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Our 2005 John Deere mower is pau because of hitting all the rocks, although we try to avoid them. Actually it's the deck not the mower that's pau. How do all you other lava dwellers deal with rocks when mowing (too vast a lawn for us to dig them all out)? And question two: anyone know a cheap way to replace the deck (we tried to fix it last year and did some welding, but rust & rocks have done it in)? We got a quote from American Machines of $700 plus for the new deck (sigh).
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We got a wheeled weed eater, after taking out 2 lawn mower shafts... the power is spectacular, but was way too mush for our yard, as we have taken out some of the plants with this weedeater... so now we are back to square one... the wheeled weedeater is really fine for a yard with more expansive lawn areas, but ours has soo many plants that we need something that dodges between the plants.... so back to the little underpowered weedeater...
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We use a $200.00 push gas mower. They're pretty tough...
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Now that this is brought up, I have a question. I bought a $200 push gas mower, yes, it's pretty dang tough, too. But I am concerned for the consequences of repeatedly hitting lava rocks (not on purpose).
My concern is for safety. A friend of a friend lost a foot and cut up his other leg because of a mower blade that broke off and flew back, hitting his legs. How can it break off? by a pin, bolt gone bad? shaft breaking? Kinda freaks me out now wondering if I will have two feet after I mow my lawn. Anyone have ideas? I considered taking it to mower repair guy in Pahoa and having him check it out for any evidence of stress.
He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.
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We bought a whole new 42" John Deere mower deck/blade assembly from
www.rungreen.com for less than any local price. We paid $600 for the deck and shipping was only $60. Give them a look.
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I always cringe when I see people mowing the lawn in slippers or bare foot. Always wear work boots and long jeans or work pants when using a mower. Before mowing, walk the lawn looking for rocks or other items than can cause damage to the mower or become airborne. I have surveilence cameras at my house and I caught him on tape breaking a car window with a weed whacker. I guess he kicked up a rock and shattered the window withe the whacker. If it can shatter safety glass, it can easily take your eye out. I will walk the lawn and I take a 3 pound hammer with me and pound out any sharp edges of rock and try to flatten it out. It's extra work but it's well worth it in the long run. Be safe and don't disregard safety suggestions.
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KeaauRich, thanks for the johndeere parts website. I'll check them out!
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We have a Craftsman push mower that is one year old. The blade came completely off a few weeks ago when it hit one of the smaller lava rocks. It actually broke off the bolt. Had to take it in for repair.
With an acre lot to mow it is too large to hand remove all the lava. We are getting the major ones tho.
hawaiideborah
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Where we have lava rocks, we use goats.
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