First time mowing our new yard.

I got the lawnmower out and cranked, made a lap around to figure out the height I wanted, and my wife took over. She enjoys mowing. No argument.

Ten minutes later I hear a solid THUNK. Figured she hit some yard debris that I missed earlier.

Nope. She thought she could mow over the sewer cleanout cap. And she didn't just decapitate it, she managed to break the damn pipe all the way down to the split.

I didn't cuss her, but I cussed.

I don't have the time to fix it. Or the experience, really. It's got to be dug up and cut off in two directions and new pipe cut and attached. I figure that's $300+ gone (and a hole in our front yard).

Guess the replacement knife is going to have to wait

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chongosuerte,

I did the same thing, but bent the shaft on the mower. That was not a cheap fix either. Shit happens.

My wife used to let me help with the laundry until I turned her angora sweater into something that might fit a toddler. You'll probably come out cheaper on this.

Just some jobs one person in the household oughta do and not leave to others. Sorry, man.

Many years ago my Dad spent a good chuck of time meticulously rebuilding his old Ariens snowblower.

Not only did he do a complete engine rebuild but he cleaned, sandblasted and repainted most of the chassis and by the time winder hit it looked brand new.

That was the same winter he decided to teach me how to use it and on my first pass in making a path in the yard I promptly sucked up a large piece of Flagstone which made an ungodly noise and stopped me in my tracks.

Luckily it was just some bent metal and a sheer pin but I was back on shovel duty after that

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I did the same thing, but bent the shaft on the mower. That was not a cheap fix either. Shit happens.

My dad did the same with a Honda self propelled, but on an unsighted tree root.

Tried replacing the crankshaft, but it still had a vibration.

Bought a Honda powered garden mower for less than a replacement Honda engine, swapped the engines, sold garden mower, nearly broke even.

ETA: That Honda mower is still running great. Did my yard with it yesterday.
Best I can remember is that it's around 15yrs old, trouble free & low maintenance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,

I first use the riding mower to do the front and back yard, then come back with a push mower to get spots that I can't get to. This week was the first time I had to use the weed wacker (could have done it sooner but I was being lazy). First I head to the two A/C units. The front and sides were done with the push mower but behind needed the weed wacker. Soon as I started I hit two small wires that work from the thermostat and ripped them apart. Weed wacker was thrown about 20'. Not the way to start the day!

If you have not already ponied up for repairs, you could wrap it with sealing tape and wait to pay for repairs when you have a windfall, or as part of the repairs that would require access to the clean-out.

Something along the lines of this.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Na...ck-1208952/100206050

That should learn you ,womens know house work,now get in the kitchen and make dinner.

First quote: $1,600 plus parts.

About double the high side of my guess.

PVC? Super easy to do yourself. The digging will be the worst of it by far.

Give her the shovel and let her enjoy digging...

What the monkey said. You can slowly do the digging over time. The tape should work. That quote is ridiculously high.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
PVC? Super easy to do yourself. The digging will be the worst of it by far.

No joke. Post a couple pictures and I’ll bet some folks can walk you through it. That seems not just high but down right criminal for the situation as you explained it.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
...she didn't just decapitate it, she managed to break the damn pipe all the way down to the split.

Are you certain? Or could it be just shy of the junction?

That'll make a big difference in the degree of difficulty fixing it. If you've got a couple inches of the vertical still intact you can just cut it off cleanly and couple a new piece onto that.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
I don't have the time to fix it.

You can probably get away with sigmonkey's idea until you can get the time.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
Or the experience, really.

PVC pipe is trivially easy to work with. Just make sure to dry-fit beforehand. Once the parts are together with the adhesive, they aren't coming apart again.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
It's got to be dug up and cut off in two directions and new pipe cut and attached.

Even if you really do have to replace the cleanout adaptor, rather than just replace the vertical pipe: It's still not a challenging job--other than the digging. The digging will be the worst part.

And you will want to allow yourself plenty of elbow room down there. (See "dry fit," above.)

The quote you got sounds like a "we really don't want to do it" quote.

For $1,600, I'd rent a mini excavator or a tractor with a backhoe, fix it and still have money in the bank.

Post pics. Let the SIGBORG collective analyze and tell you elebintyzillion ways to do it.

Yeah you better get that fixed before a snake slides in and comes out the toilet.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Yeah you better get that fixed before a snake slides in and comes out the toilet.

And ruin the fun when the wife sits down?

Hell, I was doing some planting in my front flower bed when i discovered they had never capped my sewer clean out. They just crammed a rag in, set a rock on top, and buried it.

When I berated them into coming out and installing it properly, they installed it with a good eight inches sticking out of the ground. Looked awful.

Hell pay my airfare and ill come fix it for free!