One of the trade offs I made when I was laid off two weeks ago was that instead of buying a new lawn tractor, or continuing to pay for a landscaper, I decided to eke out another season with my 30 year old Yard Man. It’s a venerable old tractor, and can still make it’s way around the yard reasonably well. So Saturday I set off to Aubuchon to replace the hinge pins for the mower deck, which someone inadvertently threw out, even though they were on my work bench in a bag mark “Important Mower Parts, Don’t Throw Out”.
Aubuchon of course had the parts I needed, and but didn’t have the proper battery, which is a small motorcycle battery. So I headed to WalMart and found they also didn’t have the size I required. Off to the local auto parts store, where with a bit of looking they found one.
I expected to be handed your typical sealed, precharged battery. Instead, I got a box containing a battery case, a jug of sulphuric acid, and a stern warning that the battery had to be charged at no more than 1 amp using a trickle charger for 18 hours.
How is it we can send a man to the moon, but we’re still handing out do it yourself battery kits? On what planet does it make sense to ask your customer to play with sulphuric acid? And why they heck can’t I get a precharged battery?
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