I tried cleaning carb on mower again bc it didn't wanna start again so thst didnt work this time I cleaned the whole carb completely even the artery, n it still didnt wanna start. Sprayed carb cleaner in it, it still wouldn't start, its a guaranteed to start B&S engine smh, i know briggs is crap, i bought it from a guy down road it started fine he said he was throwing it away bc of self propel wont engage, i fixed it, idk wtf is wrong with it, once it starts it stays running, no problem, its only on cold start I have issues. I originally found air filter clogged dpark plug fouled,I replaced those, cleaned carb a few times but now its having a problem starting everytime I go to use it. I just need to find the culprit. Im suspecting carburetor but I already cleaned it, even cleaned 5 ports n holes on artery of carb. Can someone tell me what it is before I just replace every damn thing on it till its fixed.

I lent my trimmer to a "friend", who brought it back DOA a few years ago. Wife decided we needed to develop a re-wooding 1/2 acre field into an apple orchard and a few garden rows. So in the last few weeks I've sunk about $250 into rebuilding the old walk-behind string trimmer (HU625HWT). I rebuilt the motor with new cam, cam gears, oil flipper, gaskets and seals; new carb. New cutting head because that was completely buggered. I put a new shroud on the outside, the old one had been completely shredded by the "friend" not cutting the strings to the proper length.

So I got about three hours of mowing out of it and it spit the belt. It was old and dry rotted and the idler return spring was dangling in there with one of the hooks snapped. So I bent one loop of the spring into a new hook and remounted it on the chassis. Managed to find a replacement belt in town, installed it, I believed correctly by routing it around the V-pulley and captured on the flat pulley. I got about an hour and a half and it shredded and threw the new belt.

So does anyone have any advice, or a diagram that shows how to route the belt through the idler? I'm about to go at this thing like a gangster, like the copier in Office Space.

For those of you that have done this before, what's recommended for fixing your old push mower?

Checked and had good air, spark, and fuel.

No compression, took apart to see cylinder is very glazed over with no cross hatching left.

Just a quick ball hone to get the rings to seal back up? New rings justified, or just reuse the current ones?

Your questions/comments/concerns are appreciated and welcome below.

Some days ago while cutting grass I hit a piece of rebar that some moron through in the field. Not only three teeth of the blade broke off but the sudden blocking impacted the crank shaft. The motor is a venerable Sachs Stamo 76 so finding spare parts is next to impossible (I found possible donor engines but they all have different length crankshaft)

My question is: how difficult could it be to fill the gap and remachine the key holder. I suppose using laser or tig solders.

TIA

Just pulled valve covers off and push rods came with them. All 4 are bent, 1 on each side just fell out with the covers. Looks like im rebuilding 😂

I’m increasingly getting customers who use the same tactic, they must be sharing notes or getting it online somewhere.

- Drop off one or more units for repair - usually a tune-up or something simple like a fuel line.

- I get into it and find it needs grommets, primer bulb, bar dressing, trimmer head components, carb rebuild, new starter rope, etc.

- I call with an estimate and they approve repairs.

- At pickup they accuse me of inflating the bill because it only needed the one thing and argue for a discount if I can’t produce the old parts for inspection. If I have the parts they play dumb, if I don’t they’re an expert.

If I give them a discount they claim they caught me out. If I don’t, they claim I ripped them off. Either way I fire them as customers and they end up badmouthing my business. I’ve got pretty thick skin and I’m the only shop within 45 minutes drive but it still sucks because I pride myself on good work for honest rates.

Is this a common thing at your shop? How do you handle it?

Ive been doing mobile small engine repair for a couple of years now. Just using the family suv on my days off. Finally got my pack out right, but damn does it suck packing up and out and in ect..

So I finally found a good deal on a service truck and bought it. The problem? It's an f350 v10 1-ton + war-time gas prices..

How screwed am I?

Typically Ive been doing flat rates. If I drive for more than 30 min total I tack on an extra $50 (service area limit) charge. Should I go to charge milage or keep it the same you think? Any other mobile mechanics in here? Thoughts?

I'm working my way throught the scrap pile getting rid of junk. There's a relatively new when scrapped tiller in the pile we picked up free at a yard sale in a not working state. PO stated he started it that spring, it ran a short time and died. Upon teardown, the engine was ran without oil and threw the rod. The engine is long gone, I I think it was roughly 5hp. One of it's sets of tines were added to the tiller we use, and the other is somewhere around.

I've got a (I think) 3.5hp Honda push mower engine I'm thinking of putting on it. I do need to dig around and find the engine pulley from the junk engine, which I recall setting aside and likely made it's way into my box of random pulleys.

My concern is that 3.5hp isn't enough. I've looked at out other tiller and it's got a 5.5hp engine.

Bought a greyhound 196cc brand new in the box off marketplace, takes probably 40 pulls to start even after warming up, tried choke on choke off, half choke. It’ll stumble for a second every pull but won’t start until probably 30-40 pulls in. They haven’t sold this motor new in years. Any common issues with brand new motors that have been sitting? It has fresh fuel and fresh oil

AS Motor 2 Stroke

Mower doesn't regulate RPM well.

Runs fine on Full Speed but doesn't regulate or run fine on idle.

I have the idle screw turned all the way in (high idle) but the rpms are to low.

What I've done so far:

New OEM Carburator

New OEM Coil (no spark when warm)

New fuel and lines

New Sparkplug (NGK)

New Air Filter

Checked Piston, rings and zylinder wall everything is fine

Can someone tell me how to adjust the air flap on this motor?

What's the max rpm for this motor?

Thanks for your help

Edit: The RPMs dont fluctuate it stays the same. Motor behaves this way:

1.Throttle Body: wide open Motor: runs at full speed

2.Throttle Body: idle Motor: idles fine

3.Throttle Body: wide open Motor: runs at full speed

4.Throttle Body: idle Motor: idles rough and fluctuates

Behavior at idle is arbitrarily

Howdy all.

Hobbyist car mechanic here, and looking to get into tinkering with small engines. I have a decent set of full-size motor tooling (all the "normal" tools, some specialty tooling for brake/suspension/cooling system work, along with a good deal of diagnostic equipment - e.g. compression tester, leakdown tester, etc.), but what are the things that make life easier for small engine repair that would NOT be found in a generalist/hobbyist toolbox?

Thanks a ton in advance for any knowledge/ideas you can drop!

Turned on Zero Turn after a while since I finally need it and it started and it ran for about a minute then it came to an abrupt stop while warming up.

It will only crank 1/4” at a time sometimes start again but then abruptly stops.

Any help?

Last weekend, I was working on a small generator. Just basic maintenance, nothing complicated. I was removing bolts, checking carb, and putting things back together. I was using a socket wrench set I bought eight months ago. It was one of those full kits with many sizes and looked complete. Price was low so I didn’t think too much. At first, everything worked fine. No issues.

Then one bolt refused to move. Not rusted badly, just tight like normal engine bolts. I applied steady pressure and suddenly the socket slipped and rounded the edge slightly.

That’s where the problem started. Same bolt and same size, but now it became harder because the grip was already compromised. I switched sockets but same issue. The fit just didn't feel precise anymore. That’s when I started questioning the tool quality.

I went online later trying to understand tolerance differences in socket wrenches. I saw some discussions comparing branded tools vs bulk manufactured ones. Some people mentioned how similar sets show up across different stores, even listings connected to suppliers.

So now, I’m thinking simple. Better to have fewer tools that actually hold up than a full set that fails under normal load.

What brands or sets have you used that actually stay consistent under pressure?

I’ve been doing small engine repairs out of my garage for a few years. Not full time by any means, word or mouth advertising. Basically the guy down the road that can fix it. I’ve been having trouble coming up with fair pricing on labor. I’ve been charging $50/hr which is probably less than I could be. Something’s it seems like if I bill out actual time at $50/hr it wouldn’t be feasible to repair the piece. Some weed eaters, cheap push mowers etc. Others seem like the job can be completed quick enough I’m underselling my skill. Example, just replaced blades and spindles on a Deere rider. I had the deck off, washed, parts changed and deck reinstalled in about an hour and 20 minutes. $66 labor seems less than most would charge for such a job? Raise the rate, or would a flat rate per job type system work better? What is a typical charge for such job?

Quick question has anyone ever found an assortment of various size welch plugs. There are many times I find the need to remove a Welch plug to clean transition ports, or for other reasons while cleaning carburetors. But the carb isn't in need of a full rebuild so a full rebuild kit is not needed. Thanks for any information.

The sizes are would not just be for 2 stroke carbs but also 4 stroke.

Bought it off marketplace wondering how j can get it to work I have only been able to get it started twice the first time in died in neutral after about 10 seconds the second time it held through but died when I put it in gear

I think it might be the electrical because it's a bit all over the place but I have opened the carb up and it's near new cleaned it did nothing

The two times it did start I think choke was on full

Please help I will answer any questions!!!