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36 is the pilot unloader valve

Gas powered compressors usually have some type of unloader connected to the throttle control that vents the output of the compressor that is still turning although at a lower speed. If it doesn't vent the head pressure it can kill and idling engine.

When it cuts back to idle does it unload and vent the compressor output?

I guess I could get a job at the dealership if I started lifting weights.

First clean both ends of the negative ground cable. When you turn the key to start do you get 12v from the solenoid trigger wire and ground? If no troubleshoot the start safety circuit. If yes does solenoid engage? (Hear it clicking) If solenoid engaging do you 12v to ground on both large...

Just did annual maint on a cub cadet Z that was serviced by the dealer last year. Had to almost destroy the oil filter to get it loose. Spark plugs were in WAY to tight. Washers on plugs were smashed way too flat. Impact finally got the blade nuts off but had to replace the nuts because the...

I would bet lunch the belt was routed wrong around a belt keeper. Just sayin'

I have an old screwdriver I rounded off that I use with WD40.

Folks make that mistake all the time.

Ok.

I guess I will find out. After I figure out why the goofy clutch doesn't work he wants me to see about getting the 16hp briggs running and putting it on the crawler. He wants electric start. Not a single wire on the crawler so I have to fab up all the wiring.

I may have a very similar pooped on pro saw on the scrap pile. Let me take a look and see if it is the same.

Guy dropped this off today. Mead Mighty Mouse crawler. From '59 or '60. Has not run for many years. Lots of stuff to work on. He has 2 of these.

How hard do you run the engine? Does it run poorly? Smoke? Many folks mistake a rich mixture for spark plug(s) being the incorrect heat range for how the engine is operated. If an engine is operated where the spark plug(s) tip is not reaching about 900 degrees F it will not be in the self...

He may have the gasket wrong blocking the impulse hole

Pretty much every non OEM numbered belt customers have purchased and want me to install has been wrong. They have no idea some belts are measured on the inside and some on the outside. A, B, C belts vs 3L, 4L, 5L belts. Clutching vs non clutching application. Different angles. Some belts can't...

I have replaced a bunch on the briggs sump gaskets. The stens gaskets are thicker than the OEM. Haven't had one of those fail yet.

All depends. The fan belt on my 1975 IH 184 is still the original and so is the drive belt on my 1972 Sears ST12. Neither are kevlar covered. I have had JD mowers in the shop 20 years old with original belts and have had 2 year old mowers in the shop with bad belts.

Years ago I was offered a job as an independent contractor installing and settling up internet at hotel properties. Would pay over $150k a year. After self employment tax, fica, health insurance etc and being on the road 5 days a week living out of a suitcase and only home on weekends the hourly...

I use 10 battery tenders on stuff in the barn every year. Beats buying $100 deep cycle batteries every year.

I have worked on lots of John deere mowers with batteries 8 and even 10 years old. They do cost more but they last longer than most other batteries.

Psssst. Don't tell the lawn mower police but I may have accidentally misread the chart. <Wink wink>

I was approached to be a warranty shop. After seeing what their process was and what they paid flat rape for repairs I told them no thank you. I would rather not be a nonprofit shop.

First check the oil level and that it does not smell like gasoline. Disconnect the sparkplug wire, strap down the the engine brake bail at the handle. Turn mower on side and try to turn engine with the blade. Can't turn? Turns gritty? Turns smooth?

You must be in eastern KY. My father was from eastern KY and worked in a Blue Diamond coal mine. He said the dirt was so bad it wouldn't grow weeds. That bluegrass stuff was for the rich people in western KY.

Yeah, those millions of champ plugs in Briggs engines never work.

Maybe this will help them stock the RC12YC plugs they haven't had in stock for a year.

Anybody else get the sparkplug email from stens?

For about 20 years I ran 2 businesses as a side hustle besides working 40 to 50 hours of overtime each month. I invested all the profits of the businesses and the OT. Debt free at 50 and retired at 61. Took the mower shop pretty much full time so now I fix mowers and buy tools and toys.

My policy is through Hartford. Since my shop is on my property I have a rider on the homeowner policy to cover building, tools and equipment. The Hartford is a liability policy. I think a lot of people start a business without knowing how to really run a business. The small business...

I am an LLC sole proprietorship. My $1M liability insurance is about $500 a year. 1 in 5 new businesses fail in their first year. Knowing how to run a lawn mowing business is more important than knowing how to mow grass. A good accountant is your best friend too

Just some thoughts..... Will this be a real business? Living wage profits? There is a reason pros use zero turns, standers or walk behind and not tractor mowers. Will you pursue commercial or residential clients? If you show up with a 25 year old rustomatic truck and 20 year old tractor mower...

Back in the 80's they were putting BOP engines in chevy cars and then they put chevy engines in BOP cars. My mother had a Bonneville with a 400 Chevy motor in it and a friend had a monte carlo with a 3.8 BOP engine. Fun getting the right oil filter.

Anyone remember the 11, 11.5 12 and 12.5 HP briggs flathead engines that basically identical?

Back in the day when you had to give an email address and phone number to get the "free" software I would use bobster1@aol.com and 800 867 5309. I didn't like Bob and that was his email address. Kinda like the time a guy stiffed me for a welding job and laughed about it. Somehow he got signed up...

There is a reason I keep my old dumb chargers around.

My 1989 motorhome with a Qjet carburetor sat for 5 years in an unheated barn with E10 gas in it. Fired up and ran fine. I have customers who leave E10 gas in a snowblower for 6 months and it trashes the carb. I don't know much but I do know ethanol in gas makes me money.

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Probably an oil burner and someone put a hotter plug in to try and stop oil fouling the plug.

Sounds like one of the old 50's era Evinrude dual hose system that used air from the engine to pressurize the fuel tank. Haven't seen one of those for a few years.

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Looks like another great internet debate. Just me, I store my zero turn completely full. Everthing else is empty and run dry. Never have a water problem. Probably a quarter of everything customers bring in have some water in the tank. I dump every handheld, push mower, tiller and snowblower that...

That is true. For the guy running a small one man shop stens is convenient because you get flat rate no surprise shipping. You can setup a tax free account. You get a hard copy catalog as well as on-line and Fast shipping. I have looked into other vendors but I am too small for them to bother with.

Pretty sure cranks are cast steel not cast iron. I use tap magic cutting fluid for drilling and tapping.

Drilling a hole slightly bigger with a standard twist drill can be tricky. Easy to burn and dull the ends of the drill lips. Slow revs and good amount of pressure is needed. You don't want to let the drill spin and not cut. Drill at least 1/4" deeper than you want to to run the tap to. Mark the...

I just received some backordered spindle nuts from stens delivered by FedEx (???) and they were charged the day they shipped. They were on BO for couple months. No extra shipping fee added.

I have always paid stens with a dedicated business credit card and I have auto payment of the statement balance of the card setup so I don't pay any interest on the card. I run all business transactions I can through the CC. My version of net30. I get a small amount of cash back too.

Ya'll do realize there are tens of thousands of of alarm systems that use SLA and flooded batteries like the kind in mowers that are connected to float chargers 24/7 for years. I maintained a lot of alarm systems and battery backups. Everyone should do what they are comfortable with but...

Had an older cub cadet with 22hp horizontal shaft engine in the shop this spring. Flywheel screen and cylinder fins completely clogged with cottonwood fluff. Owner ran it hard in tall grass and overheated it to the point it cooked the stick on label off the oil filter and ruined the crank seals...

You can get a head temp guage and monitor it to see how hot the head is getting https://www.amazon.com/Cylinder-Temperature-Fahrenheit-Digital-Adapter/dp/B0BKFPB537?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=AY0DJLL9STW3F&th=1