Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Published July 07, 2009 07:32 pm - I was looking forward to an extra two days off of work a few weeks ago. Days off leave him in ‘state of shock’ ROBERT LEBZELTER column for July 12, 2009 Star Beacon I was looking forward to an extra two days off of work a few weeks ago. The weather was expected to be warm and sultry, what you expect for summer. My goal on the first day was to mow the entire lawn. That way I would have time the rest of the long weekend to maybe do some bike riding, hike in the woods behind the house down to Conneaut Creek with Casey, do some music sorting, watch a few movies I bought in recent months but hadn't had a chance to watch. Well, a family matter kept me from doing all of the mowing on the first day, so it was time to rearrange my schedule. The first part of the second day was set aside to finish the mowing. I pulled the tractor out of the garage, fueled with free gasoline from Get Go. When I put the machine in forward, it wouldn't move. The tractor has two sets of gears, one set for going slower, the other for going faster. I always leave it in the faster mode, but sometimes it pops out and remains in neutral. I set the gearshift to allow me to utilize the fast speeds again. It didn't budge. The lower speeds. No use. So I pushed the thing into the lawn, my time schedule for leisure fast disappearing. I was already sweating like a stuck Rush Limbaugh as I crawled as far as I could under the tractor and noticed the upper belt was off one of the pulleys. Like most tractors, this isn't manufactured for easy access. I tried jacking the tractor up, but the jack had to be situated where I needed to crawl underneath. With temperatures approaching the 90s, I looked under the tractor, tried to memorize the layout and repositioned the belt by reaching my hands up there and stretching, unable to see. By luck, it worked. The tractor sprang forward and a mere hour later, I was back mowing. I could still get this all done and have part of the weekend for something fun. Except 10 minutes later it stopped moving. The belt was too stretched and frayed. I didn't have a belt nor a way to get it back on so my mowing for the day had come to and end. I pushed the tractor across the yard. At a gradual incline it started to pick up speed so I jumped aboard. At least getting it back in the garage would be easy, I thought. It was. Soon I was on our sloped driveway, picking up speed. As I passed the garage doorway I put my foot on the brake. It wouldn't give. As a technician later explained, this belt not only handles the transmission, but the brake. I grabbed a pole in the garage to try to break the momentum. It was like bailing out the Titanic with a bucket. BOOM! I hit the brick wall at the back of the garage. 
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