I remember back in the 60 and 70, farm boys would drive farm trucks at the age of 12 to 15 to town to the grain elevators. I learned to drive a stick shift on a hillside hay field outside of Tupelo Mississippi back in 1965. I was 11.
That was right about the time I fixed my first engine. A 2 cycle Iron Horse mower with a magnesium mower deck. I found it under our house in the crawl space. Pulled it out, cleaned the plug. Pulled the carb apart and cleaned it. It only had an O ring for the bowl gasket and a fiber washer for the bottom of the bowl screw.
My dad came home from work and saw what I had done. He poured gas and oil mix in it, adjusted the carb fuel mixture screw and it started on about the 3rd pull. And the rest as they say is history.
Mowed with that thing for about 3 years after that.