Kitchen Garden Forum

It's that time of again for me, will they or won't they start. Last year and all previous years there has been an unidentified problem that disappeared without a trace. We decided amongst us it fuel and or the process of draining which always left old fuel behind in the pipes and carburettor.

On the suggestion by Sally I have left last years fuel in the tanks of all machines but I did put fuel preservative into that fuel.

I'm ready to go, will they or won't they.

I've found that a severe talking to before the first pull on the cord and a threat of the scrapheap works wonders with naughty engines!
A whiff of Surestart or similar in the carb also helps.

John

All two strokes and four strokes, here, have roared into life, very relieved i must say.

Two I used today out of three two strokes I have started, one started reluctantly and was reluctant for some time but eventually cleared whatever was bothering it. The second machine needed the help of squirt-and-start, that was also reluctant until I removed the air-filter pad which was clagged-up with fuel-oil that had leaked during the storage period.

Such a relief after last years and other years problems.

Right then, on to the four strokes. Three to go at.

Its such a lovely-inspiring day, I'm tired and its only 1;30.

Both four stroke pedestrian mowers started first pull, just the ride-on and that big Kawasaki two stroke brushcutter to go but I'm brimming with confidence.

I even had a go at firing "Big Bertha" the howard gem, up. This was always a horrid job for the first start up of the year. But away she went, so it was well worth the money i spent last year having the magneto rebuilt.

I find a squrt of carburettor cleaner works wonders

After failing miserably to get our mower started last week for the first cut of the season, I had to wait until my husband returned home, when it started on the second pull of the chord for him! I couldn't even get it going using the ignition key.
My next door neighbour who lives on her own has the same problem and leaves hers in the sun for half an hour before attempting to start hers.
Somebody else told me that another good trick to get a mower going is to heat the air intake with a hair dryer which is a bit difficult unless you have a long extension lead. Having to get the mower started is always a problem for me, even after it's just been serviced

Hi Primrose.

Last years thread on this issue of particularly two strokes I suggested that black art was involved and whilst I have since proven to myself that I had done something wrong during the laying up process some engines do seem to like a tickle before they start.

Too much choke, or not quite enough choke. Then the amount of squirt on the fuel bulb together with the right amount of choke has be just right or it will not start. Taking time to learn what the machine wants is actually the black art I refer too.

Last year I spent some time with a local repair shop for mowers and suchlike, they could start anything but only after identifying something that had been ignored like blocked air filter or old fuel. Then there is the tiny fuel filter in the tank that needs replacing.

Having said all that there are those who have machines that do nothing to them other than use them and they always start first time, someone on this forum mentioned they had never serviced or done anything to their machine and it still starts.

Be nice to your machine, learn its requirements and it will probably start first time.

My two-stroke strimmer started on exactly the same pull as usual when I took it out of hibernation on Thursday. Trouble is, my son wanted to borrow it yesterday, meaning it needed more petrol in it and I couldn't for the life of me remember if the bit of petrol in my can (which has fuel preservative or whatever it's called in it!) has already had oil added to it or not! Based on the colour, son and I decided that it probably did, so he went ahead and used it as it was for a very quick job. There were no obvious problems, but I still can't help wondering ...!

The two stroke Multi-tool strimmer took a while to start - temporarily removing the filter seems to do the trick.

Surprisingly, the Honda Rotavator took four or five pulls -although I hadn't drained the carb.

So the Caliente Mustard has been strimmed down and rotavated in - we wait to see if the perennial clubroot issue is any better, in combination with the extra liming and Chicken Manure.

Santa_stunt_double wrote:Surprisingly, the Honda Rotavator took four or five pulls -although I hadn't drained the carb.

I had previously always drained the fuel and ran the machines dry but had massive starting problems. Last years thread on the subject suggested not to drain the machine, either drain the old fuel out and replace with new when you drag them back into life or as I did put fuel preservative into the last mix you do and leave that in the machine.

Six out of eight machines have now started without much of a problem, just the chainsaw and a blower to go.

Oh-yes, and, if you're slaphead like me I hope you remembered to wear a hat or put some factor 30 on your head today. Its bitter cold but the sun has enough power to burn that bleached skin.

S-S-D : I'm a little confused by what you are saying about Caliente Mustard.
Two things bother me. First, I've usually read that its main use is as a soil fumigant as it breaks down to give off (I think) isocyanates that kill soil based pests and that you do that by digging it in and quickly firming the ground to trap the gases to let them do their work. Your rotavator method will work fine for green manuring but I think the fumigation effect will be compromised. Second, being a Mustard it is a Brassica so is itself susceptible to clubroot so I would expect it to help perpetuate the disease rather than eradicate it.
If you have read something different I would appreciate a link to it as I have an annual battle with clubroot and would welcome any help I can get.
Here is a link to one of the articles I have read http://www.greenmanure.co.uk/seeds/cali ... ure-seeds/

Hi Geoff,

It was Mrs Santa that found an article on use of Caliente Mustard with Clubroot - but as you say, looking at what you link to, it may be an error. Hopefully, the extra lime will minimise the impact - certainly, those roots I saw when rotavating in looked pretty normal. I'll check at the weekend, as part of the plot still had late sown Garlic from 2012 that was only just coming up, amongst the Mustard.

But according to DT Brown, strimming & rotavating in is the recommended way to utilise - http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/Vegetable ... x9Au_l_uSo.

Paul