Now that there is funny !I like the story of the small engine mechanic who was looking for a place to spend his retirement.
He loaded a snowblower up in the back of his truck and headed south. First place where someone asked what it was he stopped and settled down.
As far as working on these things , it's what I enjoy and find it much more entertaining than machining something . It is also more profitable for me . Chainsaws are another issue . Repairs can sometimes be quite expensive . They wanted more to fix my Stihl than what I paid for it new . They didn't even pull anything and said I needed a full repower . BS . I bought a pair of new Huskies . To say the least , my garage is packed with things people gave up on . Not me . I enjoy the learning from my failures . 
I also happen to live 5 minutes from these guys who treat me VERY well . 
The few comments above were almost exactly what the shop owner had told me that eventually convinced me to have faith in him, that I was making the right choice, I do appreciate all the thought and opinions I received in this thread but as an ex "small engine repair shop" owner, your posts made me look at the whole picture , it was easy to be cynical when I was too frustrated to see both sides. thank you for chiming in .
I think they stopped making those in the 70's.
Good point Tony.
Even worse “it’s the nature of the beast”. That was the line that drove me out of auto repair in the late 80’s. My mom had ‘80 Olds Omega. From the day they bought it, it was never right. The thing that drove me crazy was if you were on the highway with the cruise on after about an hour the check the engine light would come on. It had full gauges and you could see nothing was amiss. If you kicked it out of cruise the light would go off. Cruise on, it would come back on eventually. I asked one of my teachers at college about it and he’d done a training with the man at GM who designed the C3 system and he asked him about it. His reply, nature of the beast. His fix, put a piece of tape over the light
They’re still out there, but there are more things to get their interest now.
Love Jacks, many times I had to go to them for stuff that was discontinued or I couldn’t get from my regular suppliers.This is a great thread which I may contribute to . I make a few bucks flipping tractors , snowblowers as well as anything with a motor . I picked up a hydro Toro for free 2 weeks ago and put 11 bucks into it . It runs like a top and I'll get $500 bucks out of it . 10 minutes work and a beer to enjoy while doing it . I own an Ariens blower as well . Bought it brand new for 599.99 and still has the tag on it . Used once with ethanol gas , maybe 10 years ago . Hasn't run since . I'll get it back up and running one day but it's not on the hot to do list . I own shovels , have 3 kids and a wife , and the Kubota FEL for snow duty ( at least one of the mentioned handles the snow ) !
