Thanks for the comment. Yes, it is a self-propelled Troy-bilt (circa 1994) with an 8.5 HP motor. Perhaps you're right. Unfortunately, I gave up and brought it to a mower repair company. When I get it back, which could take a while as this is their busy season, I'll post their findings. I can't figure out how I was able to drive the mower to the garage to change the belt. When I checked the belt before driving it, the belt was broken, more off than on the pulleys. After I got to the garage, I then removed the old belt. Never having changed a V belt before, I tried to pull on the broken belt, and probably pulled way too hard, given the resistance. I finally figured out how to move the guides on the engine pulley, which were difficult to see and get to, and then completely removed the belt. I may have tampered with some moving part, however, with all the pulling I did. Hopefully, the repair man will give me an honest accounting of the problem.

I wouldn't pay $165.00 take it to another shop or do the tune up your self or sell it and purchase another mower. Why you ask? well Tecumseh is no longer in business that is sad because there small engines blew Briggs & Stratton away! anyway you can still get parts but the carbs, and setup is not the same as Briggs and won't interchange.plus the mower is 10 years old if it was a Honda mower different story. you can't polish a turd..and the shop knows that.Rebuild a carb ?? there is nothing in it to rebuild lol float, needle valve, and one jet, take that back this carb has two small holes for jets which you can blow out,one round rubber gasket oh ya one small rubber seal where the float needle valve seats you know the small bullet looking thing that is attached to the float . the seal and gasket dry rots but the rest can be cleaned and cleared with high pressure air. But ya sell it and buy a Honda cost about $360.00 to $450.00 but worth it. You get what you pay for. or buy a Snapper i've always liked them.but i'm from Dallas,Texas where the summers suck and winters Hahaha What winters? Good Luck with your mower and sorry for making this comment so long..

You cannot blame your neighbor for your crabgrass. Crabgrass seed is everywhere, but it only germinates when the environment is right. It was your management that allowed the crabgrass to get started. Every now and then we will get a note here thanking us for the watering and mowing advice which put a dead stop to the neighbor's encroaching crabgrass. If you are doing it right, crabgrass will grow right up to the edge of your lawn and stop. It will stop because your soil is too dry for seed to germinate and because your grass is too dense for the crabgrass to get any light. First of all you need a dense canopy of grass. If you have fescue turf, you should overseed every fall until it is as dense as necessary to keep the crabgrass out. If the Pennington bag has Kentucky bluegrass in it, then the turf can become dense without annual overseeding. Secondly, only seed northern grasses in the fall. Why? Because crabgrass seed only germinates in the spring. If you seed grass in the spring, you will germinate all the crabgrass seed in the process. Also if you seed grass in the spring the summer heat will kill it. Third, do not mow at your mower's lowest setting. If your grass is dense you can mow at the 3-inch level. If it is less dense, then you might raise it up to the mower's highest setting until the grass becomes more dense. That might take years of overseeding if you have only fescue and no Kentucky bluegrass. Fourth, don't fertilize in the early spring. Wait until after the fast flush of spring growth is over. Memorial Day is a good day to shoot for. Once your lawn is established, the watering mantra is deep and infrequent. Deep means one inch all at one time. Infrequent means monthly watering in the cool months and gradually increasing the frequency to weekly in the hottest heat of summer. By allowing the soil surface to dry out completely between watering, the weed seeds cannot germinate. They need to have continual watering to do that. You might have neighbors who water daily for a few minutes. That is exactly wrong for too many reasons to go in to. After you have a few months of deep and infrequent going on, then you can adjust the amount you put down for your situation. Variables include shade, sun, clouds, wind, humidity, soil type and condition, grass type, mowing height, and probably some that don't come to mind right now. You need to measure the output of your sprinklers using a cat food or tuna can. Time how long it takes to fill a few of those cans placed around the yard. My system takes 8 full hour to fill a can but my neighbor's takes only 20 minutes. Every system is different. Another example of different is my house in San Antonio is under a dense canopy of oak trees. With my grass, mowing height, and soil, I can normally water for 3 hours per week in the summer (3/8 inch) but sometimes I have to go to 5 hours. During our driest years I will have to water for 7 hours per week to keep the grass from wilting before the week is up.

Ok, so I get it, I missed seeding in the fall and now I am stuck. Fine. But why can't we stop being so negative. Surely there must be a way of planting grass in the spring and succeeding. There has to be. Sure, it may be hard, it may be risky, but life is a risk. There has to be a way to win this! Do you all just roll over and give up when you have a challenge? Is this the true American spirit? COME ON! Let's turn this around and come up with a solid bulletproof plan to get me some grass!! I will do all the work and spend the money, just direct me! So far I have this: 1 dethatch "scrape" ground to remove any dead grass 2 treat pre-emerge with Tenacity 3 plant TTTF seed What about starter fertilizer? I will run the hoses so I get good coverage with sprinklers.