Mower Tires for Dummies

A Huskee mower: where's the spare tire, John?

We wouldn't swear to it, but we suspect that no one who contributes to the stupidification of the internet irks our staff more than the freelancer who claims expertise or "specialization" in a topic and then goes on to butcher it. Today's DotD nominee is a guy who claims to have decades as a professional writer who "specializes in auto repair" under his belt. Unfortunately, that vast experience doesn't seem to have been much help to eHow.com's John Rose when he tried to tell his readers "How to Change the Tire on a Huskee Lawn Mower."

We checked (of course), and Huskee appears to be the brand name of lawn equipment sold at Tractor Supply Company, one of many such "brands" manufactured by MTD. Mowers range from gas-powered push mowers to garden tractors, but – at least to our staff – the notion of "change a tire" suggests a large mower with pneumatic tires instead of a push model with solid wheels. At first, Rose seemed to agree... sort of. We base that notion on his statement that,

"Removing the wheel requires no special tools, so there is no need to take the mower to a repair shop. The project is not much different from changing the tire on an automobile..."

Of course, as one who "specializes in auto repair," John surely knows that changing a tire on a passenger car requires that you have a spare tire which, as most people know, is an entire wheel assembly. That's apparently why Rose lays out this sequence of steps for his readers: Turn off the motor. Block the wheels. Use a hydraulic jack to raise the offending wheel off the ground. "Remove the mounting hardware from the rim of the tire using a socket and ratchet to loosen the bolts." "Pull the old wheel from the shaft..."

OK, great. So the next step is to either pull off the tire and put on a new one, or take the whole wheel (with tire intact) somewhere to have the tire repaired or replaced. Right? Well, according to Rose, that's not it. Your next step is to,

"...set [the old wheel] aside. Place the new wheel on the mower. "

Yes, this idiot actually thinks that Huskee mowers come with a spare. Oh, sure, you could buy a new wheel (and tire), but that's gonna cost a lot more than a can of fix-a-flat, or whatever.
Sheesh: where did we find this Dumbass of the Day?!

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