Petrol Mowers

[weeman_mtb]

My Briggs and Stratton powered lawn mower began running like a bag of nails last year, missfiring and even stalling under load.

Replaced the diaphragm/gasket as mentioned by Bob (type 1) and it hasn't missed a beat since. Only cost a couple of quid off ebay, I even bought a spare for next time. I bet hundreds of this type of lawnmower end up on the tip with this simple to solve problem.

 

[highlandsflyer]

If they are that cheap order the part while you try sorting the lead, can't go wrong.

We use Stiga mulching mowers on the rental lawns, environmental friendliness and all that. They also have exceptionally quiet and vibration free Honda motors on flex mountings so you don't need to worry about waking honeymooning couples!

 

[Bob]

Yes LOTS go to the tip and it's easily preventable, but people do their last mow of the season then dump the mower in the shed, I have no idea how many times i've told people all they have to do is leave it running until it runs out of fuel and it'll be fine (for anyone wondering, the petrol goes stale and hardens the fabric diaphragm so it can no longer do it's job)
And no i'm not speaking as an engineer more as a farm and garden mechnery mechanic with bits of paper that say I can carry out warrenty repairs and servicing on Briggs engines, Honda, John Deere, Hayter, Stihl and a few others

 

[drcarlos]

Yes LOTS go to the tip and it's easily preventable, but people do their last mow of the season then dump the mower in the shed, I have no idea how many times i've told people all they have to do is leave it running until it runs out of fuel and it'll be fine (for anyone wondering, the petrol goes stale and hardens the fabric diaphragm so it can no longer do it's job)
And no i'm not speaking as an engineer more as a farm and garden mechnery mechanic with bits of paper that say I can carry out warrenty repairs and servicing on Briggs engines, Honda, John Deere, Hayter, Stihl and a few others

There's a flip side of the coin that says you should store it full of fuel (most people leave a little that evaporates) and then dump the old stuff at the beginning of the new season as empty the residue dries out and goes gummy blocking and sticking everything up, better still use a fuel stabiliser like stabil and it should store OK over the winter and be useable. I won't recommend either but I have stored mine in both full and empty states and not had a problem either way.

Carl.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Don't listen to Carl. He will have you souping the thing up and risking your neck racing it around an old air field!

Even up north we still do a cut or two right up to December, and the first cuts are often February.

Run your mowers every couple of weeks during any downtime. I do this with all my motor vehicles and it really does the trick. Motorbikes and cars need to be moved around to prevent things getting stuck. Mowers, unless simple push ones, benefit in much the same way from a wee trundle regularly.