GardenKit

Mowers are only realy meant to handle grass. Trying to mulch sticks will abuse the deck and premature failure will result. Some will handle it better than others though. Under no circumstance should you buy a "timed" deck. I am no fan of countax, but a high grass field mulcher deck is tough enough for your job. A Grillo type machine would be ideal.

Can't say I know of a ride on with a fixed deck. The decks go up and down and the blades go with them. The decks hang so that the position above the ground can be maintained, but are on slack links so that they can lift with ground contours.

More supplies arrived today!

Rather you than me! I hate the smell of diesel. I trained as an ag mechanic and worked on diesels for 20 years. I was always covered in diesel and breathed in diesel fumes from engines running in the workshop. My clothes stank of diesel, my hands, my hair etc. I never thought anything of it. I then went into the office for 10 years, before being back on the tools in my own mower business. But now the smell of diesel engines makes me feel physically sick, so I keep to the petrols if possible. To be honest I dont even like the smell of petrol now since using mostly Aspen.

I have to admit to not being a fan of the Hatz powered diesel models. The one in the photo actually has a Honda engine, but I much prefer the Briggs Vanguard.

Simply the best, Better than all the rest, Finished this one just before tea. I know its bad to have a favourite, but this is mine.

Thanks for posting that Mike. Its news to me, though I suppose it should be expected.

Our Aspen sales had a bit of a boost today. Besides converting several customers to Aspen we had on of our regulars in for his annual 10 cans of 4stroke for his collection of classic motorcycles. He absolutely loves the stuff, as ethanol was killing his bikes.

Yep, that's a 30" single blade. Reliable and enough mower, but a flaming awful thing to climb on and off of due to the very high transmission tunnel and narrow gap twixt the deck lever and the tunnel.

A few Sunday hours put in for the first time this year to try to keep up. Serviced both of these 16 year old machines, including doing the head gasket and valve clearances on the Hayter.

I could not agree more, the chinese plugs are not the best, but the QJ19LM is a Champion. And to be quite honest I am not too keen on them either.

Aha, the power of NGK

I realise this theory goes against the normal thoughts, but many years ago I used 25 litre cans of engine oil in my workshop but encountered all the same issues that you have. Decanting was messy, time consuming and wasteful. So for the last dozen years I have only used 5 litre cans. I have saved hours of labour, never spilt a drop and thus have a cleaner floor too. Its hardly any more costly to buy in 5's than 20's or 25's, but loads cheaper in the long run. Taking Stihl Synthetic plus at RRP as an example. A 5l can costs £3.00 per litre (plus vat), whilst in a 20l it works out at £2.95. Only 5p cheaper to buy in large cans, its never worth the effort.

The 'jelly' will most likely be the result of "phase separation" which takes place in stale fuel due to the ethanol having absorbed its volume of water. This mix becomes highly corrosive to aluminium.

I assume you do actually mean backfire, rather than misfire? If so ,its usually a sheared flywheel key, but you have checked that. So it could be the coil gap, or even a duff coil. The carb obviously needs to be functional and clean. But it could be the valve clearances. Those engines are also prone to head gasket failure, so worth popping the head off for a decoke, adjust the valves and replace the head gasket. Or better still, bin it.

These are not for sale, they are customers machines I serviced this morning. The Toro is 10 years old! They are both serviced every year. Its very satisfying to have work of this nature.

Haha, I could not possible say. Well, not on the forum anyway. So check your messages!

Thanks Mike. The top one is 2003 Hawk, and the 48 is 2007. We always try to present our used kit nicely, it helps it to sell. But TBH even if they had been serviced for the previous owner they would be made to look just as good.

We have sold quite a few new mowers in the last week or two, more than normal for the time of year. We have traded in a couple of nice used Hayters too. They will soon sell.

This thread has been a bit quiet lately, quite the opposite to our workshop! These are just the ride on mowers that have come in this week, all the smaller kit is inside. Pre season service work is currently at an all time high.

If its a new saw then it should run perfectly on Aspen as it will have been set up on Aspen in the factory. If its a recon saw it may have been adjusted to petrol and may need a slight tweak on the L screw.

To be honest, they are quite correct when they say that ethanol corrodes aluminium. It does indeed cause damage to carbs, and in that case new carbs are required. But, at 12 months old I would doubt this is the case, but if it is, then evidence will be clear to see. Aspen would alleviate any such problems. The only fuel related issues you can get with Aspen is if you get any contamination in via a funnel whilst filling.

Wow, there are some really good websites on this thread. I have just agreed to spend rather a lot of cash on my new website, you now have me wondering if I should be doing it myself! But it is fine having a great looking website, but its no good if it does not rate in the search engines. My SEO consultant sends me newsletters with helpful tips to optimise SEO. Most of them include words I do not understand, but these are just a few of the easy ones. Link it to as many associated sites as possible, including the free directories. Apparently Google rates sites higher according to the number of legitimate 'backlinks'. The more pages you have the better, and make sure your content of each page includes your keywords as many times as possible, as long as the content reads correctly. Words included out of context will get the site lower on the rankings. And, very importantly, for 2015, Google will check that the site is mobile friendly, if it is not then it will be demoted by Google. This link can be used to test your sites. https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Yes, but I would try a very thin self tapper about 20mm long, cut off the head and sharpen to a point. Use grips to screw it into one end of the HT lead, then twist the other end on.

I am an engineer, and I also consider them a bad design. After all, who designs something that can only be used properly by only one person in the UK? The young designer at Stihl who came up with design for his bung still defends his idea. In a recent interview the young Hungarian engineer said "I have taken the inspiration for many of my designs from my grandfather, the well respected Erno Rubik"