Some great Mechanics out There!

[PoorUB]

I wanted a lawn edger, one of those with a steel blade and a 3 HP gas engine to clean up along the side walk. My neighbor had one I borrowed, but he moved, then sold his, the ******!

Any way I found a used MTD Edger on Facebook for $70. I contacted the seller and they told me it didn't run but it did when they put it away, but kind of hinted they might not sell it. I asked if they wanted to sell it as I wasn't too concerned if it didn't run. We got together and I gave the engine a couple pulls and I could tell it had compression, so I bought it, after a short negotiation and got a better deal that their asking price. I get it home and check the oil, filthy, and real low so right away I suspected the ran it out of oil. I filled it with oil and gas, gave it a couple pulls and it started and died, and it wouldn't turn over again so up on the bench it went.
I dumped out the oil and noticed a bit of aluminum shavings, so apart it came. One of the things I noticed was the magneto was rubbing the flywheel. I loosened the screws and slid it up out of the way and it spun over fine, but the shavings in the oil bugged me so I pulled it down. There was nothing wrong inside, the cylinder bore was clean, and looked like new, the rod and main bearings looked like new. I suspect the oil had never been changed and the shavings well from the factory. Also, someone had the gas tank off the carb and used silicone to reassemble. The governor linkage was bent up too.

I bought the gaskets needed to reassemble it, got rid of the silicone sealer, straightened the governor linkage, gapped the mag properly and got it running. Runs like a top.

In hindsight I could have skipped the tear down, but now I know what I have, a nearly new Briggs engine on a slightly used edger.

I have no doubt the seller was trying to sell it knowing it didn't run after the ace mechanic in the home was unable to get it running after their repairs.

 

[Model A Fan]

Some of that stuff is so cheap its not worth having a "real mechanic" look at it. An hour of labor and parts would likely be worth more than the thing.

 

[unslow1]

Some of that stuff is so cheap its not worth having a "real mechanic" look at it. An hour of labor and parts would likely be worth more than the thing.

A lot of stuff is like that. Just to have someone actually tell you what is wrong is more than halfway to a new one. I gave away several lawn mowers, weedeaters and things like that from my grandparents stuff. Could I fix it? I'm sure I could but I don't have the time or desire and nobody else was willing to pay someone to look at any of them?

 

[Skyman]

My inclination is toward resuscitating useful things, within sensible limits. It bugs me to see things end up in a landfill when they are not truly at end-of-life.

Congrats for saving that one, UB.

Steve

 

[jd_1138]

Some of that stuff is so cheap its not worth having a "real mechanic" look at it. An hour of labor and parts would likely be worth more than the thing.

Yeah, that's why there are so many useful items being tossed in the garbage. A quality edger is about $300 or so these days (and probably won't match the quality of OP's older unit), and if you have an honest small engine tech who's not working in a pricey metropolitan area, then it may only be a $75 repair. Plus you're putting money back into your local economy. There are honest techs/mechs out there who want to cultivate a relationship with a local customer.

This lack of quality in our modern products plus our throwaway culture is kinda sad. I bought a circa 1990s Sears Craftsman rototiller with a B&S industrial 5 HP engine on it for $10 at a yard sale. It wouldn't run. I cleaned out the carb with some SeaFoam, and changed the oil and plug, and it ran like a champ. Even if I had paid a small engine tech $50-$75 to go over it, I'd still be ahead. I used it to rototill friends/family's gardens for 5 years. Then I sold it to a friend for $100.

I'd rather put a few bucks into a quality older item that is repairable rather than continually buying junky ones every 2 years or so that break spectacularly with unobtainium parts.

 

[PoorUB]

Well, I agree. But my point was the problems with this engine were caused by the "mechanic".

 

[nadogail]

One Man's Trash has always been another Man's Treasure.

 

[PoorUB]

A new comparable edger is over $400. Certainly worth having someone look at it.
My point was the "mechanic" screwed it up. I have to wonder what was wrong with it for them to attempt a repair as from what I saw they most likely made it worse.
It had very few hours, electronic ignition so perhaps some bad gas and a carb clean was needed, maybe an hour labor.

 

[bwringer]

Yup, I've also run across some real WTF "repairs" in all sorts of machinery. The things people do to poor defenseless lawn mowers...

I just untangled a whole heap of assery in a friend's vintage motorcycle. It had carburetor issues on a trip, and a "helpful" local disassembled the carbs, mangled the floats, installed some random carb needle on one side, lost some o-rings, mangled others, and generally made a complete hash of the whole thing.

 

[ChefRex]

I've picked many a curbside gem.

 

[38Chevy454]

Good job OP PoorUB. Those small 3-6 hp engines are pretty hard to kill. Most times if they have compression, they can be made to run with a small amount of time cleaning the carb, adjusting things if needed, and some preventative maintenance. Running out of or too low oil will kill them though.

It's kind of satisfying to get one running and save the landfill. Plus you can get a good piece of equipment for near free cost.

 

[niget2002]

I have an edger that I still need to tear in to. Picked it up at a garage sale for $20. Brought it home and got it to run just enough to use it a little. Then it sat over winter.

My bet is the carb just needs to be rebuilt and cleaned out of varnish. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[nadogail]

Well, I agree. But my point was the problems with this engine were caused by the "mechanic".

In many fields of endeavor, there are good ones and others. The problem is finding out who the good ones are.

 

[PoorUB]

Good job OP PoorUB. Those small 3-6 hp engines are pretty hard to kill. Most times if they have compression, they can be made to run with a small amount of time cleaning the carb, adjusting things if needed, and some preventative maintenance. Running out of or too low oil will kill them though.

It's kind of satisfying to get one running and save the landfill. Plus you can get a good piece of equipment for near free cost.

Years ago I had a small engine shop, but I closed it be cause I liked to eat every day! Tough market in my area. I had the largest shop in the area and did well in the summer, only to take the profits and use them to pay rent in the winter.
I seriously tried to figure out how to keep it open just six months out of the year, then work somewhere else in the off months.
I did learn to fix small engines in my sleep.