Day: April 1, 2015

My, let’s say, somewhat strained relationship with lawnmowers continues. I don’t have enough grass to justify spending a lot of money on a ride-on mower, what is called a ‘tondeuse tracteur’ over here, and in any case, I’d have had to be mad to do so given the number of mowers that have been destroyed under my stewardship by rocks that they’ve come across nestling in the grass. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t envied those lucky souls who glide seemingly effortlessly around their estates leaving a swathe of beautifully manicured greensward in their wake.

But spring is upon us (well almost, if it would only warm up a bit) and the grass is getting high again, so the time has come to wheel the trusty lawnmower out and give it a dust down ready for action. I can’t say that I’m relishing the prospect, although it cannot be denied that I need the exercise after a winter of almost total idleness, so now that the supply of hidden rocks seems to be almost at an end, I found myself once again idly perusing the small ads for a bargain-price ‘tondeuse tracteur’.

Experience has told me that there’s no such thing as far as a French seller is concerned. They leave their machines out in all weathers until they are a mass of rust and when the engine eventually packs up, they still think that there’s someone mug enough out there to take it off their hands for two or three hundred euros. So my expectations were hardly high – that was until I came across a machine being sold by a fellow British ex-pat. And that’s why I found myself driving down into the Lot-et-Garonne in the rain on Sunday to take a look.

The seller only wanted 195€ for it, or something like £140, so so long as it started, ran, cut the grass OK and looked as though it might continue doing so for a couple of years or so, it was hardly an extravagant purchase. Well, it seemed to tick all of those boxes so then it was time to see about getting it home. I’d taken my trailer with me but unfortunately it was just too small to accommodate the beast. The seller had a larger one, so I suggested that if he loaned it to me, I could drive home with the mower and then return to pick up my trailer either later that day or in the morning.

Now I don’t know if it was because he was a Geordie and I am a Southerner and he thought that I might never return with his more expensive trailer, but he didn’t like the idea and suggested instead that for an extra 5€, he would follow me home with the ‘tondeuse tracteur’ on his trailer. This seemed far too good an offer to turn down but I tried to explain to him that I hardly lived ‘just up the road’ from his house. He wouldn’t have it though, so off we went – on a journey that took the best part of two hours! I knew he’d be a bit miffed at the end of it, but nobody could say that I hadn’t tried to dissuade him, so I parted with another 20€ and after unloading the machine, off he went again with his wife, who’d ‘come along for the ride’ in the passenger seat of their Renault.

All I could do on Sunday was park it up outside and cover it up to keep the rain off it. However, on Monday there was enough of a gap in the showers to fire it up and give it a spin. I’m glad to say that it worked fine and when I looked behind I was more than pleased to see that I was leaving a neatly cut 38″ wide swathe behind me as I drove. Here are some pics that I took of it parked outside the back of my house.

And so it came to yesterday evening. My neighbour Benjamin was out with the engine of his push-mower roaring away as he cut his grass, working up a good sweat as he did so. So that gave me the opportunity to fire up the little red beast and go driving past him into my garden, waving regally as the Duke of Edinburgh does as he glides past the crowds in the royal coach during Ascot Week. Benjamin looked suitably impressed, but pride comes before a fall.

I wanted to pick up mowing where I’d left off on Monday, but as I dropped the blades, I noticed that now there was no grass shooting out from the side of the blade housing. On stopping and checking, I found that for some reason, the blade driving belt had jumped right out of its pulley wheels, so I dutifully fed it back in and tried again. So then it snapped. The machine was then put back under wraps and I’ve spent part of today looking for a replacement part. Local suppliers can’t be bothered to check their stock unless you give them chapter and verse on the machine, its maker and year of manufacture and the actual reference number of the original belt. I’m not sure what world they live in – the machine is second-hand and at least 15 years old so I guess that as usual, they think that if they don’t bother, you’ll buy a new mower off them. Fat chance.

As usual, the internet seems to have come to the rescue and I’ve located what I think will be a suitable replacement of the right length and dimensions for under 25€ including delivery. The only problem is that, as usual, it’ll probably take 3 or 4 days to arrive (it’s only got to get to my place from Agen, less than 2 hours drive away), so I may have to wait until after the Easter week-end to see if it works. If it does, as I think it will, I’ll then be able to join the ranks of the idle land-owners who mow their lawns while sitting down and smoking a large cigar 😉