A person can purchase an assortment of things to de-thatch..a hand powered item referred to as a yard rake. Or a de-thatching rake, or a wheeled thing you push about. Or hire. They will have all kinds of power stuff. Gives me an erection, just thinking about the power tools you can get to do your lawn stuff.
We have a de-thatcher blade...the tynes rip out the old dead grasses and moss and then you have to rake that up. Later.
When I was getting ready to fit the blade onto the lawnmower, I saw that the original adapter had a crack, so..ordered a new one. From Sears. The parts line. Easy peasy..even had them send a cut-away drawing to ensure I was getting the right part. #46.
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This is what the original looked like.
And here we have the new one.
Note the difference? Only one hole instead of three. Those two raised metal 'nipples' fit into the blade holes where bolts used to fit through. What do I know?..I ordered the part using the Sears diagram....it was the only choice in the parts selection...and when I slid it on, the key fit like a glove. The holes in the blade..not quite so much but again...I figured that this was how it was supposed to work.
When I cranked it up last Friday...bang bang bang bang....KER-fuckin-BANG....and that was that. Dead as a doornail. So..I flipped the mower over..and saw that the blade, bolt and adapter had all been blown off the mower shaft and were laying in the grass. Holy shit...if that had been a cutting blade, rather than a de-thatcher blade with the tynes....the tynes grabbed the grass instead of a cutting blade that would have just shot out from under the mower.
The force broke the key in the adapter.
And those raised metal 'nipples' just elongated the holes in the blade like crazy.
There I was.....and the more I considered what might have occurred...the more impact it had on me.
"The whirling metal piece below the mower deck is an inexpensive and effective method of shearing a variety of vegetation. However, approximately 70 percent of all lawn mower accidents are caused by blade contact. A person can come in contact with the blade by slipping under the mower deck, or reaching into the discharge chute. Lawn mower blades typically turn at 3,000 to 3,600 revolutions per minute, or 50 to 60 revolutions per second. Since the blade has two cutting edges, an object in line with the blade for only one second can be struck as many as 120 times. The intensity of the damage from a blade rotating under these conditions is roughly equivalent to a 1.2 pound missile traveling at 232 miles per hour. Bones coming in contact with the mower blade are typically crushed and the wound filled with dirt and grass, making it difficult for a surgeon to repair. "
http://extension.psu.edu/cumberland/news/2013/the-key-to-lawn-mower-safety-is-you
When this all happend Friday....I called Sears. Even that was an exercise in patience. I talked to India and Lords knows where..all while trying to just talk to an actual Sears rep. But...I got a guy and he was very good at listening and uhmming and aahhing and saying good shit. I sent him digital pictures of the adapter and blade. One of his best lines was..."but Mr Haupt, the mower is 13 years old." I pointed out that I had bought the part from Sears 10 days earlier and there was no issue with THAT.
He assured me that he'd be in touch on Monday..that he had to send info to his "back office". Back office? oh..but guess what? no contact on Monday. So Tuesday at 5:30 am (they are in Toronto)..I started again and got a feller name Michael. This one says he is a supervisor AND a trainer...more pix sent to Michael and more assurance that he'll get right on this and get back to me ASAP.
That was Tuesday...Wednesday the original dude called me and sounded peeved when we were chatting...I asked about him saying he was going to call me on Monday and didn't. Said was his day off. I said.."great, good for you..need days off..but you had told me you or someone would call on Monday"...
This morning, Thursday...I start again. You cannot find a senior person in the Sears hierarchy to call or E mail. Not a one. All you get are call centres, it seems. I managed to chat with Judy this morning..and she told me that was going to pass it on to a 'lead' with a request to contact me.
So..Sears...will someone please call me or E mail and get this thing resolved? I think that now...I am feeling less benevolent about the whole mess. If you can't afford to call me...call collect...I don't mind. But really, you should be looking after your customers and not just ignoring them when bad stuff almost happens. Bad stuff, like could have lost toes or foot.
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Update...Sears called. Tanya, to be exact. Says she can resolve the issue. We go thru the whole scene and she is working to understand me and what happened and all that. Upshot is...what do I/we want? Want to be able cut the grass. I am not asking for anything that I do not feel is a legitimate position. We buy a new mower and Sears pays half. Plus the $ spent on an adapter, new blade and shipping. Apparently we have a deal.
cool
Now..how the hell that happened I have no idea.
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huh....However do these things work? Sears agreed to re-imburse me one-half for the cost of a new lawnmower. Did that on Friday. Have it sitting in the garage. But..now they want me to eat the cost of the parts I had ordered...yeah, the part that blew up...and the blade I don't need and the shipping. And...it's not the money. Hell, it's just a little bit, really, but for me, it is the principle of the thing.
So, now it's back on the bitchin wagon....I see that Sears.ca has a Facebook. Left a note and have been asked for contact info and they'll be in touch.
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Well well..I can now say that the issue has been properly attended to and resolved. Through Facebook, of all things. There is a Sears.ca FB presence..as well as US, but I am dealing with .ca...so, I put out my experience to date, and my request to be contacted....and lo and behold, again.....I got a call from one of the names on the FB page and the problem has been dealt with.
I would encourage anyone with a Sears problem...to go through the stupid/horrible/nonsensical/exasperation experience of trying to get a Sears rep to listen and deal with the problem. That way, a person can legitimately claim to have exhausted all other means and avenues offered by Sears, and now am turning to Facebook and it's oh so very public face.
facebook.com/SearsCanada
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