The Lawnmower Thread

[Capt Worley PE]

^Give these guys a shot: http://www.mylawnmowerforum.com/forum/

 

[Sapper PE LS]

I will do Capt.

 

[Road Guy]

Spark plug?

I would go hit up a thrift store and get a used one for about half the money?

 

[MA_PE]

drop the bowl on the carb and make sure that the needle valve isn't sticking closed. You might have to clean it out with a pin.

 

[mudpuppy]

Or look into how much a new carb costs. With my weedwacker I found it was a lot less hassle just to replace the whole carb for around $30 than to get a rebuild kit for $22.

 

[ventilator]

I have had similar problems but with my edger and weed-eater. Cleaner and gas additives couldn't keep them running, local shop told me its the ethanol in the gas. I found a station that sells ethanol free gas and now they both run great. I haven't had those problems with my mower, apparently it mainly affects the 2stoke motors, but might be with a try.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Well, 2013 was officially the year the wheels came off.

On the last mow of the season for the old mower, another wheel fell off. That makes a grand total of three for the year. At least this one was on the front, so I could three wheel it over the rest of the yard with no problem. Looked gangsta, yo!

On the good news side, I planned the fueling to a tee. Ran out of gas just as I finished the mow.

 

[knight1fox3]

^ You should take the rest of the wheels off and put it up on blocks. LOL GHETTO!!!

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^ I designed spinner rims for lawnmowers for a local community college to use for PR and recruiting.

 

[knight1fox3]

^ I designed spinner rims for lawnmowers for a local community college to use for PR and recruiting.

Like this?

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^ I designed spinner rims for lawnmowers for a local community college to use for PR and recruiting.

Like this?

Nah, they were aluminum billets 8" in diameter. I did it as a joke for a gangsta'd out push mower, but they built the rims and put them on a motorized display for the machine tools department.

A friend of mine who saw the design drawings said I ought to build a couple of hundred sets to sell. I figured the folks who dug them wouldn't be into lawn care, so I never pursued it.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Despite my worries and misgivings, the new mower with the no prime carb started up on the first pull.

 

[MA_PE]

I never did get a new mower. I won't be using the old one for a while, as we're still waiting for a lot of the snow cover to melt.

 

[NJmike PE]

I won't be using the old one for a while, as we're still waiting for a lot of the snow cover to melt.

this

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I had to mow the weeds.

 

[Supe]

Had a hell of a time getting my Craftsman to fire up the other day. The GF went to start it today, couldn't do it. Once warmed up it ran fine. May need to pull/clean carb and check fuel filter/air cleaner. Haven't had to mess with it in 3 years.

 

[MA_PE]

If it's one of the mowers with no throttle cable and relies on a spring, I've had success with using a small stick to peg the throttle wide open, pump the primer bulb a few times and pull. It starts and runs slow (choked) for a bit and then I remove the stick and let it take over. Like you said, once it warms up there is no problem starting it, the problem is only the cold starts.

 

[Supe]

No primer bulb.

Pulled the air filter, it was darn near completely plugged from one side. Blew it out with the air compressor, put it back in, started on the first pull. Will have her try it again today now that it's been sitting outside.

 

[MA_PE]

no primer bulb? I thought all the Craftsman machines had one on the side of the carb. All of mine do.

 

[Supe]

no primer bulb? I thought all the Craftsman machines had one on the side of the carb. All of mine do.

Nope. No primer bulb. No external choke, either. In fact, there's a plastic guard that goes over the entire thing. Only parts of the engine you even see are the exhaust, cooling fins, and spark plug.