On Jan 31, 9:30*am, Joe Cool wrote:
On Jan 31, 9:39*am, tnik wrote:

On 1/31/2011 12:39 AM, Hawke wrote:

I bought a new Honda lawn mower from Home Despot this week. It cost me
650 bucks. All I can say is this thing better work great and it better
last me at least 10 years for that price. I bought a 225 dollar
Craftsman a couple of years ago and it won't even start now. I hope it's
true that you get what you pay for. I paid for a good one. Anybody else
spend their money on a Honda mower? And was it worth it?

Hawke

I got a cub cadet a couple years ago with a honda motor on it and I love
it. I've always had bad luck with the B&S motors, at least the newer
ones. The one my dad had lasted forever from what I remember.

My lawnmower, now 10 years or so old became more and more difficult to
start... When I made noises about replacing it, son saw the $$$$
flying and suggested that he try to overhaul/tune-up the thing.

Turned out that the carb float had "liquid" in it but we couldn't find
a leak. *Heated it gently with a lighter (outdoors of course) and
numerous cracks on the inside edge of the donut-shaped float started
spewing gasoline fumes with flames!

Replaced the float and all was well. *It now starts with 5 pumps of
the primer bulb and a pull or two on the starter rope.

Wolfgang

There WAS a time when carb floats were brass and seldom leaked, if
they did, they could be drained, resoldered and fixed. In the
inexorable race to the bottom line, I've seen carb floats made of
rubber-covered cork(probably NOT rubber, but resembled it), blow-
molded plastic and some kind of hard black foam on the first Ford I
owned. That last type seemed like it wouldn't last at all, but didn't
pick up any weight in all the years I had it.

The best of the small single-cylinder engines I've had didn't have a
carb as such, was a B&S with a Pulsa-jet. Crankcase pressure pulses
pumped gas into an elevated well in the tank, then the venturi sucked
it in. Only real wear part was the pumping diaphram and it never went
bad. So no needle or float to mess with and only a mixture screw. No
shutoff valve needed, either. Always seemed to take off after a couple
of pulls no matter how many months it sat. Was discontinued, of
course.

Stan