God Bless Sears

You can giggle all you want about buying stuff from Sears, and I agree that for the most part all these big box retailers are going to hell in a hand basket, but Sears still features one of the most valuable services offered by any retailer...The Ability to Buy PARTS!

-

In the last month I've taken advantage of this service twice, first when the plastic clasp that holds to door closed on our front loader washing machine broke, and most recently, a new carburetor when the automatic choke on my lawn mower began acting funny, thanks to the gummy nature of Ethanol additives now splashed in by fuel retailers with their gas.

-

You can buy the parts online, and in all cases the part numbers are either printed on the parts themselves (as was the case with my washer clasp) or in the owner's manual, (lawn mower carb).

-

-

Well, the clasp came a few weeks back and works fine, as expected. The carb came last week, and coupled with my earlier surgery to repair the rust and cracks in the mower deck and combined with a new plug and filter, sharpened blade, and a splash of fresh oil, it's installation brings the old creaky mower back up to speed for hopefully another 7 or so years. Total cost?...$85. Very favorable compared to the $400 price of a new USA made Snapper or Toro.

--

A new lawn mower carburetor! Don't try that at Wal Mart! Who needs a new mower!? Why am I talking about lawn mowers!?