Thread: Ripped off by a lawnmower ?

The main culprit in my mind is over tightening causes them to split like that.
I fixed one on my ride on by melting the edges together and inserting some hot nails down the edges verticaly. Has held up for a couple of seasons now.

Absolutely. - Now if I'd known that (hot nails embedded) before I had the hissy-fit...

This is the first plastic cap I've ever had that's done this... As we all know, buying 2nd hand leaves us at the mercy of the PO, no matter how good condition it appears...
Finally got it down to $18 for the bare plastic cap (not sold with rubber seal-insert). It took a couple of hour$ ringing around and visiting mower & garden machinery shops. Seems they're a volume-seller, as 2 shops had run out...
IMHO the choice or quality of the plastic leaves a lot to be desired.

Interesting comments from one mower specialist regarding the 'keeping-quality' of Australian petrol. - he regards the absolute, penny-pinching maximum time fuel can be stored is 30 days. Preferably under two weeks. "Fresh Fuel" is his standard, first-step advice for any starting problems.
For those of us who have "Garage Sculptures" this might be worth thinking about.

Good News is... I learned something, - and and SWMBO is pacified.
The backyard lawn finally got mowed.....

Originally Posted by superquag

Absolutely. - Now if I'd known that (hot nails embedded) before I had the hissy-fit...

This is the first plastic cap I've ever had that's done this... As we all know, buying 2nd hand leaves us at the mercy of the PO, no matter how good condition it appears...
Finally got it down to $18 for the bare plastic cap (not sold with rubber seal-insert). It took a couple of hour$ ringing around and visiting mower & garden machinery shops. Seems they're a volume-seller, as 2 shops had run out...
IMHO the choice or quality of the plastic leaves a lot to be desired.

Interesting comments from one mower specialist regarding the 'keeping-quality' of Australian petrol. - he regards the absolute, penny-pinching maximum time fuel can be stored is 30 days. Preferably under two weeks. "Fresh Fuel" is his standard, first-step advice for any starting problems.
For those of us who have "Garage Sculptures" this might be worth thinking about.

Good News is... I learned something, - and and SWMBO is pacified.
The backyard lawn finally got mowed.....

I buy petrol and keep it in two 10 litre plastic containers for small engines. Mower is a 4 stroke Kubota, and I have two chainsaws which I mix my own 2-stroke mix for as I need it.

The petrol can sit in one of the two 10 litre containers for months before I use it all and re-fill. Have been doing this for many years and have never had any problems at all with the fuel not being "fresh".

Similarly, I never drain the fuel from my mower or chainsaws, even when I know I might not use them for a while. In fact, I usually do the opposite and fill the tanks. The only thing that I do drain the fuel on and run it dry when I have finished using it is a Kohler gen-set, but the periods between usage for this is usually measured in years.

I've heard the warnings about "fresh fuel" from various mower / chainsaw salesmen over the years - personally, I think that they are talking out of their arse.

Most modern lawn mowers these days - I wouldn't give you two bob for them. My young bloke bought a Victa a while back with Briggs & Stratton 4 stroke. Nothing but cheap, lightweight rubbish, & is now sitting outside his shed waiting for him to fix it (again). My last mower (in Alice Springs) was a Honda - and I didn't find that anywhere near as good as they're cracked up to be. Was always a mongrel to start - I had no hesitation in selling it when we were moving down here. I bought the Kubota (and my Stihl chainsaw) in 1991 just after we bought the house in Kalgoorlie. Neither has ever missed a beat. Kubota still starts first pull every time. Only things I have ever replaced on it were the blade (they are a single piece type) and a throttle cable, other than occasional servicing / spark plug etc. The grass catcher on it is a bag which has seen better days, but still works OK.

I've never seen a Kawasaki mower (didn't even know they make one). Could be interesting - some of their other products are quite good. We had Kawasaki front end loaders on a job I worked on years ago - everyone bagged them as "cheap Caterpillar copies" - but they just kept on going and never gave any issues. Made quite a few people eat their words.

Originally Posted by BMKal

I buy petrol and keep it in two 10 litre plastic containers for small engines. Mower is a 4 stroke Kubota, and I have two chainsaws which I mix my own 2-stroke mix for as I need it.

The petrol can sit in one of the two 10 litre containers for months before I use it all and re-fill. Have been doing this for many years and have never had any problems at all with the fuel not being "fresh".

Similarly, I never drain the fuel from my mower or chainsaws, even when I know I might not use them for a while. In fact, I usually do the opposite and fill the tanks. The only thing that I do drain the fuel on and run it dry when I have finished using it is a Kohler gen-set, but the periods between usage for this is usually measured in years.

I've heard the warnings about "fresh fuel" from various mower / chainsaw salesmen over the years - personally, I think that they are talking out of their arse.

Most modern lawn mowers these days - I wouldn't give you two bob for them. My young bloke bought a Victa a while back with Briggs & Stratton 4 stroke. Nothing but cheap, lightweight rubbish, & is now sitting outside his shed waiting for him to fix it (again). My last mower (in Alice Springs) was a Honda - and I didn't find that anywhere near as good as they're cracked up to be. Was always a mongrel to start - I had no hesitation in selling it when we were moving down here. I bought the Kubota (and my Stihl chainsaw) in 1991 just after we bought the house in Kalgoorlie. Neither has ever missed a beat. Kubota still starts first pull every time. Only things I have ever replaced on it were the blade (they are a single piece type) and a throttle cable, other than occasional servicing / spark plug etc. The grass catcher on it is a bag which has seen better days, but still works OK.

I've never seen a Kawasaki mower (didn't even know they make one). Could be interesting - some of their other products are quite good. We had Kawasaki front end loaders on a job I worked on years ago - everyone bagged them as "cheap Caterpillar copies" - but they just kept on going and never gave any issues. Made quite a few people eat their words.

Petrol doesn't seem as bad now as it was 5years ago. Almost everytime I wanted to use a mower/small engine a few years back ... I'd pull the string once.... curse under my breath as the stench of rotten petrol fumes from the exhaust hits you ........................ Strip the carby down, drain the tank and refill to get it to run again.

Actually my old super 600 victa 2 stroke still starts and runs with really bad, stinky stale petrol... But then again I don't think anything to kill that beast. The Orings in the carby as now so deteriated, it constantly weeps .... but it still runs and goes even if I have used it in 12months.

seeya,
Shane L.

Originally Posted by superquag

Absolutely. - Now if I'd known that (hot nails embedded) before I had the hissy-fit...

This is the first plastic cap I've ever had that's done this... As we all know, buying 2nd hand leaves us at the mercy of the PO, no matter how good condition it appears...
Finally got it down to $18 for the bare plastic cap (not sold with rubber seal-insert). It took a couple of hour$ ringing around and visiting mower & garden machinery shops. Seems they're a volume-seller, as 2 shops had run out...
IMHO the choice or quality of the plastic leaves a lot to be desired.

Interesting comments from one mower specialist regarding the 'keeping-quality' of Australian petrol. - he regards the absolute, penny-pinching maximum time fuel can be stored is 30 days. Preferably under two weeks. "Fresh Fuel" is his standard, first-step advice for any starting problems.
For those of us who have "Garage Sculptures" this might be worth thinking about.

Good News is... I learned something, - and and SWMBO is pacified.
The backyard lawn finally got mowed.....

Unfortunately I only just saw this thread
It I had seen it earlier I would have suggested welding the broken cap with 'Q-Bond'. I've used this on numerous different types of plastics and am absolutely sold on it. Comes in the form of a powder and a liquid like super glue, takes about 7 seconds to set and can then be drilled, tapped, filed, ground etc.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Petrol doesn't seem as bad now as it was 5years ago. Almost everytime I wanted to use a mower/small engine a few years back ... I'd pull the string once.... curse under my breath as the stench of rotten petrol fumes from the exhaust hits you ........................ Strip the carby down, drain the tank and refill to get it to run again.

Actually my old super 600 victa 2 stroke still starts and runs with really bad, stinky stale petrol... But then again I don't think anything to kill that beast. The Orings in the carby as now so deteriated, it constantly weeps .... but it still runs and goes even if I have used it in 12months.

seeya,
Shane L.

Other than the chainsaws, me and 2 strokes have never got along. I hate the temperamental mungrels of things.

A while back, I bought a brand new Stihl brush cutter. Supposed to be the best on the market. Well, it would start only about 25% of the times that I wanted to use it - so I ended up giving it away to my young bloke (who has more patience than me and is a diesel mechanic). I've gone back to using battery powered whipper snippers now - much more reliable and stress free.

Funnily enough though, I've never had a problem starting my Stihl chainsaw (which is now 25 years old) nor the larger Husky that I bought a few months ago.

I find my 240v Ryobi whipper-snipper to be as savage as my 2-stroke one, also a Kawasaki. Starts easier and doesn't smell...

The lawnmower used to start on First Pull, but not for a while. Same mower specialist suggested the choke connection as being the culprit. Common fault and easily adjusted on these motors. FJ180V - 6hp.

Never had a problem with full & sealed jerrycans, but 'volatiles evaporation' / oxidation makes sense for partially full containers.
Then again, owning a Range Rover means that fuel is not stored for any length of time . . .

The HONDA 5kW genset that lives outdoors/under a tarp, came with putrid petrol ( bought about 5 years ago) New carby ....and it starts second or third pull. Happy with that.

Chainsaws ?? No, there is enough pain with all the small engines around the place as it is.... I got a Makita 240volt electric chainsaw... Nothing short of brilliant. I have a Solo brush cutter (german made) ... bugger of a bloody thing to start usually (2 stroke). A massive straight shaft oldie (brushcutter) that is 50cc..... trouble is you'd need to be superman to use it for more than 3minutes ...even if you do get it running.

The ride on mower ... now I think about it has never failed to start. It's battery must be 6 years old now ... the old 18.5hp B&S on it alway fires to life almost instantly, no matter how long it's been sitting.

seeya
Shane L.