The great lawn mower rip off.........

[Boggert]

I have a Briggs and stratton powered mower, single speed thing but has always done the job... I got it new about 4 years ago for £100.

Well after 4 years it sounded a bit rough so its service time... after a few calls the cheapest was £75! + £5 for a new carb diaphram!

Well the air filter is made of sponge so it cleaned like new dispite being covered in oil.
The plug was fine and I had a pot of lawn mower oil.

Cost so far £0.00!  :lol:

Ebay supplied the carb diaphram for £3.50 and the rest was a matter of a spanner and a screwdriver.

It took all of 45 mins to get it running like new!

So how the hell do the justify £75 for a service!

[Mudlark]

Well the air filter is made of sponge so it cleaned like new dispite being covered in oil.

Did you re-oil the air filter?

[Bishops Finger]

Supply and demand...

Most folk just buy £ 30 disposable electric mowers..not much demand for people who service proper mowers... :roll:

[hairyasswelder]

You can buy a 0.6l oil for a couple of quid or B&Q were selling the service kit for a fiver (spark plug missing) in the reduced section  8)
3.5 B&S engine

Steve

[Boggert]

Well the air filter is made of sponge so it cleaned like new dispite being covered in oil.

Did you re-oil the air filter?

Wasn't sure I needed to... It was soaked in oil... Is that suppose to be normal? Well I have lots of oil if I need to... LOL

[Mudlark]

Well the air filter is made of sponge so it cleaned like new dispite being covered in oil.

Did you re-oil the air filter?

Wasn't sure I needed to... It was soaked in oil... Is that suppose to be normal? Well I have lots of oil if I need to... LOL

As far as I remember the answer is yes, the sponge is normally left to soak up oil overnight.

Must be some motorbike boys on here that could give you the gen on it as they did it at one time as well - It's a long time since I did that  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[muddydisco]

The air filter runs dry from the service book. If it soaked in oil it will smoke light a train. Also it says keep the lawn mower level so you don't flood the filter with oil

[Boggert]

The air filter runs dry from the service book. If it soaked in oil it will smoke light a train

Yep thats what I thought, Its running very well at the moment with out the oil.

Very strange!!

[Disco-Ron]

I have a 3 year old Briggs and stratton powered mower, single speed thing but has always done the job... I got it new about 4 years ago for £100.

Eh??

Surely if you bought it 'NEW' four years ago, it must be four years old??

Not THREE!!!!!

[Boggert]

I have a 3 year old Briggs and stratton powered mower, single speed thing but has always done the job... I got it new about 4 years ago for £100.

Eh??

Surely if you bought it 'NEW' four years ago, it must be four years old??

Not THREE!!!!!

Yep how quick of you, I guess its what we call a Typing error... whan I typed that I was at the end of an 8 day shift and I was having a bad day... It is 4 years old.

[beast5680]

the air filter sponge is normally soaked in a very light covering of oil not drenched in it mind! this allows it to help in collecting dust etc

[extreme90]

you only need to apply a smear of oil to the air filter if the engine is hunting (asif the fuel diaphram had gone altho it aint) cos its running lean, so you just need to richen it up abit  

as for cost seems steep, its around 50 quid at our place
but moaning about it....dont forget this....
.tax man having his share
.employee's having there bit
.overheads (rates)
.council having there bit

want the rest ??
buisnesses do need to charge this to stay afloat  :shock:

sorry for the rant but yano it makes me ache when i see people moaning about prices  :roll:
dan

[Boggert]

No probs, if they had said £50 I would have given it to them but £75 for a mower that cost £100 seemed a lot. Well at least i now know I can do it my self for next to nothing.

[extreme90]

ok...friends  :P
even so..if you own a landy....and can fix a landy....suerly you can fix a lawnmower, its the most basic engine you could possably work on  :shock:

i suppose this day and age though, stuff is that cheap, just run it into the ground then throw it in the bin when it dies and get another  :roll:
our mower up the caravan is 5 years old now, and aint even had a oil change yet  :lol:
infact..its more water than oil in it  :twisted:

and it still going  :shock:

pitty...i want a new one..but it still goes and cuts grass, so sod it  :lol:

dan

[Boggert]

ok...friends  :P
even so..if you own a landy....and can fix a landy....suerly you can fix a lawnmower, its the most basic engine you could possably work on  :shock:

i suppose this day and age though, stuff is that cheap, just run it into the ground then throw it in the bin when it dies and get another  :roll:
our mower up the caravan is 5 years old now, and aint even had a oil change yet  :lol:
infact..its more water than oil in it  :twisted:

and it still going  :shock:

pitty...i want a new one..but it still goes and cuts grass, so sod it  :lol:

dan

I don't own a landy, I have a Suzuki GV and it never goes wrong, so never fixed it! LOL
However even if i did try to fix it I would need a computer to tune her up. The mower is designed like most new cars not to be touched by anything other than a specialist, you have to remove half the plastic cover before you can get to anything... so I guess its shouts don't touch!! LOL
Anyway the good news is it won't be single speed soon as I figured the throttle linkage out and will be making some mods to it!  
Mods on a lawn mower... now there's a thing LOL

[JimsMowing]

the air filter sponge is normally soaked in a very light covering of oil not drenched in it mind! this allows it to help in collecting dust etc

Never seen this before. Im a gardener myself and service all my equipment. I've got a top spec honda 21" rotary and the air filter is BONE dry just like in a normal car air filter. If its oily it blocks the pores of the element and will make it run like a dog.

£75 is a lot of money to service a mower when you think a filter is £5 or £6, spark plug a couple of quid and oil £6/7? How long to do it all?? 15 / 20 mins?

Get your self a bench grinder and then yo ucan do your own blades and apart from consumables thats pretty much going to be your lot maintaining them.

[mike142sl]

My mower is about 9 years old now. I changed the oil after the first year and that's it and it's still going strong. As others have said servicing comprises of swaping a filter, a spark plug, and a bit of oil ? Probably because its so simple I forget to do it - or can't be bothered. It only runs for about 15 mins every two weeks so there is less likleyhood of showing problems if there are any.

Only thing I get done is blade sharpening as I did it once and the mower nearly shook itself to bits because the blade wasn't balanced.

£75 a bit steep, but if you can charge it and get paid it then good luck to them.

[Mudlark]

the air filter sponge is normally soaked in a very light covering of oil not drenched in it mind! this allows it to help in collecting dust etc

Never seen this before. Im a gardener myself and service all my equipment. I've got a top spec honda 21" rotary and the air filter is BONE dry just like in a normal car air filter. If its oily it blocks the pores of the element and will make it run like a dog.

Got me wondering if my memory was going so I did a search and this was one of the many results that came up on the topic.

Used a lot where there is a high amount of airborne dust as in dirt-biking, mowing lawns etc. (well at one time) :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[Evilgoat]

I don't own a landy, I have a Suzuki GV and it never goes wrong, so never fixed it! LOL
However even if i did try to fix it I would need a computer to tune her up. The mower is designed like most new cars not to be touched by anything other than a specialist, you have to remove half the plastic cover before you can get to anything... so I guess its shouts don't touch!! LOL
Anyway the good news is it won't be single speed soon as I figured the throttle linkage out and will be making some mods to it!  
Mods on a lawn mower... now there's a thing LOL

Errr

I Had a Suffolk Punch that revved up to 6000 and spat fire ;) Used two tuned like this on a kettacar based go-kart for my ex's son. Never did find its top speed. Engine life was short though

REALLY short

[Boggert]

I don't own a landy, I have a Suzuki GV and it never goes wrong, so never fixed it! LOL
However even if i did try to fix it I would need a computer to tune her up. The mower is designed like most new cars not to be touched by anything other than a specialist, you have to remove half the plastic cover before you can get to anything... so I guess its shouts don't touch!! LOL
Anyway the good news is it won't be single speed soon as I figured the throttle linkage out and will be making some mods to it!  
Mods on a lawn mower... now there's a thing LOL

Errr

I Had a Suffolk Punch that revved up to 6000 and spat fire ;) Used two tuned like this on a kettacar based go-kart for my ex's son. Never did find its top speed. Engine life was short though

REALLY short

This thing revvs like nuts, but I can see it blowing apart if I push it! :twisted:  So much of me wants to give it a try!

[DiscoJim]

Lawnmower air filters, there are 3 basic types, all foam, all paper and paper element with foam outer

In all cases the foam can be washed in water and detergent, squeezed dry and then coated in oil. You can either soak it in oil and then squeeze out the excess or 'massage' a tablespoon of oil into it. The same oil as the sump is normally used.

If the foam filter is a pre filter around a paper element and can be removed, it can be cleaned in the same way.

Paper elements can also be cleaned, use a low pressure air blower and blow from the inside out. They can also be washed in warm soapy water and then allowed to dry thoroughly before refitting, we used to do this on the tractors and combines where the air filters could be £100+, I think the manufacturers say you can wash the filters a maximum of 3 times.

Most people would not wash a car or mower filter because a replacement is so cheap.

[Evilgoat]

I Had a Suffolk Punch that revved up to 6000 and spat fire ;) Used two tuned like this on a kettacar based go-kart for my ex's son. Never did find its top speed. Engine life was short though

REALLY short

This thing revvs like nuts, but I can see it blowing apart if I push it! :twisted:  So much of me wants to give it a try!

Well tuning used to consist of

Changing the plug and advancing the magneto a bit, last 3 I did were coil ignition conversions. Sort the mixture out and give the piston, bor and head a good polish. Thinner oil and a steel band round the flywheel. After about 4 hours the exhaust valve is noticeably smaller :)