GardenKit

A lot of people make the mistake of drilling the rivets to remove the starter, but in fact that is not the right way to do it. Far simpler just to take the tank off and then remove the fan housing. It only takes a couple of minutes, much better than messing with drills and rivets.

Have you had a look at the JD yet James?

Ha, I was wondering who would get it. Its a Tanaka, and this machine like many others have a breather in the cap, rather than seperate like a Stihl. The Aspen cap fitted a treat but sealed the tank almost totally. I soon put him right and sold him a filler cap.

Exactly, if its not stripped then you cannot be 100% definite on the repair costs. Its no good just saying its 'bolloxed' without providing the proof. Any dealer doing this will be branded as a rip off merchant. Us dealers just can't win, can we?

:lol:Hahaha Had a funny one today. Customer with a 6 month old brushcutter bings it back. "not too happy with this machine, runs for around 5 minutes then stops. Have to leave it for a while then it will go for another 5 minutes and stop. Been like this since just after I bought it, but I have been muddling on 5 minutes at a time. Sort the thing out will you? I do not expect to pay, as its warranty" Thats OK sir, I will have a look, but TBH I have never had one of these machines behave like this, so I am a bit baffled" "OK, I will leave it with you,.....oh! and by the way I lost the fuel cap the first time I used it, but luckily the top from the Aspen can fitted it perfectly. Dont bother to change it, its fine!"

Before slagging the dealer off too much it might be as well to wait and see what 'the pom on the hill' has to say. Maybe the local dealer made the right call and to save further costs left them in bits. I have done this in the past and have then had the customer grumbling because even though he accepts the diagnosis he still wants the saw back in the condition it was brought in (intact but not running) so he can put it on Ebay.

Looks like I am going to be fed up with servicing Hayters soon. These came in yesterday. All from individual owners.

Surely they must have told you why they were not finished.

Which model saw? Which company does not want to know? Its certainly not Mitox (Rochfords)' they are very helpful. your problem is not normal and easily fixable.

It could of course be fuel starvation. I had a Honda 4t blower in yesterday which would not get to full revs. Everything checked out OK so stripped, cleaned and re kitted the carb and away it went.

Wednesdays is our van run, so a turn round of mowers today. 24 mowers in and washed ready for service. Why do people not look after their mowers I wonder? The Honda is only 7 seasons old and rusted through, but I have noticed that Honda Izy mowers do tend to rust out before other makes, even some of the cheapy ones.

Not sure what the original suggestion was Dave, I do not attempt to fix them as at commercial labour rates it is just as cheap to replace the box, and guarantee the repair. However, if you pull the mains haft apart you will find two cones which are forced together by the operating lever and take up drive in the back to back female cones of the the bronze pinion gear. As the cones wear, they move closer together until they touch in the middle and do not drive the pinion. If there is a spacer between the cones (not sure if there is in this one) you can make it thinner to allow the cones closer together, but you will also have to put a washer between the outer cone and the actuator arm or the cable will not pull the arm far enough. Hope this is clear.

Whats the next stage then Richard?

To be honest some are better than others. This one does work surprisingly well, but I never sell these as being a good collector as there are more suitable machines available. But not everyone wants to collect, and these are great for quick cutting on large areas.

Sorry to hear this. Hoping for the best outcome for you both.

You are almost right, just need to halve that figure as 1 link is equal to 2 pitches, as its made up of a link and a tie.

The ALKO was finished this morning. These tractors hold their own against others in their price range. They are affordable homeowner machines, but I would not recommend them for pro use. The collection, even in long and wet grass is brilliant, possibly the best. The chassis is very well made from fully welded steel tube which does not flex like many others, but the machine is let down by poor quality plastic body parts and low spec belts and bearings. Easy to work on though, and parts are reasonably priced. Next up was a JD X165 with a 48" side discharge deck. No problems at all with build quality. strong chassis, good belts, bearings and pullies and a 22hp Briggs Intek. The paint on the decks of early models was not good, with sheets of paint coming off when pressure washed (easily repainted though) but in the last 2 years the paint process has been upgraded to solve the issue. Parts are of good quality, easily obtainable and quite cheap generally. A good side discharge mower suited to rougher areas. The optional collector is poor in long or damp grass though.

There are 1840 links on a 100ft roll of Stihl .325 chain. The part number of chain ends with 4 numbers. These are the number of links. e.g. 0044 = 44 links, 1840 = 1840 links

If its not an age thing then, maybe its down to an upper class education?

Mega?

Only be concerned if its a "sprint" engine, thats the one with the fuel tank low on the RH side of the engine and the carb mounted on top. These plastic carbs have a pumping diaphragm which gets distorted by stale fuel.

I guess the whole subject is a little uncertain. How old is the OP's 'old fuel'? Really old fuel, the stuff that stinks like old paint, should not be put in any engine, ever.

Its a very olde terme, only known by seniors:001_smile:

No, True Blue, me.

Mower engines are more tolerant to old fuel than saws etc. But there will be a lack of performance and starting may be impaired (compared with using fresh fuel) If the mower has a Briggs Sprint engine then the answer is NO.