it,or even sharpened the blade.

    But... there's an even FUNNIER aspect to it. That poor thing has been through H*LL and back in other ways... circa 1997/98 the rental house I was living in, well the little "crick" behind it became a "raging river" and flooded the basement and backyard; the basement being where that little mower "lived" -- ayah, it was underwater for about 3 days; I figured it was "dead" but nevertheless when I was able to pull it out, drain the fuel tank and the oil (obviously), and let it dry out... well I'll be darned if the thing didn't start right up. Kept working too. Then... when I bought a house and moved, well the mower got plopped in the back of one of my buddy's pickup trucks and wasn't exactly "strapped down" properly (plus, because of other oversized/longish things being moved the tailgate was down... yup you know the rest, the mower fell off (fortunately it happened when he was turning onto the on-ramp of the freeway, and not yet ON the freeway). Didn't even break the plastic wheels; we just loaded it back up (strapped it on/in better) and figured I'd deal with it the following spring... at which point it time it, again, just fired right up.


    So, yeah I'm with you... even though I know the way that manufacturers "cheapen" (cut costs) on many lower end products, I also still have a healthy respect for the fact that "low cost" does NOT always mean "junk"; and conversely "expensive" does NOT necessarily mean "high quality."

    And of course, yes, a lot of it DOES very much depend on the user -- in some cases on "proper" maintenance (though often very little is required) -- in others it's more about just not "abusing" the product or treating it in ways it wasn't intended.

    CHEERS!

    P.S.Also, despite having worked for a "high end" OPE mower company, my riding tractor is a "Murray" (Gasp!) -- in fact it's the one that I bought from the former owner of the house 18+ years ago -- didn't figure it would last long, but why "reinvent the wheel"? The thing had (and still has) massive/heavy wheel weights (needed because of the steep slope), and I knew he'd been able to successfully mow the property with it, so I figured I would at least "buy some time" before purchasing a better grade of tractor (and then having to figure out which model, what weights it would need, etc). But 18+ years later, I'm still using it -- had to repair some different things on it (including re-welding brackets back onto the mower deck, using fiberglas to patch a few rust holes in the housing, etc), but nothing major. And given that the "lawn" (can you call a grass covered "ski-slope" a lawn???) IS on such a slope (and has lots of trees/bushes, etc... well, it's never going to be some golf-course or football-field style "pattern-cut/manicured" patch of grass, so a "better cutting" mower would be rather pointless... what I really need is a "hay baling" attachment (when grass is even slightly damp, the slope is too steep to mow, hence the grass tends to get rather "long" and mowing it is more like cutting a hay field).

    Comment

    • WLee
      Forum Newbie
      • Jan 2004
      • 68
      • Elkhorn, WI, USA.

      #17
      Originally posted by Carlos
      Here I am at 53, and for the first time in my life, considering having to buy a mower. The wife has decided that we should add a small patch of grass for the dogs to run around on in the back yard. I hate grass and have never had to take care of a lawn as an adult (and hated it when I had to as a kid). I'm looking at one of those little ones that uses tool batteries, as the grass will probably be only about 20x40.
      Is it some "perfectly flat" little postage stamp (20 x 40 is what people in the "biz" call a "postage stamp" yard)... if so, I'd strongly consider getting one of those electric/battery "robo" mowers.

      Alternately... Astroturf FTW!

      Comment

      • Carlos
        Veteran Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 1893
        • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

        #18
        I was going to do the modern, nice-looking fake grass, but everyone says it gets very hot. We're in Phoenix, AZ, so heat is an issue. That's why we have zero grass now. But yeah, flat and easy postage stamp. I'm NOT going to mention the robo mower to the wife otherwise I'll be looking at another $2k or whatever they cost. I see what looks like a 3/4-scale battery mower at Lowe's that should do just fine for a couple hundred.

        Comment

        • WLee
          Forum Newbie
          • Jan 2004
          • 68
          • Elkhorn, WI, USA.

          #19
          Originally posted by Carlos
          I see what looks like a 3/4-scale battery mower at Lowe's that should do just fine for a couple hundred.
          I believe HomeDepot carries "Lime Green" ones... run off Ryobi 18V (which if you use them, then gives you the *ahem* "opportunity" to purchase a couple more of the high 6+ mAh Lithium batteries... for the "mower" of course; it's just a accidental "bonus" that they will also work with the rest of the Ryobi 18v lineup).

          Comment

          • Carlos
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2004
            • 1893
            • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

            #20
            I'm thoroughly invested in the Dewalt 20v platform, but their mower has awful reviews and is $400 (with two batteries...which I don't need, have lots). So I'll probably get a cheap whatever-is-on-sale at Lowe's. I avoid HD if I can.

            Comment

            • WLee
              Forum Newbie
              • Jan 2004
              • 68
              • Elkhorn, WI, USA.

              #21
              Originally posted by Carlos
              I'm thoroughly invested in the Dewalt 20v platform, but their mower has awful reviews and is $400 (with two batteries...which I don't need, have lots). So I'll probably get a cheap whatever-is-on-sale at Lowe's. I avoid HD if I can.
              Ah, gotcha... guess I'm still stuck in the mode of thinking of this place as the old BT3Central... aka "Ryobi" gang.

              Even though of course I know that's no longer true. And that a lot of people have either sold their BT3x00's or else moved on & away from other Ryobi stuff (or were never Ryobi to begin with).

              Which is all good.

              Really sometimes it does make one wish there was some "standard" to the whole "rechargeable battery/tool" thing -- though at least Ryobi (unlike other brands) seems to have maintained & sustained it's the 18V lineup (got lucky in my choice there 15/16+ years ago), and they've even maintained backward compatibility; too many other brands have "orphaned" their older battery tools.

              CHEERS!

              Comment

              • Carlos
                Veteran Member
                • Jan 2004
                • 1893
                • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

                #22
                Yeah the only battery industry I can think of that's standard is RC models. There are lots of different sizes, but none are brand-specific. The tool makers know that selling batteries and chargers is probably more profitable than the tool itself.

                I did love the BT saw, but never really bought into most other Ryobi stuff. It's mediocre at best. Dewalt was pretty early to the Lipo game and did it extremely well. I saw a deal on a kit, and bought their two smallest tools. The wife fell in love with the small impact driver. "So much lighter than our other one, so much better, so much easier to use..." Then I found some smoking deals on other compatible stuff and bought a lot more stuff at crazy prices, including being able to sell off extra "free" batteries in kits to make back some of the cost. I got rid of all the air tools, and all the AC powered tools. They became useless. The big Dewalt impact gun blew away my air impact gun.

                A friend whose whole shop was Milwaukee users has now converted. They are that much better. Now they have a contract where there are standby spares on the shelf, and they pay for it when they use it, then monthly someone comes by and swaps out broken stuff with repaired stuff.

                Comment

                • durango dude
                  Senior Member
                  • Mar 2011
                  • 934
                  • a thousand or so feet above insanity
                  • 50s vintage Craftsman Contractor Saw

                  #23
                  Hello Corbin? I’d like to place an order... well, that’s how I handled that particular problem. Highly recommend it as s course of action. My caboose is much happier

                  Comment

                  • Carlos
                    Veteran Member
                    • Jan 2004
                    • 1893
                    • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

                    #24
                    Well I just bought a bike they don't make a seat for, and am considering my own mods. There is a place in Tucson that will remake my seat also, but they are also pretty pricey.

                    Comment

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