Murphy's repair shop

Well, last we spoke I had issues with the snowblower. Last Saturday night, I reviewed all of my invitations. Should I party with the Princess of Monaco? Have drinks with the Dutchess of Denmark? Or mix it up with the Spinning instructor from Spain? All tempting offers. Instead, I retired to my garage to work on my MTD snowblower. Forgive me if I get emotional, but my MTD has been with me for 15 years now, through thick and thin, and we have a deep and real bond.

Imagine my horror when, for the first time in my life, my snowblower wouldn't start. Even after using an entire can of starter fluid, it wouldn't run for more than five seconds. That's when I discovered the fuel line had decomposed. Father Time, how cruel you are. I cut a fresh end on the fuel line, reattached it, and was able to get the beast to run on full choke. The second I backed it off, it died.

Now the back isn't what it used to be and I don't cotton to shoveling snow by hand so bold steps had to be taken. There's a shop in Hanover, Dick's Chainsaw, that repairs snowblowers. But Dick is an angry man on a good day, he doesn't smile upon the humble MTD brand, and his strategy is to charge 76% of the cost of a new machine, so you trade up and buy new.

A quick call to The Home Depot informed me that the place to go was Murphy's in East Weymouth. After a bit of persuasion, the snowblower was in the back of the 4Runner, it just barely fit. Dropped it off at Murphy's, and since they were closed, chained it to a fence and left the combo in the note to Mr. Murphy.

A week later, Mr. Murphy had replaced the troubled carb parts, the fuel line, the belts, hanged the oil, and replaced two skids that were worn. I hope to get another 15 years out of my MTD snowblower. And yes, the final bill was $279.91. Not bad considering a new machine is at least double that.