GardenKit

By jove, I do believe I've got it!! Thanks James [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-g1kWyGnZQ]Cleaning a Honda GCV carburettor - YouTube[/ame]

Still not getting it, I have tried several times. But I do know I am a bit thick with technical things!

Yeah, thats what I want to do, but it does not work for me. I copy and paste the URL onto the message, but only get the title or the URL. Grrr!! edit OH hang on, I will look at your last post!!

I was evicted from the 'Magic Circle of Menders" many years ago for daring to question the very beliefs by which we live. I challenged such unspoken beliefs such as "MTD is great" "Hayters collect grass well" "Stihl 4 mix is the future" and, possibly the most serious one, " There is nothing wrong with Petrol" I have been outcast from the "Magic Circle" and make my own way now, beholding to no-one, and worshipping John Deere, Tanaka and Aspen.

Funny thing is, I was never shown this by anyone. Just invented it myself many years ago. All these years I have closely guarded the secret, fearing that If I divulged it to anyone it could lead to a massive rise in the numbers of DIY recoil rope menders and the end of the dealer network as we know it. The burden of guarding this secret has inflicted a great mental strain on me, and with approaching senility, I felt it was time to pass on this most valuable of information to a few carefully selected followers of my work, so that the secret will outlive me. Guard this information well my friends.

They have been touting for dealers to take it on for some time now, but most have declined. I may be wrong but it looks like some more far eastern stuff. This can be OK but is only as good as the importer and the spares backup. Better, in my opinion to go with something established, such as the Mitox.

You lot are too hard on yourselves. If I beat myself up every time I made a mistake I would be unable to work.

Its got to be getting its drive from somewhere Rich, so logically its got to be picking up between the clutch shoes and the drum. So firstly make sure the idle speed is slow enough and that its not something like a sticking throttle cable or carb butterfly shaft. If thats OK, take the clutch apart and examine the inside of the drum to see where its is picking up. It could be on the periphery of the shoes ( which is correct) or on the outer face of the shoes if for some reason the clutch drum is too close to the shoes. Its a bit of a pain to keep taking it apart, but spray some paint lightly over the shoes, and also inside the drum, then start it and run it without revs, and with the cutting head jammed. Then take it apart again and see where it has picked up drive (or attempted to). When you have found and rectified the problem, wash the paint off with carb cleaner before reassembly.

Thats what I do, but this is what I get. Actually, this is different today, its a different URL for some reason Today is on a windows PC, but when I posted on my "the mower bench" thread, I was on a mac and the You tube title appeared rather than a gobbldygook URL. Either way, I do not get those pretty pictures.:confused1:

Yes, thats what I want to do. But how?

I have recently mastered the art of uploading video to Youtube, but have only been able to include it on an AT post as a link. I see other vids posted as a picture, with play button, how is this done? Using a Mac.

You would have had a hell of a job keeping the engine on the machine if you rubber mounted it with anything other than proper mounts. Even then, if you use proper mounts, you would never have got the belts tight without breaking the mounts.

I love recoils. I hate it when I see a customer coming through the door with a Tesco bag full of tangled recoil spring. So many people will insist on taking the spring and rotor out to replace the rope. It is only sometimes necessary.

Can anyone tell me how to insert a Youtube video so that it shows on a post as a picture rather than a link?

I have used this method of changing short, or frayed recoil ropes for many years. So I thought I would rig up the camera today and take a little video so I can share this technique.

Yea if you want a low power, short bar, domestic quality saw for light work. Nay if you need something bigger.

In most cases you can swap back and forth with no problem, but to be fair, each fuel has a different density and so very small changes in carburation setting may be needed for peak performance. Why would you want to alternate your fuel though? Its really down to a change of policy to use Aspen so once committed it would be sensible to stay on it unless your policy changes.

Another Sunday shift, but for the first time this year the workshop doors are open and glorious sunshine pouring in. Its so nice to have a south facing workshop. It made me feel better about servicing another Countax, this time its a 10yr old K1850 that I do every year. I made a little mistake on this one this year. The bearings on the blade shafts felt fine when I gave them a wiggle so I put the covers back on and put the deck back on the machine. But when I started it and engaged the blades, the deck made a noise like 747 taking off! So the deck is coming off again for a complete set of bearings. That might teach me to run the machines up before service. I keep meaning to, but often forget.

You may well be right about the box. Countax do seem to suffer from hydro failure rather more than other makes for some reason. i think they under spec the transmissions. In my experience changing the oil may restore some drive, but not for long. I am sure you will have already checked the belt. They can look in good order but be worn in profile which effectively slackens them, causing slip. Also check the gearbox mounting brackets, if one is cracked the gearbox can move forward a little, again slackening the belt. Another thing worth checking are the top pulley splines. These wear to the point of slipping for a short while before total loss of drive.

The Hayter is only part chain driven. The drive from the engine is by twin V belts to a gearbox. The belts need regular changing (cheap and easy)and the gearboxes are prone to internal clutch wear. As they are a sealed unit there is only one option if they fail ( easy but not cheap)

But we only have half a picture here.The bits in the box are filthy, whereas the bits on the bench are clean. There are tools on the bench indicating that some reassembly has already taken place. I'll bet the OP has done the cleaning, not the dealer. It would be interesting to know from the OP what the dealers report said, and how much, or little he was charged for the diagnosis. Its a fact of life that none of us like to hear the truth when it involves money and often blame the messenger. In my opinion there is little too much 'dealer knocking' going on on this forum at present without the full facts being made clear.

Why on earth would anyone put it back together at no charge? As dealers we can't win. If we use our gut instinct and have a quick peep at the piston, then tell the customer the cost of repair, we are only guessing at the internal, unseen damage. So we would have to quote high to cover everything. Ok, so very little labour involved in this scenario. So to be accurate we need to strip it, and prepare an accurate quote based on what we have seen. Again not much labour involved, saws are very quick to take apart. Often I do not charge for this, especially if results in a new saw being purchased. But if we put it back together its going to take a long time, and whats the point? Just so that the customer can fleece someone on Ebay with a saw classed as 'running last time it worked' When the E bay buyer complains to the seller, the seller blames the dealer who "repaired it but it still did not work when it came back."

Customers are a bit scarce today for some reason, so I have been able to push on with some work. Another JD CR125 serviced, and with new blade and both drive belts renewed. An MTD Lawnflite 604 fully serviced. The belts arrived for the MTD Pinto so they are fitted and set up. Now part way through another JD X165, should be finished soon.

Your turn to tell us this time Steve:biggrin:

Crossply tyres? That's showing your age Eddie! Do you remember the stupid advice when changing over in stages "crossplies on front, radials on back"? Lethal!!! Barrie