I took the old carburetor apart this morning. It was surprisingly clean inside and everything seemed to be in good shape. Since I couldn't find any obvious issue with it, I watched a video on this particular Nikki carburetor. If the video is to be believed, the two main jets (which are a very loose press fit - held in place mainly by tiny neoprene O-rings) fell out and disappeared. I am positive that I didn't drop them and they were not in the float bowl. The symptoms were that the engine would start only with much difficulty and full choke, then would rev to a speed higher then it is governed. I had to regulate the RPM by applying massive amounts of choke to cut off the air supply. This would be consistent with the jets being way too large (read, missing). I use this tractor a lot, and didn't want to get involved in lengthy wait for parts. I may buy a pair of jets and have this carb for a spare.
I look on facebook marketplace. Ive had to buy 2 lawn tractors in the last 2 years. I put a max price of $500 and scrutinize through the potential listings and look for the newest and nicest one. Good 300-500 lawn tractors are very VERY hard to find around my area, but with about 1-2 months of searching ive found good ones.
Wow. I never had to deal with one like that before. I used to make a good living as a kid refurbing mowers that people put out to trash. 95% of the time the carb was plugged and cleaned in about 5 minutes. That all went away when the price of scrap went through the roof.
This 2003 John Deere is the first powered mower that we have ever purchased. Prior to this purchase, I always picked up a mower that would turn over at the dump. Once I even got a really nice Toro that someone had put out on the street with the trash. As Joe said, the issue was almost always a gummed up carburetor.
...likewise, but Echo wacker with same symptoms. Genuine Walbro from Amazon $40. Ten minutes to swap. Runs like it should and didn't even have to cut off an adjustment limiter... ...me too, from sitting between uses, usually just need to pull bowl cup and clean float needle. Sometimes blow out jets. Pressurized Walbros are a different animal and when I saw OEM replacement cost, no brainer. Ethanol may have played a part in John's and my issue...
So I bought a "new" Yard Machine tractor off the Wal Mart return rack for $500. That was 10 years ago and thousands of acres of yard (I have a 1.5 acre yard in the South were you have to mow every week for 8 months out of the year). Never had a glitch... except for having to pound the deck straight a few times after hitting stumps. I did modify a muffler for it because it was way too loud.
My local WalMart had a nice riding mower last fall that had slight cosmetic damage. It was reg 1200 for 700. I should have snapped it up....
i worked for toro parts for about 8 yrs, now i been with hustler parts for the past 4 yrs. we sell to homeowners, landscapers, towns, state and feds. i've seen a lot of stupid damage done. i sell parts for pretty much anything i can get my hands on. lot of stuff has gone by-by in the last 10 yrs. there is a difference between a 'garden' tractor vs 'lawn' tractor. you need to specify your needs. when you buy a j/d, certain engine parts are only purchased at j/d and no place else. that's it. zero turns are in a different world from the so called 'tractors'. they are basically only one dimension, mow grass. so called tractors have many options to add to it. as far as longevity goes, proper maintenance will make it last a long time. also no abuse helps too.
Similar experience, I bought a Yard Machines tractor 22 years ago when a local chain was closing, got it for $400. It was missing the key and a gas cap but the manufacturer sent me them for free. Still running and cutting with no issues. Always garaged, no other special maintenance. My lawn is about 1/2 and acre and it have hit a few of those blade bending stumps also.
The wife & I bought a Troy-Bilt riding mower off of Facebook Marketplace for her Non-Profit Cat Rescue and Adoption facility. It had only been used for a few months and looked brand new. New at Home Depot it is $1200 but the man sold it to us for only $600 when he found out what we wanted it for. He even delivered it for free! It works great and sure cuts down the mowing time on her 1 acre lot. Deals are out there.
That’s very interesting. I was online shopping for some work (surveying ) gear. Walmart and Home Depot kept popping up. I’m glad I resisted the temptation to order from them.
Thats good to know. We bought a Hustler from Lowes 2 years ago and its been a good machine but had no idea where to get parts for it.
I never dreamed that there would be this much interest in riding tractors. I did a bit more research and found that pretty much all John Deere riders have a new feature called the "Thirty second oil change." This sounds really good - the oil and filter and a reservoir of oil come as a single package which somehow is easily attached to the side of the engine that used to have the familiar spin-on filter. The downside - I'm presuming that you have to purchase the kit from JD or possibly Briggs & Stratton, and they can charge whatever they want for it. You also lose the right to select the brand and weight of oil that you want. The E 140 did not have this feature in 2019, so unless this feature can be removed and replaced with the conventional oil filter setup, I won't be buying another John Deere. I can purchase OE Briggs & Stratton oil filters for a bit more then half of what JD charges, and there is free shipping. I get my Mobil 1 10 W 40 High-Mileage at Wally World for a decent price; my two nearest JD dealers don't even sell it.
Are you kidding me???? ws https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...hUKEwj6sLPZjZHrAhWDAp0JHWoVBB4Q4dUDCAk&uact=5
To date I havent had a need for anything other than the blades which Lowes no longer carries. Honestly, I have no interest in working on it.
