GardenKit

Its funny how selfish customers are. We have around 40 mowers in the queue and each owner thinks its only their grass that grows. Sod the others!

Blimey, I started in Ag engineering in the mid 70's, and did not even use whitworth then!! Just carried the flaming things around for years in the bottom of the tool box, just in case. Seen plenty of folk try to use spanners that 'sort of fit' though.

haha, I wondered that too. I had not touched a whitworth spanner in 20 years until I sold them (for charity) just before chtistmas!

Might be on the right track there Ady. Pumps have electric motors, motors have shafts that stick out and could be shoved down that hole (if they are only small motors)

Sadly, Facom are now owned by Stanley-Black and Decker. Kind of cheapens the image, although they do seem to have kept their quality. Still much better than anything Snap-On though.

I had a hole in my bench just like that which I used in conjunction with a long threaded bar and a plate to clamp down MF dual clutches in the 80's. More recently I have used it to clamp down mower blades for grinding. I reckon you use it to clamp down pumps.

Haha, Know what you mean Steve. Glad I took pics of this handle as I pulled it apart though. The throttle linkage from the bell crank to the throttle shaft is a little pig to keep in place while you put the carb back on.

Haha, I get them all the time Ray. The favourite quote at the moment is "I thought I would bring it in now before you get busy":big grin: One guy, a few years ago, got shirty when I said his mower could take up to 3 weeks, and said I would have to make an exception for him. After a few refusals from me, and a few more demands from him, I shrugged and said simply "OK" The mower was on the floor behind his car. I said " can you just give me a lift with it?" and looked towards the workshop. Thinking he had the better of me, he helped me lift it and as soon as it was at waist height I swung it into his open boot and slammed the tailgate down "bye, bye" I wonder why he never came back?

I have many tools accumulated over a 40 year career. My first tools were mostly Elora, bought in 1974 and I still have most of them now. Since then I have added Britool and Facom socket sets. Adjustable spanners from Bahco, they really are the best, as are Vise-grip wrenches (from Irwin) Never buy molegrips, only ever buy vise-grips. Facom screwdrivers and torx drivers last much longer than Snap-on.

After a week or so of mowers, mowers and more mowers, i thought I had better tackle the massive pile of 2t kit waiting repair . First was an 880 which the customer had said needed a brake band and a tune up. After a clean up it was found to also need a new elastostart, two new AV rubbers, an oil pump drive gear and a new recoil housing due to there being a hole in the mesh big enough to put three fingers through into the flywheel. Did all this and then found that the chain brake did not fully disengage. This was why the original band had worn through, so it now needs a brake handle/guard and new linkage. Then a 362 for a new throttle rod, as the old one had worn thin, as they do, and was popping out of the plastic guide. Full service and clean, and new elastostart. Then a 201T for service and replacement of broken top handle. That was...errrr.......fun!

Did a little experiment this morning. Sprayed the 880 in a heavy duty traffic film remover (neat) Sprayed the 362 in Jizer left 5 minutes and pressure washed off. The best overall result was the traffic film remover as it cleaned the organic stains off very well and did a pretty good job on the oil around the pump and brake area. The Jizer did a brilliant job on the oil, but made no impression on the organic staining of the handles and body.

I'm really chuffed as I live within a few yards of this river, a couple of miles down stream. BBC News - Beavers filmed on Devon's River Otter

Of course not:biggrin:, its only a little saw. Simples:

Surely it should not be leaking at tickover? Most saws take their oil pump drive from the clutch drum. which only rotates when the clutch engages. Of course, it could be that the Makita is different.

The basic settings are just that, basic. A starting point. Try turning the L screw out a little and see if it improves, if not, turn it in a little and see if it improves. Then, if you can get a tickover, fine tune the L screw like this. Turn it in slowly until the revs just start to drop off. Then turn it slowly out, noting how far you are turning it. The revs should increase and then start to drop off. Note the position. You will now have established the 'lean drop off point' and the 'rich drop off point' Turn the screw very slowly in until the revs just pick up and runs smoothly. At this point it should tick over fine, and respond to the throttle opening without a flat spot. Turn the tickover back to the correct idle speed, i.e where the head does not spin. Then you should tune the H screw, but thats a different lesson.

I think you may have the throttle link to the governor touching the crankcase breather pipe when you reassembled it. Check that the link is free to move. It does not take much to make it stick. Another thought is that the gasket between the carb and the insulator has dropped on reassembly and has only one of the bolts through the little holes. The gasket may be stopping the butterfly moving. Good luck, Barrie.

If you want to stay sub £450 then you will have to stay with steel deck, and the Alko is going to be as good as you can get for your money. I have sold loads of them over the last 12years and many of the first are still going strong. But to be honest, a commercial operation such as yours, will see them fall apart in 2-3 years. The Stiga Turbo Power 50SB or 53SB is not much more money, but benefits from a tough aluminium deck, still Briggs engines though. Really, for commercial operation I would go John Deere or Kaaz, with Kawasaki engines. (honda GX on the Kaaz 21")

Oh, and I asked our Briggs rep about the Kohler thing mentioned earlier in this thread. He was not aware of any connection between Kohler and Briggs.

Haha, I think Spuds coming down this way too, best I get the barbecue cleaned up!

Fair enough Littlerob, you seem to be doing it right. Maybe oil changes once a month may help. As to warranty, all B&S engines with aluminium bores only have a 6 month warranty for commercial use. Some of the smaller engines also have cast iron bores and these last much better and so have a 12month commercial usage warranty.

To be honest, although 25 hours is recommended, 40 hours is more realistic and is, in my opinion, very sensible. With maintenance of that standard you won't get any trouble.

The guy is actually quite tall, i would guess about 6'2". He says he can't drive it with the standard seat. I am shorter and I have a hell of a job driving it like it is because I cannot reach the clutch properly, as I reach forward the back of the seat comes up and the seat switch cuts the engine. To be honest, the seat is a bit lower now then when it came in. He had it mounted on a wobbly bit of 3/8 ply with a 3" coil spring in each corner between the ply and the seat. The cutout did not work at all. One spring was not fixed at the top and the whole thing was a deathtrap. I made a new base from 18mm ply and reinstated the switch. Its now quite safe, but I have been parking it out of sight until it gets delivered back tomorrow.

To be quite honest Littlerob, failures of this nature are very unusual, to have had as many as you have is even more unusual. I am sorry to say this, but Ithink we have to be looking at maintenance here, especially the oil management. Many operators do not realise the significance of the the oil. The fact that there is oil in the engine does not necessarily mean the engine is well lubricated. The oil breaks down in time, and although it may be present, it may not be lubricating or cooling the engine as it should. Engines should have their oil changed after the first 5 hours from new. This is often overlooked and does not present too much problem in light domestic use, but its a different story in commercial use. The wear rate in a new engine is greatest in the first 5 hrs and changing the oil not only puts fresh oil in but removes all the running in particles with the old oil. The engine oil should then be changed every 25 hours, which in your case means once a fortnight. I know this sounds extreme, and there will be those who say it is not necessary, but if you want your engines to last it is very necessary. Oil is, after all, cheaper than engines. The snapped conrod would have been as a result of a seize, or semi seize on the big end. Lubrication problem. Low compression as a result of bore wear, Lubrication problem. The same with melted piston.

Glad the ALKO has outlived the others, but what happened to the others? As long as the Briggs is serviced properly and the oil kept topped up, they just do not die. Sure, they eventually wear out, but that takes many, many years.

Thats something I have never been known for Eggs:biggrin: