Your first memory of tinkering.

[clay1811/44c]

I'm hoping the grand kids remember this. Ages 6,5 and 4.

[DieselDoctor]

When I was 10 or 11 (mid '60's), a neighbor buddy and I would go to the local scrap yard on our bikes and dig through the piles. With the owners permission, we'd find lawnmowers that looked complete. The yard owner would tease us about what were we "going to do with that? It's just scrap iron!" We'd buy the mower for a couple of bucks or sometimes get it free and drag it home, then try to make it run. Usually it was simple. A dirty carb or a fouled plug, no spark, dirty points or maybe a busted recoil. People would throw stuff away with no thought of fixing it. We'd get it running, swapping parts around from other mowers and then put them out front for sale for $15 or so. Our parents would talk them up to friends and we sold quite a few! As soon as we got a few bucks, we'd hit the ice cream stand that was just around the corner from the scrap yard. Then the process started all over again! If old Mr. Kaplan from Kaplan's Recyling is looking down on us, a big thank you for treating the neighborhood kids as people not a nuisance. He would set stuff aside for us so we could "find"it. His kindness gave me a start in a lifelong career as a mechanic.

[R Bedell]

I don't recall my age (maybe 7-9 range). Tried building a go kart, using angle iron, lawn mower wheels, and a two cycle engine from the same lawn mower. Don't hold me to this, but I "think" that was a Duo-Therm lawn mower. It had discharge openings on both sides of the deck and a Flip Handle (you didn't have to 180° the mower). White with blue trim. The project came together but LOL, didn't last long.

BTW, I remember those windup handle start mowers. I thought they were a PITA and worthless. Junked ours soon.

[ol'George]

There were several versions of those wind up recoils,two come to mind.
One style you would wind up the handle and there was a little knob on the side that would turn to release the stop pin in the flywheel, there was another kind that after you wound up the crank, you would fold the crank back in place and pushing it down would release the energy to spin the flywheel.
----got one of them here in the barn somewhere.

First that I remember "tinkering" was helping my dad do the valves on a '40 Plymouth 6 flathead.
It was maybe in '50 or '51, I was about 5 or 6 and my little figures were just
the right size to put the little valve keepers under the springs while he released the homemade c clamp that compressed the springs.
That '40 business coupe wound up being given to me by dad as my first car
10 years later, wish I had it today.

[mickb72]

Originally Posted by R Bedell

I don't recall my age (maybe 7-9 range). Tried building a go kart, using angle iron, lawn mower wheels, and a two cycle engine from the same lawn mower. Don't hold me to this, but I "think" that was a Duo-Therm lawn mower. It had discharge openings on both sides of the deck and a Flip Handle (you didn't have to 180° the mower). White with blue trim. The project came together but LOL, didn't last long.

BTW, I remember those windup handle start mowers. I thought they were a PITA and worthless. Junked ours soon.

Same as you Roland at the same age. Build go carts out of anything we had. Sometimes with a pallet. Any belts,pulleys,axles and sprockets, chains, adjust motor to work. Had a steering wheel kit for an old runner sled, that thing was cool and fast. Mike

[darkminion_17]

You mean one of these George?
This one is the push button type, but I believe they were the same for both.
Noisy when you cranked it.

[Billy-O]

About age 10 or so in the early '70s...... with my brothers we go out and collect lawnmowers put out by owners for curbside junk pickup. We'd fix 'em up and put them up for sale on our front lawn. Often, the homeowners would buy their mowers back. There was a crank mower or two.

[Sam Mac]

I remember taking my Dad's new push mower apart, when he came home he took one look at it and said "You better be able to put that back together and it better run" I did and it did. Think he locked the tool box after that. LOL

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by darkminion_17

You mean one of these George?
This one is the push button type, but I believe they were the same for both.
Noisy when you cranked it.

yep that be the ones, but most i saw didn't have embossed Briggs logo.

[Billy-O]

Originally Posted by Sam Mac

I remember taking my Dad's new push mower apart, when he came home he took one look at it and said "You better be able to put that back together and it better run" I did and it did. Think he locked the tool box after that. LOL

Oh, Dad would get mad finding his tools laying around in the yard. And he'd lock his tool box. After that, we were more careful with his tools after we pulled the hinge pin out to gain access to the tools....