The land maintenance, non-chainsaw thread

I’ve got a 13 yr old walk behind mower, 7.5hp, 21” cut, troy built (I think) with a Briggs and Stratton. Based on my quick math I figure this mower had about 375-400 hrs on it.

Have cut once this season with no issues, but it probabaly did have some old gas in it. today I couldn’t get mower to turn over and fire. Checked spark plug, new gas, checked fuel lines, air filter. When I pull the cord the flywheel just feels a little rough and just isn’t quite smooth, and engine ran a bit rough last summer it seems. Could I have done something by running an hour or so last week with old gas (that had been treated with marine stabil?)

So do I try and figure this out, take it to a small engine repair or feel good about getting 13 yrs out of it and get a new mower?

Fix it! Either on your own or with (paid) help.

Old gas could leave water or gook in the carb if you didn't run it dry before you put it to bed. Old gas wouldn't cause engine issues. Youtube for carb cleaning how tos. Start shopping electric.

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Originally Posted by present tense

I’ve got a 13 yr old walk behind mower, 7.5hp, 21” cut, troy built (I think) with a Briggs and Stratton. Based on my quick math I figure this mower had about 375-400 hrs on it.

Have cut once this season with no issues, but it probabaly did have some old gas in it. today I couldn’t get mower to turn over and fire. Checked spark plug, new gas, checked fuel lines, air filter. When I pull the cord the flywheel just feels a little rough and just isn’t quite smooth, and engine ran a bit rough last summer it seems. Could I have done something by running an hour or so last week with old gas (that had been treated with marine stabil?)

So do I try and figure this out, take it to a small engine repair or feel good about getting 13 yrs out of it and get a new mower?

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IMO when Briggs go bad, it's pretty catastrophic. The only reason I'd get rid of it is if it was burning oil and you would know if it was burning oil. Otherwise, I'd pull the plug and see if you're getting spark by grounding the plug body, not the electrode, to the engine block and pulling the recoil. Otherwise, it's probably fuel related. The carbs are pretty easy to clean or rebuild, and if you're not so inclined, you can usually get a knock off from Amazon for around $20-$30. I doubt it's air related, but you might check the throttle linkage to make sure it's activating the choke, if equipped, I've knocked mine out of alignment putting and pulling out of storage.

Torn it down this afternoon, new spark plug, cleaned carb pretty good. Seems like something on linkage isn’t working right. Carb never opens when I crank it unless you force linkage open, even forced open it won’t fire off. During all this troubleshooting also noticed a decent drip of oil coming from side of engine opposite carb. No clue where from.

WWMD?

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Originally Posted by shroom

WWMD?

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Burn it?

Beefy chipper > garden mulch

We have 5 acres and I have burned, chipped and hauled. My experience:

Chipping DYI - not worth it. We can rent a professional chipper that will take up to 8" but it is time consuming to process. You need to gather all the material and also make sure it is all laid out in the same direction to easily load into the chipper, if it is all in a random pile it takes forever to process. Also left with giant piles of chips.

Chipping Professional - worth it if you have a ton of material. We paid a logging company who came in w/ a large tracked chipper (12" capacity or so) with a winch and they could pull entire trees into the chipper from far away. Also, had a truck that hauled away the chips.

Burning - Still have to gather material into piles but it is relaxing to feed the fire, just takes forever, like all day and then you still have a pile of embers that smolder overnight which is somewhat stressful. Also, burn piles don't burn well w/ a ton of leaves and duff which is what I have now. Never burn if there is forecasted wind!

Hauling - this is my go to mode now. I used to have a 5X8 landscape trailer and would manually load/unload but just upgraded to a 5X8 dump trailer and it is money. The best part is I have a place 10 min away that will take a full trailer of debris for $10, they grind it up into various size material to resell. I can do 3 trailer loads in 3-4 hours vs. maybe burning 1.5 to 2 trailer loads in an 8 hour day; we can only have 2 burn piles going at one time.

I’d probably haul away (or chip) the bigger branches and broadcast burn the rest. Most of that smaller material looks like good fuel for a low intensity backing fire (light at the top of the hill). Scrap containment lines down to mineral soil. Scrap around stumps and downed logs down to mineral soil to exclude them from the burn. Consider pulling back material from living trees or scraping down to mineral soil around living plants. Depending on size of your “unit” and number of helpers, consider breaking it up into several units with containment lines. After the fire has moved through, gather the sticks (aka bones) that didn’t fully burn and make small piles in the burn unit and light them up. Do some research and look into local prescribed burn association groups that may have resources/information or can help. Be conservative in your decisions.

Is this an AZ thing? The ethanol-free 87 octane was 60 cent more per gallon over the ethanol-ed unleaded
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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

I’d probably haul away (or chip) the bigger branches and broadcast burn the rest. Most of that smaller material looks like good fuel for a low intensity backing fire (light at the top of the hill). Scrap containment lines down to mineral soil. Scrap around stumps and downed logs down to mineral soil to exclude them from the burn. Consider pulling back material from living trees or scraping down to mineral soil around living plants. Depending on size of your “unit” and number of helpers, consider breaking it up into several units with containment lines. After the fire has moved through, gather the sticks (aka bones) that didn’t fully burn and make small piles in the burn unit and light them up. Do some research and look into local prescribed burn association groups that may have resources/information or can help. Be conservative in your decisions.

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All good stuff. Especially getting help and working on smaller units of burn at one time.

Here’s the stuff presented to the public in BC. https://blog.gov.bc.ca/bcwildfire/op...TKX8NyXbmbFOak
I’m sure your local forestry service also has useful info on rec and mandatories in burning in your location.

appreciate the insights. FWIW I have about an acre that needs attention, most of it sloping as shown. i’ve stared at chippers for a year while I was slashing and chopping (was super overgrown/neglected) but it’s time to do some reading into local prescribed burn groups. thanks again for the thoughts.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

I’d probably haul away (or chip) the bigger branches and broadcast burn the rest. Most of that smaller material looks like good fuel for a low intensity backing fire (light at the top of the hill). Scrap containment lines down to mineral soil. Scrap around stumps and downed logs down to mineral soil to exclude them from the burn. Consider pulling back material from living trees or scraping down to mineral soil around living plants. Depending on size of your “unit” and number of helpers, consider breaking it up into several units with containment lines. After the fire has moved through, gather the sticks (aka bones) that didn’t fully burn and make small piles in the burn unit and light them up. Do some research and look into local prescribed burn association groups that may have resources/information or can help. Be conservative in your decisions.

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A whole bunch of fuel mitigation on the road up to HBM all done by the FN

and don't tell the women about the size of my unit

Here’s the PBA resource for California: https://calpba.org/

This looks to be the similar resource for WA: http://waprescribedfire.org/

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Is this an AZ thing? The ethanol-free 87 octane was 60 cent more per gallon over the ethanol-ed unleaded
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Ethanol free gas here in Maine at some gas stations in last couple of years, but it is 91 octane. Happy to pay the extra for the small engines.

^^^ This

I just buy av fuel at my local airport. It’s cheaper than the stuff in my photo and has no ethanol. Can’t get the non ethanol RUG in California as far as I know. Nice thing about that nonethanol RUG, is you can use it legally in carburetored vehicles. You’re not supposed to do that with av fuel (it’s leaded) unless it’s an airplane

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Originally Posted by cat in january

Ethanol free gas here in Maine at some gas stations in last couple of years, but it is 91 octane. Happy to pay the extra for the small engines.

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Ya, 91 octane here in VT too. Because it comes from the same hose as the other flavors, I run a gallon or two into my car before I fill the gas can. That's been covered here before.

Pullin em out
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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Is this an AZ thing? The ethanol-free 87 octane was 60 cent more per gallon over the ethanol-ed unleaded
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I've only ever seen 94 octane or so in CA sold as race fuel for the desert OHV crowd. 87 would have been nice for my carbed motos. New one is fuel injected so I can put regular 87 in it without issues.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Pullin em out
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I pretty much hate pulling t-stakes, had to do it a lot when I worked at the ski area. But it’s fairly easy when the ground’s soft, I guess. Just watch the handle, don’t stand with your face over it.

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Originally Posted by evdog

I've only ever seen 94 octane or so in CA sold as race fuel for the desert OHV crowd. 87 would have been nice for my carbed motos. New one is fuel injected so I can put regular 87 in it without issues.

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One of the small engine repair shops in town sells racing fuel in one gallon and 5 gallon jugs. I’m pretty sure it’s leaded and super expensive (over $10/gallon last time I was there in the summer). The same shop recommends buying AV Fuel at the local airport as a cheaper alternative for small engines.

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Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

I pretty much hate pulling t-stakes, had to do it a lot when I worked at the ski area. But it’s fairly easy when the ground’s soft, I guess. Just watch the handle, don’t stand with your face over it.

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It’s not too tough to just pull right now, but our clay is a pita. This time of year, the t-stakes will pull out, but there’ll be an extra large chunk of clay attached. When the ground dries more, it’s super hard to pull em w/o some mechanical help. The t-stake tool with the farm jack has been a great combo for me, but gotta pay attention as you said!

We’re starting the process of relocating our veggie garden. The t-stake getting removed was part of the fencing of the old garden. The utility took out some trees as a result of their new “advanced vegetation management” policy, which opened up a new space for us for growing. We burned the area for the new garden a few weeks ago as step one to remove some blackberries and clear the ground. Some blackberry is already re-sprouting - GRRR!
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Last broadcast burn until the fall. We got the last “wilder” spot of on our property to burn that won’t take a chunk of time processing logs or debris prior to ignition.

The Calfire’s new online broadcast burn permit process is very simple. From opening the webpage, to completing the form and a basic burn plan, to the brief interview with a Calfire chief, I had a (LE-7) permit in about 3 hrs. The chief told me that most of their staff do small one- or two-people broadcast burns on their properties for fuels reduction and ecosystem stuff just like we’ve been doing. The affirmation felt good.

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Permits are suspended on Monday. It’s too bad. At my place, grasses are still very green and not carrying ground fire well.

Now it’s back to gathering slash, weed whacking, and processing felled trees.

^ Nice.