2 Stroke Woes

[spartyon8]

As I am getting lawn equipment ready to be put away and also pulling blowers out for the leaves, I have come to the realization that I hate gas lawn equipment. Put a new carb on the blower this spring. Used it sporadically the last month due to lack of rain/cutting grass. Went to fire it up for leaf duty and the thing won’t stay running. Had to take the carb off and clean again. Then I went to use my mulching push mower that doesn’t see regular duty but in the fall, I cannot get that thing to start and it has new everything. I am getting really tired of doing this stuff every year. Seams like stabil and gas treatments don't do diddly anymore. Btw, I don't have an ethanol free option close to home for those of you going to recommend it. 
 

I told the wife we are calling the neighbor who takes metal scraps to pick it all up. Then we will pay out the nose for cordless stuff. I am done with it. 

[jbsoonerfan]

I had the same problems till I bought Stihl equipment.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I had the same problems till I bought Stihl equipment.

Briggs and Stratton - my lawn-mower is going on 5 years with very little maintenance.

[spartyon8]

My mulcher is a Briggs. 

[DanielG]

Fewer engines around the better, but sometimes you have no choice.

Walk behind lawn mowers are motors with a cowling and a blade. One is about the same as another. I always look for a Briggs or Tecumseh engine. Simple and easy to clean/work on. I had a honda power washer for a few  years. When the carburetor started acting up I took it apart and counted 43, very precision parts to it. It took all day and when I got it back together I held my breath. Beautifully made, but over engineered. My other engines are much simpler.

 

Craftsman lawnmower.... inexpensive, simple. Always starts. 8 yrs old now.

Ariens snowblower 10 hp. 17 yrs old. Starts 2nd pull. Plugs and oil. That's it. Maine winters.

 

Millennial relative with solar on the house has a new Lithium battery mower. I have to admit it's pretty nice. Starts easy too. ?

[12poundbass]

My stepdad is retired and works part time at a hardware store. They do small engine repair (he does heavy equipment) he said the ethanol is the main problem on the two stroke engines! Thankfully almost every gas station with in a 10 mile radius has “rec fuel” as we call it. 

[jimmyjoe]

   Try some Trufuel in 2-stroke formulation. I'd bet your troubles will be gone.     jj

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I had the same problems till I bought Stihl equipment.

Yup~

A-Jay

[gim]

Those seasonally used 2 stroke engines are notorious for failing. 4 strokes with ethanol free fuel is the way to go now. Less problems, better reliability.

[slonezp]

Premix fuel in a can available at your local big box store. Costs more than mixing it yourself but it won't foul your carbs.

[livin2fish]

I am fortunate to have ethanol free fuel available.  However, the two strokes get Stabil treated gas before freezing temperatures set in, and are run enough to get the treated gas through the carburetor.  During the winter, every couple of months, they (mower, 2 weed whackers, two chain saws) are started and run for a few minutes to keep them from gumming up.  This has worked for me.  Being in NC, the 2 stroke Yamaha outboard is used several times per month and kept in a heated garage.  No problem there. 

[spartyon8]

10 hours ago, slonezp said:

Premix fuel in a can available at your local big box store. Costs more than mixing it yourself but it won't foul your carbs.

I used that in my blower last time it was used. I only use that in my chainsaw as I felt it would help given that it isn't used as often. I am having second thoughts now that the blower was acting up after using this stuff. 

[MN Fisher]

All I do with my B&S mulching mower is run it out of gas in the fall before storing it for the winter. In the spring, top off the oil reservoir, fill the tank and go.

[NHBull]

Easy fix!

Put an In line shut off valve on the gas line (3.00).

Don't ever shut the engine off with the switch, use the gas valve.

[TnRiver46]

We have pure gas almost everywhere now. Thank god 

[gim]

9 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

All I do with my B&S mulching mower is run it out of gas in the fall before storing it for the winter. In the spring, top off the oil reservoir, fill the tank and go.

 

I do this too after all the leaves get mulched up. I think the main issue is with these other small engines like chainsaws, trimmers, pressure washers, etc that get used very sporadically. I run my snow blower twice a summer for a few minutes to get some gas flowing through it too. When a foot of snow comes, I need that thing to start.