Tony Maldonado

Tony Maldonado is the repair & diagnostics editor at Mower Mentor. He's the byline on every "won't start," "starts then dies," "white smoke," "won't move," and "won't turn over" article on the site, because he does this work for real - eighteen years operating an outdoor-power-equipment repair shop, EETC Master Technician certified, with factory engine training from Briggs & Stratton, Kohler, and Kawasaki. When a mower comes in dead, Tony's article walks the same fuel → spark → air → compression decision tree he runs at the bench, including the cheap tests he'd do before condemning a $90 carburetor. He owns the carburetor and won't-start pillars because those are the single most common reasons a homeowner gives up on a machine that's an afternoon from running again. His editorial bias is repair-vs-replace honesty: he'll tell you when a fix isn't worth it. Tony works in the US Southwest.