I've had good experience getting my push mower worked on here, but I'll never go back again after today. I wanted to check on getting my electric mower repaired, or on buying another one. The manager was busy at the counter, so I asked the mechanic - who was putting gas mowers outside. He was busy, I understand that, and he said I had to talk with the gal at the counter. I looked around for electric mowers, saw they were in the range of $500, and exited. Outside the mechanic copped an abusive, holier than thou attitude because my (European) motorcycle was partly blocking the sidewalk. As a biker he would never do that, unthinkable. Never mind that he had parked about thirty gas lawnmowers in the public right of way. Their property line falls far short of the edge of the sidewalk. The mechanic told me that Prius (electric) drivers park on the sidewalk there (not bikes like mine and his). Anyway, he dismissed the fact that he was picking an argument. As I waited for traffic to pass he hollered out a good ol' biker threat, letting me know I should be careful out there on the road. You can go to a local big box store to buy a mower. For repair, Please go somewhere else. read more

Needed to have the pull cord on my weed wacker replaced. Took them 5 weeks to repair. After I picked it up and went home to use it would not start. Brought it back and asked if they had tried to start it. Was told that all they did was to replace the pull cord. You would think that they would try to see if it starts and if there were other issues that they would call the customer and discuss with them. read more

Thank you Gary! Pulled in with some trepidation due to the reviews but can tell the new owners are doing a great job. Gary said it may be 2-3 weeks to fix but he offered to take a quick look and see if my problem was easily fixed. It was and 15 minutes later I was gone! Thank you for making my day just a little bit easier by going the extra mile. read more

I used to rave about these guys, because they were great. I'd walk into what could easily be confused with a geriatric ward of mechanics, but they were all good. -The guy with the Amish beard was VERY strange and had an unfortunate habit of standing MUCH too close when he was speaking to me, but he was harmless enough. I've bought lots of equipment from them over the years and always had it serviced by them. Of late however, it seems things have changed. First of all, no more old guys. Old guys apparently no longer rule & have been replaced by many young guys, none of appear to be particularly, (or even remotely) intelligent. But there are lots of them if that counts for anything. The point is this, I used to like the AL experience, and no longer do. On the whole, they are rude and when I got my mower back after it's most recent bit of service, it had scratches and gouges all over it. Also, (while nit picking) it used to be policy to steam clean a mower before returning it to the customer. This policy has apparently gone the way of the old guys... And when I had some other work done a few months ago, on picking up the item, I discovered that I'd been charged for a replaced part that when I brought the item in, was in perfect condition. -I think they lost it and just refused to cop to it. So, overall, it's not what it was, which was excellent. They still do fine work, just not with the level of "service" that they used to. Suffice to say I'm looking for a new place, maybe with old guys. read more

I recently took my very simple, human-powered, reel mower to them for it to be sharpened. As far as I can tell their sharpening was fine, BUT ... ** The mower wasn't ready until about 18 hours after they said that it was to be ready; ** Upon pickup, the mower blades were to have been oiled. They weren't until I mentioned it; ** Upon returning home I discovered that one of the two "hubcaps" of the mower's wheels was missing; ** I telephoned about the missing hubcap. After a little looking the hub cap was found and was to be set aside for me; ** After arriving to pickup the hubcap, it couldn't be found by the first employee with whom we spoke. Although we gave him a perfect description, he said in an unhelpful way that there was no way he could find the missing hubcap without seeing the matching hubcap. Another employee overheard the conversation and recalled seeing the missing hubcap. She saved the day; and finally ** (perhaps worst of all) Upon first using the mower the roller which lifts the mower blades off of the lawn fell off. Apparently, it had been removed during the sharpening process and hadn't been properly reattached. Fortunately it was easy to reattach. Bottom-line: I'd suggest finding someone else to do your lawn mower work. read more

What a pleasant surprise! Competent and friendly folks. I had 2.5 yr old Sears Craftsman power mower that wouldn't start. They interrupted their service of other mowers and fixed it in 20 min while I waited. Talk about instant service! They blew out the gas tank and carburetor, checked the spark plug, and put in some fresh gas. Pow! Started right up. Other shops would have charged $75-$90 to 'fix' a plugged carburetor. They charged me $25 for 20 min of work. EXTREMELY REASONABLE. I would give these guys 6 stars for their customer service, responsiveness, friendliness, and total competence read more

There aren't many small mower repair places in Seattle, but find a different one and don't come here. I dropped off two mowers for repair. When I received a call that my mowers were complete the man on the phone had awful customer service and was put out that I wanted to know what sort of repairs had been done for the $100 for each of my mowers. Then when I went in to pick up both of my mowers, they couldn't find one of them. So, I said I would come back for the other. First run of my mower and it stopped working. I now have to go back to get the one they couldn't find and hope they will actually fix the one I have already paid for. What a mess. Let's see if they honor their work... read more

Scary angry man told me they are closing. I stopped by to ask about a tune up for an old lawnmower. He stood in my face, way too close, and went on a rant that continued as I walked away. Do not bother with this place. A sign in the door or on the counter that they are not accepting work and are closing would be better than an angry rant. read more

The process: The Stihl MS280 chainsaw quit running and then wouldn't restart even after half an hour cooling off. When shut off the engine felt hot but not overly so. To find out what was wrong with it and get it fixed I took it to Aurora Lawn Mowers at 7323 Aurora Ave N in Seattle for a diagnosis. John, the chainsaw mechanic pulled gently on the starter pull rope and noted with a grimace that the bearings were probably bad. He then asked me to leave the saw with him for a closer look. He disassembled the saw and told me when I returned later that afternoon that the bearings did need to be replaced. His evidence for that was the rope pulley did not turn freely. It had a rough spot. He had me spin the pulley by hand to see for myself. He also claimed that the piston was scored. He had me look in the exhaust port and described the piston's surface as damaged. He stated that the piston should be shiny like the cylinder walls. Finally, he reported that there might be issues with the part of the saw where the motor spin is transferred to the saw chain (in a car I would call this the differential). The cost of repairs would be about $585. The cost of a new saw, on sale at this time, $499. I should buy a new saw. When I asked they did show me a refurbished saw for only $249. John at Aurora Lawnmower is a great salesman and either an incompetent mechanic (he told me he had 17years experience with chainsaws) or a fraud. The end result: the ignition coil overheated and needed to be replaced. Bob at Chainsaw Plus in Bothell fixed the saw in one hour. The total cost to me $153. read more

These guys changed hands about a year ago. The change in customer service is notable and dramatic! I recently had my chainsaw tuned up there. After using it for about 20 minutes, it overheated and seized on me. Naturally, this could've been a coincidence and I wondered how I was going to address this with them. I took the chainsaw in to suggest a discount on a new model, having spent $90 for the tuneup. Instead, John took the chainsaw from me, took it (completely!) apart, and replaced an overheated bearing. All while I waited. I would highly recommend these guys without hesitation. They obviously stand behind their service. Chainsaw good as new. Service like that is hard to come by! read more

I had a simple problem: a wheel had fallen off. They fixed it quickly through some welding and didn't charge me much. I'd go back with any lawn mower needs. read more

I just found out today that my favorite shop in Green Lake is closing! I started going to them for mower repairs 25 years ago when I moved nearby. The guys have always done right by me, given advice to keep cost of repairs down, and charged fair prices for their work. I even traded up several years ago to a refurbished lawn mower with rear wheel drive. I take it back every couple of years for a tune up but half of going there is for the unique small shop experience. Get your mowers in quick before they're gone! I will really miss them when they close their doors. read more

Bait and switch! My husband called to inquire about a used push mower. They quoted him $69 for a newly sharpened mower. I arrived to purchase it 10 minutes later and was told they "misquoted" my husband - the mower was actually $89 (almost 30% more!) They would not give me the price they quoted 10 minutes earlier. I left. Bad business! read more

First, this place is unique, very old-fashioned, and high-testosterone. Sort of a "guy place" and it shows - BUT the "guys" who work there and Mike the owner are first-rate mechanics - at least for me. Second, prepare for atmosphere of extremely frenetic, to almost relaxed. Frankly, I think a lot of folks (including maybe me) do NOT take proper care of small gas engines, I mean, gotta change the sparkplug once every hundred years, and do NOT leave fuel in the motor over the winter, AND with all the revisions of US fuel formulations, make SURE you use correct octane gas and correct mix and mix ratio. (for 2 and 4-cycle engines.) Ask! Stuff changes, & you might not know. Me: I bought new Toro CORDED elec. mower years ago, it STILL runs great, haven't mowed the cord, but a lot of rocks and small dogs (just kidding), this thing is now a COLLECTIBLE ; no corded mowers made any more. When it dies and goes to grass heaven, I will go to Mike or Gordon for replacement. More recent: Stihl weedeater, not exactly cheap, works great at my big place in E. Wash. and I put a steel brush cutting blade on it , did a lot with it - brutal work for this rather smallish machine. Later, Mike warned me not to use it for brush, get a commercial size, so I did. This is NOT bait-n-switch - it is proper advice based on knowledge and experience. Aurora will test-run the stuff they sell, before it leavs shop, and with my fancy new FS-90 I was in a hurry and talked them out of that. Sure 'nuff, I get 300 miles away and it would not run right. I felt foolish bringing it to Aurora, they were really busy, but found the carb problem within a week and even cleaned the twigs, rock chips and dried blood off the blade for me. Yes, they can be moody at times, and really busy, but I'm hooked. read more