Our throw away society

[Mobasser]

My family had the same toaster from the time I was in the fourth grade, untill I graduated high school.It worked fine, so my folks saw no need to buy a new one. I recently bought a Honda self propelled push mower from a young guy for 20 dollars. He sold it to me because he said it wouldn't start, and, he had already bought a new one. It's not even 2 yrs old. I drained the old gas, cleaned the spark plug with a small wire brush, and gave the carb a shot of starting  fluid. 2 pulls later, it fired up and runs perfectly. This mower, at Home Depot, probably sells for 400 bucks. My daughter and son in law need a mower for this year, so I'm giving it to them. I saw my grandad nurse along old farm machinery years ago, to keep it going. For him, it could mean the difference between profit and loss on his small farm. He bought new things when he needed them, but got the most for his hard earned money with the things he had. It seems like a trend these days, for people to throw away things, when they are still usable. I've seen other examples too. If you can always afford the newest or the best, of course it's your choice to buy what you want. Many times, things get thrown out which are perfectly good, or just need a small repair, to.keep them going. Anyone else notice this trend too?

[Dwight Hottle]

Yes but all of us noticing this trend are showing our age. It's a generational thing. 

[Guitarfish]

I was running my daughter to work last fall when I spotted a gas edger sitting on the corner as we drove by.  It had a free sign on it.

 

My daughter was embarrassed that I stopped.  Threw it in my van and took her to work.  Brought it home, took an hour to fire it up. Runs great.

[Scott F]

Everyone just wants to get their device up and working as soon as possible. If you have no clue how to do a repair yourself, what do you do? Either you search out a repair service and wait who knows how long or at what cost, or you run out and buy a new one. The manufacturer has no interest in making them easy to get repaired, they’ll make more money by selling you a new one. Service outfits must charge enough money to stay in business that makes it too expensive to repair lesser expensive items. At an earlier time, things were simpler, mechanical, and easier to fix. Nothing was electronic or computer controlled. Most high school kids learned how to work on cars. Who does that today? I repair as much as I can myself, but too many things are just beyond what I’m capable of.

[flyfisher]

I don't think it means we are a throw away society rather but people aren't learning basic maintenance and mechanical abilities at home.  My dad was an electrician and i worked construction in the summers so i learned a lot.  I also learned how to fix things out of necessity as a college kid and I still fix most things to this day, cars and the computers are getting problematic though.

Kids do need to learn how to fix things and tinker with and build things. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

I recently bought a Honda self propelled push mower from a young guy for 20 dollars. He sold it to me because he said it wouldn't start, and, he had already bought a new one. It's not even 2 yrs old. I drained the old gas, cleaned the spark plug with a small wire brush, and gave the carb a shot of starting  fluid. 2 pulls later, it fired up and runs perfectly. This mower, at Home Depot, probably sells for 400 bucks.

That's ridiculous.  All it took was basic maintenance which he is probably completely out of tune with.

 

I am of the mindset that prevention of problems is much easier and less expensive than trying to repair it after the problem has occurred.  I'm not about to tear apart a small engine or a open the hood of a car to start fixing major issues but I know that changing oil, using fresh gasoline, cleaning plugs, replacing filters, etc goes a long way to ensure proper performance.

 

[Mobasser]

As Scott said above, cars have become harder to repair over the years. Those of us that learned on older cars know this. You can get a code reader at a parts store, but you still have to understand how to read these codes. You can spend a lot of money buying the wrong parts now days.

My dad taught me shade tree mechanics. He told us there's 3 things any engine needs to run: fuel, spark, and air. But, that was 50yrs ago. Things are complex now

[Sam]

A number of years ago Consumer Reports magazine had an article on this topic and the statistics they showed supported the premises of throwing away and buying new a number of items, including TVs.

 

The cost to have an item repaired vs. the cost of a new replacement item was not economically supported.

 

Some products are built with planned obsolesce so we will purchase a new version. Take Lowrance for instance. When I tried calling Lowrance to get support for an old unit that was not working properly the Lowrance guy told me they no longer support that unit and for me to go out and spend $3,000 to get a new one. 

 

Or Shimano. When my buddy who repairs reels called Shimano for some parts to repair old Shimano reels he was told Shimano no longer carriers the parts. So he will buy any old Shimano reels he can find for parts.

 

Auto manufacturers used to build planed obsolesce into their vehicles so we would want to get a newer version. Those days are gone and we have cars on the road that are over 10 years old; but it did happen and us old guys remember it well. 

 

I take my Cub Cadet riding tractor and my Sears gasoline grass mower to a guy in Powhatan County who worked repairing Sears' motors and equipment for over 30-years and he does great work at a much lower price than the lawn and garden tractor store.

 

Note the definition of planned obsolesce and you will understand what we all are facing:

"a method of stimulating consumer demand by designing products that wear out or become outmoded after limited use." Sounds like an ad for a bass boat. Or a reel. Or line. Or baits. Or whatever the Bait Monkey likes.

[Guitarfish]

Sam,  I'm not sure our vehicles had planned life spans 'back in the day'.  I think materials technology has just improved engine lifespans.  I still find it hard to buy a vehicle with more than 100K.  I'm old and was raised to never buy a vehicle that old.  Now I own 2 vehicles that are at 150K plus.

 

Our 1-1/2 year old TV is already acting up.  Our 5 year old fridge is moaning and groaning when the compressor fan starts up.  I'm going to replace the fan myself.

 

An aside;  I paid a local mechanic for a complete tune up service one year.  The next year the car lost power and was struggling going up hills.  I pulled it all apart and discover his shop swapped the front three plugs, but skipped the back three.  The still original plugs had zero tip left.

I got the code for a problem with a cylinder on the back bank, which alerted me.  I was not pleased, and never gave him another dollar.  I took me all afternoon to pull everything apart to access the plugs, and then reassemble.

[Mobasser]

4 minutes ago, Guitarfish said:

Sam,  I'm not sure our vehicles had planned life spans 'back in the day'.  I think materials technology has just improved engine lifespans.  I still find it hard to buy a vehicle with more than 100K.  I'm old and was raised to never buy a vehicle that old.  Now I own 2 vehicles that are at 150K plus.

 

Our 1-1/2 year old TV is already acting up.  Our 5 year old fridge is moaning and groaning when the compressor fan starts up.  I'm going to replace the fan myself.

 

An aside;  I paid a local mechanic for a complete tune up service one year.  The next year the car lost power and was struggling going up hills.  I pulled it all apart and discover his shop swapped the front three plugs, but skipped the back three.  The sill original plugs had zero tip left.

I got the code for a problem with a cylinder on the back bank, which alerted me.  I was not pleased, and never gave him another dollar.  I took me all afternoon to pull everything apart to access the plugs, and then reassemble.

Yes. You have to watch some of these guys. The plugs on newer engines are hard to access. Not like old in line 6cyl, or standard V8. Those were much easier to change

Fuel injection was a huge thing on the engines. Made a 4cyl run as well as a 6cyl.

[Bankbeater]

My mom and dad grew up in the Great Depression. They never got rid of anything as long as it had an ounce of life in it. If something broke the plan was always to try and fix it before buying a replacement.  

[Bird]

6 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Yes but all of us noticing this trend are showing our age. It's a generational thing. 

Very true. 

 

I've always did my own vehicle maintenance and speaking of push mowers that won't start......it's always " usually " a rusted flywheel or bent timing key from hitting a rock or stump.

Oh, giving away my age.

 

My youngest daughters boyfriend doesn't own a single tool, no lie.

[Log Catcher]

Reminds me of some equipment I needed parts for when I was still working. I went to our parts dealer and told them what I needed. They said they would call the factory and get back with me. When he called he said when the factory people quit laughing about how old this was they said no parts were available. So new equipment had to be purchased to replace it. Another problem is so many people are playing on computers they don't know how to use a screwdriver.

[N Florida Mike]

The son in law does some scrapping . One day he found a moderately aged motor guide trolling motor laying out at someone’s trash. All that was wrong was it needed new clamps put on!! It could have been used without em! Put a 5.00 pair of clamps on it and got over 5 years out of it! 

[Dirtyeggroll]

I have confidence to try and repair about anything and in the past have had a lot of luck with it. My most valuable resource is my time, and sometimes, with increasing frequency, I find that I don’t want to be spending my time fixing stuff.

 

That being said, I don’t just throw stuff away either. If I think it’s fixable, I’ll sideline it and get something new to get the job done. If it sits on the sideline for very long it goes as a donation to someone who could make use of it and wants to put the time in it.

[TnRiver46]

Well I bought a push mower late last summer and mowed like 4 times with it. This year it won’t start. Drained the gas put in fresh, cleaned off the spark plug, sprayed starter fluid, nothing. They also make engines a lot %#€&&)) er than they used to be!!!! I’ve pulled the freaking rip cord about ten million times until I was ready to pour gas on the thing, strike a match, and shove it in the river!!!!! If only Americans could make as good a motor as Japan........ I’m sick of wasting my money on Briggs and Stratton. My Honda clone predator engine on my swamp boat has sat for years at a time and works like a charm. My buddy has the same engine that he sank in the river, it runs like a top 

[N Florida Mike]

? I had a Briggs and Stratton that lasted around 16 years for me and it was a few years old when I bought it!

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, N Florida Mike said:

? I had a Briggs and Stratton that lasted around 16 years for me and it was a few years old when I bought it!

Ya, my B&S push mower is going on 12 years old now. All I do each fall is drain gas and run it till it coughs dead (last bit in the lines). Spring I check the plug, put in fresh gas...2-3 pulls and I'm off and running.

[txchaser]

I brought this up with a guy who did buying for a large chain store. He agreed, and went on to explain they tried having a high-quality and a cheap one next to each other on the shelf. But they quickly figured out there was very little demand for the high quality one.

 

I had a similar experience recently trying to buy some tools. I just needed channellocks, vice grips, and a crescent wrench. But they are all made in China now, and are not at all what they used to be. I hope the guys that bought Craftsman from Sears pull off their deal - last I heard they were trying to restart it with the quality of the old Craftsman.

[bogfrog]

In 1997 I bought my first Daiwa CV-z reel. It was around $350.00 Ive used it every season since. Thats $20.58 per year to fish with one of the finest reels made.

My buddy refuses to pay more than $50 for a reel and gets about a season out of them. Over the past 17 years he has spent $850.00 and is still fishing with a fifty dollar reel.

A major bonus for me is that over the years other CV-Z owners have abandoned these reels for something newer and shinier and I can snip them on the online auctions for $100 to $150 bucks.

[Kyle S]

18 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Yes but all of us noticing this trend are showing our age. It's a generational thing. 

Not all of us youngsters have the 'just get a new one' mentality....some of us like myself, are actually listening to what you more 'experienced' folks are telling us, and are most grateful for the advice!

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

? I had a Briggs and Stratton that lasted around 16 years for me and it was a few years old when I bought it!

 

6 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Ya, my B&S push mower is going on 12 years old now. All I do each fall is drain gas and run it till it coughs dead (last bit in the lines). Spring I check the plug, put in fresh gas...2-3 pulls and I'm off and running.

Well I’ve got my neighbors whining about my tall grass for the second year in a row thanks to the fine folks at Briggs while my mower in the repair shop that’s backed up for weeks !!! So I’m really happy for you guys...... hahaha....... like I said they don’t make them like they used to......... wish I could afford Honda. The next logical step for me is buy one of those mowers without a motor 

[NYWayfarer]

I got a guy...

 

Two actually. My father in law and a gentleman from church that are very handy. My friend from church fixes stuff on the side and doesn’t charge much. He fixed my snowblower this winter. Before I met him I would have weighed the cost of repair vs buying a new one.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

I got a guy...

 

Two actually. My father in law and a gentleman from church that are very handy. My friend from church fixes stuff on the side and doesn’t charge much. He fixed my snowblower this winter. Before I met him I would have weighed the cost of repair vs buying a new one.

 

 

I told the guys at the shop if it costs more than $100 to fix to throw it in the river. Sad part is if I threw my harbor freight Chinese motor in the river I could get it out of the water and start it right up 

[OCdockskipper]

23 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Yes but all of us noticing this trend are showing our age. It's a generational thing. 

It can be cultural as well.  I have a friend who worked for Fluor in Saudi Arabia in the 1980's & 1990's and he would see relatively new cars on the side of the road on the outskirts of town all of the time.  What was happening was if a car broke down (or possibly even just ran out of gas), some Saudi's didn't want to go to the problem of having them towed into town.  They would just leave them and go buy another one.