[Joe Barta]

Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.

Had a lawnmower... about 15 yrs old. Nothing fancy... it's a cheapo
Murray with a Briggs & Stratton engine. The thing was hard to start...
couldn't get it going without starting fluid... and springtime was
worse. I thought ALL lawnmowers were hard to start in the spring and
that was just a law of nature.

In addition, I though my mower was just getting "old" and it was time
for a new one.

Well, last fall I took it upon myself to try and resurrect it. After
all, aren't those motors bone simple and designed to last forever?

I replaced the spark plug. The old plug didn't look too bad, but since
it was the plug that came with the motor, I figured it wouldn't hurt.

But that wasn't the problem.

I can now PRECISELY define the problem in two statements... number one
being the more important...

1) OLD GAS.

2) Wrong motor oil.

Everyone has heard the old bit about gas "going bad". I heard it too.
But once my mower got started, it ran... more or less OK... but I
didn't think the low power had anything to do with the gas. I thought
it was just a worn motor. I didn't think the gas was the problem.

BOY WAS I WRONG.

I got rid of the old gas in my can... was probably over a year old...
maybe two. Also drained the mower gas tank. Bought some FRESH gas...
dumped it in the tank.... pushed the little primer bubble the
requisite number of times and pulled.

Started RIGHT up... like an Indy racer. Even SOUNDED more powerful. In
fact, it WAS more powerful. It was like a whole new mower.

Moral of story.... OLD gas is BAD. It still fires, but not as well and
may very well be the source of all your woes. From what I hear,
anything over 3 months old is bad. So from now on, I'll dump that last
gallon of old gas into my truck where it is diluted into about 20
fresh gallons and can do no harm.... and I go buy FRESH gas for the
mower.... and any other small engines I may own. Not every time I cut
the grass of course... just when the gas is more than a few months
old.

Remember.... FRESH GAS makes ALL the difference in the world.

Now... number two... OIL. I always thought oil was pretty much oil.
So, when I ever DID get around to changing the oil in the mower (which
was almost never), I'd dump in some generic 10W-40 and thought I was
good to go.

WRONG.

If you look closely at your average mower's operating manual, you'll
probably see that it calls for a certain weight oil.... and it's NOT
10W-40.

It's a single weight oil.... thinner than regular oil... in general no
good for cars.... but MUCH better for small engines like lawnmowers.
It seems that THICK oil, like you might put in a car, makes it harder
for the engine to turn... especially when it's cold. The thinner oil
stays thin and the cold engine can more easily turn.

So... if you change your mower's oil, first check the manual and use
the proper oil. Barring that, go to any store than sells lawnmower
supplies (Walmart does) and get a quart of LAWNMOWER OIL. It's marked
lawnmower oil, or small engine oil, or something like that. Might even
be labeled Briggs & Stratton engine oil. At any rate, DON'T use car
motor oil... there's a difference.

Anyhow, I write all this because today is the first day I mowed the
grass this season. I had about a gallon of gas in my can left over
from last year. I dumped it into my truck, went to the gas station and
filled it with some FRESH (87 octane) gas. Came back home... dumped
out what was left in the mower tank... filled it up with the FRESH
gas... pushed the little primer button a few times and pulled the
cord.

STARTED RIGHT UP ON THE FIRST PULL.

It's like I discovered one of the Secrets Of The Universe.

So now, if you've read this far, YOU know the secret too. Well, it's
probably not a secret... let's just say now I know that when people
talked about gas going bad... there's really something to it.

Anyhow, that's all and happy mowing!

Joe Barta

[Oren[_2_]]

On Wed, 07 May 2008 21:56:55 GMT, Joe Barta wrote:

Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.

Is a schmuck, like a Yankee phrase?!! Can you be cured from
schmuckness?

[Norminn]

Oren wrote:

On Wed, 07 May 2008 21:56:55 GMT, Joe Barta wrote:



Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.



Is a schmuck, like a Yankee phrase?!! Can you be cured from
schmuckness?


No, and no. I always thought it was a word the boys in my 6th grade
class made up, but
your question made me googley curious )

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

[Joe Barta]

Norminn wrote:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

Ahh.... maybe was a bad choice of words. I've heard "schmuck" uttered
here and there all my life and to me it always meant either a jerk or
a dope. I was thinking more along the lines of dope.

A little self-depreciation is one thing... but I didn't mean to call
myself a chunk of discarded foreskin... or even a chunk of retained
foreskin for that matter...

Joe Barta

[boden]

Joe Barta wrote:
Norminn wrote:


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck


Ahh.... maybe was a bad choice of words. I've heard "schmuck" uttered
here and there all my life and to me it always meant either a jerk or
a dope. I was thinking more along the lines of dope.

A little self-depreciation is one thing... but I didn't mean to call
myself a chunk of discarded foreskin... or even a chunk of retained
foreskin for that matter...

Joe Barta


Wat does this make those of us who spent entire careers "pushing back
the foreskin of science.

[[email protected]]

"pushing back
the foreskin of science.

Huh?

[DerbyDad03]

On May 7, 11:14*pm, Joe Barta wrote:
Norminn wrote:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

Ahh.... maybe was a bad choice of words. I've heard "schmuck" uttered
here and there all my life and to me it always meant either a jerk or
a dope. I was thinking more along the lines of dope.

A little self-depreciation is one thing... but I didn't mean to call
myself a chunk of discarded foreskin... or even a chunk of retained
foreskin for that matter...

Joe Barta

A rabbi saved all of the pieces of foreskin from every briss he had
performed during his career.

When he retired he took the hundreds of pieces to a leatherworker and
asked him to make him some sort of a memento of his life as a rabbi.
A few weeks later the leatherworker handed the rabbi a wallet.

The rabbi exclaimed "I gave you hundreds of pieces to work with and
all you made was a wallet?

"Yes," the leatherworker replied, "But when you rub it, it turns into
a suitcase."

[HeyBub[_3_]]

DerbyDad03 wrote:
On May 7, 11:14 pm, Joe Barta wrote:
Norminn wrote:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

Ahh.... maybe was a bad choice of words. I've heard "schmuck" uttered
here and there all my life and to me it always meant either a jerk or
a dope. I was thinking more along the lines of dope.

A little self-depreciation is one thing... but I didn't mean to call
myself a chunk of discarded foreskin... or even a chunk of retained
foreskin for that matter...

Joe Barta

A rabbi saved all of the pieces of foreskin from every briss he had
performed during his career.

When he retired he took the hundreds of pieces to a leatherworker and
asked him to make him some sort of a memento of his life as a rabbi.
A few weeks later the leatherworker handed the rabbi a wallet.

The rabbi exclaimed "I gave you hundreds of pieces to work with and
all you made was a wallet?

"Yes," the leatherworker replied, "But when you rub it, it turns into
a suitcase."

I don't suppose it would have been as funny if you'd said mohel instead of
rabbi...

[Oren[_2_]]

On Wed, 07 May 2008 20:07:51 -0400, Norminn
wrote:

Oren wrote:

On Wed, 07 May 2008 21:56:55 GMT, Joe Barta wrote:



Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.



Is a schmuck, like a Yankee phrase?!! Can you be cured from
schmuckness?


No, and no. I always thought it was a word the boys in my 6th grade
class made up, but
your question made me googley curious )

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

For me it was a word used by people from above the Mason Dixon line or
transplanted "snow birds". Somehow I figured the term was not
complementary, but only heard it used by "Yankee" from NY, NJ, of PA
(Philly)....

I don't speak Yiddish so, I would have never figured this out :-)

[MLD]

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 May 2008 20:07:51 -0400, Norminn
wrote:

Oren wrote:

On Wed, 07 May 2008 21:56:55 GMT, Joe Barta wrote:



Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.



Is a schmuck, like a Yankee phrase?!! Can you be cured from
schmuckness?


No, and no. I always thought it was a word the boys in my 6th grade
class made up, but
your question made me googley curious )

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

For me it was a word used by people from above the Mason Dixon line or
transplanted "snow birds". Somehow I figured the term was not
complementary, but only heard it used by "Yankee" from NY, NJ, of PA
(Philly)....

I don't speak Yiddish so, I would have never figured this out :-)

Schmuck----not a compliment to be called a Schmuck. It is a Yiddish word
that refers to the male organ. When not said in jest--like you're a
schmuck-- he's calling you a "prick"
MLD

[Norminn]

clipped


Schmuck----not a compliment to be called a Schmuck. It is a Yiddish
word that refers to the male organ. When not said in jest--like you're
a schmuck-- he's calling you a "prick"
MLD

I once worked at a Jewish hospital. If someone calls you a "big Putz",
you can take it as an insult or a compliment. Depends )

[Joe Barta]

MLD wrote:

Schmuck----not a compliment to be called a Schmuck. It is a
Yiddish word that refers to the male organ. When not said in
jest--like you're a schmuck-- he's calling you a "prick"
MLD

Well, technically he's calling you whatever HE THINKS he's calling
you. If HE thinks "shmuck" is slang for a short person, then he's
calling you a short person. YOU might think he's calling you a prick,
but he's really not. Big difference.

(just thought I'd stir the pot a little ;-)

Joe Barta

[Oren[_2_]]

On Thu, 08 May 2008 03:14:23 GMT, Joe Barta wrote:

Norminn wrote:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

Ahh.... maybe was a bad choice of words. I've heard "schmuck" uttered
here and there all my life and to me it always meant either a jerk or
a dope. I was thinking more along the lines of dope.

That's schmucked up!

A little self-depreciation is one thing... but I didn't mean to call
myself a chunk of discarded foreskin... or even a chunk of retained
foreskin for that matter...

Joe Barta


LMAO..

[Oren[_2_]]

On Thu, 08 May 2008 23:34:13 GMT, "MLD" wrote:


"Oren" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 07 May 2008 20:07:51 -0400, Norminn
wrote:

Oren wrote:

On Wed, 07 May 2008 21:56:55 GMT, Joe Barta wrote:



Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.



Is a schmuck, like a Yankee phrase?!! Can you be cured from
schmuckness?


No, and no. I always thought it was a word the boys in my 6th grade
class made up, but
your question made me googley curious )

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shmuck

For me it was a word used by people from above the Mason Dixon line or
transplanted "snow birds". Somehow I figured the term was not
complementary, but only heard it used by "Yankee" from NY, NJ, of PA
(Philly)....

I don't speak Yiddish so, I would have never figured this out :-)

Schmuck----not a compliment to be called a Schmuck. It is a Yiddish word
that refers to the male organ. When not said in jest--like you're a
schmuck-- he's calling you a "prick"
MLD

An American version of a schmuck: is called a "prick".

What's the Yiddish for "Shnorr"??

Reverend Shnorr, on the Springer show ....

[Oren[_2_]]

What's the Yiddish for "Shnorr"??

Reverend Shnorr, on the Springer show ....

Rev Shnorr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1InmaX-fwo

[[email protected]]

I schmucked my finger with a pin...ouch!

[[email protected]]

On 7 mei, 23:56, Joe Barta wrote:
Just thought I'd put my experiences out there for posterity... and
maybe it will help some poor schmuck like me.

Had a lawnmower... about 15 yrs old. Nothing fancy... it's a cheapo
Murray with a Briggs & Stratton engine. The thing was hard to start...
couldn't get it going without starting fluid... and springtime was
worse. I thought ALL lawnmowers were hard to start in the spring and
that was just a law of nature.

In addition, I though mymowerwas just getting "old" and it was time
for a new one.

Well, last fall I took it upon myself to try and resurrect it. After
all, aren't those motors bone simple and designed to last forever?

I replaced the spark plug. The old plug didn't look too bad, but since
it was the plug that came with the motor, I figured it wouldn't hurt.

But that wasn't the problem.

I can now PRECISELY define the problem in two statements... number one
being the more important...

1) OLD GAS.

2) Wrong motor oil.

Everyone has heard the old bit about gas "going bad". I heard it too.
But once mymowergot started, it ran... more or less OK... but I
didn't think the low power had anything to do with the gas. I thought
it was just a worn motor. I didn't think the gas was the problem.

BOY WAS I WRONG.

I got rid of the old gas in my can... was probably over a year old...
maybe two. Also drained themowergas tank. Bought some FRESH gas...
dumped it in the tank.... pushed the little primer bubble the
requisite number of times and pulled.

Started RIGHT up... like an Indy racer. Even SOUNDED more powerful. In
fact, it WAS more powerful. It was like a whole newmower.

Moral of story.... OLD gas is BAD. It still fires, but not as well and
may very well be the source of all your woes. From what I hear,
anything over 3 months old is bad. So from now on, I'll dump that last
gallon of old gas into my truck where it is diluted into about 20
fresh gallons and can do no harm.... and I go buy FRESH gas for themower..... and any other small engines I may own. Not every time I cut
the grass of course... just when the gas is more than a few months
old.

Remember.... FRESH GAS makes ALL the difference in the world.

Now... number two... OIL. I always thought oil was pretty much oil.
So, when I ever DID get around to changing the oil in themower(which
was almost never), I'd dump in some generic 10W-40 and thought I was
good to go.

WRONG.

If you look closely at your averagemower'soperating manual, you'll
probably see that it calls for a certain weight oil.... and it's NOT
10W-40.

It's a single weight oil.... thinner than regular oil... in general no
good for cars.... but MUCH better for small engines like lawnmowers.
It seems that THICK oil, like you might put in a car, makes it harder
for the engine to turn... especially when it's cold. The thinner oil
stays thin and the cold engine can more easily turn.

So... if you change yourmower'soil, first check the manual and use
the proper oil. Barring that, go to any store than sells lawnmower
supplies (Walmart does) and get a quart of LAWNMOWER OIL. It's marked
lawnmower oil, or small engine oil, or something like that. Might even
be labeled Briggs & Stratton engine oil. At any rate, DON'T use car
motor oil... there's a difference.

Anyhow, I write all this because today is the first day I mowed the
grass this season. I had about a gallon of gas in my can left over
from last year. I dumped it into my truck, went to the gas station and
filled it with some FRESH (87 octane) gas. Came back home... dumped
out what was left in themowertank... filled it up with the FRESH
gas... pushed the little primer button a few times and pulled the
cord.

STARTED RIGHT UP ON THE FIRST PULL.

It's like I discovered one of the Secrets Of The Universe.

So now, if you've read this far, YOU know the secret too. Well, it's
probably not a secret... let's just say now I know that when people
talked about gas going bad... there's really something to it.

Anyhow, that's all and happy mowing!

Joe Barta

hello,

i am an expierenced lawn mower technician from belgium, that's why my
english is so bad. your problem occurs very often in my shop, there is
a very simple solution for this. we never start an engine with
ordinary fuel, we always use Aspen fuel, the results with this fuel
are amazing. this fuel stays fresh for 10 years. it costs about 3 €/
liter, but its worth it. if this is to expensive for you, add fuel
fresh to your fuel. you can buy it in every lawnmowershop.

greetings,

Frank