DIY Life

This is a simple project that only takes 15 minutes; it took me longer to take and post the pictures. If you have a wooden picnic table and an abandoned lawnmower laying behind the garage, you have the ingredients of a rolling table. Adding a set of lawnmower wheels to the legs of the table makes it easy to move it around the yard, while not dragging the legs and tearing up the lawn.

Tools: A wrench and drill.
Parts: Two 3-inch lag screws with washers and two small lawnmower wheels.

First, prop up the legs on something and place the wheel so it hangs 1/2 inch below the leg. You'll also want to have the wheel sticking out 1/2 inch on the outside of the leg (see pictures in the gallery). Mark your hole location and pre-drill the hole for the lag screw; do this on both table legs. Attach the wheels with the lag screws, but don't overtighten. That's it!

Now you can pick up one side of the table and roll it around like a wheelbarrow. This only works on lawns, not hard surfaces. The wheels can't support people weight on patios and other hard surfaces, but on the lawn they'll sink in a little so the weight rests on the legs. You could double the wheels for extra strength; then you would need long bolts instead of lag screws.

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Kyodo America Industries Co. LTD has issued a voluntary recall of about 530 LawnBott lawn mowers. The lawn mowers pose a laceration hazard to consumers if the mower is lifted from the ground while the cutting blades are still rotating. Kyodo America has received one report of a consumer receiving minor lacerations when the lawn mower was lifted from the ground.

Manufactured in Italy and sold by Kyodo America dealers from January 2006 through December 2007 for between $1,750 and $2,750, this recall is for robotic lawn mowers with "Evolution" or Deluxe" printed on the side of the red, green or blue mower. Please check the CPSC press release for more information on the recalled lawn mowers.

Kyodo America has directly contacted consumers who have registered their mower. Consumers who have not registered their lawn mower can contact Kyodo at (877) 465-9636 to schedule a free repair. For more information, visit their website at www.lawnbott.com.

Yeah, yeah. Spring is awesome. All those pretty flowers blooming. Pastel clothing. Bunnies. Blossoms. Baskets of eggs. Picnics. Outdoor weddings. Lush green lawns. Hmm. What about the down-side of Spring? Yes. There is one. Here are my personal pet peeves regarding the prettiest, perkiest season of all:

1. Return of the lawn mower. Remember how "winterize lawn mower" was on your to-do list back in September? Just never got around to it, did you? Well, guess what? It's too late and now Spring is back. Time to deal with the consequences. Your mower, having been neglected in the garage for six months with a tank full of fuel, will be hell to start again. Have fun with that.

2. Wrestling the garden hose. Spring means planting time, and planting means watering to get new plants established. Planting is satisfying work, but my most hated gardening task is watering. Actually, the water is kind of lovely. It's the hose I hate.

Ahhh, the joys of summer. It's my favorite time of the year, and I hate to see it go, now that Autumn is in full swing. One of my favorite parts of summer is mowing the lawn. In my household, I've declared it as my summer job. My husband mows around our little trees, and also does the hard parts of the lawn, but I do the rest. We just bought a brand new, self-propelled lawnmower for me this past spring, and I would much rather be mowing the lawn right now than sitting in the house watching all the leaves fall off the trees.

Before you put your mower away for the last time this year, there are a few things you need to do to ensure that it will start for you next Spring. It's necessary to perform winterizing maintenance, otherwise you'll be tugging and pulling on the starter, and will end up wondering why your wonderful lawnmower is giving you such a problem. All you'll need is about an hour of your time, so join me after the break to learn about getting your lawnmower ready for winter.