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Mower madness

AJB Temple

AJB Temple

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Last week the big mower (4WD Stiga) packed up. Just as the grass starts rocketing away. It has a front articulated 1.1m deck with three blades. The central drive pulley has broken a drive pin and destroyed the middle shaft and probably the hub bearings. I know from past experience that the centre blade hub is a devil to get out, so I took the deck off (75kg!) and took it to my local mower guy. Needless to say stiga don't have the parts in stock. I service the mower properly, but the decks take quite a kicking and failures are inevitable and sudden.

So got the old qualcast walk behind out. It's much smaller, probably 20 years old but all we've got now as I sold our Ransomes cricket pitch mower. Qualcast refused to start. It's a Briggs & Stratton motor, and usually with these small engines the carb is gummed up. The carb is plastic and is a real faff to take apart to clean. So I bought a new one from river shop. Unbelievably you get brand new carb, all gaskets, new air filter and bulb, and two new spark plugs for £16 delivered. Took me about an hour to strip the old carb off, clean the mower, fit the new one and plug. Started first time using special go go juice. Running a tad rich but at least it's working.

I've shown my wife how to operate the mower :cool: as it involves a LOT of walking around and emptying.
 
In any of this horticulturasl machinery fitted with a carburetor you should avoid E10 fuel because the fuel system is open to atmosphere unlike modern cars with petrol injection. I learnt this lesson with a Honda rotavator and the carb was knackered due to E10 sitting in the carb so on good advice I now only use Aspen fuel in it or E5.
 
Spectric said:
In any of this horticulturasl machinery fitted with a carburetor you should avoid E10 fuel because the fuel system is open to atmosphere unlike modern cars with petrol injection. I learnt this lesson with a Honda rotavator and the carb was knackered due to E10 sitting in the carb so on good advice I now only use Aspen fuel in it or E5.
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I use std E10 in both my machines but put in a fuel additive / enhancer. Are you saying that doesn't work Roy?
 
Spectric said:
In any of this horticulturasl machinery fitted with a carburetor you should avoid E10 fuel because the fuel system is open to atmosphere unlike modern cars with petrol injection. I learnt this lesson with a Honda rotavator and the carb was knackered due to E10 sitting in the carb so on good advice I now only use Aspen fuel in it or E5.
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I've been using E10 in my Viking mower for the past 14 years and my Stihl scarifier for the past year with no issues. The owner's manual for the motors in each state E10 fuel is acceptable without additives.
 
Likewise, 17 plus years with Honda mower and Stihl Combi tools that, tempting fate here, never miss a beat. The mower is only used in season so spends 4-5 months without being used. The stihl combi runs on a petrol oil mix.
 
My reference to "special go go juice" is because I now use Aspen or an equivalent for all of my small engines (Billy Goat, 2 strimmers, 2 chain saws, multi unit, pole cutter, and this smallish mower). However, this mower has not been run since 2021 and I switched to aspen type fuel after that. Hence the need for a carb change. It's worth the extra cost for the quite low usage on expensive engines. Saves me time and hassle. These days I do all of my own servicing except where specialist tools are needed that I don't want to buy.
 
AndyP said:
Likewise, 17 plus years with Honda mower and Stihl Combi tools that, tempting fate here, never miss a beat. The mower is only used in season so spends 4-5 months without being used. The stihl combi runs on a petrol oil mix.
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I probably have the same Stihl combi Andy,a great bit of kitIMO and used very regularly, my garden tractor is a Honda now about 12 years old and the lawnmower another Honda at least 25 years old. I also have a large Makita chainsaw and all use E10.
The grass takes me around 3 hours a week during the season so plenty of use for a domestic garden.
 
We have a 2Kw Ryobi generator purchased when we had lots of power supply issues.
It stood for a couple of months and I ended doing what Adrian did, stripping and cleaning the carb, tap and fuel lines.
I run it on the 'unleaded 93' petrol, same as the cars.
It has been standing for more than 2 years since we fitted solar, so, it is on my TDL for the garage. Clean fuel system, drain oil, new spark plug, clean fuel tank. Fit cover and park, piece of cardboard underneath as it has a small oil drip.
 
Thanks for the reminder Phil, I need to service our generator . We have run it three times this year due to power outages.
 
Lons said:
Are you saying that doesn't work Roy?
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The issue with E10 is that it contains ethanol which is great at absorbing moisture from the atmosphere and in a carburetor can cause corrosion, in a fuel injection system it is a closed system so no issues. I don't find the issues with two stroke machines, the oil must help prevent the corrosion.

It depends what the additive is, is it a lead replacement or what ?
 
I bought an excellent ultrasonic bath/cleaner that sorts out an unruly carb in about 20 minutes. Yes, you can get cheap carburetors from China but as I have five 2-stroke machines my cleaner will pay for itself very quickly.
 
Spectric said:
The issue with E10 is that it contains ethanol which is great at absorbing moisture from the atmosphere and in a carburetor can cause corrosion, in a fuel injection system it is a closed system so no issues. I don't find the issues with two stroke machines, the oil must help prevent the corrosion.

It depends what the additive is, is it a lead replacement or what ?
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It's just the "fuel fit" type stuff Roy. I usually buy Briggs and Stratton as it seems the most widely available on line but I've just checked and the following is what it sates.

Briggs & Stratton's Fuel Fit® keeps fuel fresh and protects engines better than ever before. Fuel Fit® not only keeps the carburettor clean for easy starting but now also protects against the corrosive effects of ethanol and maintains fuel stability for up to 3 years.
 
^^ That's a good idea Roger. It had not occurred to me and I think I will invest. I don't like buying from China (slave labour in parts) but my previous attempts at cleaning plastic or weak alloy carbs have had mixed results.
 
RogerS said:
I bought an excellent ultrasonic bath/cleaner that sorts out an unruly carb in about 20 minutes. Yes, you can get cheap carburetors from China but as I have five 2-stroke machines my cleaner will pay for itself very quickly.
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What cleaning fluid do you use for carbs?

I’ve got a cheapie 15L ultrasonic cleaner, which has proved useful. Very good for derusting in something like evaporust - it seems to allow the fluid to get right down to base metal quickly, by knocking the treated layers away. Heater also helps.
 
One is on order. Oddly, it is only Briggs & Stratton engines I ever have trouble with. They are just built down to a price far too much and tend to have a range of failures. The Stiga originally blew a cam pressure release valve. After a run in with a local mower man chancer, I stripped and rebuilt that engine. I use a 4WD ride on machine around the orchards, and as I posted on here that suddenly blew the piston out the side of the engine casing one day, giving me big scare as I was sat on it and bits scattered everywhere. I had to put a new engine in that one, which was easy enough but should not have been necessary. I am fastidious on cleaning and maintenance, annual oil changes irrespective of use, etc so I do think Briggs engines are not very good these days. They seem to suffer corrosion too. I have a handful of stihl petrols: hedgecutters, chainsaws, multi thing, strimmer and they are all fine. The Honda engine in the generator is also apparently bombproof.
 
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