So, I have this relatively new lawn tractor that I drove over a big damn rock and knocked off half of the blade.\u00a0 Since it was vibrating awfully, I sent it to the professionals to fix and they said they\u2019d be keeping it for the better part of the month.\u00a0 So, I figured I\u2019d fall back on Plan B, my old 20\u201d Murray push mower.<\/p>\n
I used it for about a half hour and it sounded like it was running out of gas so I headed back to the shed for more gas.\u00a0 But when I looked in the tank there was still plenty of gas.\u00a0 So, I topped it off and pulled the cord.\u00a0 Nothing.<\/p>\n
So, I\u2019m stumped.\u00a0 This was the first use of the year and I\u2019m trying to guess if maybe the gas had some water in it.\u00a0 But I\u2019m thinking, \u201cIt ran for a half hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
But a simple mind likes a simple story so I go twenty minutes each way to the gas station and buy some dry gas.\u00a0 I put it in the tank and try to start it.\u00a0 Nothing.<\/p>\n
Okay, not the gas.\u00a0 But maybe the old gas over the winter has clogged the carburetor. \u00a0So, I started taking it apart and then I realize I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing.\u00a0 Plus, maybe it\u2019s better to just buy a replacement.\u00a0 So, I do what any red-blooded American man would do.\u00a0 I check for a YouTube video on my carburetor.\u00a0 And what do you know there are several.\u00a0 So, I watch them and become an expert.\u00a0 I take the thing apart and clean out the jet and disassemble the hinge on the float and clean the plug.\u00a0 I reassemble the carburetor and reattach the fuel line and the linkage and close it up and it actually coughed into life and then stalled out again.\u00a0 But it wouldn\u2019t start after that.<\/p>\n
So, I took off the top and checked the action on the rotor.\u00a0 It moved smoothly.\u00a0 Next on the agenda was the spark plug. \u00a0But I didn\u2019t have a spark plug wrench so I headed to friendly neighborhood hardware store and an hour later I was pulling the plug and sure enough it was covered with carbon and corroded.\u00a0 So off to AutoZone and an hour later I have a new plug and install it.\u00a0 Nothing.<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019m starting to get annoyed.\u00a0 This has been a very aggravating process for which I have made exactly zero progress.\u00a0 Plan C buy a new push mower.\u00a0 But I notice that these formerly cheap machines now go for two hundred and fifty bucks and that seems ridiculous since I have one in front of me.\u00a0 Plan D is buying a reel mower and remove the yearly ritual of winterizing the mower and worrying about the vicissitudes of small engine repair.\u00a0 But overnight I decide that maybe I didn\u2019t do everything I could have done with the carburetor.<\/p>\n
So, the next day I take the stupid thing apart again and clean it till it looks brand new.\u00a0 And then after I reassembled, I tried it again.\u00a0 Nothing.<\/p>\n
So I did a little experiment.\u00a0 I checked to see if the spark plug was wet with gas after trying to start.\u00a0 It was dry.\u00a0 Now I was stumped.\u00a0 With the carburetor clean it should at least get gasoline to the spark plug.\u00a0 Now I was sure I must have put the carburetor together wrong.\u00a0 I was ready to give up.\u00a0 Plan D sounded about right.\u00a0 A hundred bucks would get me a reel mower that would last for twenty years and give some exercise too.\u00a0 But just for luck I decided to try starting it one more time.<\/p>\n
So, I primed it three times, put my hand on the stop bar and pulled the cord.\u00a0 Nothing.<\/p>\n
But then by accident I looked down the stop cable and notice that the cable looked screwy.\u00a0 It had a couple of strands of the cable sticking out and the plastic cable cover was bent at the linkage at a funny angle.\u00a0 So, I played with the bar and realized that plastic cover was cracked and caught against the frame and the wire strands were also interfering with the mechanism.<\/p>\n
I fiddled with it to free the cover from the end connection and bent the loose wires out of the way.\u00a0 Then I primed the gas, held down the bar and pulled the starter cord.\u00a0 And it started up with a roar.\u00a0 I got my wire cutters and cut those strands away and got my black electrical tape and made a temporary repair to the cable cover and started it up a half dozen times and the repair held and worked.<\/p>\n
There was great joy among the peasants and a holiday was declared.\u00a0 Meanwhile I ordered the cable from my local dealer and it should arrive in about a week and a half.<\/p>\n
Now you may be asking what the moral of this story is.\u00a0 Well, the only one I can think of is that if you really need something fixed stick to a professional mechanic.\u00a0 But I will say that when I finally did get the damned thing fixed, I felt like Wiley Coyote, Super Genius.\u00a0 And I\u2019m already thinking about what my next project should be.\u00a0 I\u2019ve put in an order with ACME and between giant magnets, rockets, giant magnifying glasses and roller skates I think I\u2019ll be able to achieve cold fusion by the Fourth of July.\u00a0 Hail the conquering hero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, I have this relatively new lawn tractor that I drove over a big damn rock and knocked off half of the blade.\u00a0 Since it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1263],"tags":[3117,1267,3118],"class_list":["post-14833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-diy","tag-photogs-corner","tag-small-engine-repair"],"yoast_head":"\n