Mowing ..

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Trendseeker

My new Victa Mustang does an excellent job on the lawn. But it rarely starts on the first pull. This model doesn’t have a primer and one of the benefits they advertise is that no priming is required. Start and go they say. Well, that’s true, you do start and go, but only after the second pull.
My old Mustang starts first time, but only after pressing the primer a few times and it always fires up in a small cloud of smoke. .
I’m not complaining; the new mower is great.

Any of the Briggs & Stratton's with "Ready-Start" have an automatic choke. This uses a heat from the muffler to adjust the choke position, from memory it's a wax filled solenoid, exhaust heat melts the wax and opens the choke as the engine warms up. I'd much rather a primer myself.



Naturally there is going to be some leeway, I wonder if the heat of summer doesn't fully close the choke on a "cold" start. I've also found the latest version of the 850 with the plastic carb tends to run a little sluggish until the engine warms up, I wonder if that is related to the auto-choke setup, or from the new design carb.

[Citroënbender]

Annoyed with myself this evening for losing a needle valve; trying to fix a struggling Briggs powered mower on the go and I took the plastic carby base off, followed by the float/shaft/needle. Thereupon dropping the needle into another universe (apparently).

(Mower was weak and struggling to stay running, so I’d assumed fuel supply the problem.)

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Annoyed with myself this evening for losing a needle valve; trying to fix a struggling Briggs powered mower on the go and I took the plastic carby base off, followed by the float/shaft/needle. Thereupon dropping the needle into another universe (apparently).

(Mower was weak and struggling to stay running, so I’d assumed fuel supply the problem.)

Ouch!

[danzvtil]

Killed my huski pole saw 530iPT5, was up in the canopy on a EWP, jammed it and it stopped working.
https://www.husqvarna.com/au/pole-sa...y-and-charger/
Dropped it at the mower store, they tell me the motor is done at 3years old and best to buy a new one at $900.
Interestingly the internal smarts record lifetime data:
Total run time-80hrs
Lowest operating temp- 9 deg
Highest operating temp- 76 deg
Now, not having anything to compare it to, a point and shoot tool like a pole saw, 80hrs SOUNDS like a lot. Got talking, the guy priced up a new motor, only $250 from husqvarna, and 1 hr ($110) to install, yep champ, go ahead and order the new part.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Last week, my cleaner asked me about where in the area to buy a ride-on mower. In a former life, she was an arborist and knows the ins and outs of garden power equipment and therefore had done research on what she wanted.

My first response was where NOT to buy a mower from..............the business that ripped me off twice, treated me like a fool and was basically the catalyst for me doing my own repairs and buying parts online. Because of the machine she had shortlisted, it was actually that shop she had intended on visiting, but my advice put an end to that.

This week I got told a story that I'm not surprised by but certainly makes me angry. Out of interest, she went in to see if my assessment of this business, and the owner in particular, was true. Upon arrival, she explained what she was looking for and was promptly told by the owner that he was "sick of you women coming in here trying to act like you know something about mowers". She replied along the lines of "that's fine", then promptly walked out.

I'm appalled that someone would say such a thing to customer, male or female. I know there were times when I wanted to cut loose on a customer for being rude or unrealistically demanding, but at the end of the day, I knew that wouldn't lead to a favorable outcome for the business I represented. In fact, sometimes those very specific customers became VERY good customers as the relationship developed. One in particular would come in nearly every Friday, often I felt just to say hello. You see, there is a difference between an unrealistically demanding customer, and one that is informed and knowledgeable enough to know exactly what they want. I know this because I am that type of customer myself.

I can't say I'm surprised by this story because he treated me like a complete fool as well. I know first hand how angry he made me feel, actually, he made me look like a fool in front of other customers and his staff. This is the same bullsh.t that inflicts automotive related businesses, treating females like idiots, something you'd hope was a thing of the past but still very much happens.

In this case, this moron lost a sale worth several thousand dollars from his actions. Add that up over countless other people, it's a wonder he is still in business.

Send her over to Wang's Stihl / John Deere dealer, totally knowledgeable women staff where they don't treat everyone like an idiot.

I know I've asked some stupid questions when buying parts there.