Man - you and your daughter have my sympathies.

The woman your speaking of and the one I'm thinking of must be cast from the same friggen "its not my fault" mold! What ever she does - and what ever goes wrong; its never her fault...

If your lucky - you can find a used replacement motor for a few bucks - their not terribly difficult to swap out. Minimally I would make the (its not my fault P.I.T.@ss help you do it). But I assume that wont happen (because your nice?) so instead, just rub it in for the rest of her living/dying days -AND- make her squirm.

Its just too DARN bad the old lady cant be replaced along with the dead motor.

AND what ever you do - get her birthday, Christmas, mothers day cards with tractors, or engines or broken junk on them - just to let her know ... You didn't forget...

If I were you - I would slap her with the repair bill - and furthermore a notice from the police warning her not to step on the property unless someone is home...

Boy that really irks me to no end ... DON'T TOUCH MY TRACTOR!!! I would take a big friggen padlock and paint it florescent orange and make the old lady padlock herself out of the shed after that move...

Can you tell I like tractors?

Where are you located? Maybe one of us knows where you can get a replacement motor ?

If not - go to your local repair shop and tell them your looking for a tractor junk yard - some of these guys are aware of these junkyards and some of these bone yard operators (at least the ones I know) are really nice people. Some of them will even do an install for you (reasonably priced) - particularly if your honest and up front with them.

If you do go the bone yard route (and your not up on these engines / mechanically inclined ) it might be be best to have them install it...

They will demonstrate an operable unit to you when you come back to pick it up... Please understand - its a used motor (some motors are nice - some more used than others) - so they cant guarantee anything (especially around - know it all I never do anything wrong mother-f***er-n-laws).

The guy I know has a lot of his scrap metals crushed at the local scrap yard... Perhaps you could swap/trade the n-law for the motor - and he can have her scrapped... (dont forget to express no warranty written or implied on the mother-n-law).

My heart and wallet bleed for you and your daughter.

BEST WISHES to you sir - Dave

You owe this @ss-n-law absolutely nothing in life. Go to a repair shop or boneyard and find either a good motor in like RUNNING condition or rebuilt condition(you pay cost difference) and tell her in no uncertain terms to either pay you now for the repairs to R&R these motors, or pay you when you present your case before the Judge in small claims court. Just because SHE thinks she's family, doesn't mean she can ruin someone else's property and get away with it. This is like you would go to N-Laws home and say you'll cook dinner and burn their house down and just say ooops, you should of had canola oil to cook with instead of lard. TAKE HER TO COURT--DON'T THINK TWICE ABOUT IT--She cost you money that you didn't need to spend because of her stupidity.
Tim

YEAH, wouldn't you just love to hear Judge Judy say to MIL, "Maam, sit down and shut up!!!!! Do you think I'm stupid???
If you fix this tractor or replace it with another, Put a logging chain with a big padlock through the steering wheel.

AND ANOTHER THING (man im so friggen furious I could spit).

If that ol' horse has a computer then give her the link to this thread - so she can see what the rest of world thinks of her rotten attitude ... If she doesn't have one - then print this thread out and put it in her Christmas card (every year) until shes dead and the worms are eating through her rotten skull.

HEY B**CH - When YOU break someone else's personal property - YOU replace or repair it (along with an apology) !!! That's what humans do... AND you don't follow it up with mindless insults such as - your tractor was too small anyway. Thats NOT for you to say - particularly when you didnt write the check during the decision/purchasing process - especially in this economy. Hell he poor guy was probably in the middle of a oil/filter change for christs sake.

People like you suck... (even if you do make good sugar cookies for Christmas). YOU STILL SUCK - LADY !!!

Know this - you pain in the @sss; The world would be a better place without people like you in it... Its just too darn bad we cant send you all over to Guantanamo Bay with the rest of the terrorists that wreak havoc on our personal lives.

Do yourself a favor old crone - shut-up, eat crow, pay for the repair AND tell them YOUR sorry. Maybe you'll be able to have a good nights sleep... (and a nice Christmas card next year)

And maybe if your lucky - your family wont hate your guts for the rest of your miserable existence on this planet.

Love - Dave

Wow, never thought ya all would hang her out to dry this bad, although i certainly have had the same feelings a lot of times. But i do agree she should least pay for a new engine or parts.
Worst part is her son, my son n law, is getting laid off within a month, sure he will be getting pretty good unemployment, but nothing compared to what a pay check is. They are young, paying on a home, paying on 2 cars, plus all the other things you pay.
Mother in law is pretty well ok in the $ department. I found new 15-17 hp briggs, one splash lube, one Intek pressure lube, from 400, to 700.00 I i can get her son to go along, going to press her to buy him a engine.
It wouldn't be so bad but he bought this at end of summer last year, only tried it out and put it in garage till this summer, i mean the tires even looked like they had never saw dirt.Not a mark on the thing.
This just happened yesterday a few hours before i posted what she did, so early yet to see what her stance is on getting a engine.
Her husband is jumping all over her too, so least she is getting it so far from one side LOL..
Oh, and i think her reason for saying he needed a better one, is well.. nothing anyone has is as good as what she has, and she has a Toro , but its one of the newer ones, a couple years old. She thinks its the best cause of the rep toro's built up thru the years.
As for me, i can do the repairs or replace the motor if daughter goes that route, thats no problem.
I did get a update from her son that he put a pipe wrench on pulley shaft and it came loose, as free as it should be for about 3/4 engine rotation, says the piston is moving too so the rod isnt broken, maybe bent? maybe piston hanging up near the top? not sure, i told him if he wants to take it off the tractor, we can open it up and see what she did to it.Maybe its salvageable, who knows. Ill let ya all know if we draw and quarter her...
oh, we are located in far east West Virgina panhandle.Well, daughter is, i am in Maryland.

RE: Ill let ya all know if we draw and quarter her...

If you do draw and quarter her :
-------------------------------------
1) do it with a four tractors - not horses. Hopefully they burn oil terribly.. The white smoke will set the stage nicely for her dismantlement.

2) get pictures (a picture is worth a thousand words), plus I'll feel a lot better about the situation.

3) If you have a wood chipper - you may wish to use her for garden fertilizer (you might want to check in with the son - that may be a little over the top).

Dave

"Wow, never thought ya all would hang her out to dry this bad"******** Well, of course we want to help you out here. No point in you having to vent all that rage by yourself, "Share the burden" and all that........ Besides, we have all been in a situation similar to this at some time (meaning...outrage and disbelief in regard to how stupid one of her kind can be). Even a lot of the readers/members who don't want to post a comment, are probably clinching a sympathetic "fist in the air" for you.
"Her husband is jumping all over her too"******* Good, good! But, he better make sure he watches what she feeds him, and get a "toxicology test" at the first "stomach pain" (poor guy).
"she has a Toro , but its one of the newer ones"**** Perfect, just get your daughter & son 'n law to swap tractors with Ms. Right

On the bright side, this type of situation gives you a chance to "shine" as the good in-laws. I have a brother-in-law that makes me look like a saint no matter what I do.

"I have a brother-in-law that makes me look like a saint no matter what I do." I swear, you guys crack me up!

I do know the type of person you're referring to. I have new neighbors who've already (I think) put a nice rock hole in the side of my car shed. The hole is on their side where they mow, and it wasn't there after I mowed.

But it was there the day after I came home from work, and they HAD mowed. Did they own up to it? You have to be kidding me. So much for honesty these days.

I wish you well with your situation. Go ahead and fix the mower as it isn't worth more than junk the way it is now. I'd keep a running tab of the bill and send her an bill for the repairs. At least then she'll get the real hint. The xmas card idea is great too. You can also do the same for her birthday, mother's day, National Potato day, National Corn Squeezin's Day, etc.

And watch the movie "Monster in law". I always love the scene where J. Lopez is fantasizing about "going upside Jane Fonda's head" with that "skillet".

yeah, i think we will be seeing exactly what is wrong with the engine before anything else. I sort or light heartedly said that about you all ragging on her so hard, i wasn't cutting her a break, i totally agree with it all.
Only bad thing is her husband will get the worst of the deal, as usual, he will have to buy the parts or engine because she doesnt work. Oh well, like wives, cant live with them, cant kill them... I dont know for sure when it will be looked at, so cannot say anything about a update on situation.But will when it happens.

Everyone is ranting at the mother in law, but the tractor sat all winter with no oil? How much oil was in the tractor when the daughter mowed the yard the last time the previous fall?

As I see it there was quite a bit of fault on the part of the daughter.

***"Everyone is ranting at the mother in law, but the tractor sat all winter with no oil? How much oil was in the tractor when the daughter mowed the yard the last time the previous fall?
As I see it there was quite a bit of fault on the part of the daughter."***
knuttle, you can be her "attorney". :^) But, even though the tractor may have "been ridden hard and put up wet" last fall, the MIL had no right or privilege to use that tractor, for whatever reason she may claim, without informing the actual OWNERS of her intentions. If the owner of the machine had given the MIL permission to operate the tractor, and the owner failed to check the oil prior to MIL using the machine, then the owner should be held accountable. But this scenario (as described in OP) places the responsibility squarely on the MIL for operating the tractor without properly notifying the owners, and for her own failure to check the oil level prior to using it. If someone is going to use machinery, they should know how to perform "pre-operation" checks themselves, or to have some other qualified person to do the checks for them. If the latter option prevails, it would imply that the potential operator notify the "designated checker" to do the pre-operation inspections for them. I will bet that the MIL knows not how to check or add oil in the first place, and also that no prior arrangements had ever been discussed about who is supposed to check the oil. But, to be perfectly fair, nobody knows if the daughter or the son in law had EVER checked the oil either. But if THEY had been operating the tractor at time of failure, we wouldn't be looking at the MIL.

I say we strap the MIL in the chair and break out the car battery, jumper cables and the wet sponges... And force a confession out of her...

Sponge_MIL_Shocky_Pants !!!

Just throw a depends on her as to minimize the cleanup...

Good old fashioned "dunking stool".

Here is a link that might be useful: Witch 1 is it?

You guys are morons for all that immature "get the in-law stuff." Grow up. The only person that behavior will hurt is the girl's husband. Perhaps his mom is a busy body but she wasn't trying to do harm by mowing. The yard probably needed mowing and she wanted to help out. No mower in decent shape would run out of oil. Sounds like the daughter bought a piece of crap mower to begin with. Duh. No mower of mine that is in "like new" shape would be hurt by running it. If you want your mower to stay put take the key out. Making enemies out of the in-laws is a shortcut to a miserable life.

"You guys are morons for all that immature "get the in-law stuff." Grow up. The only person that behavior will hurt is the girl's husband. Perhaps his mom is a busy body but she wasn't trying to do harm by mowing. The yard probably needed mowing and she wanted to help out. No mower in decent shape would run out of oil. Sounds like the daughter bought a piece of crap mower to begin with. Duh. No mower of mine that is in "like new" shape would be hurt by running it. If you want your mower to stay put take the key out. Making enemies out of the in-laws is a shortcut to a miserable life."

+1! I have two, mowers that is. One is in good shape and is safe to use without checking the oil (even though I do). The other goes through oil like my labs through shoes. No one uses that one except for me. Besides, I don't think anyone else could get it started.

You guys are morons for all that immature "get the in-law stuff." Grow up. The only person that behavior will hurt is the girl's husband. Perhaps his mom is a busy body but she wasn't trying to do harm by mowing.

No. she was trying to help, BUT, this woman runs mowers, weed eaters, chain saws, snow blowers, her own tractor, and who knows what else, so how is it unreasonable to say she should have checked oil?? She knew it has sat all winter, she knew the whole story behind buying it.

The yard probably needed mowing and she wanted to help out. No mower in decent shape would run out of oil. Sounds like the daughter bought a piece of crap mower to begin with.

Sounds a little like you and her mom in law are related.

And for your information, the mower was bought by a man for his son, brand new.. Son didnt like it and it sat a good while. My daughter bought it and as a stated ONLY TRIED IT OUT ONCE then put it in garage all winter.
I also found out she pumped up one tire that had leaked down, and also charged the battery. Wasnt quite is summer running shape was it? and since she did all that, wouldnt a normal person check the oil? Hell she even brought gas with her to gas it up.
The thing was barely broken in, if it was at all. Original owner and his son i doubt even ran it enough to even get to the oil change first due on a new engine.

Duh. No mower of mine that is in "like new" shape would be hurt by running it.

Really? then why does a like new engine, that the oil is on ADD or bit below on the stick, and is run cross ways over and over on a hillside sieze up? maybe due to starvation on each pass till it is starved enough that it happens? Only thing i agree with is it "may" not have happened if she had been on all flat ground.

If you want your mower to stay put take the key out.

Key was in one of those screw and bolt cabinets on the wall, she searched till she found it.

Making enemies out of the in-laws is a shortcut to a miserable life.

Who says it isnt already miserable?
Ok, put yourself in daughters place, two days later, mother n law was nosing in again about making a flower bed at daughters, i heard her say, " i would love to cut that grass down short where i am going to put flower bed, but NOTHING AROUND HERE WORKS.... Would you blow a gasket or say something nice to her and pat her on the head?
I told her it would be working if you hadn't got on it and blew the engine. She got mad and left, good....

Oh, and after talking with her husband, maybe reason her stuff works is cause the husband always makes sure they have oil and such. But again, shes been around equipment long enough to know that you do it as well.

I can see your point only because you dont know her. if you did, you would feel different. Now you will probably think, "well keep stuff away from her" if so.. you should realize that is hardly possible 100% of the time.

Anyway, what's done is done, its to late. Engine is coming off soon to see what the damage is, which i feel its a bent rod, if that is all, it would be hard or costly to fix. barring any cylinder or crank damage.

# 1) Perhaps the guy was in the middle of an oil change and didnt get around to topping off the crank case - we dont know what the exact circumstances are. Its none of our business ( and more importantly - its non of the MILs business either...)

That is why we would force a confession from her - TO KNOW THE TRUTH...

# 2) It sounds like you dont have a MIL in your life
- or - have never met or worked with a Know-it-all never did anything wrong ? That really is too bad - as you would clearly understand the dilemma here (and the humor as well - it really is quiet funny in a weird and wonderful way).

As clearly stated by the poster - these are rotten people who dont know how to play nicely with others around them (including family members). And who would willingly add insult to injury after the damage is done (as described by the poster).

Also clearly stated - it is the actual husband of the dreaded PITA-MIL who will pay twice; financially as he opens his wallet and mentally as he has to listen to the whiny MIL for the rest of his life (similar to finger nails being drawn across a chalk board)... Poor b@st@rd, my heart bleeds for him.

Heck - he'd most likely pay double the repair bill if he never had to hear another word about this situation... If hes lucky - she will die first; so that he might have a few peaceful years on this planet...

# 3) It would be nice if johninmd could post some photos of the damaged components within the block.

# 4) These photos will also make nice images for self made X-Mas/Easter/Birthday cards for the PITA_MIL.

#5) johninmd - I would be happy to write some touching and tear wrenching words for your holiday cards if in the event "words should fail you" during your creative efforts ...

In case any of the "Mr. Spock" types posting here haven't recognized the humorous aspects of other posters, try to purchase a sense of humor and have it implanted. Do you guys not understand that this entire thread is about blowing off steam and venting frustrations? Geez Louise! It isn't about "paying back" or "giving what's due". It is about the agony of dealing with the wreckage left by certain people who seem to be in charge of enforcing, and inflicting, Murphy's Law....... on the rest of us.

You mean we aren't actually going to electrocute the MIL? Oh man, well there goes my weekend plans : (

metal.....that's the spirit I'm talking about! Rock on! :^)

If you have not found you replacement motor you may try
http://www.northerntool.com

Search on vertical shaft engine.

"You mean we aren't actually going to electrocute the MIL? Oh man, well there goes my weekend plans : ("

Dang it all! I had just ordered a huge bucket of popcorn, and some adult beverages.

You guys really kill me with your humor.

"this woman runs mowers, weed eaters, chain saws, snow blowers, her own tractor, and who knows what else,"

Your daughter's MIL uses a chainsaw? Can you post a picture of that? I've never seen or heard of a woman, especially a woman who's old enough to be a grandmother, starting a chainsaw then felling a tree.

This reminds me of an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where he and his wife discuss moving and the various radii from his mother's house which would determine whether she would 1) stop in on a whim, 2) make a day trip of it, or 3) make it an overnighter. The key is your daughter needs to find a new home in the 1.5-2.5 hour driving radius so MIL won't just stop by uninvited to wreck the tractor or conceive a garden, but she probably won't be spending the night when she does make it out.

Everybody Loves Raymond is so funny because it is usually so true and easy to relate to. I live 2.5 hrs from my family and the in-laws and must say it is about the perfect distance.