“I’ve always liked tinkering with stuff.”
Brandon Harris of Woodbury, Tenn., like many outdoor power equipment enthusiasts, has turned rebuilding lawn mowers and other machines into a hobby. But unlike others who share his passion, Brandon takes a unique approach to each machine he works on.
He sees new and creative ways to fire up a machine.
Take this lawn mower he asked us to post:
“It’s a wizard with a 17hp Kawasaki I swapped from a John Deere along with the whole steering setup from the steering column steering box drag link and center link,” Brandon wrote us, accompanying a photo of his modified machine. “Even bypassed the gov an mounted a gas pedal out of a bicycle brake pedal.”
Brandon started tinkering with and rebuilding machines as a teenager. He’s been at it nine years now.
“I like tearing it apart to see how it works and try to reassemble it,” Brandon said. “Anything from hot wheels to old box fans.”
“What really got me into that kinda stuff was I was raised around it. My mom and dad both grew up wrenching on cars and what-not and all four of my brothers tinker with cars as well. Guess it kinda runs in my blood.”
Brandon’s father and brother taught him the basics, such as checking fluids, changing oil and giving engines a tune-up.
“Everything else I taught myself by just doing it and paying attention.”
His creative approach was born not only out of imagination, but necessity. Take that bicycle brake pedal he put on the Kawasaki:
“Since I started building it I wanted to put a throttle pedal on it. I thought of many different ways to do it, but the bicycle brake was the cheapest ($0 spent) and easiest way. Plus, I thought it gave it a cool style. And yeah, honestly though, when you don’t have much or no money and have to fix something you find ways to make do with what you got.”
“But you learn a lot from those situations, too,” Brandon said.
Why does he do it?
“I just do it for fun,” Brandon told us. “I’m not big on selling stuff. I’m kind of a hoarder.”
Brandon has totally rebuilt “a handful” of machines. He’s modified many other vehicles, lawn mowers, and chainsaws.
“And I’ve always wanted a late 50’s/early 60’s model VW Bug, all original,” Brandon said. “And an old Ford 8N Redbelly tractor my dad owned, multiple different tractors growing up; the Redbelly was the last one he had and I don’t know why I’ve always loved them.”
For his next project, Brandon said he was working on modifying his brother Frankie’s Craftsman lawn mower, so that the two of them can go trail-riding together.
“It’s more fun with someone to go with.”