GardenKit

I agree with Phil. Welding has to be the best option, but to be fair you do need a good mig and some reasonable skill to weld thin, rusty metal. The key is to plate back to some thick metal, otherwise you just keep chasing holes. I have seen many examples of DIY patches, both riveted and fibreglassed and some have been horrific. Fibreglass tends to look good, but seldom stays bonded to the original deck which carries on rusting under the resin, releasing its hold. So the glassed repair is often no more than a loose cover.

I think Neil was probably referring to the carbs on the mower engines, which tend to be Walbro. But I also reckon its just a coincidence that he is seeing more on Kawasaki. I see this on just about every make and model of machine from time to time. What I don't understand is exactly what conditions are needed to grow this gel. I see (and smell) really old fuel that has gummed and varnished carbs, but not turned to gel, and then I see what seems like reasonable petrol which has formed gel really quickly. I believe it to be the amount of saturated water within the fuel. Ethanol can, and will, absorb its own weight in water if it can draw enough from a moist source. When the ethanol has fully saturated 'phase separation' takes place and gels form. The influencing factors are, I believe, temperature, humidity as well as the variances between night and day temperature. Different combinations of the factors relate to the time factor of separation. I will be happy to be corrected if someone knows the chemistry in more depth.

Yet another example of 'phase separation' encountered yesterday on a Ride On mower. This machine had only been unused since the last cut of last season but this amount of gel had formed, blocking the main jet. This is the early form of gel and was not even accompanied by the stale petrol smell. We are seeing this on a regular basis now, and its totally down to the ethanol in fuel.

Spot on Peat, it does smell just like very old gloss paint, the sort with about an inch of oil floating on top that you found in grandad's shed, in a rusty can.

One of yesterdays jobs revealed a classic reason to use Aspen. The Honda mower had been standing for about 18 months whilst the owner moved house. As normal, the machine had not been prepared for storage and the petrol had been left in the tank, with the results in the picture, which shows the mixing (emulsification) tube above the main jet. The gunge on the tube is down to the chemical reaction that takes place between petrol and water from the atmosphere which has been absorbed by the ethanol content of the fuel. This is known as 'phase separation' . The cure was to dismantle the carb and clean in the Ultrasonic Bath for 30 minutes at 60deg. Easily enough done, but had the machine been run on Aspen this would never have happened.

That would work.

JD decks are amongst the best, and as you go up the JD range the decks just get better and better. The one in question is the entry range X100 and has lasted 12 years before perforating which is pretty good going for decks in the coastal belt where salt can be carried several miles inshore on storm winds. Fertiliser is even worse, and those customers who use the 'greenfum' operatives do seem to have the rustiest mowers.

Not a daft idea, but one which I tried many years ago and gave up on, because most widely available rivets are aluminium which corrodes rapidly when in contact with the acids in deck gunge. In a remarkably short time the patch will lift and get caught in rotating bits. Welding, or bolting are really the only options other than a new deck shell.

They have been routing calls through local numbers here for some years now, crafty beggars. We have around 2000 local customers on our database and obviously advertise locally so of course we answer local calls. Getting right fed up with it now.

It was a pleasure to do business with yourself and your good lady, Phil. Be sure to post some pics of the mower when you have patched the deck. And thanks for the positive comments.

Haha, no, you have never seen this one. The one you are thinking of did briefly end up on my bench, but only for me to admire your work. I did not lay a spanner on it, it's your baby now!

I would say the crud restricts movement and stresses parts such as 'the bone'. But strangely, the one pictured had no broken bits, it was just a bit sluggish.

50 yards from where I sit now harvey. Think it was Christmas day 2010. Went for a walk with the camera before lunch then went down like a sack of spuds with the flu before i got back home. Straight to bed, missed lunch and the next 5 days! Useless fact, and one that I am sure nobody gives a damn about:blushing:

Sorry I did not try earlier, but been a bit tied up with a pot of white gloss since i came home. Thats doing my head right in:001_rolleyes:

Five high resolution images, all uploaded simultaneously. Something I have not been able to do since before christmas. Thanks Steve, I do believe you have fixed it:thumbup: ATTACH]202310[/ATTACH]

Sorry Steve, my post was not directed at you, hence no quote. It was rather just my thoughts on the matter, actually in accordance with your thoughts it seems.

Do you blow the crud out with an airline before servicing:lol: And place a sticker on a smooth service after? Nice sticker by the way Steve, but clashes with my workbench:sneaky2:

I think it is wrong to assume that a guy charging only £12 per hour will not return a first class job, or vice versa, that a £50 man will not make a complete mess. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the return business will only go to the guy with the best results. The £12 guy however, is unlikely to still be trading when the return business turns up at his door, even if he was good. Various posters on this thread have criticised my hourly rate, but after 14 years of steady growth I guess we are not too far out. If I am honest though, I do very little work at the hourly rate, most is done on a rate for the job, which on average works out higher than the hourly rate anyway (same as in all dealers)

Here is an example from a saw in today.

So having established that dealerships will be charging around £40 - £45 plus vat for each hour then that can become the norm that people expect to pay. Assuming that the OP and others like him have similar skills to myself and other dealers technicians, there is no real reason why they cannot charge similar rates if the job is finished to the same standard. Of course, they will probably want to give themselves an 'edge' by being a bit cheaper than the local dealer. Thats fair enough, but they will still have that 'edge' if they charged, say £30 an hour. So come on guys, value yourselves and earn a decent living.

Glad it arrived at last, it at least proves we posted it! Keep it safe for when you may need it one day in the future:001_smile:

My choice of the word 'cheapskate' in the earlier post was poor. I did not call him a cheapskate, but was trying to imply that he may look somewhat unprofessional at such a cheap rate. If it was taken that I was calling him a cheapskate then I apologise. But the fact remains that his business plan is very poorly thought out and there is no way it can work. I am not trying to put the OP down, but merely trying to give advice that may help him succeed long term. There is absolutely no point in charging £12 per hour when he would still be cheap at twice that price. The notion that some posters have put forward that it is possible to start cheap and then increase prices is also flawed. It simply does not work. I started out as a one man band some 14 years ago working from a domestic garage at my house. I started even then at £35.00 per hour (no Vat) and outgrew the garage within 2 months. Within 6 months I had to register for VAT and in those 14 years have never been short of work, even at todays price of £42 per hour (plus vat = £50) Customers will happily pay for good service. But neither have I made a fortune, its not a high profit margin business. I only earn around the same that I did in my previous salaried management position, so to charge out any less a rate would be pointless. Good luck to the OP, but if he does indeed have the mechanical skills then he should charge accordingly from the start.

As said, far, far too cheap. You wont make a living and will get a reputation as a cheapskate. Who are you trying to take work from? Find out their prices and charge the same, just be a bit better in everything you do. Value yourself and others will value you. I charge £50 per hour (inc VAT), plus delivery and collection and I am still not a rich man. But I have as much work as I can handle. And at least 80% of my business comes from within a 5 mile radius. I only collect ride-on mowers from anywhere over 15miles.

After all, he did say it was for someone else to use:biggrin:

Haha, just a thought:001_smile: I will keep my useless thoughts to myself from now on:blushing: