My lawnmover appears broken.

[DP1400]

Before I took early retirement I had a fleet of 200+ mowers. Over a 45 year period they were re-newed every 3 years or so. During the last 15yrs the `Hayter` ride-on range were far superior to anything else available in terms of economy, performance, build quality & reliability. Arguably the best pedestrian controlled rotary mower available currently is, yep you`ve guessed it, the `Hayter Harrier Pro` @ around £900. Worth every penny

[lawrie]

Before I took early retirement I had a fleet of 200+ mowers. Over a 45 year period they were re-newed every 3 years or so. During the last 15yrs the `Hayter` ride-on range were far superior to anything else available in terms of economy, performance, build quality & reliability. Arguably the best pedestrian controlled rotary mower available currently is, yep you`ve guessed it, the `Hayter Harrier Pro` @ around £900. Worth every penny

And the engine is?    Let me guess!

[DP1400]

HONDA !

[lawrie]

Don't knock Briggs & Stratton guys, I bought this new way back in 1989, only thing changed has been : new tyres, seat, battery, & cutting-deck casing due to it rusting through in places, NOTHING done to the engine at all apart from annual oil changes, & unbelievably, it still has all the original drive-belts & it starts on the button & drives like new.

Me & my big f*****g gob.  Got the tractor out today, started it up, a few seconds later, it started belching thick-oil smock & spluttered to a halt, got the push engine'd 'spare' cut the grass, then had a go at the tractor again, it started ok, then thick smoke & stopped.
BUGGER, something else to strip down now, where do I go to complain about a 30 year old B&S engine.

[Kiwifruit]

Thats a bugger Lawrie. Sorry to hear that.
I've decided to do the Chinese repower on it. Can buy a 24hp Loncin for $1500. 2yr warranty. Can buy 2 for the price of a B&S. Should fit straight on they say.

[Irish in Oz]

@Kiwifruit
Still buying Chinese 

Honda Buffalo for me, but I haven't cut my lawn for also 2 years, he is a good neighbour.

[KiwiCol]

@Kiwifruit
Still buying Chinese 

Honda Buffalo for me, but I haven't cut my lawn for also 2 years, he is a good neighbour.

It'll be more than a box of beers for 2 years of lawn mowing!

[Kiwifruit]

Yes it pains me to buy Chinese.
Where l can l will buy anyrhing but Chinese.
We should all be doing our bit to support local industry or at least that of nations with a similar ethical beliefs.

[Irish in Oz]

[/quote]It'll be more than a box of beers for 2 years of lawn mowing!
[/quote]

He has got a good deal out of it, full workshop and storage space for cars and trailers.

[lawrie]

Thats a bugger Lawrie. Sorry to hear that.
I've decided to do the Chinese repower on it. Can buy a 24hp Loncin for $1500. 2yr warranty. Can buy 2 for the price of a B&S. Should fit straight on they say.

Thanks for that, I decided to do some research & they seem a good replacement, £580.00 in the UK.

Did a bit more research & found that the UK distributor is  all of 5 miles from me!!

[lawrie]

Whey-hey, pulled the engine, on the bench, drained the oil & out came a gallon of black petrol!!!  WTF, Stripped it down & found nothing wrong, 30 years old & virtually no carbon, valves good, slight scoring in bore, but nothing really.
I think that I put it away last season with a tank of fuel, & during the winter it must have seeped past the carb float-needle valve, into the head via an open inlet valve & eventually past the rings & into the engine case.
Draining  it  must have cleaned the innards really well!! 
The fuel tank was obviously empty, new oil, new fuel & shes up & running again, I did however, drain the tank, just in case it happens again & have ordered an in-line fuel tap for future use, I also noted that later tractors now HAVE in line fuel taps, so this is possibly a common problem, phew, a cheap fix for once!!

[Andre]

Great news!

[Kiwifruit]

Thats good news Lawrie, bit of a win there 

Got to work on my chainsaw yesterday. Damn thing would not start.
So after having a brief discussion with it l found the choke lever had popped out of its socket. Easy fix.
I do like pruning !!