The Lawnmower Thread

[snickerd3]

holy cow, >$720 for a push mower!!!!!

 

[Road Guy]

I don't think the grass in my yard will grow that tall since we basically live in semi desert conditions, but at the rate my son is using the lawn mower were gonna need something a little beefier than the toro (granted I have a 0.2 acre lot) but he is cutting on average 10 of those lawns a week!

 

[snickerd3]

sounds like he needs to chip in on the new equipment

 

[snickerd3]

I don't think the grass in my yard will grow that tall since we basically live in semi desert conditions, but at the rate my son is using the lawn mower were gonna need something a little beefier than the toro (granted I have a 0.2 acre lot) but he is cutting on average 10 of those lawns a week!

so does he trim the areas around fences and such with a weed whacker too or just mow?

 

[Road Guy]

full service, he even edges - we have the attachment on the weed eater where you cant add the edgers, trimmer, etc.. people have been getting him to dig holes for trees and move rocks, has gotten a lot of business just from word of mouth..

I wish I had room for a little trailer for him to use since he has been putting the mower into the back of the Tahoe (2002), I made a ramp for him to make it easier to load the mower, but I wish I had room in the garage to keep a small trailer for all his work but I just don't have the space for it.

He was complaining a little bit about the cost of gas the other day cutting into his profit.. lols..  I fronted the money for the gas, 2 cycle oil, and "weed eater string" but after those were gone he had to replace on his own..

 

[Supe]

Yes, about 18" in spots.  That's in only three weeks.  Stuff grows like CRAZY here in NC with the rain we've had and moderate temps.  Average step in the backyard comes up to about mid calf.  Front is nice and short though, LOL.  That's what happens when your mower craps out and you have to treat it like a push mower.  

 

[FLBuff PE]

So your house has a mullet? Business in the front, party in the back?

 

[roadwreck]

holy cow, >$720 for a push mower!!!!!

It's a self propelled walk behind, there is very little pushing involved.

 

[jeb6294]

full service, he even edges - we have the attachment on the weed eater where you cant add the edgers, trimmer, etc.. people have been getting him to dig holes for trees and move rocks, has gotten a lot of business just from word of mouth..

I wish I had room for a little trailer for him to use since he has been putting the mower into the back of the Tahoe (2002), I made a ramp for him to make it easier to load the mower, but I wish I had room in the garage to keep a small trailer for all his work but I just don't have the space for it.

He was complaining a little bit about the cost of gas the other day cutting into his profit.. lols..  I fronted the money for the gas, 2 cycle oil, and "weed eater string" but after those were gone he had to replace on his own..

I got one of these over 10 years ago when I had my Jeep:

http://www.harborfreight.com/1195-lb-capacity-48-in-x-96-in-heavy-duty-folding-trailer-62666.html

Yeah, it's Harbor Freight but I beat the hell out of it and it hasn't died yet...it's still stashed out in the woods.  I'm assuming you mean you don't have room for a 4x8 trailer in the garage, so he'd have to roll it in/out and unfold/fold it, but it'd be on a trailer instead of bouncing around the back of the Tahoe.

 

[Road Guy]

If he manages to keep business through the summer I was going to look around for one of those, I've basically got a tiny 2 car garage with a little extra space on one side, but I could clear out some room (I just built wall to wall shelves this past summer on one side) so I would have to modify that.. We live in suburban hell so I wouldn't be able to put it in the back yard. There is no where to hide it unfortunately..

Ive also got one of those old school 800 # capacity hitch haulers but he isn't strong enough to put it on the Tahoe by himself- that would work good with the ramp I made, its just that I am not around when he is having to leave,and we don't want to leave the hitch hauler on the back all the time (he'll forget about it and back into someone)

I miss having a bigger yard and a walk out basement for this type stuff..

 

[jeb6294]

Success!!! I got a set of three replacement blades and new flange nuts for all three from Amazon for $40. The freakin' nuts were $5 apiece, but I did a little checking and it looks like they're some goofy size so I went ahead and got them to avoid the hassle.

The nut on the center blade was pretty mangled and it wasn't budging after soaking it with PB so I took the grinder to it. I cut the nut off on two sides parallel to each other and ended up with two flat sides. I threw my biggest pipe wrench on it and whacked it with a BFH and that did the trick. Ratchet and breaker bar took care of the other two. New blades\nuts went on easy peasy. Made one swipe around the yard and it seems to be cutting much better than it ever was before. 

 

[Road Guy]

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[Road Guy]

So for you fellow shade tree mechanics out there. The box on the right of this picture is the air filter that covers up what I think is also the fuel filter?

The mower barely runs, except for when I remove the black box - air filter, then it runs like normal? Ive tried cleaning the thing out, etc, but every time I put it back together it barely runs above idle and chokes out when you actually mow grass?

Any thoughts? We also replaced the spark plug and put high test gas in it?

Do these small mowers have fuel filters? This is like a $250 Toro..

 

[MA_PE]

would be better to take an overall picture with and without the cover. 

Does this mower have a regular throttle lever of just a run/stop button?  If it's run/stop when you reinstall the cover does the plastic cover hit any linkage (i.e. the wire in the picture?  I wondering if the cover is restricting movement of the throttle which is likely controlled by a governor

 

[Supe]

Have you replaced the air filter?  Could also be running rich, too.  

 

[Road Guy]

Can do when I get home.(pics)

and it just sort of started acting sluggish so we didn't take the cover off until after the problem started, it doesn't look like anything is constricted, its almost like it isn't getting enough air?

We first put better gas, then plugs, then air filter, and that when I tried starting it without the air filter "box" on it and noticed it runs like a champ without it on

 

[Supe]

So is it a new air filter, or did it just look fine/blew out the original?  The filters can look clean but become clogged with fuel and oil residue.  

 

[Road Guy]

yes what's on it now is new & it was still barely running- So I don't think it was the air filter, but something is restricting either gas or air?

There is a tube that runs from the gas tank to what looks like a fuel filter but I don't see any way to disassemble it. But there are two nuts on the bottom of it I was going to try and loosed to see if maybe there is some junk in there to let drain out?

 

[matt267 PE]

The carb could need a cleaning (you can thank ethanol for that). Try adding carb cleaner to the gas tank and run it.

 

[Supe]

yes what's on it now is new & it was still barely running- So I don't think it was the air filter, but something is restricting either gas or air?

There is a tube that runs from the gas tank to what looks like a fuel filter but I don't see any way to disassemble it. But there are two nuts on the bottom of it I was going to try and loosed to see if maybe there is some junk in there to let drain out?

If it were fuel filter, it wouldn't be running fine with the air cleaner off.  The air cleaner will always offer up some restriction, usually accounted for in the factory carb calibration.  Likely some junk causing the float to stick or needle/seat issues that's just on the verge of being either too fat or too lean to run with the air cleaner assembly on.  Possibly choke being hung up?