I received this Briggs and Stratton lawnmower from my Father in Law who bought it from a flea market 7 years ago for $40. In those 7 years I’ve abused the dickens out of it and only done 2 oil changes in that time. It started being hard to start or randomly shutting off. I figured I finally killed it, but decided to clean the carb, changed the oil, etc, and saw the governor spring had been stretched out. Seeing as I had already given up on it, I clipped it shorter and tried to start it. Second pull and started purring like new.
No one around me cares, but I figured this group would appreciate how good these small engines really are. I’m sharpening the blade and going to cut the yard tomorrow.
What you probably hasn’t realised yet is that old Briggs don’t die of abuse, they thrive.