Arg! Old lawn equipment

Go to trim the hedges, and the old gas hedge trimmer won't start. No gas to the carburetor, and no spark.

Go to do some lawn trimming and the not so old strum trimmer doesn't want to run well. Boggy for about 20 minutes and then it completely quits.

I am getting so sick of old junk that I have to spend hours farting around with in order to do anything. I didn't do it, but I almost went and bought new stuff, just so it would actually work.

When I have a half hour job, I want to do it in half an hour. Not two and a half hours, because I have to rebuild a carburetor or fiddle with a magneto or such before I can do the job.

i got sick of cheap and old chainsaws so i went and bought a new husqvarna. my life has been easier since last november because of it.

Family, friends, neighbors give me their non-running lawn equipment because I'm a fix-it guy. Some is just used up, some easy fix. Anymore, I'm in the just buy new camp.

... but I haven't had to buy a new push mower in over 25 years.

You make it sound like lowest bidder transistorized coils and EPA certified plastic carbs are more reliable than the old stuff.

don't buy 4 cycle troy built whatever you do. (TR)

I used to buy cheap Toro snow throwers at garage sales in the summer for $25 and fix them up to spend 90 minutes getting them run in the cold weather when I could have shoveled in 45.

Since I travel for work AND heavy snows always come when I am traveling; I bought the wife and I a $499 new one and haven't touched a thing for 8 winters. WORTH IT.

Old is a relative term, here. A 3 year old weed eater is almost certainly ready for the trash bin if it dies, but that old tank that the meatheads down at the gym can't benchpress is almost always going to be worth fixing.

In reply to Derick Freese:

Rule of thumb for me is that if it's old enough to have an adjustable main fuel/air mixture, its old enough to pour parts into forever.

My Ryobi 4 stroke weedwacker (circa 2003) runs great as long as I keep the primer bulb and fuel lines replaced. My Hall and Oates era riding mower still runs just fine.

Lowest bidder is nothing new. Nor are bad carburetors. Lousy ethanol fuel on the other hand.... Made much worse with two strokes, or older carbs and lines.

May go with a four stoke power head system. One engine, various attachments. The engine would sit less, which helps them stay running and startable.

Yea, I know two stroke is more powerful and lighter, it's also way more sensitive to the ethanol, and I'm sick of premix. I like the idea of one gas can for everything but the chainsaw,

And as long as I'm going to do something like this, I may as well get a nice 110 volt staring setup like Troy-built has, these aging shoulders do not like yanking starter strings much.

Might even get electric for around the house. I've loved the zero maintenance of electric equipment for decades. Power cord is the biggest headache, and it's a pretty minor one. Hmm, might even start there, at least for the hedge trimmer, and maybe the grass trimmer. It's not like I don't have a bunch of long heavy duty extension cords. Hmm, could even use a cheaply but remarkably reliable harbor freight generator for the back field work.

Just ruminating. But I am sick of unreliable equipment eating up my time and reducing my ability to go play.

In reply to foxtrapper:

Conversely, I've never had any problems with gasohol and 2 strokes, though I run 32:1 and a double dose of marine stabil in everything.

I work at a hotel with a marina. My lawn equipment gets 89 octane ethanol-free gas.

All of the fuel lines on all of my dad's power equipment for his lawn business required replacement after the switch because they got soft and squishy. Even his commercial equipment had issues with it. The new fuel lines have all held up reasonably well since they were replaced. None of his equipment sits long enough to have carb gunking issues, though. When it does sit, the fuel gets cleared out of the tool for storage.

While I try to always run things dry before I put them away, I don't always get it right. I didn't with the string trimmer, which is why it's being balky, I'm sure.

Can't get ethanol free here. Wish I could. Running high octane helps, as does storing everything inside. But still.

Did just see an ebay seller with some lehr propane trimmers for $129 delivered. I've used them, found them heavy and a bit difficult to start when you changed cans. But no drama otherwise. I bookmarked it.

I never run the 2 strokes dry, figure its better for it to gum up with all that oil that keeps the gum soft and easily soluble in fresh gas, than to be dry and potentially corrode.

The real question is why, even on brand new equipment, they are not making the rubber ethanol compatible? Its been around for awhile, some areas can't get the good gas. At this point I place blame on manufacturers.

If you buy your 2-stroke fuel pre-mixed then it won't have ethanol in it. Sure it's $10 a gallon, but no issues plus low consumption means it's worth it to me.

I want one of the propane weed eaters myself. No fuel issues and still as portable as any regular gas one sounds good.

foxtrapper wrote: While I try to always run things dry before I put them away, I don't always get it right. I didn't with the string trimmer, which is why it's being balky, I'm sure. Can't get ethanol free here. Wish I could. Running high octane helps, as does storing everything inside. But still. Did just see an ebay seller with some lehr propane trimmers for $129 delivered. I've used them, found them heavy and a bit difficult to start when you changed cans. But no drama otherwise. I bookmarked it.

Lehr makes some nice stuff. The outboards take a few pulls after changing the cylinders too. Once you get the air out, they start right up

My 26 yr. old Craftsman mower still has the original fuel line. Ethanol ever since it be came mandatory . The only time I had the carb fuel bowl off was when it wouldn't start. Turns out the blade has to be in a certain position, aligned by a bracket and keyway. Starts first pull 90% of the time. runs like a charm. always add Stabil this time of year and fill the tank when I put it away.

After tossing out a pulan pro that I was given (it was brand new) after the 2nd year because the carb would have cost more to replace than a new trimmer, on recommendation of the independent small engine mechanic, I bought an Echo brand 2 stroke gas trimmer from Home Depot. Echo is sold at independent dealers too out here. Four years later after never storing it properly for winter, it fires up first time every time. I wish they made mowers.

gunner wrote: the carb would have cost more to replace than a new trimmer,

And that is why I don't mess with trying to fix lawn equipment anymore. Have a 2-stroke leaf blower I bought new and used one season. The following year I tried to use it but couldn't get it started. I tried everything I knew. Finally took it to a small engine shop. he checked it out and told me I can either pay him >$150 to rebuild it or buy another new one for $70. I replaced it with an electric one that has worked for about 5 years now with no issues. Wanted gas because of the size of my yard (1.2 acres) and not wanting to mess with extension cords. Oh well! The carb is why I replaced the old Ryobi weed-eater. Went with the Toro as all the attachments from the Ryobi fit it. The carb also gave out on the old Murray lawn tractor, a small John Deere now.

I am in the process of repowering an old riding mower with a HF 13 hp motor and since the new motor slants off to the side instead of going straight up and down there is a lot of room under the hood. I am sorely tempted to install a big GM alternator in the space and an inverter to run electric yard equipment.

I figure the mower is probably going to be pulling a trailer for whatever I am trimming to get hauled to the burn pile anyway, so the inconvenience of the cord is quite a bit less than it could be.

Mower=1980 Toro with 8hp B&S. Starts first try every time.

Wacker=2012 Stihl. Will never buy anything but Stihl for small engines ever again. Wish they made something I could sun in STS.

Electric is the only way to go if you have a normal sized yard for a weedwacker.

You guys are almost making me rethink offing the electric mower some friends gave us on indefinite loan when they got rid of their grass in favor of a gas mower, since I'm not going to go blow $4-500 on a new mower just for convenience, so I'd end up with used. The electric's not awful in every way, but managing the cord to get to all of the yard's kind of a pain, and then there's the fact that if the grass is either a little tall or damp it just doesn't have enough power.

And the grass-growing season in both fall and spring involves a lot of perpetual dampness around here. Even if it doesn't rain for a couple of days, the morning dew often doesn't dry out.

Or maybe I'm just having some internal reaction to trading out the gas powered performance car for an electric