It's a very accurate phrase.
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Unseen in the high weeds around the garden, it brought operations (quite literally) to a screeching halt.
I laid the blade on a flat surface and couldn't see any obvious bend, so I put it back on. I don't notice any odd vibration.Make sure that blade isn't even slightly bent. I hit an old Sweetgum root/stump here not to long ago and did the same thing, screeching halt. I had a noise and vibration I'd didn't have prior, and this mower was brand new. I went and bought a new set+1 and changed that one out. I had only mowed the lawn about 5 times and rode right over that root and never hit it til that day. It was so slightly bent it was hard to see, but I didn't want to wear out a brand new spindle too.
I laid the blade on a flat surface and couldn't see any obvious bend, so I put it back on. I don't notice any odd vibration.
I was being a little brat kid one time about 13 or 14 years old and my papa told me to come on with him. He made me dig up a big stump by myself which took me about 4 hours with a shovel and an axe. Lessons learned that stuck.