Lawn mowers again

I just pulled my mower from the shed yesterday after sitting all winter.

Sharpened the blade, Going to need a new one soon.

Changed the oil because I thought it might be a good idea since I have no idea how old.

Started on the very first pull like always. Same gas as last year

Mow tomorrow.

My $25 mower starts on the first pull every time. Every once in a while, I even pull the air filter out and rinse it in the sink. That's about all I've ever done to it.

At the end of the season, I just turn off the fuel valve and run it until it stalls. It started on the second pull, as always.

I hate mowing.

I did this a couple of weeks ago. Except I didn't change the oil because I could still see through it.

I should probably check the oil in mine. Never have since I pulled the engine from a dead one and stuffed it in mine. Or the plug. Or air filter. Or oil filter.

I berkeleying hate mowing and yard work.

I probably had the dullest blade in the worlds luckily my neighbor was kind enough to sharpen it for me.

It actually is like a different machine.

my free "take this for scrap it doesn't work anymore" that just needed a $10 cable mower sat outside all winter, covered in snow and ice. plowed into it a few times. started right up. i picked one up on the curb a few weeks ago, brought it home and put gas in it, and it started right up too. now i have 2 good mowers and $10 in them combined.

Mowing season has hit the northland?

Bought an older (1983) Snapper rider last year for $40 at a garage sale with all the expectations of a $40 mower. New blade and battery and I am good to go! Turns out the guy was a retired shop teacher

I checked the tires (2 new) and the oil (changed last year with no mows on it and hit every lube spot I could find. Went a bit wild after mowing today and ordered a new bushing kit ($12) and driven disc kit ($35). Another project that will run good but look like crap.

Bruce

You don't have to change the oil if you run cheap old beaters that burn more than a sump's worth every season. Just top of with some cheap 15w40 or 20w50 every time you put gas in it.

I just put new blades on mine. The twin-blade Honda setup. It made a HUGE difference, but I'm not sure if that is because my old blade was trash, or because the two > one.

I change the air filter and oil every 2 years in mine. Probably don't need to, but its easy and cheap.

I only run Oregon (the saw chain company) blades now, through hardened and good steel, they hold a edge a long time and don't get all dinged up by small rocks very easily.

I add stabill to my 5 gal tank every time I fill it up. Cheep insurance that if I am slacking when I put somthing away wet it will fire up next season. I just changed the oil in all my small engine two weeks ago. I seem to end up doing it every spring when I am putting the snow blower away in the barn and I am pulling out the riding mower. I even gave the generator a once over and changed its oil. I think it is because I hate doing it in the fall for some reason.

Why I like the blue fog of those two cycle motors.

I must have the nicest mower here so far. Bought it for $600 a few years ago, and after chasing what turned out to be a bad coil, it starts and runs like a champ and mows grass like nobody's business.

Just got $60 worth of new blades last year, and this spring I greased everything, changed the oil and filter, installed a new air filter, and replaced the very glazed and stretched engine-to-deck drive belt. Mrs. VCH (shown above, prior to the birth of our daughter last June) bought me a new seat for it for Christmas, which made a huge difference in comfort.

I didn't go all grass roots. We ran a pair of craftsman 42" mowers for the yard. took 2-2.5 hours when using both, 4 hrs when it was one. Got tired of wasting an entire day on mowing, so we purchased a 50" Dixie Iron Eagle with a 23hp Kohler V-twin. Cut that time down to 1.5 hours when it's not out of control, 2 hours when it's over 10" tall (which can happen in our yard if it goes 10 days without a mow). Well worth the money 7 years ago. Finally had to replace the blades and belts last year and the battery as well. Get this: original lawnmower battery lasted 6 years without a tender hooked up. Just gets shoved into the shed when done and sits until spring.

my grass is getting to be about 2-3' tall. I should probably take the plow off the mower and reinstall the deck.

42" craftsman 20hp briggs, will probably struggle.

Change the oil? I don't even know how to get the oil out of my mower. It's still in the running range on the dipstick, so it's good for another season.

My riding mower was an on the side of the road find for free. Rebuilt the carb. Previous owner said he re built it and it never ran rite after that. Found that a spring that controlled one of the fuel metering jets was missing. It has run great since. Last year I replaced the things that the blads mount to that are bolted to the mower deck. I hit a piece of metal that was hidden in the grass and it destroyed them. I also had to replace the starter last year. Other than that it has been a great machine. 20HP craftsman with a 42" deck.

I got my rider for free when the neighbor holed the block and upgraded. I got a replacement engine from my other neighbor for $100 and have been using it for the past 2 years.

It always fires up, but I have a big problem with mice building nests on top of the number 2 cylinder (it's a Briggs flat 2). Last year I had to take apart the front end and cooling tin every time I mowed to remove mouse nests and mouse bits from them meeting the cooling fan at speed.

Last night I had enough and used a 1.5" hole saw to add some inspection ports to the fan shroud so I can check and vaccum out any nests before starting it up.

Mine starts on the first pull every year.

I love my lawnmower! It's a mid-90's Toro self propelled GTS (Guaranteed To Start) with a 6-horse engine, and it rules.

My dad bought it back when he used to work for Toro at a Toro dealer, so it's not one of the big box store "Toro" mowers that are generally crap. You can tell a dealer Toro from the box store ones because they usually have a cast aluminum deck as opposed to a stamped steel one.

When I moved nearly 5 years back, my dad said I could take it, because he got a new Ariens machine for free from a buddy. That Toro has had basically no maintenance since new, and the damn thing starts on the first or second pull most of the time! If it doesn't start on the first or second pull, I turn it on its side for a few seconds, slap it back on the ground, and it starts right up. The blade has never been sharpened (I don't even know how), and the oil has probably never been changed, but it could care less. It will be mowing lawns after the zombies come.

I buy the ethanol free stuff at the local Gulf, and keep a 5 gal Jerry can of it with Sta-Bil in it for my small engines. I didn't drain the fuel when I parked it last Fall, and while it did take a few more cranks than usual for its very first start this Spring, it fired, and has ran great since.

I've got a basically "new" '98 model self propelled, 21" deck, Huskee, it got a new surplus 190cc electric start B&S engine swap last Spring. Not having to pull the rope will spoil you.

TRoglodyte wrote: Mowing season has hit the northland?

Yep !