Export thread

OK, if anyone has taken a small engine course from a place like Foley-Belsaw or one of the other training institutes that offer courses, can you give me your opinions??

Also, over at Lawnmowerman, he's got a bunch of DVD's were he teaches a lot of stuff.

Short of going to a factory school, what would you recommend for someone trying to get more into this business in a serious way?? Working in a small local shop isn't an option either.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

The factory schools don't really teach much, and they are only available to dealership's employees.

I doubt that the other schools that you pay for are that good either.

Offer to work some Saturdays at a lawn mower shop in lieu of pay, you will learn far more that way.

Fish said:

The factory schools don't really teach much, and they are only available to dealership's employees.

I doubt that the other schools that you pay for are that good either.

Click to expand...

Huh? Poor advice.

Which one?

Grab some cheap broken mowers off craigslist. Disasemble and reasemble. Fix and rebuild. That's how I learned. If I can't figure something out I Google it or YouTube it and then try it

exotion said:

Grab some cheap broken mowers off craigslist. Disasemble and reasemble. Fix and rebuild. That's how I learned. If I can't figure something out I Google it or YouTube it and then try it

Click to expand...

That's what I've been doing for the past couple of months. I've got a couple of older small engine manuals I can sometimes browse through but, they're a little dated. Granted, when you get things from CL, they're pretty dated as well.. haha..

Picked up an Edger that I'm asking questions about in another post that was made in 1988. The little critter is very impressive in it's construction.. Pain is still in great shape even.

I can figure out a lot of things on getting the chainsaws, weed eaters, and leaf blowers going but, I'd like to learn more from a decent course.

I'm definitely putting some cash in my pockets doing this, I just want to make a more quality product for my customers.

grumpygrizzly


If you P.M. me your name and address, I'll mail you a copy of the Stihl Mediacat dvd.

It contains all of the illustrated parts lists, and all of the newer model's mechanic's manuals. Stihl doesn't like folks to have them, but I'll be glad to send you a copy. Stihl has excellent mechanic's manuals.

exotion said:

Grab some cheap broken mowers off craigslist. Disasemble and reasemble. Fix and rebuild. That's how I learned. If I can't figure something out I Google it or YouTube it and then try it

Click to expand...

Hi,
Good advice!

The idea about working for free at a repair shop is good too!

Books, DVD's, Utube, Forums, are all sources.

I'm still learning and asking things myself, it never ends!

Be advised, even the Pro's, get stumped sometimes!:confused2:

I was certified through a vo-tech trade school. Although it did land me a good job in the small engine repair field I really didn’t learn much from the school. On hand training is the only way to really learn mechanics.

seagiant said:

Hi,
Good advice!

The idea about working for free at a repair shop is good too!

Books, DVD's, Utube, Forums, are all sources.

I'm still learning and asking things myself, it never ends!

Be advised, even the Pro's, get stumped sometimes!:confused2:

Click to expand...

We get stumped all the time.
Knowing the theory is well & good but knowing how it is applied is another thing all together.
For me the light bulb moment was getting my hands on the first JD technical manual.
Now I was no newbie to engines & have been playing with vintage motorcycles for 40 years.
But it is all the other bits, the pulleys & levers & electrics that have taken a long while to get my head around.
The U-tube videos were good, most showed how to replace things but almost none showed why it was being done nor how to repair rather than replace.

I did the same as MowLife.The course gave me a good grounding in air cooled engines but little on the equipment they powered. It did allow me to get my foot in the door and be productive as I progressed, most shops are reluctant to train from scratch during the busy season. The local dealer has a couple of high school students part time through the spring and summer but they spend their time uncrating and cleaning up, they get little bench time.

I went through Penn foster myself but I'm sure there are way better courses than them. Still taught me many things but like alot of guys are saying, hands on is everything. Still need to know the basics at least. And fixing up junkers are a great way to get started as well. I occasionally watch YouTube but be careful and use common sense as I have saw some that wasn't right. For instance someone saying to clean an engine, take out spark plug to prevent starting and use engine degreaser and hose down. That would ruin it once that water got into the internals. I too would love to find manuals, DVDs, and more up to date courses as some of what I have learned is out of date you might say. But as I have worked on engines etc I have tries to keep up with the new technology.