Twin-blade electric lawn mowers have not entirely disappeared, but they sure are an endangered species. We have a proud fleet of three twin-blades, all bought at garage sales, and all of then still bravely mowing our lawn. We have a Sunbeam model RE-184A; a Lawn Master of identical design; and a Black & Decker model 5740 Type 3. The smoothest running of the lot is the Sunbeam, whose plastic handle has long since decayed in the sunlight, and fallen off, leaving us with only a steel shaft to hold onto. I bought it at a yard sale, by accident. The lady wanted five dollars for it, and I casually asked if it worked. She insisted on showing me that it did, and dug out an electric cord and connected it up. The poor machine let out a shriek of misery worthy of a bad horror movie. Smoke, and flying parts. I doubled up laughing. "Well, two dollars!" she countered. I had to buy it. Rebuilding it cost less than a new mower. These machines are much misunderstood. There is an electric motor in the middle, and a drive shaft for the cutting blades on each side. The drive shafts have a porous bronze bushing (expensive) at the top and middle, with an oil reservoir between the bushings. There are two independent blades per shaft, and the shafts are driven by toothed rubber belts (3/8 in., 50 teeth, part no. 47-81752). It in not sufficient to oil the motor. You must also keep oil in the two oil reservoirs for the drive shafts. These are filled by removing a screw on the outside of the mower body, and squirting the oil in. The reservoirs are not connected, so each must be topped up. For want of better advice, I use light motor oil, with some Moly-Slip mixed in, in case of oil loss. Since replacing the shafts and bushings, it has run like a Swiss watch for the last twenty years. The motor is oiled with 3-in-1 electric motor oil, by removing the plastic cover - 5 drops of oil into the oiling hole on top. Balancing of the independent blades is important, and if you sharpen the blades, you will change the balance. That can result in destructive vibrations. I made a balancing tool out of a piece of strap steel. It holds the two blades opposite each other, as they would be in service, and sits on a knife edge, which makes it fairly sensitive. Simply weighing the two blades is not enough, because both position and weight are important. Problems with twin blades: Properly cared for, these things last for ever. Unfortunately they had a high failure rate, and because of their complexity, high production costs. So they gave their manufacturers a bad rep, and gave the cost accountants headaches. One big advantage to the single blade mowers, is that the bearing is in the motor, so all the mower manufacturer has to make is the mower body and one blade. Man, that must feel better. For the user, balancing and lubrication are also much easier. Maintenance: Twin blade mowers are good machines, and they last perfectly well if you maintain them. Most died of neglect. Most people do not want to take the time to lubricate and balance them. Then there are other problems. One of my pals lubricated his Sunbeam with WD-40. He went through several sets of bushings every summer. He finally junked the poor machine in disgust. Most people just forget, and the mower runs dry and burns out its bushings. Here's what to do: (1) Remove the plastic cover and give the motor 5 drops of someone's "oil for electric motors" at the beginning of every summer. Adjust for different work loads. I use 3-in1 oil for electric motors. Note: these oil holes on electric motors are usually a small reservoir stuffed with dense felt. The felt keeps dirt out, holds the oil, and releases it as needed. In a new motor, you may need to soak the whole felt wad at first oiling. (2) Remove the seal screws, and top up the two oil reservoirs for the two drive shafts. Use a light oil - not WD-40 which is a penetrant, and not a bearing lubricant. Replace the seal screws when finished. (3) Turn the (UNPLUGGED) mower upside down, and oil each of the four cutting blades, so that they pivot easily. Wiggle them until the oil penetrates the pivot joint. If they don't pivot, your machine may vibrate badly. (4) Replace badly damaged blades, in pairs. Balance each pair before installing them, so the machine runs smoothly. In fact, balance them yearly. It's a lawn mower - not a vibrator. Parts: Manufacturers rarely make the whole machine. For example, a lawn mower manufacturer probably doesn�t make the nuts and bolts used in its machine. Rubber drive belts are made by rubber belt manufacturers, and are picked out of a catalogue. Electric motors, wires, gears and sprockets, wheels and rubber tires, nuts and bolts are all picked out of special catalogues. So, when your Sunbeam needs a new motor, and Sunbeam no longer supplies it, chances are it is a standard industrial motor with a standard industrial mounting, and if it was at all popular, it is probably still in use in other machines. Check with the appropriate manufacturer. For rubber belts, call the rubber belt people. They won't know anything about Sunbeam, but they will find a match for your belt fast enough. Beat the bushes before you give up. Happy mowing.

I'm looking back on these posts, and the links above, and I'm laughing hysterically! I thought I was the only one... When we purchased our home, DH and his best friend decide to completely gut our kitchen for a remodel. In trying to remove the kitchen counter tops from the cabinets, hubby comes up from the basement with an axe in one hand, and a sledge hammer in the other. Wide-eyed, I asked what he was doing. He tells me he's going to remove the counter tops. I said, honey, the counter tops can be lifted off of the cabinets, you just have to loosen the seal where the backsplash meets the wall, and dislodge the countertop and lift it off. You don't need an axe to do that. His engineer best friend is standing there with the same DUH look on his face, totally clueless. I had to go into a 10 minute explanation on how countertops are attached to the cabinets, trying to convince him that an axe really isn't necessary. Meanwhile, best friend is removing the wall-mounted oven (that we were planning to salvage), and in doing so, tempered glass shatters everywhere. I asked DH to saw some vent holes in the paneling on the small room built around our furnace, for increased air flow. I purchased the vents, just needed him to saw the openings for me. No problem. A short while later, I come downstairs to find that DH and best friend had sawed the openings for the vents - but not at the top of the wall or at floor level, but smack dab in the middle of the wall. Right at eye level. Because that's exactly where you'd expect to see a vent in anyone's home. We've since replaced the paneling. DH was replacing a light fixture in the bathroom for me. I was happy, thought he's getting better at his handyman skills, though I always wonder why it seems to take him so long. Finally, after what seemed to be an hour or so, DH comes out of the bathroom and tells me that he doesn't know why the light doesn't work. Turns out, he never kept the wires separate, and combined the grounding wire with all the other wires, not knowing what was what. We had to call an electrician. We have old plumbing in our 1920's home, and about a month ago, I asked DH to remove the stems from the bathtub handles so we could update them with something more modern. Instead of turning the stem with a wrench for removal, DH takes a plumbers wrench to the bolt it's attached to, totally strips it and bends it out of shape so now we can't even put the old handles on if we wanted to. $700 later and a plumber, the problem is fixed and we have all new plumbing in our bathtub. DH decided to beautify our landscaping one day, unbeknownst to me. I come outside to find that he trimmed my beautiful lilac trees into 3' high square bushes, removing all the foliage and leaving only the branches. ??????? I asked him why he did that, he said that's what his Mom always does (and she does!). DH and MIL are not allowed to touch any of my pruning shears. DH and Best friend went out to the family land this past weekend for guys night out. They purchased groceries - including a dozen eggs, put them behind the seat, loaded up the car with their goodies, and DH had to slam the front seat back (repeatedly) as hard as he could so best friend could fit in the front seat. They realized 2 1/2 hours into the drive that there were eggs behind the seat. After laughing hysterically, they said to eachother, "yeah, I guess our IQ does lower when we're around eachother".

Judy lives in Calera, AL. She has had a lot of health problems. Judy and Gregs daughter Ashley has two children. Travis and a new little girl Kalie. Her husband Jason is not in the service. He works locally and Ashley is a dog groomer. Judy is one of the most caring, giving people ever. She does not have a computer now or she would be here!

nicholsworth - yes, I'm pretty sure it is the same plant... I have three planted together in a triangular grouping to fill in an area.... It was a couple of years ago that I separated the other sport (Blue Maui), but I think it was the same plant. Well, at that time I potted it and it did beautifully, made it through the winter... next summer I planted it in the ground and it didn't make it through the next winter. But that may have been for any number of reasons. So - I will try again. I haven't gone out to separate this new one yet either... its been too busy around here so far... but I will eventually.