You will spend more for a new Snapper or equal-quality mower than for an engine replacement. If you are really sending lots of oil through the carb (hence the smoke and consumption) because of the incline, then you are mowing incorrectly. You must not aim the spark plug side of the engine downhill, and should also be careful about aiming the carburetor side down too steep a slope also. Any 4-cycle engine will have a problem if you do this at too much of an incline. How steep is your incline? FWIW, I have a hill in my yard that is at least 25* incline, maybe worse at the steepest part, and I have been fine as long as I mow sideways across the slope. If your slope is much steeper, then you need to think about alternatives to a regular sumped 4-cycle engine. Finding a 2-cycle Lawnboy is a great option. You could also search for a gently used Robin 2-cycle engine, which was factory fitment on many Snapper Hi-Vac commercial mowers. That's a great option, since you know you can easily get cables and pulley for it, and you know the crankshaft length is correct. There _may_ be another way to go here: Eastman Industries makes a "slope mower" that looks like a conventional push mower, but uses a special Honda engine that is supposed to work at up to 45* inclinations "with muffler facing downhill," or 30* "with spark plug facing downhill." The only real downside (excuse the pun) to this mower is the lack of self-propulsion. I tried once to find this engine on Honda's site, thinking that it might be a great retrofit on a Snapper deck (Snapper has used various Hondas over the years, too). I was not able to find in my casual search. But in your case, it might be worth a call to Honda to inquire about buying one for your deck. If you ever turn out to be successful in locating the engine, please let us know. It would be helpful. Here is a link that might be useful: Eastman Industries slope mower

Nasty! Glad I watched it though not surprised. Yes, we're germaphobes but better careful than not. My DH, DD and I went recently to High Point, NC for her soccer tournament. Stayed at a very nice Radisson. In our room, we found pubic hair on our sheets the first night and when we returned from the tournament the 2nd day around 4 pm, we found a condom (unused) in our bathroom sitting on the counter. Definitely not ours! Who the heck knows what went on in our room while we were gone. When we told the manager, he smiled and said, "Oh well, come with me...", took us downstairs and proceeded to credit our card $45 dollars for the trouble! Why $45? Did he think we needed the money? We weren't trying to get a discount! He didn't seem surprised. At another hotel last year, our comforter had a small, silver-dollar sized, almost unnoticeable fresh blood stain on it. Almost missed it because of the flower print on the comforter. It was still wet! I make it a point to inspect the room prior to use. This is how I find these things. Yes, I'm sure there's a lot of junk out there on a daily basis that we are exposed to, but if I can avoid some of them then that's better for me and my family. Just because these things are out there or, because as kids we did worse things than this, doesn't mean I have to let my guard down. Also, on airplanes. I had a couple of flight attendants as patients once. They filled me in on all kinds of stuff. From the blankets to the food. The blankets are used by some very dirty travelers who wrap themselves up in them from head to dirty, smelly, shoeless feet. She said they just re-fold the blankets and set them out again. I think the airlines may be doing things differently now. Someone can set me straight if this has changed.

I love making soil. I love it even more when someone else is doing most of the work for me. I'm itching to start some spring planting in my tiny garden, but it's technically still a bit early (our last frost date is supposed to be around the 18th or so, but these days who even knows) and I'm impatiently waiting for the contractors to show up and replace my rotted fence before I can do any planting in the back half where the pile of rock mulch over weed cloth used to be. The fence would have rotted anyway, but the bottom of it was completely eaten away where the rock mulch was piled against it. I have already put down a tiny new tree (Amelanchier x "Autumn Brilliance") which arrived bare root and needed to go in the ground ASAP, but it's not next to the fence, so it should be fine as long as the fence guys don't step on the 18 inch high forked stick which, seen with my eye of faith, is already a handsome small patio tree. The tree went in the spot where the old, scrawny, unhealthy cherry plum used to be, where I have been piling vermicompost and leaves ever since last summer. I didn't amend the planting hole at all - just dug and filled in. Enough leaf mold and vermicompost just fell into the hole to make me feel fine about the start my new tree's roots are getting. Anyway, the "someone else" who is working for me outside is a healthy passel of earthworms, which I can see out there every time I pull back last autumn's leaf mulch, which I diligently collected from the sidewalk in front of my row house and brought out back. Even if I can't set to work yet, I like knowing that they're hard at it. I've seen some of my red wigglers who rode out from my indoor worm bin, and at least three separate species of native earthworms: slow gray short guys, some really huge red nightcrawler types, and a longer, thinner, super-active wiggly worm that's new to me. I've also scattered out some seeds and grains for the sparrows and squirrels, inspired by some videos of composting chickens I've watched on Youtube: so there's been lots of pecking and scratching and digging going on in the layer of leaves, which is both fun to watch and will serve to further shred down the leaves for incorporation in the soil. When I do get to the planting along the back fence, I'll try to remember to post a soil pic as a "before and after" to the one at the start of this topic.

I do not have time or the energy right now to read through all the posts. Joe passed away Friday at 5:51 PM. I have so much to get done before I can get into my new life I am feeling a wee bit overwhelmed but I do have big plans for my future here and several fun projects to share with all of you and ask for advice. I just feel I need to get through the worst of it as soon as I can. Clearing out his clothes is so painful. And getting it done while I am still in shock and numb is probably the best thing for me. Then I will glam up my closet and start on all the other projects. I know Joe would not want me to be miserable. I have already been grieving for 3 1/2 years. We had a great 31 years and lots of wonderful memories.