Ahem! Wow. No posts in a year? What’s up with Betsie?
I don’t even remember…. … …

Well we were doing okay until August last year. I remember because when a bunch of friends came over for the Burger Summit and wanted to see Betsie that was when I first discovered that she had a wobbly wheel and wouldn’t run right.

When I finally found time to take her apart it seemed that the screws that hold the motor to the chassis had stripped out. The loose motor had spun around and that caused some of the wires to get melted and disconnected. So solder! My favorite. I fixed the wires and put the two screws that were still working in with some locktight and superglue. Not the best idea, but it worked for a week or two. Then the motor came loose again, but this time the wobbly wheel would not come off. It was like a joke where they tell you to pull the wheel right off and don’t tell you there’s two set screws holding it on. Except this was without the set screws!

Long story short, Betsie retired for the rest of the season and a plug in electric push mower was purchased. Reminds me of vacuuming. And wow, those branches on that tree are awfully low to the ground aren’t they? Betsie never minded, she’s just so short.

So now, months and months and 3 feet of snow later… I found some new and determined friends who gave the wheel another tug and managed to get it off!

Next we will re-tap the holes, try some slightly bigger bolts and see if lawn-mowing and web-camming can happen again.

No Comments »