DFB's Gardening Thread

[Balr14]

I have a lot of Milwaukee tools. Their headquarters are about 2 miles from my house, in a suburb of Milwaukee. The place has grown in size to about 4 times the size it was 10 years ago. Some family members work there. They make good stuff.

You must use that hedge trimmer a lot. I have two that are at least 25 years old that are still sharp. They are Craftsman and Black and Decker, from back in the days when they made good tools.

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[DFB5.0]

I have a lot of Milwaukee tools. Their headquarters are about 2 miles from my house, in a suburb of Milwaukee. The place has grown in size to about 4 times the size it was 10 years ago. Some family members work there. They make good stuff.

You must use that hedge trimmer a lot. I have two that are at least 25 years old that are still sharp. They are Craftsman and Black and Decker, from back in the days when they made good tools.

Yes, that hedger has done a fair bit of work. I really like it, very light and suits the sort of work I do.

You are correct in things not being made to last anymore. And that's not me being an old man about things. I gets a bit old buy supposedly "commercial grade" tools that have had cost and quality stripped out of them to keep the cost down. In my opinion, just build it and price it properly, people who are shopping top end gear will pay for it. Replacing tools or having them break down gets old real quick.

 

[DFB5.0]

Dragged the Victa MasterCut out of the shed and slashed down a couple of weeks growth on my back lawn.

This is a commercial side throw mower aimed at local councils where catching is not important. It's incredibly light and maneuverable, while also being surprisingly well made. This example is one of the last 2-stroke powered Victa's, the "Powertorque" engine being 160cc in capacity and is revered by those who know the virtues of a 2-stroke mower. Where even the stoutest 4-stroke engine will bog down, a 2-stroke Victa will simply knuckle down and power through it...................accompanied by a huge cloud of 2-stroke smoke! I say that it's one of the last because emission rules banned the sale of larger 2-stroke engines, forcing Victa to phase them out. Never mind digging up half the earth mining lithium for battery powered mowers.

I have four Victa 2-strokes, three of which I regularly use. These mowers are pretty thirsty, so I don't use them as often as I would like. However, if I know I have an excessively tall or wet lawn to cut, I know that I can rely on one of these 2-strokes to get the job done.

The fourth 2-stroke that doesn't see use if my grandfather's old green Victa Mustang. (Victa had a habit of naming their mowers after cars, both Ford and GM. I think quite appropriately, the top end models were named Mustang, the lower grade models were called Corvette's. ) This mower I will restore one day, I don't feel comfortable using it regularly despite it running strong when I put it away. These older Victa's had full-crank engines in 125cc or 160cc, Mustang's using the larger of the two. These full-crank engines would rev to the moon and back, smashing anything in their path! One day, it will be rebuilt and restored to it former glory. It is this mower that made me fall in love with 2-stroke Victa's.

Side note, Australia's largely use a catcher when mowing lawns, mulching is not understood by Aussies, mainly because we tend to cut lawns much lower, not really conducive to efficient mulching.

 

[DFB5.0]

This is evidence as to why you should not pi.s off your commercial customers.......................

There is over $200 of parts sitting on the bench right there, $200 spent at an online retailer from the comfort of my living room and delivered within two business days. No sitting in traffic to get to the store. No finding a park. No waiting to be served. No dealing with a smelly fat man with no retail experience or a smarmy woman with an attitude problem. And that's just a fraction of my yearly parts and machine expenditure.

There is a bigger story to tell behind all of that, needless to say if you own a retail business, you can't treat your customers like idiots and have the gall to charge them for it too. I am happy to pay for a service, it costs what it costs and if it saves me time that could be better spent elsewhere, then so be it. But, if the job is done half-assed, leaving me to finish the job or correct the work that was done, then you have to expect your customer to get annoyed. This business recently changed ownership, so I can forgive them for not knowing that I have bought 7 lawn mowers and countless other parts and repairs jobs there over the years. Their loss, I now take my purchasing elsewhere.

We are all told support small business and shop locally. I'm all for that, but it has to work both ways! Not "I'll gladly take your money and treat you like an idiot in return". I will support local, but I expect to be supported in return.

Interesting to note that this store is having a "massive sale this Friday and Saturday"....................from what I have been told by other customers, and the previous owner, things are not going well for them.

 

[DFB5.0]

Updating this thread with a couple of projects I have done lately, the first being a rejuvenation of this late 80's Stihl 028 AV Super chainsaw.

This project has also been on the cards for a while too after I was given this saw by a Neighbour recently. This saw has a somewhat emotional attachment, we once went firewood collecting with this Neighbour's husband, this saw was the workhorse and I looked at it with lustful eyes.

After he died, the saw was taken out of its locked cabinet and left hanging on a hook in the open garage. Due to a spate of crime in the street recently, I mentioned it would probably be a good idea to put the saw in a safer place. She then offered it to me, mentioning that it was not something she could ever use. Not wanting the thing stolen or given to someone who wouldn't give it a second chance like I would had me nodding instantly. Not that I needed another chainsaw, having three already including a brand-new MS 271, a refurbished 009L and a battery powered MSA 140C.

From what I can gather, this Stihl 028 AV Super was made in the late 80's, so almost as old as I am. The AV designation stands for Anti-Vibration, Super is in reference to the larger 51.5cc engine this model has over the regular 47cc 028. It has not run in many years; the fuel lines are perished and overall, it's absolutely filthy. Smells bad too.

The plan was to clean it as much as I possibly could, allowing either me or the local Stihl dealer to sort out the mechanical problems. For context, this is what I was starting with..........

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I had planned this all out in advance, having a generous supply of cleaning chemicals and solvents, parts trays and drop sheets all ready to go.

I also decided to try out a product I bought with no particular use in mind, Bilt Hamber Surfex.............see, there is a small link to car detailing.

https://detailingshed.com.au/produc...and-degreaser-apc?_pos=1&_sid=8124cc090&_ss=r

Bilt Hmaber Surfex is a water based heavy duty all-purpose-cleaner and degreaser. It's extremely concentrated and can be diluted right down to 0.5% or used at 100% for heavy duty applications. In my case, I cut it at 1:1 in an old spray bottle, it's ability here was stunning, more on that later.

Despite there being 35+ years difference between my new MS 271 and this 028, it's amazing how similar they are in overall layout. These are very simple to strip down, in this case I started by removing the sprocket cover, bar and chain. The bar and chain will be replaced, but I washed them anyway.

Removal of the orange top covers, the recoil, chain brake, handle and finally the outer muffler cover followed. Each set of components had it's own tray, keeping everything organized. As each part was removed, I soaked them down with Surfex and left till later.

The muffler is a two-piece design, the drilled outer cover was removed and cleaned with Surfex and a wire brush. Surprisingly, the removable spark arrestor screen was clean and clear.

This is as far as I stripped it down. I could have gone further in removing the dogs, the primary section of the muffler, the flywheel and clutch cover but felt this was enough.

I then started working through each parts tray, starting with the handle which I cleaned, wiped with IPA and then touched up some of the black paint that had long worn away.

Each set of components were further doused with Surfex, scrubbed with an old detailing brush and rinsed with the hose. As mentioned earlier, the Surfex worked wonders here, dissolving most of the dirt, oil and sawdust with ease. If you do stuff like this yourself, using Surfex is certainly a nicer thing to use compared to more harsh solvents.

Having said that, some parts needed more persuasion with degreaser and some scraping. The recoil cover was the worst, the myriad of vent holes all caked in oil and dirt which necessitated several rounds of degreaser, agitation and rinsing to get presentable. I also needed compressed air here too.

Finally, the part I was dreading, the body of the saw.

There is no other way of putting it, but this was not a pleasant job. I had oil, dirt and grease all over myself. I used compressed air to blast away as much as I could, followed by several rounds of Surfex, brushing and rinsing. I then used compressed air to blast away as much water and any remaining chunks of gunk.

Back on my fabulous work bench, the tray of my Ranger, ready for a final wipe over and reassembly. Granted, some of this will be removed again when the mechanical work starts, at least it will be more pleasant to work on being clean.

Before we get to the finished result, this is how it looked in my Neighbours garage a couple of months ago...............

And now the results................

I have decided to leave the mechanical work to the local Stihl dealer. The carby will need rebuilding and the fuel system overhauled, the fuel lines crumbled as I cleaned the air box. It needs a new air cleaner as the material has broken down. I also want them to check the oiling system and will have them supply and install a new spark plug, bar and chain. The old, mangled bar cover went straight in the bin, I have a brand-new replacement waiting for it.

I'm super happy with how it came up, certainly well used but a complete transformation compared to what I started with. A brand-new bar will make a big difference too.

 

[DFB5.0]

When I was cleaning the 028, the Surfex removed the remaining orange colouring on the recoil cover badge. These painted aluminum badges have a habit of doing this, so I'm not entirely surprised or concerned.

It does however look a little naked without the orange colouring, so I managed to track down a new-old-stock replacement, which I will install once I get the saw back from the Stihl dealer.

There are a couple of versions of these badges, some say "Made in America", some say "Made in Germany" and some have nothing other than "STIHL". The original on mine only had the "STIHL" lettering, however I could only find the "Made in Germany" version.

Either way, just a little detail that will put a finishing touch on this project.

I may also touch up the black STIHL lettering on the sprocket cover, again the lack of colour contrast looks out of place.

 

[DFB5.0]

This was one of those "one day" jobs. And since I not only burnt the bridge leading to my usual small engine repair workshop, but I also blew it up with several grenades, I have to do these jobs myself now. (They deserved it by the way, I don't tolerate fools gladly)

Not that I'm complaining, because this is a labor of love with this machine. This mower got me started as a young teenager mowing lawns that would later grow into a professional business. I landed a job mowing lawns for one the richest families in the country with this machine and I practically run the thing into the ground over a number of years. These days, it sits in the garden shed for sentimental reasons, coming out occasionally to mow my own lawns. It really needs a new set of rings, it visibly burns oil and the chassis has been patched back together in a few key places. But I don't care, it's not going anywhere. The rings will have to wait for another day, it clears up as the engine warms up. The carby though had been showing signs of it needing attention sooner rather than later.

I'm not going to lie, I was a touch daunted by this project. These 3.5 - 4.0 hp Briggs & Stratton engines are fitted with a diaphragm type carburetor, and have done so from the earliest beginnings of this engine design, right up until they discontinued them in the mid 2010's. Over time, the thin plastic diaphragm loses it's ability to pulsate fuel up into the carburetor, causing a variety of issues including hard starting, rev surge and reduced performance. Mine was showing the beginnings of trouble, it started just fine but would occasionally stumble and then surge. The fact that it lasted over 22 years without issue astounds me. So, with time on my hands, I wanted to learn how to replace this part myself.

This job required some forward planning in terms of ordering the correct parts ahead of time. Again, that burnt bridge meant I couldn't just go and get them from the dealer. In this case, I ordered the diaphragm and gasket set, along with a new set of governor springs, more on that later. I also wanted to replace the primer bulb, but to be honest, it was working just so I decided to just leave that alone.

These engines are incredibly simple to work on, all the bolts have easy access and really, a few simple tools are all you need to do pretty much everything on them. Having said that, I'm loving the access to a full set of tools working on these machines, it just makes everything flow so much easier. Investing in a tool set was something I wish I had done a long time ago, having everything in the one spot and ready to grab and go is priceless.

First step, remove the air cleaner. Again, this is a part that was largely unchanged in 50 years they made these engines, mine being made from steel rather the later plastic ones. (Side note - this Sprint 375 was made in the USA before they moved production to China. The side-valve Briggs were cheap engines made cheaply, the Chinese made ones are even cheaper made with thinner castings and more plastic.)

This is what 22 years worth of hard work looks like. I'll never live it down!

With the air cleaner housing out of the way, remove the throttle cable from linkage, remove the cable bracket and then remove the two bolts holding the fuel tank to the engine. Again, another design that stayed the same all the way through production, this steel tank will fit on an older engine no problem and vice versa.

The next step is a bit of a wrangle, you need to gently wiggle the carb off the intake manifold and breather tube while unhooking the governor linkage attached to the throttle plate. Make sure to then remove the intake washer and gromet for safe keeping. No pics of this step, it's kinda a two-handed job not conductive to holding a camera.

Tank removed. The reason for removing the whole tank from the engine is it permits proper access to the bolts holding the carb to the tank and improves the re-installation of the new gaskets. You really can't do this job with the tank installed.

I also chose to remove the pressed tin recoil cover, the later Chinese engines had a plastic shroud covering this part, necessitating the removal of two parts rather than one. I suspect this was as much about making the engine look more modern than it really was.

I removed this cover to inspect the cylinder fins as well as making sure the intake manifold was correctly secured to the intake port, these engines have a habit of backing the bolts out over time. Mine was fine.

It was then time for some more cleaning, and I have to say, I was a little sick of messing about with yukky oil covered parts by now. :conf

First step was to remove the carb from the tank.

I then drained the fuel from the tank. As you can see, she was a bit grotty in there, necessitating a flush out a few times.

I then cleaned the carb and tank as thoroughly as I could, using lashing of carb cleaner along the way. This was the first time I had used such a product, and yes, it's good stuff. I also removed and cleaned the metal pickup screen, likewise the return tube as it was partially blocked. Other ancillary parts including the breather tube and carb bolts were also cleaned during this step.

This was the state of the old diaphragm, with the gasket fused to it over time. Certainly not terrible, it was still somewhat pliable, but I could see where it was starting to wear.

This is the part I was dreading, putting the new parts on the tank and aligning the carb and screws altogether.................but I aced it first go!

Important to note that the diaphragm goes on first, the gasket sitting on top sandwiching the diaphragm between the tank, gasket and carb. Locate the screws loosely at first and then work diagonally to torque them down, helping to prevent warping of the plastic carby.

Next, I used compressed air to roughly remove the build up of oil and dirt from the engine overall, plugging up the intake manifold for safety. I then decided to install the new governor springs.

These springs control the speed of the engine, more to the point, they prevent it from revving too hard and therefore preventing a thrown rod. Over time, these springs lose tension and actually prevent the engine from running at the permitted full speed. Replacement while I was in there seemed like a good idea. While I took photos of the correct placement, I just replaced each spring one at a time so that I could keep track of what went where. In this case, I simply cut the old springs off and looped the new ones in.

It was then time for the recoil cover to be reinstalled, followed by the carb and tank which is again a process of wrangling the tank back into place, hooking up the governor linkage and pushing the carb onto the intake tube. Be sure to have reinstalled the intake o-ring and grommet like this little black duck forgot to do! Reinstall the breather tube and air filter now as well.

I then reinstalled the throttle linkages. I actually had to make an adjustment to fix a long-term issue with the kill switch, the cable not pushing the throttle plate forward enough to make contact with the switch. Another little issue finally fixed!

With the engine all back together, it was time to fill the tank with fresh fuel and fire it up. A few pushes of the primer and two pulls on the rope and the engine burst into life. The smile on my face was epic at this point, I DID IT!!

With the new diaphragm and governor springs, the engine was running STRONG, a little too strong to be fair. So, off with the air cleaner again and few small adjustments to the governor tab with needle nosed pliers, bringing the engine speed down to a more appropriate level, verified with my new digital tachometer.

Once warmed up, I then changed the oil. I typically use Penrite Small Engine Synthetic 10W-30 in my 4-stokes, however I consciously stick with SAE30 for this aging engine. This is a monograde mineral oil that has been used for decades by Briggs, probably specified to account for their wide tolerances.

One last mechanical thing to take care of was re-torquing the head bolts to 13.75 ft lbs, the ones on the exhaust side of the engine have a habit of backing out over time.

A quick clean and lashings of Meguiar's Hyper Dressing and the old Victa is looking and running much better. (See, there is a detailing link here! )

The worst part of this job, like the chainsaw, was the cleaning. It's a messy, smelly job that just sucks. But the satisfaction of putting clean, new parts back onto the engine was very rewarding, and having it fire up and run like new was even better. Not to mention acing a job I had been frightened of doing myself!

 

[Tinpot]

Do you sleep ?

 

[DFB5.0]

Do you sleep ?

Sleep? What's this strange thing you speak of?

 

[Balr14]

I am fortunate to have a hardware store only about 2 miles away that provides excellent service and repairs. They are more expensive than the big box stores, but considerably more helpful. If you ask them a question you can be pretty sure the answer will be reliable.

 

[DFB5.0]

I am fortunate to have a hardware store only about 2 miles away that provides excellent service and repairs. They are more expensive than the big box stores, but considerably more helpful. If you ask them a question you can be pretty sure the answer will be reliable.

The previous owners of this particular shop were good, they knew I meant business and were my go-to for repairs, parts and new machines. The new owners are in over their heads and have absolutely no idea about customer service. Everyone makes mistakes, it's how you deal with them that matters.

 

[DFB5.0]

Considering I am now my own small engine mechanic, I decided to look the part.........................

 

[Balr14]

Briggs and Stratton HQ is located just a few miles from me. They used to have a huge manufacturing plant here, but it is pretty much gone and most manufacturing is scattered around the world in cheaper markets. I'm surprised they are still around. They acquired too many questionable brands over the years and accumulated massive debt load. They went bankrupt in 2020 and a private equity firm bought them out. I hope they last, because I have a lot of equipment that uses their engines. But, I'm not optimistic.

 

[DFB5.0]

Briggs and Stratton HQ is located just a few miles from me. They used to have a huge manufacturing plant here, but it is pretty much gone and most manufacturing is scattered around the world in cheaper markets. I'm surprised they are still around. They acquired too many questionable brands over the years and accumulated massive debt load. They went bankrupt in 2020 and a private equity firm bought them out. I hope they last, because I have a lot of equipment that uses their engines. But, I'm not optimistic.

I was aware of them buying into brands but didn't know that had gone bankrupt. In the late 2000's, one of those brands was Victa in Australia. I would not call Victa "questionable", rather that Briggs wanted to reduce competition and sure up a theoretical guaranteed engine supply channel. In the following years until present, they have made some very questionable product decisions, which I think is a shame for such a well-respected brand, and I mean that in terms of Briggs and Stratton and Victa.

The last few Briggs and Stratton engines I have bought over the last few years have had the "Engine Made in the USA of US and global parts" sticker on them. I read this to mean the parts are made in China and the engine assembled in the USA.

From memory, this started to happen in the late 2000's as well, I have one of the last American made 148cc side valve engines -

The Chinese made side-valve engines in 148, 158 and 190cc capacity can be identified by horizontal ribs cast into the block, not to mention plastic air filter and engine covers. These engines were made cheap and nasty.

Briggs and Stratton are not alone in doing this, trading on a brand name and manufacturing their products in China. The most egregious is the hugely overpriced Honda GXV160 engine, made in China.........................

Same go's for Kohler. While it has all the "features", I have never had a more cheaply made engine.

 

[DFB5.0]

I have been consuming their content like crazy lately, it really shouldn't make me laugh but it certainly does.

(56) Taryl Fixes All - YouTube

I just had to get some of these........................

I don't know that I'll be rebranding my Briggs engines, I love them too much for that. But I think the Krohler name deserves to be applied over the top of the Kohlers I have the displeasure of owning or using.

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