TArrryan

Hello Arbtalk

I have a 20Hp Briggs and Stratton vanguard engine powering a Countax A20/50 ride on mower. In the past month I have noticed it's been using allot more fuel than It did at the beginning of the year, one tank use to last the day but now I'm using more than 2 tanks a day on the same work!!

There is also a loss of power when climbing slops, this becomes more noticeable with the cutting deck engaged, after pausing the mower for a few seconds the revs will pick up again and you can carry on for a short distance longer.

I have also noticed a very strong petrol smell around the mower when it is running, I have checked for leaks and none have been found (the fuel line is only 2 feet long)

From looking inside the carb while It's running we can see one cylinder is getting more fuel than the other, The over fuelling cylinder has a very wet spark plug while the other spark plug is as dry as a bone. we have removed and cleaned the carb twice now with no change to the jets.

We have tried very hard to find the source of the problem and we are now beginning to lose patience with It.

Ill quickly list what else we have looked at.

The tappet clearances have been set correctly (we have the workshop manual).

A full service carried out (oil, all filters, spark plugs) with no change in performance.

Both cylinder have been checked for loss of pressure and are running at 160-170 psi.

Spark plugs have been swapped with no change.

Both cylinders are pulling in an equal amount of air.

There is no smoke coming from the exhaust (white, black or blue)

oil level remains constant.

There Is a fuel pump on the side of the engine but we do not suspect this otherwise the problem should be common to both cylinders.

Has anyone got any ideas?

looks like someone squeezed out a load of play dough through a sieve!!

hope it is TPO'd. the silly bugger deserves the fine for the shoddy work!

I never dream of more these days. I've been down the route of working for others, and though they seemed to have it all, the sports cars, big bikes, big houses and exotic holidays. But the big trade-off is the level of stress they invariably suffered

I have no interest In fast cars or expensive holidays, as long as i can provide for myself I am happy, I don't understand these individuals who amass billions and do nothing with it. I would use my billions to build a research institute where great things would happen!!!

big is not beautifull,keep it simple, been there done it and i wont be going back to it. Enjoying my own life again......

It may not be beautiful but it can inspire people and do great things for those around it as long as its done correctly

There MUST be someone like that out there though? at least the optimist in me hopes so:thumbup:

I present to you myself for judgement!! happy workers are good workers and as long as people remain loyal to me, I will look after and be loyal to them.

I think of a commanding officer in the army as a example, would you be loyal to the officer who hides a hundred miles away from the battlefield and give orders over a radio, or be loyal to the officer who fights by your side getting his hands dirty??

I hope to be the latter,

IMO, the easiest businesses to grow are the ones where your staffs duty's are simple and unskilled, where you can write the instructions for carrying out their tasks on one side of A4. As then your staff are innately replaceable by the next person in the dole que.

I agree and understand your point completely, its why china is a economic power now!!

I like Loyalty and attention to detail, both quality's which are insanely hard to find now days, If you can find a employee with both of those then you are on the right track.

Which ones Garth?? I cant remember who's who on here any more!!!

never setting ones eyes on a fixed plan is a wise idea, there's so many variables in life that it will certainly never happen how you imagine it. I instead think of all the potential outcomes and try to steer myself towards the most favourable one.

As some of you might know by now (but most probably don't) I am only 24 and have been running my own garden services business for the past 3 years with increasing success!!

A good friend recently asked me where i wanted to be in twenty years time, this has got me thinking about how my business will advance and develop over the years, I certainly don't expect to still be running a local garden services business when I'm sixty, neither do I plan to work for anyone else ever again!!

however neither do I plan to stay in the landscape garden sector all my life, I have only just started thinking about this and was wondering how hard it would be to take on self employed electricians and builders on projects and expand into building and construction, eventually providing enough work to sustain your own work force!!

have any of you ever though about how you want you business to expand? will you be happy building a business to live off of, or do you want to go beyond your comfort zone and build a empire ????

Walnut, Elm, Sycamore, Holly, Laurel

ah I like the idea of walnut and Elm, gonna be hard for me to get it seasoned though

At the moment I am trying to collect the wood i need to make a clock, but I'm going to try and make a special one.

The idea Is that I will use 12 different 30 degree sections of wood to make up each hour, I'm in need of 6 lighter pieces and 6 darker pieces so it's easier to differentiate between the hour sections. the image below should show it better than I can describe.

I currently have a few sections in mind covering the obvious spices but I was wondering what kinds of wood you could suggest for me bear in mind I'll still have to get hold of them so no silly suggestions please

If the center of the clock warps and splits too easily Ill cut out a circuler piece and set in anouther round section of wood. all waxed and polished afterwards of course

One of the problems with quoting for work is that if four or five quotes are received it is quite possible that one of the companies has screwed up and under priced it by mistake. Of course they only realise this when half way through the job, but its possible that a a significant percentage of arb work is done at a mistakenly low price.

 

Add to that the newer companies that are less experienced, and so rather then "undercutting" they are just simply making mistakes, and pricing cheap through no real fault of their own.

 

I mess up prices now and then too though, I'm sure everybody here has done jobs that they have underpriced, well that is what I mean, too many jobs go to the person who has underpriced by mistake, including all of us who have done it.

There is of course the extreemly rare overpriced job! I did one a while ago where I realised part way through I'd asked for far too much (almost 30%!!) I must admit I never said a word and they were still happy with the price, They said they would be in contact with more work.

In my first year I made a million pricing mistakes, even charged half the amount i should of on one job!

seems there has been a explosion at the nuclear plant, radiation levels in the control room at the plant are reportedly 1000x normal levels while outside at the main entrance they are 8x normal levels. the japs are smart resourcfull people, if anyone can deal with situation I'm sure they will.

looks like I'll be hiding the van and wearing a paper bag on the 28th!! I explained the situation to her and she's decided to just have the side off completely. not gonna be a proud day but not every job will be a happy one unfortunatly, on the upside she insisted on cash!!!

Thanks for you kind words everyone, may the good times start!

Its probally the first time since I started that I feel like a proper business, no more jumping into the back of the van with the chainsaw to try and fit a bit more in there!!! It feels great to just toss it into the trailer without jamming it in the van.

Well done, I remember my first day with my own big trailer, I made £80 that day. it all adds up, being self sufficient is a great feeling.

I got £120 for 6 hours work today with the trailer!!! straight away things are better

next big three purchases (£1000+) are a CS100 chipper, new van and a holiday to japan again. also plan to get a loil leaf blower, MS-192 and a long hedge cutter among other items.

nice one, ifor's are very good trailers. just get it locked down good! nose,wheel locks and superheavy ground anchor..

shall be onto that tomorrow afternoon gonna be harder to break into than alcatraz once I'm done with it.

Picked up my new Ifor wiliams GD85 with mesh sides today Might seem like a small purchase to some of you but for me its a huge step forwards, This april will be the start of my 3rd year in business and it will also be my first year in profit! (first year loss, second broke even) now I can put serious thought into some kind of expansion like buying some better gear and saving for a home and yard I can't stop grinning I'm so happy!

Hmmm I think I'll put my name down, it would do me allot of good to meet up and chat with some of the members here I sure we can learn allot from eachother!

I have a quotation written for the job now, Ill reccomend its cut back level with the wall edge, If i remove only the overhanging parts you will still be left with woody branches jutting out into the edge of the pathway. Im sure many of you have stabbed yourselves on dead conifer branches before its not pleasant, sods law says somone will have their eye out walking past it and sue me!!!

I will discuss the options when I deliver the quote and see what she has to say, I suspect she will tell me to do it regardless, I'll just park out of sight and don a paper bag!

Ditto Pete.

I would also erect a small sign next to it outlining the story so people don't think you are a complete tree rapist!

I have already thought of this and I will do it if she accepts the quote, I'm buying a white board soon so ill write on that and prop it up near the path

Get a Long Bar on a Big Saw,Kneel in a Wheelbarrow and have your groundy push you along the Hedge.The novilty of this technique with amuse you and impress passers by alike!

When I have the pictures I will post them!!

Anyone know the best place to get a few men at work signs, preferably with the hedge cutting writing underneath, If I get the job I'll cordon off the path, Dont want people walking past while I hack the hege apart

Its such an awful situation be be in.... i have had similar problems...i.e lovely hedge right by the road on full view and the customer has been threatened by the council.

I actually felt ashamed to have my signwritten van next to the job!

My advice, drape a big sheet over your van for the day and paper bag over your head so nobody recognises its you!!

I'm considering doing this now, I think theres just about enough room on the drive to park out of sight. If the job was 10 miles away then I would do it, I wouldn't like it but I would do it because the vast majority of people would easily forget me, I would be another passing surgeon. Unfortunatly because its right around the corner from me its almost certain most people will recognise me. 99.99% of people would probally belive I have convinced the old lady her to do it as well which doesn't bode well for advertising.

I will suggest the idea of fencing to her but as she never really sees that part of the hedge I'm doubtfull she will go with it.

Tbh I have never seen that! And I have witnessed plenty of neighbour cutting back jobs.

I would just trim it as normal and see if anything else gets said by the council before I even thought of ripping it out.

suggested this to her but sods law says the council will just turn up, cut it back and send her a huge bill for the work!!

I suggested the idea of ripping out and starting again but she snorted at the idea I really hate the idea of cutting it back, would appealing to the council or tpo work maybe?

sorry should of mentioned its a conifer, nothing but dead wood will remain afterwards. if it would grow back then i would have no problem with it. it would be nothing but a eyesore on the local area after cutting

Today I viewed a hedge that needs two things done to it, firstly it just needs a good old trim like any hedge does each year, theres no problem with that, the real problem is what the council want done! the hedge is about 120 feet in length and 8 foot tall. unfortunatly it overhangs the public path by as much as 40% in places and the council have told the lady it needs cutting back! I don't disagree that it needs trimming but I do feel it would have a severe negative impact on its location, I drive by this hedge evey day (live 100m down the road) and can remember it being there since we moved into the house 18 years ago. I'm unaware of any complaints about it overhanging and personally never had any problems with it when I have walked past. Is there any way I can try and change the councils mind on this matter??

I also hate the though of being the one that has to slaughter the nice sweeping hedge cutting it back to bare wood !! I wouldnt be surprised if I was approached by a number of people about its cutting

thanks for the recommendation guys, unfortunately I live much too far away from all of them however if it was a choice between 1-3 months waiting and £200 fuel, I'll go with the fuel, the extra work from the trailer would make up for it in no time

it can take a few months,,depends what you're after. expect prices to only go one way,,,up

grrrr I hope gd105 with mesh sides and ramp is a common item then

even the dealers dont know when the price is going up, they just get told on the friday afternoon. i was told by a dealer that if you order one now for delivery in 3 months say youl pay todays price.

 

of course he could have been lying

Makes sense to be hounest, you are agreeing to buy one at today's price then it should remain the same. On that note how long does delivery take??