Sometime fate is kind.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

A Tecumseh engine dealer was disturbed that I was planning on putting a new Briggs & Stratton engine on my antique Roof riding mower. He volunteered to send me an engine at no cost so the mower would still have a Tecumseh engine. He needed some measurements so I went out to the shop, unlocked it and got the measurements, closed and locked the door and went in the house. Reached in my pocket to put the keys on the hook ----- and no keys. They were locked in the shop and I only had one key. Went to bed thinking of the service call from the locksmith who would have to come from the neighboring town of Bastrop.

In the morning I made sure the keys were really in the shop - where else could they be? - and then called the locksmith for a price. Minimum of $45 to come to my shop and open it. I told him I would call him back. Thought about it for a while. Everything I thought of required tools and they were all locked up in the shop. Then the light went on. Went to the old car and got the bent tire lug wrench and a wheel cover lock that had a screw driver attached. Used the two tools to pry the door jam out about an inch and half, took a credit card and inserted it through the crack and against the latch and bingo!!!, I was in the shop. My wife couldn't believe that I had gotten in so fast. Kind of floored me too.(-: So now I am wondering just how secure my shop really is with that lock. Hmmmmmmmm!! Anyhow since I am fast approaching the time to get rid of my tools, I don't intend to spend the saved $45 on tools. Maybe ice cream?

Here is the antique mower without the engine.

<img src="http://www.vocabularyplus.com/mower10.jpg">

[Ken Garlock]

I have had a Tecumseh 5hp on my old beat up Snapper mower for years. I change the oil once a year, and start it with ether in the spring. This year I had to put some(a lot) "ChemTool" in the gas to get the gum of out of the carb after it sat idle for 3 years. But it runs and runs and runs. It is 10 times the engine that came on the mower -- a B&S with a "vac-u-jet" carb. I would like to meet the person who invented that carb, they would be talking an octave higher

Friends don't allow friends to by Briggs & Stratton

[Richard McComas]

"So now I am wondering just how secure my shop really is with that lock".

Sadly, you have proven to yourself that if someone really wants in your shop they can get in.

[John Miliunas]

Sadly, you have proven to yourself that if someone really wants in your shop they can get in.[/QUOTE]

A very wise man once told me: "Locks are only for honest people, anyway."