I mowed, ( front yard didn't need it that bad, side yard and backyard did.) But it's supposed to monsoon the next 2 days so I figured I'd better.
I then got the power rake out, I use it infrequently enough that about every other time I gotta dunk the carburetor to get it to run. I pulled it 2 days ago, today I reassembled it and reinstalled it, ran it thru the whole yard and went longways then crossways. It has an HS50 Tecumseh on it that dates back to 1985 but I think is much newer than the machine itself.
It was a curb find at the back of the neighborhood about 6-7 years ago/ so I couldn't say "no" to it. I really don't think that Hs50 has many hours on it at all. Sticker residue says it originally belonged to the local rental yard. I have no idea how many years it sat in that neighbors shed.
There were a few spots I was churning up dirt, but I didn't get nearly as much thatch up as I usually do, this time. I usually get more dirt up than I did this time, not that that's what I try to do. 2x ago, I tried playing with the adjustment for how deep it digs, and it was more like a tiller than the power rake that it is supposed to be. So I restored the settings to how I got it. And haven't touched those settings since.
I then got the Billy goat (lawn vac) out early/ as in before leaf harvest season, to pick up what the power rake drug up. Made no sense to power rake and leave the thatch there to go back into the lawn where it came from.....
I am disappointed as I was just outside a few minutes ago, as I had forgotten my phone in the truck (and it needs charging) and as I went to get it I was noticing how much thatch remains. I do an know I made a He11 of a dent in it though.
On the way to take my wife to work this morning she wanted to check out a garage/moving sale then hit the farmers market on the way to work. This is the first time this year of us hitting the farmers market, I was blown away at prices this year. The vendors selling prepared food, yikes. She wanted some sweet corn but not at $4 for a 1/2 dozen. We left empty handed. The guy selling butterfly pork chop sandwiches, he's dang near double last year/ I wanted one but wasn't paying $10 for one. Vendors selling baked goods, weren't any more reasonable. $8 for a cinnamon roll? Again "no way".
At the sale I got another flymo mower. This makes 2 of them I have now.
Seller had inherited the property, and this was left behind by the PO/, seller knew nothing about it. For $5, that came home. I saw a few other things I wanted, but in giving the wife some "pocket money" for work, I didn't have enough for the vise that I initially wanted. So I figured I'd go back after a stop by an ATM. I did go back, between power raking and getting the Billy goat out, and changed my mind about the vise. I flipped it over and saw it is a pretty cheap vise along the lines of the ones I've busted over the years, so it stayed with the seller. The one I have now is a better built model. I had thoughts of adding a 2nd one to the other end of the workbench. But not that one.
I did get some ATF, some various waxes, etc on tge 2nd trip.
Then the new flymo tried to de finger me.
After I picked up my wife she wanted to stop and eat on the way home. So we did.
Got home and started getting stuff in the garage that we don't want getting wet, closed the pop up camper windows (we have it up and had windows open to let it air out) and I decided to see if the new flymo would start. Has a 2 cycle Tecumseh on it.
I discovered a lack of spark so I pulled the shroud, the blade brake kill switch was rusted and not "un shorting" so I disconnected the kill wire at the coil and with the shroud off and the plug out of the cylinder I spun the flywheel with my fingers in the flywheel fins. (Not the 1st time I've done that over the years but the 1st time I've been hurt in doing so.) My right middle finger ended up getting bit between the flywheel and coil, this one has an external coil, not one beneath the flywheel. Big chunk of meat, it surprisingly didn't bleed as much as I thought it might, ran in and rifled thru the boxes of band aids for the right size ones.... And barely made a mess.... Probably should go get a stitch or 2 but naaahhhh...
Got it sparking, I ended up taking the blade brake completely out as I doubt I could get a replacement now a days for a 2 cycle Tecumseh from the early 80s anyway so I'm gonna copy my older version which came factory equipped with a toggle switch for a kill mechanism. I did get it to "pop" on ether, I didn't want it to run any longer than that anyway til I mix up some 32:1 for it anyway.
Tomorrow I'll mix it up and put the shroud and flywheel back on and see if it'll start the "right way". As caked as the outside of the carb is, I'm guessing it's gonna have to come off for a dunk .. though the last time it was used they were smart enough to shut the petcock and kill the supply of fuel so maybe I'll get lucky and it'll start as is?
