AOD
Addicted to ArboristSite
I spent a good part of today working on mowers for people, getting them ready for spring. In a way, mowers can be easier to work on, but can also be annoying.
Started out with an older lady's Lawn Boy. Just needed a good cleaning and a new blade, and she complained it was using oil. There's a little leak at the base of the oil fill tube, very common. New blade on, cleaned up, fresh oil, good to go.
Then the fun ones. A pair of neglected, POS stamped tin, aluminum cylinder el cheapos. One wasn't so bad, a Rally I think, just had some bad gas in it. Didn't even have a throttle, just a primer that didn't work and the bar you have to hold down. Louder than a Homelite and shakes your hands til your numb. Got it going "good enough" for the measly money I was getting paid for it. The second was a real winner, a cheap Weed Eater mower with a cheap Briggs that had sat out all winter. Pulling it over it was shooting water out the muffler. Gas tank full of water, crankcase full of water. Drained the oil, which looked more like brown turd water, dumped the gas, poured some Dri-gas and fresh fuel in the tank and fresh oil in the crankcase and gave her a shot. Coughed and sputtered water out the crankcase beather and finally came to life. I let it run for a good 10 min to get everything warm and drive off the last of the water. Vibrated like crazy until I realized someone had the blade on upside down and the spacers were all wrong.
Finished off with my own mower, my old-school Snapper with a Wisconsin-Robin. Started on the 2nd pull and ran like a champ. There is as much of a difference in quality between this mower and the cheapies as there is between a WildThing and an 026.
In closing, I admit I don't mind wrenching on mowers, it's a nice change of pace, but I can't stand dealing with someone else's incompetence and complete disregard of proper maintenance for a piece of equipment, even if it's a POS you can at least throw a trash bag over the thing and keep it out of the rain.
And oh yeah, whats a good heavy duty trimmer/brushcutter? I want something to impress my neighbors with their Weed Eaters just like I impress their WildThingies with my 395.
Started out with an older lady's Lawn Boy. Just needed a good cleaning and a new blade, and she complained it was using oil. There's a little leak at the base of the oil fill tube, very common. New blade on, cleaned up, fresh oil, good to go.
Then the fun ones. A pair of neglected, POS stamped tin, aluminum cylinder el cheapos. One wasn't so bad, a Rally I think, just had some bad gas in it. Didn't even have a throttle, just a primer that didn't work and the bar you have to hold down. Louder than a Homelite and shakes your hands til your numb. Got it going "good enough" for the measly money I was getting paid for it. The second was a real winner, a cheap Weed Eater mower with a cheap Briggs that had sat out all winter. Pulling it over it was shooting water out the muffler. Gas tank full of water, crankcase full of water. Drained the oil, which looked more like brown turd water, dumped the gas, poured some Dri-gas and fresh fuel in the tank and fresh oil in the crankcase and gave her a shot. Coughed and sputtered water out the crankcase beather and finally came to life. I let it run for a good 10 min to get everything warm and drive off the last of the water. Vibrated like crazy until I realized someone had the blade on upside down and the spacers were all wrong.
Finished off with my own mower, my old-school Snapper with a Wisconsin-Robin. Started on the 2nd pull and ran like a champ. There is as much of a difference in quality between this mower and the cheapies as there is between a WildThing and an 026.
In closing, I admit I don't mind wrenching on mowers, it's a nice change of pace, but I can't stand dealing with someone else's incompetence and complete disregard of proper maintenance for a piece of equipment, even if it's a POS you can at least throw a trash bag over the thing and keep it out of the rain.
And oh yeah, whats a good heavy duty trimmer/brushcutter? I want something to impress my neighbors with their Weed Eaters just like I impress their WildThingies with my 395.