'Dying Art' of Lawn Mower Repair Comes to Life at Texas Business

By Don Bolding

Killeen Daily Herald

KILLEEN, Texas — Steve and Lynn Provost say that repair of small engines, particularly lawn mowers, is a dying art because it's so specialized and because we live in an increasingly throw-away society. Still, until this summer really heated things up, they could hardly keep up with the demand.

"You've heard of rush hours," Steve said on the dock of the couple's S&L Lawnmower Repair at 2505 S. Fort Hood St. "Well, we were having rush days, all day, every day, for about three months. There are so few people who do this work in Killeen, and we've built a good reputation just by doing good work and being fair with customers."

The family comes from Rhode Island. Steve's uncle, Joe, started the business as Provost Lawnmower Repair in 1977. He has since moved to Las Vegas. Steve and Lynn met while both were working at a similar shop in Copperas Cove and reopened the Killeen shop, where the family still owned land.

"Business has been growing ever since then," he said. "Some people still see the value in keeping good machinery going, and we recycle parts all the time."

Behind the shop is a sort of micro-junkyard of small parts that mechanics can fish through and find good parts to save money.

"That pile gets so big that now and then we have to clear it all out and start over."

Steve and Lynn both work on mowers, as does their daughter, Jennifer Lundt, who started showing her talent when she was 10. A graduate of Copperas Cove High School, she is now in her second year at Central Texas College.

"This work is not like any other mechanical work," Steve said, "because the parts are so small, and you have to be so exact. You would think that auto mechanics could figure a small engine out, but auto shop owners bring their mowers here.

"We hire young people who really show an interest in the work and teach them on the job. Then they can go somewhere else, and they have a trade."

Regular maintenance is pretty easy, but taking an engine apart and reassembling it and metalworking, take skill and experience.

"People balk when they find out Jennifer is going to work on their mower and decide they'll do it themselves. Then they'll bring it back with parts upside down, things like that," Steve said.

One big inspiration to bring a mower in is a letter from the city threatening action over tall grass. Another is dogs chewing up cords. Another is determination that a reluctant youngster will indeed mow the grass.

"Kids will break lawn mowers to keep from mowing the grass," Steve said. "A man brought in a mower with a bent blade and asked what it would cost to fix. We said about $90. He said, 'Good, because my son is going to pay for it and then mow the grass.'"

The shop also works on weed trimmers, go-karts, garden tillers, chain saws, leaf blowers and anything with a small, two- or four-cycle engine. But no cars.

The company does work for several city departments in Killeen, Cove and Harker Heights and has noticed increasing business connected with Fort Hood. That was one reason for joining the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce and scheduling a ribbon-cutting and customer appreciation day July 30.

"We get calls from soldiers overseas who want us to go to their houses and make sure their equipment is all right for their families," Steve said. "And we'll always do that. We all come from military families, and we want the soldiers at Fort Hood to know we understand the pressures they face and we're here for them."

Posted July 13, 2009

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