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Ah. You're into it a lot more than I am. I've only done a few commercial repairs. Almost everything I take care of is for private individuals. I find that they provide me with literally more than I can do in the warm weather months, and they leave me alone (mostly) when the snow is flying. (Yes...

In any case, the most likely problems are a broken or cracked fuel line or a shorted/grounded kill wire. They're not only the most likely, they're the cheapest to fix!

Sure it's not a PB251?

Got to agree with the Drama Llama. Assuming you have good compression and spark, it ain't gettin' fuel. Genuine Stihl parts for a saw that old will be hard to find. Amazon will sell you a set of stuff -- aftermarket fuel line, filter, and impulse line -- for like six bucks. Even a tiny crack in...

Yep, I do the "ran last year" thing too, though you never really know what you're getting into. Picked up a very nice JD rider year before last because the woman who had it claimed the "differential was blown." When I slid a hand underneath, I could feel the drive belt off the hydro pulley...

Things I'll do on site (IF I have serviced the equipment previously and know what I'm getting into): Change out a battery Plug a tire Change out a deck belt (usually) Other minor stuff like fuses Chassis lube Beyond that, it's coming home to my shop. I only do battery swaps on site because all...

You might check the cooling fans on the drives. If one or more blades are missing, that might cause a vibration.

I had a '71 LTD with a similar problem. I had replaced the fuel pump and the notorious Ford fuel filter -- the one that screwed into the front of the carburetor -- to no avail. I went to the local parts store, the one where the guys behind the counter actually worked on stuff and knew what the...

I bought a Cub LT1046 last year from a fellow who was convinced it had engine issues. He told me he believed it needed a "ring job." The symptoms he described sounded much like those in the original post here. He told me it was "fouling plugs," and he showed me one of the "fouled" plugs. It...

Exactly. It's almost always easier to just haul the broken thing home where the tools are. I also use a set of ramps to run smaller tractors into the bed of the truck (the ones that run, that is).

Moles would be my guess. Digging is their business. An adult mole can tunnel 18 inches in an hour. Snakes don't dig holes (what would they dig with?) and neither do mice or rats. You might try flooding the holes with a garden hose to see what comes up for air.

It's strange, don't you think? The grandkids seem to listen better than their parents do, but they also listen better to us than to their own parents! It's like they figure we must know a few things, otherwise we never would have gotten so old. LOL I note that you retired a JD LT160 recently. A...

Heh. I like to say that we call them children because they're not yet people.

Looking all the way back at the original post, it sure sounds like the wrong spark plug. As in too long. As in the piston is smacking the plug electrode. Barring that, I'd check VERY carefully that the keyways on the top of the crankshaft and the flywheel align perfectly. There is a key in...

Nicely said. The night sky is truly a wonder, but so is the world when the sun shines. My favorite hymn of all is "How Great Thou Art." A quick review of those lyrics will tell you how I feel each and every time I step outside. My "seasonal" greeting will never change. It is always "MERRY...

Wow. That's homemade junk.

I have mowed the grass at our church for years. The church mower is a trusty old Cub RZT50, a pure grass-cutting machine with the 22 hp Kawasaki V-twin. We keep it (and other things) in a pole barn behind the parsonage. That barn is also a sort of hang-out for the church's youth group. But I've...

Brand new coil? You know the new coil has to be properly gapped, right? (Sorry, but we have to ask the dumb questions first. I used to do computer tech work, and the first thing I asked on every call was, "Is it plugged in?"

If you removed the spark plug and the starter still pulls "EXTREMELY hard," your problem may be outside the engine. Make sure the drive clutch is properly disengaged. Check underneath to see that belts are on their pulleys and not tangled, broken or frayed, and that the drive pulley is free of...

Fuel stabilizers don't really counteract the shortcomings of ethanol gas. The best thing to put in the tank is GASOLINE, pure and simple. That's because the engines, especially the older ones, were engineered to run on GASOLINE, pure and simple. I see that you just joined the forum, and I'll...

My $.02... Most riding mower makers (at least over the past thirty years or so) that use vertical shaft engines punch their frames with enough holes to accommodate a wide array of suitable engines from different sources, with different bolt patterns. It is rare to have to drill new holes. Most...

Something to consider..... Get yourself a walk-behind line trimmer. DR makes a dandy, but if you don't want to pony up that kind of coin, there are others. I have an older MTD with a 5 hp Tecumseh engine that has a 22" cut (when the line is fresh) and it does a bang-up job! The line I use is...

I have an older Sears generator that's powered by a Tecumseh 6 hp horizontal shaft engine. (Similar to the one in the pic.) If you look closely, the fuel line from the tank on the back to the carb (which is absent in this pic.) actually passes THROUGH the starter shroud, right past the cylinder...

You'll be money and time WAY ahead if you just find a cheap electric low-pressure fuel pump and install it so as to bypass the mechanical pump. You can place it almost anywhere between the fuel tank and the engine and you can splice the wiring into your ignition circuit. Leave the old mechanical...

Seems a lot simpler to just remove the pump and put it and the pressure hose on a shelf in my heated shop until spring.

Valve clearance for sure is your first stop. If your clearance is too large, even by a couple thousandths, the symptoms will perfectly mimic an engine that has its ignition timing too far advanced. You are correct that there is no timing adjustment. The correct timing is achieved when the...

The advice to use non-ethanol gas in the winter (actually year-round) is good. You can find the nearest source at www.pure-gas.org. If there's a marina near you with a fueling dock, that's a very good place to find it. Ethanol does absolutely nothing good for your engine, winter or summer...

If you went after it with a power washer or high pressure garden hose, it's likely that everything that can get wet got wet -- including everything under the flywheel. That's where the alternator is. First thing I'd do is pull the flywheel. It wouldn't surprise me if the problem presented itself...