Author Topic: It's finally over.  (Read 8249 times)

Offline hickory n Steel

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It's finally over.
« on: March 14, 2019, 10:54:06 PM »
No more wrenching on my 20 year old Craftsman mower trying to get it to stay running long enough to finish the whole yard just about every time I go to use it.
Correct or not I've determined the cause to be a bad fuel filter which in this case is built into the inside of the gas tank.
I put it out in the front yard with a $20 runs / needs work sign then went and picked up a new one at the local hardware store.

I looked at a 21" 140cc Troy Bilt for $199 on the Home Depot website which I was going to buy, but figured I'd check the local hardware first so I might save a trip to the HD in woodland.
They had a Craftsman of the same specs and the same or similar US made Briggs and Stratton engine for $219, with a discount of $22 I got it for $212 out the door.
That's less than I'd have payed out the door at HD, and this one has the collection bag.

I'll get pics tomorrow after I finish the yard, I believe it's a 37420 but I found no model number on it.
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Offline m_fumich

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2019, 10:56:35 PM »
I’d say you got your money’s worth from that old mower.


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Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2019, 12:30:27 AM »
I’d say you got your money’s worth from that old mower.


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Sure did and I'm not even the original owner.
Got it maybe 10 years ago from a friend of my dad who was moving and didn't need it.

I would leave liked to just fix it, but with the internal fuel filter I'm not going to replace the carb just to find out it was the filter.
Pretty sure it's not the carb though, I took a whole can of carb cleaner to it and ran through all the Jets. With that I'd still find sediment in the bow.

Im just going to let it be the problem of the next guy, of course if someone's actually Willing to give me $20 for it.

Maybe there's $20 worth of something to it.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2019, 12:33:43 AM by hickory n Steel »
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Offline pep

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2019, 07:06:07 AM »
Just for grins, that problem reads like the vent in the gas cap was hosed..
1776 ................... what happened!

Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2019, 12:53:25 PM »
Just for grins, that problem reads like the vent in the gas cap was hosed..
Replaced the gas cap already.
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Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2019, 08:43:20 PM »
Well the old mower is gone now.

My neighbor needed a mower for him mom's house and had a similar Craftsman mower he was given that didn't work which he brought over.
I swapped parts here and there from this mower and got my old one to stay running, he gave me $20 for it and walked it around the corner to him mom's house and mower the yard.

The mower he brought over I put back together and left out front with a free sign since his trailer was already full with as much garbage as it'll hold.

My Mac MC1 kit had everything I needed to work on these mowers besides removing the spark plug.
I'm quite happy with how I've got this kit set up.

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Offline Conductor562

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2019, 11:55:42 PM »
My dad bought a base model Troy-Bilt push mower new in 1995 for $99 best I recall. At the time I was in middle school and made money in the summer mowing lawns. I was kinda disappointed in it at the time. It was really heavy compared to most. No self propel, son of a bitch was like pushing a Jeep.

When Mrs. Conductor and I moved in together in 2005 I took it with me. Our first house had a small yard and it was my only mower. After moving into our current house with 4 acres to mow in 2013, I bought a Kubota BX2370 and the push mower sat. I gave it away in 2015. I wasn’t overly choked up about it. The Kubota is only slightly heavier and much easier on the back.

Regardless, the damn thing ran 20 years absolutely trouble free. I changed the spark plug in it a few times and changed the oil every couple of years, and it started on the 2nd or 3rd pull until the day it left. I never followed up on it, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the damn thing isn’t running to this day.

Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2019, 05:31:24 AM »
My dad bought a base model Troy-Bilt push mower new in 1995 for $99 best I recall. At the time I was in middle school and made money in the summer mowing lawns. I was kinda disappointed in it at the time. It was really heavy compared to most. No self propel, son of a bitch was like pushing a Jeep.

When Mrs. Conductor and I moved in together in 2005 I took it with me. Our first house had a small yard and it was my only mower. After moving into our current house with 4 acres to mow in 2013, I bought a Kubota BX2370 and the push mower sat. I gave it away in 2015. I wasn’t overly choked up about it. The Kubota is only slightly heavier and much easier on the back.

Regardless, the damn thing ran 20 years absolutely trouble free. I changed the spark plug in it a few times and changed the oil every couple of years, and it started on the 2nd or 3rd pull until the day it left. I never followed up on it, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the damn thing isn’t running to this day.
That's pretty good, I guess taking care of a mower pays off.
All the time I hear people saying how mowers never last for them, but these are the kind of people who leave them in the elements and don't do regular maintenance.


Neither my dad or I took good care of this mower, but it had some minor issues when we got it and figured it was on it's way out anyways.
Turns out it had just needed some maintenance but by the time I started to care about it the damage had been done and 6 years later I'm surprised it's still ticking at all.

After having switched out the tanks, muffler, proper gas cap, and a few other parts from that other mower I'm thinking the problem probably was the carb.


I thought about trying to get this other going, but the carb bowl was completely full of a white calcium build up like substance and I lost the main jet anyways so I wasn't going to bother with it.

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Offline pep

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2019, 07:21:24 AM »
Yes it does pay to service a lawn mower, and takes no time.

Bought this mower 87, still have it today 32 years. Real simple maintenance scheduled, oil change every spring, plug r&r, clean air filter, every 5 years or so. Use high test, that's the HotRodder of my DNA causing that.

 But to be fair, all my yard machines start within 2 pulls max.... must work. End of summer, top em off, close off the gas run the carb dry. Not had any  of the problems folks grip about.

So who knows  :-\ it might be the dance one does that make life easier when using our machines.

Pep
1776 ................... what happened!

Offline slip knot

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2019, 10:31:53 AM »
Ethanol fuel does not play well with small engines. I used to have lots of trouble with my fleet of small engines. they sit a lot and when I needed them it would require cleaning the carb or replacing fuel lines before I could get them running. 
Because we're down wind from Houston our area is in a non-attainment zone for air pollution so we cant get real gas here only E10+. I was buying the canned gas for a while at $20/gallon and figured it was still cheaper than alky fuel due to less labor on my part. I haven't had a carb apart since the switch.
Recently I found a local distributor that sells E0, $2.60 /gallon. but he cant put it in your car bulk sales only. They have a 1 1/2in nozzle on the pump. a perfect fit for my VPfuel cans ;D

Offline DeadNutz

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #10 on: March 16, 2019, 10:54:43 AM »
This ethanol crap being forced on us is the cause of death of many a small engine carb. I run 87 octane ethanol free gas in my truck and the mileage has increased enough to just about offset the higher cost. I also keep cans of 91 octane ethanol free gas as the Husqvarna chainsaw calls for 90 octane minimum. All my small engines get ethanol free gas.

Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2019, 01:07:42 PM »
Yes it does pay to service a lawn mower, and takes no time.

Bought this mower 87, still have it today 32 years. Real simple maintenance scheduled, oil change every spring, plug r&r, clean air filter, every 5 years or so. Use high test, that's the HotRodder of my DNA causing that.

 But to be fair, all my yard machines start within 2 pulls max.... must work. End of summer, top em off, close off the gas run the carb dry. Not had any  of the problems folks grip about.

So who knows  :-\ it might be the dance one does that make life easier when using our machines.

Pep
You've had good luck with yard machines mowers ?
My dad completely stays away from them.
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Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2019, 01:11:21 PM »
I don't know a lot about gas since I still don't drive yet, but I know around here it's unleaded whatever that means.
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Offline J.A.F.E.

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2019, 07:26:52 PM »
I don't know a lot about gas since I still don't drive yet, but I know around here it's unleaded whatever that means.

At one time gasoline had a small quantity of lead added (in the form of tetraethyl lead) to it to act as an antilknock agent. It was sometimes called ethyl gas a term started in the 20's when it was introduced. Lead was eventually banned from gasoline and other agents added as antiknock agents plus modern computer controlled engines have knock sensors to adjust timing in real time if knocking starts to occur. Knocking is premature detonation of the fuel/air charge. Lead will also destroy a catalytic converter so even if you could still get it it would not be compatible with anything built after cats were introduced (1975?)

Ethanol is ethyl alcohol (the kind people can drink) added to gasoline to reduce the amount of gas I think as a way of reducing stuff emitted out the tailpipe and possibly to reduce the amount gas needed. It gets over my head and becomes very contentious and political so I'll only add it is not really good for a lot of the parts in the fuel system and is probably best left in the bottle for someone to enjoy responsibly.
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Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: It's finally over.
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2019, 08:30:48 PM »
I don't know a lot about gas since I still don't drive yet, but I know around here it's unleaded whatever that means.

At one time gasoline had a small quantity of lead added (in the form of tetraethyl lead) to it to act as an antilknock agent. It was sometimes called ethyl gas a term started in the 20's when it was introduced. Lead was eventually banned from gasoline and other agents added as antiknock agents plus modern computer controlled engines have knock sensors to adjust timing in real time if knocking starts to occur. Knocking is premature detonation of the fuel/air charge. Lead will also destroy a catalytic converter so even if you could still get it it would not be compatible with anything built after cats were introduced (1975?)

Ethanol is ethyl alcohol (the kind people can drink) added to gasoline to reduce the amount of gas I think as a way of reducing stuff emitted out the tailpipe and possibly to reduce the amount gas needed. It gets over my head and becomes very contentious and political so I'll only add it is not really good for a lot of the parts in the fuel system and is probably best left in the bottle for someone to enjoy responsibly.
Thank you from this information.

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