[AT] Lawn mower carburetors are a piece of cake..... Wrong

[Cecil Bearden]

I bought one of those little Stihl top handle saws nearly 10 years ago.  
I love the balance of it.  I put the longest bar I could get on it from 
Bailey's so I could cut brush in fencerows without bending down so 
much.   Within 3 hours of using it, the stop switch quit working.  I 
have to choke it to kill it.  Still the same way 10 years later....
Cecil

On 6/7/2021 1:29 AM, Dean VP wrote:
>
> Gene,
>
> I’m jealous. I’m still fighting gas engines.  Your Stepson lives only 
> 5 or so miles from us.  He is just North West Of Monroe, WA actually 
> closer to Monroe than Snohomish with a Snohomish address.  Looks like 
> he is up on the ridge North and above Evergreen State Fair Grounds 
> which is the county fairgrounds.  I suspect he gets to hear the 
> Saturday night racing at the fairgrounds really well. We are 7.5 miles 
> out of Monroe and when the weather is right we too hear the racing. 
> The area where he lives is just exploding with new homes since Monroe 
> is within commuting distance of Seattle and the High Tech East side. 
> IF… one is willing to put up with the traffic.  Monroe is right on the 
> junction of 522 and Hwy 2y which heads over the Cascade Mountain Range 
> to the Wenatchee area.  522 heads toward Seattle and also intersects 
> with I405 which heads S into Bellevue.  522 is now mostly a 4 lane 
> road but where it is still only 2 lane it is a traffic mess for 
> commuters.  WA State DOT does not have a clue about how to build roads 
> that not only meet current needs but maybe a few years to the future. 
>   I’ve lived in this state since 1976 an d I have yet to see a road 
> built or refurbished that wasn’t overloaded the day it was opened. 
> Ok,  I’ll admit we have seen a huge influx of residents but newcomers 
> are the ones usually getting the higher paid wages so the tax base 
> should be going up dramatically.   But WA state is fixing the traffic 
> problems by building a multi-billion dollar North/South light rail 
> system that nobody rides.    It is pretty obvious they are going to 
> let traffic get so bad that people will finally give up and ride the 
> light rail.   But those that come in from the East such as those in 
> the Monroe area are SOL.    With house prices and cost of living going 
> so crazy high here it won’t be long and we will have a net loss in 
> population.  The City Governments have so alienated the population 
> many want to leave and from what I am picking up on the street is that 
> many Western WA and Western OR residents are looking East at states 
> like Idaho and Montana. Several Eastern Oregon counties are trying to 
> attach themselves to Idaho and if successful Eastern Washington 
>  counties will do the same. Coastal cities in CA are losing population 
> to states like Texas, AZ and NV.
>
> We winter in AZ and it reminds me so much of when we lived in SO CA in 
> the 60’s and 70’s. They know how to build roads for future needs. Even 
> at commute hours one can get to work driving 30 miles in less than 30 
> minutes. Yes ,there are exceptions but they are few and far between. 
>   But….  There is a huge problem staring California, NV and AZ right 
> in the face.  The lack of water. They are already restricting water 
> usage and it isn’t even summer yet. That is going to put a real limit 
> on ho many people can move to AZ and NV.  That leaves Texas as the 
> place to escape to. . IMHO, the movement of people to the Coastal 
> cities on the West Coast is coming to an end. As a result of idiotic 
> city governments, the defund police movements and Covid 19, people 
> want out.  They want to move out to where we live in the country or 
> further East out of the state. . I get phone calls at least once a 
> week from Relators begging us to put our house on the market. Have 
> active cash buyers they say.   I think it is a bit of BS but we have 
> lived here for 22 years and it has never been like this before. It is 
> at best called CRAZY. We are staying here until we can’t take care of 
> the place any longer. We figure we have about 5 years left. I will be 
> dead inside of a year if I have move back in the city.
>
> I almost bought a Battery powered chain saw a couple years ago but I 
> bought a Smaller/Lighter Stihl which is 2 cycle and I really like it. 
> It has started easily and I’ve worked its butt off.   More than I even 
> envisioned when I bought it.  I had a bigger Stihl which I had owned 
> since 1976 but is finally gave up  a couple years ago.  Coil went bad 
> and they are made out of unobtanium. Darn thing only gave me 40 plus 
> years of service.  They don’t make things like they used to.
>
> Dean VP
>
> Snohomish, WA 98290
>
> "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and 
> gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
>
> ..Winston Churchill...
>
> *From:* AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> *On Behalf Of 
> *Kenneth Gene Waugh
> *Sent:* Saturday, June 5, 2021 6:13 PM
> *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Lawn mower carburetors are a piece of cake..... Wrong
>
> Dean, THANK YOU!! I have never gotten as involved as most on this 
> list, and my experience with carburetors is pretty dismal. Not total 
> failure, but dismal! And my 2 cycle experience is really, really 
> dismal! Over the past couple years I have gotten rid of ALL 2 cycle 
> equipment! :-)!! I have replaced trimmer, blower and a couple other 
> functions with EGO battery powered equipment. Been very pleased.
>
> Dean, I have a stepson who lives with his wife on 126th St SE there in 
> Snohomish---nice area!
>
> Gene Waugh
>
> Elgin, IL
>
> On Sat, Jun 5, 2021 at 7:38 PM Dean VP <deanvp at att.net 
> <mailto:deanvp at att.net>> wrote:
>
>     You ATIS members need a good laugh once in a while.  This should
>     help provide that at my expense. ,
>
>     One of my Grandsons just purchased his first house which has a
>     small grass lawn with it.  Small enough lawn a self-propelled 20 -
>     22" push mower would be just fine. Since he is moving out of an
>     apartment he would need to buy a mower.   I volunteered to give
>     him one of mine that I have out in the barn that haven't been run
>     for a while. Don't even remember now when or where I got this one,
>     it was probably cheap at some garage sale or auction and is a Toro
>     Model 20216.  Probably 20" to 22" (haven't measured) deck with a
>     4HP Briggs motor and it can be self-propelled with 3 forward gears
>     .Everything worked fine on it when I used it last probably several
>     years ago (ran when parked) and my only two complaints about it
>     were the 4HP made it underpowered and the aluminum deck was pretty
>     brittle  and has been welded once. I have been blessed with a
>     wealth of rocks on  my yard.   I noticed the deck now has a couple
>     more cracks but the mower is useable as is all I have to do is get
>     it running.
>
>     I cleaned everything up, cleaned the spark plug, changed oil and
>     put in new gas.  I don't have a manual for the mower and the only
>     way I could figure out how to get the old oil out was to either
>     pump it out or lay it on its side and drain it out the fill tube.
>     . Very dumb and very owner unfriendly. . Anyway tried to start
>     it.    Not even a pop. Choke full on.   Tried ether. Yep, I could
>     get it to run for a second or two but obviously not getting gas to
>     the cylinder. Check gas line, check bowl, yep getting gas to the
>     carburetor.  Sum Ting Wong with the carburetor.
>
>     Now mistakenly I think I know what I'm doing relative to
>     carburetors with several successful Antique Tractor and Garden
>     Tractor carburetor rebuilds  under my belt but it has been a long
>     time since I have worked on a Lawn Mower Carburetor.   But needing
>     to be humbled a bit I guess I have forgotten a key detail about
>     Briggs carburetor's. I pulled the carb, removed the bowl and found
>     a sandy white substance (dirt?) in the bowl and also in the needle
>     and seat well.  Not typical of what I have seen in carbs in the
>     past. But continue to disassemble removing the float and needle.
>     Don't see a removable seat and disassemble the rest of the carb. 
>     Run small wires through any opening I can find and make sure they
>     are clean and blow air through any passage I can find.  One thing
>     that happened worried me. I had the air hose nozzle on the gas
>     intake pipe and a little pop occurred and something hit me in the
>     face. My observation was that it had come out of the bottom where
>     the needle seats..   Hmmmm .............must have been plugged
>     right there. 😊  Couldn't find what came out. I bet the carburetor
>     will work now.  Operator now in full idiot mode!😊
>
>     Moving on, soaked the carburetor in Pine Sol overnight and this
>     morning cleaned it with fresh water.  Carburetor looks like new. 
>     Man.... I am really good.     Hmm, the bowl gasket has expanded in
>     diameter in the pine sol. That is not good. But start reassembling
>     the carburetor and put the float and needle in place  and it is
>     obvious the needle is dropping too far down and not seating
>     properly.  Aha, that is what must have blown out and hit me in the
>     face. Hummmmm  how do you blow out a brass seat?  Now I'm
>     confused.  Get on the internet and watch a video of an overhaul of
>     this type of lawn mower carburetor.  Gets to the part about
>     removing the needle and seat. " An easy way to get the little
>     rubber needle seat out is to blow air into the gas inlet of the
>     carburetor"    Been there, done that.   Yep, I can completely
>     verify that works very well but I didn't know it when I did it.
>     @#$%^&*()   Now I sure as hell know what hit me in  the face. I
>     can't find that little sucker.  So... $9 gets me a carburetor
>     overhaul kit over night from Amazon.   Needed a new bowl gasket
>     too.  Isn't it amazing how the problem and solution can hit you
>     right in the face???
>
>     In searching for the right carburetor kit  I noticed I could buy a
>     whole new carburetor for $10.49. But I have been down that road
>     before and I was not pleased with what I received. So I'm staying
>     with the OEM Carburetor.  One day delivery on the parts.
>
>     BTW, I'm not very sure this mower is even worth the $9 carburetor
>     repair kit. But....  I am going to  beat this sucker into
>     submission.  This is the way us old folks turn one hour jobs into
>     a full day's entertainment.
>
>
>     Dean V
>     Snohomish, WA 98290
>     "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and
>     gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
>     ..Winston Churchill...
>
>
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>
>
> -- 
>
> Gene
>
> Kenneth Gene Waugh
>
> Elgin, Illinois
>
>
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