Yes! Yes! Yes! - I got the better of the roatavator

[Norburger]

Finally got the rotavator working this morning after having become a mechanic in the first few hours down the plot this morning...

Its a little temperamental, but ! I got there.... see the phot, any roatavting experts on here - Is this looking good?

[jacob marley]

It look's ok when are you going to finish it of leave it a day and do it again and the machine will go in deeper next time.
The ground will soften and it go's a lot easier why is it tempremental..jacob

[Norburger]

It seems to want to start only if you tipple a little fuel in the top of the carb.... I have ordered me a brigg and stratten maintenance book to see if i can get it running a little smoother.

[jacob marley]

It seems to want to start only if you tipple a little fuel in the top of the carb.... I have ordered me a brigg and stratten maintenance book to see if i can get it running a little smoother.

That usualy mean's that the filter in the petrol tank is getting blocked up .
The way to clear it is to drop the tank of and the pipe's that are hanging down are the feed and return pipe's with a filter on the bottom of each one .
It is a bit fidley to do because to drop the tank you have to take the engine of the machine and undo a bolt under the tank 3/8nf and the three philip's screw that hold the tank to the carburettor body make sure that when the tank drop's that no spring's at the back of the tank do not stretch or brake that is the main govener spring .
other than that it is qiute simple really good luck....jacob

[teakdesk]

Before you take Jacob's advice (which does seem sound) you should bear in mind that petrol loses it's effectiveness after a couple of months or so. This often leads to poor starting but the engine will run OK once it is warm - either drain the fuel and renew or if it's running let it use all the old fuel.

Also, if starting is the only problem then to get it started without hassle buy a can of "Easy Start" from Halfords and spray into the air filter.

Also, a good spray with WD40 over the electrics can help.

[jacob marley]

Not want to tread on any body's toe i would not put easy start any where near a engine off mine they get hooked on it...
For a quich service before you start taking thing's apart check the spark plug for gap 30 thou .
clean the sponge airfilter hot soapy water is best and dry throughly before refitting no need to put oil on it.
On the side of the carburettor is the mixture screw with a spring behind it screw this all the way in and then screw it out 1&1/2 turns .
Then set the throtle at wide open and set the choke full on and pull the rope and it should run .
When you have it running some thing like normal screw the mixture screw out and the engine will start to choke itself screw it back in until it sound's normal and bob's your uncle and fannies your grandma it should be ok .
if you have any more problem's get back to us....jacob

[Norburger]

Cheers Guys, had another bash this afternoon and sort of done some of the above.. also I have ordered the How to Repair Briggs and Stratton Engines, 4th Ed.: Amazon.co.uk: Paul Stephen Dempsey: Books as its fairly cheap.
It has a new spark plug and had the quick eye of a garden machinery place yesterday who made it work, but it was just that at mates rates.

When I put the engine back on yesterday I could not make it run afterwards, stripped it to bits today and got most of work done even with it running badly - the above makes sense as I can't seem to get it off the choke. Will give it a play sometime soon....

[jacob marley]

If i have got the link right you may find this site usefull .

Briggs & Stratton Small Engine Specifications

It is american but so are the egines....jacob

[Paulottie]

Jacob I think I could have done with you round here. I had a hell of a job with the rotavator and tiller this year. New belts for one...easy but an inconvenient trip to town.... but the tiller was a cow....After everything tried...Little Honda engine muck in the carb... had to pay to get it cleaned...beyond me.

I have a old mower with B&S engine in France. lots of trouble more than once with petrol running out of a blocked carb. Mechanic told me to run the carb dry before leaving it for the winter. Something about unleaded petrol...His French started to lose me from there in. I do as he says and also brought an additive for fuel. However don't want to pay another 40 euros this year so does this sound true?

Got to say I've found Honda engines are more reliable.

Re rotavating job...really it's a matter of how muck couch etc is in there..you need to rake weeds out..preferably with a dung rake..old fork bent over....then go again. If its badly infested fork out the roots first or your just multiplying the problem.

[Two_Sheds]

is this looking good?

Yes, it looks good.
Like paulottie says, it's underneath the soil that counts ... your weeds will start growing now it's warming up, so keep on top of the weeding. Get the ground covered (with a crop or a cover) asap.

If you've chopped up lots of couch and bindweed with the rotavator, definitely pick them out as soon as they appear or you'll be back to square one.