Advice for a Noob?

GrüümpyÖldFäärt

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 7, 2017
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Hello everyone. Let me start by saying thank you for taking the time to read this.
I haven't needed a mower in years as we lived in a neighborhood with fairly small lawns and it made more sense for me to pay someone $45 every 2-3 weeks and use my limited time elsewhere. Last year I relocated the family for work and now have a 1.8-acre yard and even a little more available time. It turns out that getting 1.8 acres tended to is expensive so after weighing the options it made more sense for me to purchase decent equipment and invest a couple hours every couple of weeks until I have my teenage son trained in how I want things done (I knew teenage boys were good for SOMEthing!). After much research, I settled on the Hustler 54" flip-up. I made the purchase from a couple towns over as my local dealer was... not someone I wanted to give my money to. I try to support honest business people.

Let me just say this is a great performing machine. A little prone to deck clogging but is otherwise much more capable of getting the job done than I am. Everything was going great until I started having problems with it. I fully understand that anything man-made can, and will, break or have issues. I believe that what sets manufacturers apart is how frequent they occur, how severe the failures are, and how they handle them when they do happen. For me, the jury is still out on Hustler. My mower now has 27 hours on it and... it's on its third belt (I had to tell the dealer about the add-on bracket which I learned about on this forum - thanks everyone!), it has a fuel sending unit stuck on full, it has a faulty arm position switch causing a no-start at times (ok, it's now MOST of the time), and it has sections of paint peeling off the deck where it has failed to stick. All this combined with its propensity to clog the deck if I'm knocking off more than a couple of inches on a pass means I can't help but be disappointed after investing that much in the mower.

All that build up just to ask this... How much patience should I have with the dealer? They have now had the mower nearly 4 weeks and it's looking like I'll have to pay someone to mow my property or have the HOA knocking on the door. I know they did not manufacture the mower or the issues but, from my perspective and as the dealer, they ARE Hustler. I've called a couple of times to get updates but don't want to be "that customer" so have tried to not bug them to death. Unfortunately, the only info I get when they call me back is "he's working on it". Worst case scenario, do I have any options on motivating them or Hustler corporate to get it fixed so I can have my mower back? I know hindsight is 20/20 but I'm really starting to think I made a mistake in this brand.
Again, my apologies for the lengthy post and my thanks for your time and suggestions.
 

txzrider2

Active Member
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May 1, 2017
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there are far better folks to answer your questions... but I wanted to chime in,
A. welcome to the group, the folks on here are the most knowledgeable I have ever seen(not me)...
B. I have never had a dealer keep any of my mowers more than a week. I would be absolutely freaking out if this happened to me. I would ask for a loaner.
C. About belts... I had a snapper zt for 17 years and my Country Clipper for 4 and I never once had a belt break with the exception of when a pulley froze up on the snapper. My brother in law on the other hand goes through several sets a year for 1 reason only... he puts the deck too low for the how tall the grass is! This causes the belts to slip and sometimes even come off ... plus it clogs up his deck cause he is trying to mulch it. I tried to show him that putting the deck on the highest position and knocking the grass down with multiple passes would save his belts... but he does not believe me. In any case the reason my pulley froze on me was due to getting lax on maintenance... I failed to grease the spindles for a couple of years and... well I learned my lesson. Like I said I believe someone will come along and have valuable advice for you... Good Luck.
 

cpurvis

Lawn Addict
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Aug 25, 2015
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I don't know if this will work in your case but it did in mine.

I had an engine at a machine shop. After a series of calls inquiring about status and always being told it was "next in line" or something similar, I just showed up on their doorstep and told them I was here to pick up my engine.

They stammered a little and said, "But, it isn't ready." I said, "I know but I'm still picking it up. You've had more than enough time to do the work I wanted done. I can't wait forever."

They talked me into leaving it and they had it ready in two days.

Sometimes if you don't squawk, you'll stay on the back burner forever.
 

GrüümpyÖldFäärt

Forum Newbie
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May 7, 2017
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Thanks for your responses and my apologies for taking so long to respond back. The wife and I took a few days vacation while I had the opportunity.
The dealer did finally call me back full of apologies for having the mower so long. He said it took so long because they had to order a fuel tank after attempting to fix it by replacing just the sending unit. Unfortunately, I know this unit has a sealed tank and you can't replace just the sender. It's disappointing to get lied to over something so minor, just tell me you were backed up and didn't get to it quickly - THAT I can understand.
Anyway, they added the bracket to keep the belt on the pulleys, replaced the tank, and replaced an arm position switch followed by the relay when the switch didn't fix the no-start. Everything is great and I can pick it up anytime!
Awesome! How about the peeling paint?
"Um... I'll call you back."
That was Friday and I'm now waiting again. If I look at this objectively it's almost funny. Almost.
 
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