Damn Riding Mower

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Eddie, I just had a problem with my Briggs engine and it started burning a bit of oil and would puke out white smoke and quit. It was the head gasket and was actually pressurizing the oil sump. The fuel pum ran off a pulse vacuum line coming from the sump to the fuel pump. The cylinder action creates a pulse vacuum and no vacuum to push the fuel. when it pressurizes it pushes oil to the fuel pump, is mixed in the gas and ends up in the fuel line and causes the puff of smoke and a stall since it can't combust the rich oil mixture. Deere wanted $300 and 25 days to fix it. I did it myself in about 2 hours the other night and the head gasket cost $9. Follow the fuel line and see if there s a pump that looks like a small hockey pump with 3 hoses coming out of it. It may be dripping oil out of it if this is the problem.

[Doc]

What a year so far. I started off with a bad battery in the mower. I had to buy a new one (and it is no fun getting that thing in and out of the mower). Then I pulled out the roto-tiller to do the garden ..... flat tire (why are those tiny tires pneumatic?). Because of the shape and size of the tire, the bead was so far away from the rim that I couldn't get it started. Had to drive all the way into town to go to a tire place to get it blown up. Put it on, and then found out the tiller did not want to start (brand new last year). So, I had to take that 30 miles to drop it off and won't be seeing that for a couple weeks. It's no wonder why I turn into a raving maniac at times.

 

I can hardly wait to see what adventures will occur when I go to start up the weed eater, or the DR Trimmer. I don't have a whole lot of luck with these things.

[fasteddie]

Mowing my lawn cost me an additional $26 . I normally don't have my phone with me when I mow but I did the other day . When I backed up the phone snapped off my belt and I ran over it . The case was trashed but luckily the phone wasn't damaged . Live and learn !

[WNYBuckHunter]

What a year so far. I started off with a bad battery in the mower. I had to buy a new one (and it is no fun getting that thing in and out of the mower). Then I pulled out the roto-tiller to do the garden ..... flat tire (why are those tiny tires pneumatic?). Because of the shape and size of the tire, the bead was so far away from the rim that I couldn't get it started. Had to drive all the way into town to go to a tire place to get it blown up. Put it on, and then found out the tiller did not want to start (brand new last year). So, I had to take that 30 miles to drop it off and won't be seeing that for a couple weeks. It's no wonder why I turn into a raving maniac at times.

I can hardly wait to see what adventures will occur when I go to start up the weed eater, or the DR Trimmer. I don't have a whole lot of luck with these things.

Gotta love machinery! Hey, if you dont already, you should mix some of that Startron ethanol treatment stuff in the gas for your small engines. Every small engine me or my father has that we have not run that in, has had carberator problems. Absolutley zero issues with any of them since we started using that. I have an Ariens tiller thats older than I am, that I inherited from my father, and it always fires up. One pull with the choke to prime, second pull starts it. Some guys say that stuff doesnt work, I say the proof is in the pudding. I dont bother with high octane (which is a farce in small engines IMO) or ethanol free gas. A bottle of Startron is $10 at wally world and it treats well over 100 gallons. Alot less expensive than higher octane or ethanol free gas.

[wdswtr]

Hey Doc,  next time that tire goes flat take a rope, tie a loop in one end, thread the other end through the loop, put it around the center of the tire on the rim and pull it tight as you can and blast it with air.  This will push the tire on the bead of the rim.  I have a chipper that I need to put some tubes in it cause they cant hold air either.

[Doc]

Gotta love machinery! Hey, if you dont already, you should mix some of that Startron ethanol treatment stuff in the gas for your small engines. Every small engine me or my father has that we have not run that in, has had carberator problems. Absolutley zero issues with any of them since we started using that. I have an Ariens tiller thats older than I am, that I inherited from my father, and it always fires up. One pull with the choke to prime, second pull starts it. Some guys say that stuff doesnt work, I say the proof is in the pudding. I dont bother with high octane (which is a farce in small engines IMO) or ethanol free gas. A bottle of Startron is $10 at wally world and it treats well over 100 gallons. Alot less expensive than higher octane or ethanol free gas.

Generally speaking that is a normal ritual that I go through every winter, but I honestly don't remember  adding it to the tiller. Plus, I can't believe that in this day and age the stupid thing does not have a gas primer bulb. Everything that I have got now that starts reliably has that feature.

 

I used to have an old rear tine Dynamark tiller (Briggs & Stratton engine) that started with one or two pulls every year ..... always. I can't tell you how old it really was but it's like in the 20+ year old range. However well the engine ran and started, other stuff was beginning to fall off and there was more baling wire and duct tape on it than original parts. Still not really a problem until finally it began to arbitrarily spit the recoil rope out into the turning tines. I had to stop and coax the cord back in far enough so that it would not get ripped out by the roots with the tiller tines. Well last year, I figured the poor old thing had to be replaced so I gave it to my Brother-in-law (who pretty much wrecks anything he gets his hands on), and I bought a nice new, shiney, Troy-bilt rear tine, super-duper tiller. Well, that worked out real good.

[Doc]

Hey Doc,  next time that tire goes flat take a rope, tie a loop in one end, thread the other end through the loop, put it around the center of the tire on the rim and pull it tight as you can and blast it with air.  This will push the tire on the bead of the rim.  I have a chipper that I need to put some tubes in it cause they cant hold air either.

That's kind of what they did at the tire place. I'll have to remember that trick in the future. If the tire went completely flat over one winter, I can probably count on it doing it again next year.

[fasteddie]

Hey Doc,  next time that tire goes flat take a rope, tie a loop in one end, thread the other end through the loop, put it around the center of the tire on the rim and pull it tight as you can and blast it with air.  This will push the tire on the bead of the rim.  I have a chipper that I need to put some tubes in it cause they cant hold air either.

 

I did that with a ratchet strap and was careful . Had to loosen the strap a couple times in the process .

[fasteddie]

I put the startron in the gas that I use in the mowers , chainsaws , weed whackers , etc ..

Fastrack has the non ethanol gas for about 40 cents more per gallon than regular .

[sits in trees]

Did that .. battery is good and terminals are tight . I am going to try connecting a wire to the negative terminal and frame and see if that might be a problem . I don't want to spend a lot of money on a 6 year old mower either . Thanks for the suggestion .

You don't wanna spend money on a 6 year old mower. Yea thats way tooooo old, I usually scrap mine after a season or two?????