The grass is greener....

[Brian37]

...I do one lap around my lawn, have to back up, switch gears and all the sudden the damned thing wont move, the gear switch crapped out. My neighbors fiddled under it and got the pin to stick. YES, a FUCKING PIN. That is the only fucking thing that keeps my mower in gear...

The fact that the wee man next door had no trouble locating this 'pin', suggests it was built for easy access. Was it possibly a 'shear pin' designed to, you know, shear under abnormal load to prevent catastrophic failure of the gearbox. As in an inexperienced operator changing direction before the machine has come to a complete stop.

Could you post the make and model numbers.

No, I watched them struggle to put everything back in place.  Instead of dumping that on the consumer, a good product won't be designed to get to that point as to have the buyer have to bring it back to the shop in the first place, much less ask a neighbor to fix it.

It is just a lawn mower sure. But passenger jets have crashed and killed hundreds over cheap parts.

That says to me it is a greed issue. Corporate America had the same attitude of pumping out crap and only waiting until something bad happened to change, when Nader in the 70s faced the auto industry with how fucked up their products were. Despite all that kicking and screaming, the auto industry IS STILL ALIVE. And that facing them with their flaws lead to seat belts and air bags.

I was on the phone with an employee yesterday at the box store I bought it from, before my neighbors fixed the problem. He said to me that that same issue I got fixed by my neighbors was a chronic problem with multiple brands.

[The Grand Nudger]

Combines don’t have that problem.

[Brian37]

Most people do no not know, that the design of of a product can be franchised out to multiple companies, but merely have different names. The auto industry is notorious for this. It is like knowing that the Ancient Roman and Greek gods are the same, but just with different names.

[arewethereyet]

Most people do no not know, that the design of of a product can be franchised out to multiple companies, but merely have different names. The auto industry is notorious for this. It is like knowing that the Ancient Roman and Greek gods are the same, but just with different names.

And you must not have known that when you bought that Troy Built POS at a big box store.

Your mower broke...like machines have been doing since there have been machines.

No gods, nor the auto industry, were involved.  

You really are a neurotic twit.

[EgoDeath]

Sorry to hear about your mower troubles. When it comes to a regular mower, I'd tell most people to pick up anything that isn't a complete piece of shit but doesn't cost you top dollar. A walking mower is a walking mower, and while they're may be differences here and there, for the most part you just go middle-of-the-road and you'll be fine.

But a riding mower is one part mower and one part vehicle. Always go for the best mower you can afford, preferably John Deere or Husqvarna. I worked in landscaping for years and have always loved JD and Husqvarna. Used both on residential and commercial jobs without a single problem from either. At home I have a Craftsman and it's pretty decent as well. Been probably 7 or 8 years now and no problems so far.

Anyway, I have no experience with Troy so I can't really give you much advice there. Glad everything worked out, though.

[Anomalocaris]

Most people do no not know, that the design of of a product can be franchised out to multiple companies, but merely have different names. The auto industry is notorious for this. It is like knowing that the Ancient Roman and Greek gods are the same, but just with different names.

Only most people so clueless about all the improvements to industrial organization, operation and process, that they do not know why specialization is not only good, but extremely good, might not have known that design of a product can not only be "franchised" out to multiple companies, but should be "franchised" out whenever possible.    

If you want your stuff made by one all knowing craftsman who had done the whole thing a million times since time immemorial and knows everything there is to know about everything in his wares, you should have been born during the pre-industrial era.  If you wanted to be able to afford more than 2 items made by such craftsmen during your life time, then you had better pray that you were born a king or a very rich merchant.

[The Grand Nudger]

Atzuali handaxe ftw. The other word for superior craftsmanship and self reliance, is poverty.