Built to last.....

[Bob Wright]

I was clearing our some old flower beds Nita had made, and was using my hedge trimmer like a sickle. Suddenly the blade quit reciprocating, the motor continued to run. Its been missing a few screws in places, but that hasn't hurt its performance. And I have to readjust the handle periodically as one of the missing screws held that secure.

I was wondeing about having it repaired, but there is no longer any manufacturer's name anywhere on the device. And, maybe fifteen or twenty years ago I lost the owner's manual.

As I recall the purchase date was 1968 or so, so I'm sure its out of warranty by now. Reckon I'll end up buyng a new one.


Bob Wright

 

[gunzo]

Screws are cheap & troubleshooting the thing might be rewarding. Otherwise, I get your point, 55 years is a pretty good run. Not likely to be matched by currently made units.

 

[coach]

I have a B&D electric hedge trimmer bought nearly 40 years ago. Every time I use it I expect to see that puff of smoke. So far so good.

 

[contender]

It's funny you brought this up.

Sadly,, stuff isn't "built to last" anymore.

Around here,, we do try & buy good quality stuff, expecting it to last longer than other things when we can.

Several months ago,, we found a sewing machine,, that apparently is well sought after by people because they do last. They started in 1937,, and quit in the 1960's. The one we found is like new,, and is a perfect example of top quality.

And Miss Penny has a food processor that she bought over 40 years ago,, and we thought it had finally quit. We ordered a new one,, and then discovered we'd made a mistake.

Quality products are harder & harder to find anymore.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Even cars. Right now I have a 2016 model Honda HR-V (my daughters car, we bought it new) with 118k on it sitting out by the barn. The CVT transmission shelled out and there seems to be no practical way to fix it. A new transmission from Honda is $6000 plus $1200-$1500 to install it. Apparently there are no rebuild kits for these. Two different transmission guys told me that IF they could get the rebuilt parts it would be 3 days of shop labor time to rebuild. A junk yard transmission is about $2000 and I can't find one less than 6 hours away, they won't ship, and no guarantees. Yeah, I'm not too happy with Honda right now.

 

[MHtractorguy]

Fix the old trimmer or sell it to me. As long as the engine runs, the blades/clutch and handle can be replaced.

 

[Johnnu2]

My wife says: "everything you have is OLD". Bought this TORO snow blower in 1976. Changed the carb. two, maybe three time (get the China versions for $16 with gasket .. delivered). Changed the belts once (possibly twice). Electric start still works. Also starts up manually on the first pull (mostly). It has cleared some large driveways before we downsized; now I do our driveway, and two neighbors driveways.... It doesn't seem to run like it did 47 years ago, but it does keep up with me .
J.