Mower spares pricing

My Honda ride on started coughing and spluttering (a bit like me ) so a carb strip down etc. got it running again after refitting the gasket I'd left out the first time but not running as sweet as it should be. I'm waiting for a gasket and filter service kit as well as a new fuel pump as they're cheap enough but looked at a prices for a full carb replacement.

The mower was bought in 2012 and is in very good condition but around 5 years ago I had similar issues with the original carb, I presumed down to modern petrol despite using additive and I hadn't drained off fully for the winter so my fault. The grass needed to be cut urgently and I was busy so I ordered a Chiwanese carb that was delivered in 2 days and I stuck it on expecting short life until I'd restored the original, but no and it never got done so here we are again.

I paid around £25 for the cheapo 5 years ago, I rang the Honda dealer on Saturday and was quoted £264 for a genuine Honda, not a lot cheaper on the internet either so late on Sunday night I ordered another cheapo off ebay for £35.27 and it was delivered at 10am today. It's now on the mower and works fine.

Even if this carb lasts only two seasons rather than 5 then I could continue replacing it over the next 15 years and still be cheaper. I don't expect either the mower or my body will be in any state by then anyway. No wonder we're giving our money to the Chinese.

Nothing to do with mowers (or, for that matter, the Chinese), but there is a similar "is it really worth it?" issue here in France.

We, like millions of other rural homes in France, so not have mains sewerage. The EU told France to sort it out years ago, but the deadline came and went because they kept running out of money. So we all have fosses, or septic tanks.

There are regs to do with fosses, though I have no idea what they are. But even though they work perfectly well, the vast, vast majority, including ours, do not comply. One of our neighbours had a brand new one installed less than a decade ago, and even that no longer complies, because the authorities keep raising the bar.

There are inspections about every 5 years and fines for non-compliance.

But here's the thing. I've not looked into it myself, but I believe a new installation costs about €12K. The fine is €40. What would you do?

S

Unless there was some kind of escalation in cost I'd pay the fine every day of the week Steve.

You would think that enforcing current compliance on to old systems that complied when they were installed shouldn't be allowed to happen.
I think if you look at most things to do with properties they only have to be a few years old by which time the regs have changed.

In our case they will be loads of issues if we sell one of the worst being the oil tank location. Ours is in the garage and it's a 2000gallon single skinned metal tank. It's raised about 300mm off the concrete floor on block pillars and timber bearers to cushion the base. Before we bought the house 39 years ago it had a fire, started in the garage by an electrical fault in the boiler I understand. Part of the roof was burned off and a fair bit of damage including the 75mm dia plastic breather pipe and the fuel level sight tube which ran the height of the tank, the support timbers were badly burned and all the paint off the metal however, the tank was 1/3rd full and didn't ignite. It still seems to be pretty solid though I keep a close eye on it.

Myself and my neighbours have been under pressure by the servicing engineers suggesting the tanks MUST be moved to comply with current regs. I took advice and they don't unless someting like a leak forces change in which case the replacement has to comply. I had a stand up argument with one of them and it wasn't until I shoved proof under his nose he admitted they are required to "suggest" by their employers. Commission and lucrative work comes to mind at £3k - £4k a pop.

It's not just mowers either. My car needs the rear wiper motor replacing. The OEM Audi part is £210, or a third party compatible replacement is £30. Given that it's 16 years old and well out of warranty you can guess which one I chose.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LOOK INTO IT...

... unless you and your glasses are securely tied on, topsides. and you are wearing breathing apparatus (or lashings of decent aftershave)...
... And don't even think about wearing those nice new contact lenses.

I hate those things - my parents had one at the bottom of their hillside property, which someone had thoughtfully installed just below an active spring's emergence into daylight. Someone had to cut the grass with a Flymo...

"admitted they are required to "suggest" by their employers"

thats interesting- have you got the source of that?
I recently had a spotty oik tell me our tank is oversize and needs changing.

The carburettor thing is a joke- I buy complete brushcutter carbs for under a tenner which is a way cheaper and quicker fix than even buying cheap rebuild kits.

Genuine parts are often made in the same factory as the imitation- I remember replacing the wheel bearings on a Bmw bike -an SKF bearing in an SKF box was a fiver but an SKF bearing in a BMW box was forty quid.

Our boiler engineer, who is a perfectly nice guy but a fuss pot, says exactly the same thing every time he visits to service the boiler. The tank is oversize for a domestic property, does not comply with current building regs, is too close to our boundary (not true - it is 4 metres away) and is single skin and should be double under current regs. I just ignore him now when he rights this stuff down on the service sheet, and before signing it and paying I cross it out and say there on the sheet there is no building regs or industry requirement to replace an existing serviceable tank.

Clearly regulations can’t be retrospectively applied, otherwise we would all be permanently rebuilding every dwelling in the country.

fuse said:

I remember replacing the wheel bearings on a Bmw bike -an SKF bearing in an SKF box was a fiver but an SKF bearing in a BMW box was forty quid.

Click to expand...

It’s the same with machinery drive belts.

fuse said:

"admitted they are required to "suggest" by their employers"

thats interesting- have you got the source of that?
I recently had a spotty oik tell me our tank is oversize and needs changing...........

Click to expand...

It was the engineer who said that, it's a tick box on their report. It wasn't the guy who services mine as he doesn't say it to me now after I gave him an earful.

My neighbour and good friend directly across the road from us died a year ago and his widow has struggled. I've done a fair bit to help and it was her service engineer on a routine visit. She told me in passing that she HAD to move her tank due to regulations and was shocked at the cost so I followed it up and made sure I was there when he came back with info on tanks etc..
What irritated me was that he'd been servicing the boiler for a number of years, knew she was vulnerable and pushed the recommendation. He soon backed down when I challenged him and was rather sheepish. She'll continue using the company but I'd have told him to sling his hook.

I contacted OFTEC and they confirmed what I already knew. I might still have the email but whether I can find it after 10 months is another matter.