I really do have a college degree. However, I’m not as mechanically inclined as I’d like to be. I have no delusions of rebuilding an engine, but I’d like to think I am able to keep up with general household tasks. So the following story is a little dismaying, but altogether not too surprising.
A few years ago, I was mowing the lawn and hit the water main in the front yard. The lawn stayed dry, but the mower blade was horribly twisted. After giving Lowe’s some money, I got a new blade, installed it, and finished mowing the lawn. Remember, this was years ago. This past week, I took a close look at my grass and saw that the tips weren’t neatly chopped. These frayed grass tips definitely make the lawn look a little dry. I figured that the blade wasn’t sharp and needed to be tuned up.
I took the blade down to the workshop and ground the cutting edge down until it was sharp. I thought it was weird that there was no paint missing off the cutting edge and it didn’t really look that dull. Whatever. While I was putting it back on, I made sure to put the blade on exactly as it had been before. Then, I dragged K out to take a look at the blade while I pulled the cord to make sure it was going clockwise (the direction of the cutting edge).
“No. It’s going the other direction.”
“Counter-clockwise?”
“Yep.”
-silence-
I had put the blade on upside down years ago. For years I’ve not been cutting the grass, I’ve been blunting it to death. No wonder the grass had frayed ends. After turning the blade right-side up, I gave it a test cut and immediately noticed a difference. And then…..
BANG!!!
Something hit the blade. I turned the mower upside down and found that a piece of metal that connects the blade to the deck had broken off and hit the spinning blade - and nicked it in the process. Now I need to get a new part AND resharpen the blade. Oh, well. At least it’s spinning in the right direction now.