The Lawnmower Thread
- Thread starter Capt Worley PE
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Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:
I don't sharpen the blade. for $12 I just buy a new one.
So the oil is "self-changing". As you lose it it gets replaced.
I admittedly change the oil on my craftsman (maybe every other year or so) and change the plug and replace the air filter every now and then. Cheap maintenance.
Chucktown PE
Well-known member
I sharpen my blade twice a year. I probably need to change the oil and get a new air filter. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.
Chucktown PE
Well-known member
On a somewhat related note, about 5 years ago some of my family pitched in and bought each of my grandmothers a Mantis tiller http://mantis.com/mantis-2-cycle-tiller.asp. I asked my grandmother if I could borrow hers a couple of months ago and it turns out that she used it once or twice and then let it sit for about 3 or 4 years in the salt air...rusting. So I was thinking it was going to take a miracle to get the thing to crank again. I took the carburetor apart, cleaned it with compressed air and ether, changed the air filter, changed the fuel filter, and replaced the disintegrated primer bulb and fuel hoses and it started on the third try. Freaking amazing. I'm going to take the plastic off and wire brush the rust off the metal some time and clean it up so it looks decent but I thought that was pretty impressive.
Wolverine
Uncanny Pompadour
Every post before this one is useless:
1994 - Murray - Tecumsah 3.8 - Purchased at Service Merchandise (which may not even exist anymore, not around here at least).
Eats anything. Drinks anything. Lives outside. Chews up the yard and spits it out. Never needs oil. Press the 'prime" button three times and it always starts on the first crank. The chassis has been duct taped and bailing wired more times than I can count, including all four wheels worn through & replaced, but the engine will not die.
When I get old and decrepit, I want to be Borg'd to that lawnmower. It is the Terminator.
1994 - Murray - Tecumsah 3.8 - Purchased at Service Merchandise (which may not even exist anymore, not around here at least).
Eats anything. Drinks anything. Lives outside. Chews up the yard and spits it out. Never needs oil. Press the 'prime" button three times and it always starts on the first crank. The chassis has been duct taped and bailing wired more times than I can count, including all four wheels worn through & replaced, but the engine will not die.
When I get old and decrepit, I want to be Borg'd to that lawnmower. It is the Terminator.
(2) 1973 Wheel Horse tractors, one a 4 speed, the other 8 speed (high/low) rear discharge and a 1989 Ferris 3 wheel 61" cut. Sharpen and balance my blades twice a year. I even have a 1969 Firestone push mower with a crank and spin starter. Change the oil, cheapest maintenance out there. I do have a 2001 Bolens (MTD) lawn tractor too, what a piece of crap, looking to sell it, anyone interested? lol
I wish. Most of our landscapers make more then PEs around here. I have 3.5 acres that I mow of our 11 acres. Just enough to keep me busy a couple of hours a week.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
I got my Yard Machine in 1998, and the oil was changed in 2005...maybe.
Mad props to B&S motors with the prime bulb. There was a mower we'd been told was broken that hadn't run since at least 1999. Splashed some fuel in it, one pull, and it cranked right up. Stank like a mofo and blew a lot of oil smoke at first, but ran smooth and eventually quit stinking up the place.
Good news is...no need to for a new mower now!
I did raise the deck from 1.5" to a shade over 2" hopefully this will decrease my bent blade incidents.
Mad props to B&S motors with the prime bulb. There was a mower we'd been told was broken that hadn't run since at least 1999. Splashed some fuel in it, one pull, and it cranked right up. Stank like a mofo and blew a lot of oil smoke at first, but ran smooth and eventually quit stinking up the place.
Good news is...no need to for a new mower now!
I did raise the deck from 1.5" to a shade over 2" hopefully this will decrease my bent blade incidents.
well, as my friend "Moe Grass" would say, "I am sure if we started discussing hedge TRIMMERS it would have gone in a different direction."
Chucktown PE
Well-known member
Thread has officially been derailed. WTF, I really enjoyed the lawnmower discussion. Now it's going to degrade into conversations about pubic hair.
Road Guy
Well-known member
****, just when I bragged about my decade old Toro.. went to start it this weekend and the spring and cable that engages the safety lever broke off... I tried to jerry rig it with a couple of zip ties, but no avail.. been looking around for repalcement parts on the "internet" with no luck... **** $300 out the door.. but I guess 10 years is a pretty good run.... maybe I will park the next one in doors this winter...
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
poppycock I say. Call a local power equipment company, I'll bet they have the parts in stock.
or you could just get a side discharge leaf blower. I have two Craftsman vacuum/shredder/bagger/blowers (that should provide some good fodder for a derailing). One I bought some 15-20 years ago and another that my neighbor was going to abandon and just needs a good cleaning of the fuel system to run well.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
MA, I wonder how many mowers had to be replaced and will be replaced solely because of the crappy new ethanol fuel.
I run the mower until it runs out of gas for the last mow of the season, just to get rid of all the junky fuel.
I run the mower until it runs out of gas for the last mow of the season, just to get rid of all the junky fuel.
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