Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lawnmower

Stubborn lawnmower keeps stalling

kuujjuarapik — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:06:05 -0800

I need help with a stalling 4-stroke lawnmower engine. It will pull start, run for 30 seconds and then die. I've ruled out everything in this AskMe here. The problem is that the engine will only run if I sit and press the primer bulb when the engine sputters. I've had it running for about 15 minutes that way, but as soon as I stop pressing the primer bulb, the engine stalls.

So far I have:
-changed the sparkplug
-cleaned the carb
-installed new air filter
-made sure that the float is not stuck
-drained the tank and refilled with brand new gas.
It started doing this before I drained it and put it away in the fall. Any ideas welcome.

(Note to those who will tell me to get a reel mower: this lawnmower was a legacy when I bought the house and is shared with 3 other urban households. I'm keeping it running as long as I can.)

Where to get a good push lawnmower?

theinsectsarewaiting — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:22:11 -0800

What is the best brand/model of push lawnmower? I'm looking for a push lawnmower that can handle a smallish lawn without endlessly jamming. Would prefer something tough without plastic parts.

A lawnmower that mows, not sucks?

found dog one eye — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:44:28 -0800

Recommend a lawnmower, please. We’re looking for a self-propelled, rear-wheel drive, walk-behind mower that doesn’t suck. We hope to pay $400 or less. It will mostly be used as a mulching mower, but we’d like the option of a bag to pull up leaves in the winter.

Our current mower needs to have the carburetor rebuilt every year or so, or it becomes impossible to start and randomly dumps gasoline all over the garage floor. From the research my husband has done, this is because it has a two-stroke engine, and the ethanol in our local gasoline is causing the seals to deteriorate. If this is true, our new mower will need to be a four-stroke.

Lawn care advice for renters?

willie11 — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:33:04 -0800

[RentalFilter] Lawn/yard care and rental properties... Does anyone have any experience or advice for a former city boy now stuck with 1/4 acre of rapidly deteriorating yard and no tools to speak of? I just realized that my landlord conveniently left the advertised yard maintenance out of my lease and now I'm stuck with this yard and no way to care for it. Money's tight but not non-existent. The same goes for my time. The idea of having something to do outside on the weekends is kind of appealing. My girlfriend/cohabitant has always dreamed of garden and I of the bounty of veggies & herbs said garden could produce.

But is it worth it to invest in suburban hardware when there's a good chance I might up and move back to the city in the next 5 years and certainly won't live at my current residence more than another 48 months? Should I just pay someone to make it look decent and mow the sucker every two weeks?

I should point out that I live in drought-ravaged Raleigh NC, a town that just imposed moderate-severe water restrictions. So an immaculate lush lawn is out of the question. I'm just looking for something that won't make me the eyesore of the neighborhood.

Any recommendations on electric mowers?

Jane Austen — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:40:36 -0800

Does anyone have experience with electric lawn mowers? I am looking for brand recommendations, pros and cons, etc. ... Do they last a long time? Do the blades need sharpening? One other question I have is about storage -- I don't have a garage, so I am wondering if I can store it outside under a tarp or if that is a dealbreaker.

I need to mow about 3/4 of an acre (I have a small house on a large-ish lot). I have a bad back, so I am trying to make it a little easier on myself. Also, the yard has many pine trees -- this is why a reel mower won't work (pinecones keep getting stuck in the blades).

Is My Lawnmower Toast?

The Gooch — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:56:46 -0800

Is my lawnmower toast? Today I put oil in my lawnmower and made the (dumb) mistake of not draining the old oil out first. When I ran the lawnmower afterwards, large amounts of white smoke appeared and the engine started making a "knocking" sound. I stopped mowing, figuring it wasn't safe to continue on in this condition. Am I out a lawnmower or is this fixable? Can I just drain out the oil and start again or is it possible irreparable damage has occurred?

My First Yard! (tm)

arcticwoman — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 04:04:02 -0800

After years of renting apartments, I have moved up in the world: I am now renting a house. Strangely, the house comes with small organic green things projecting from the ground. Having never been responsible for a lawn before, I don't really know what to do with it. I also have two, I don't know, shrubs (I think). One is low growing, thick, with branches that kind of double as rhizomes, and one might be a juniper. As you can see, I'm pretty clueless. What do I need to know/what must I do/what must I buy to take good care of my lawn and it's various planty inhabitants? How can I find out what my shrubs are (other than consulting the Knights of Ni) and how do I take care of them? What kind of lawnmower do I need and how do you mow a lawn? Fertilizer? Watering schedule? Various tips?

If it matters, I am in a small city in Southern Alberta, Canada.
I think the juniper-y one is a juniper because it smells like gin and has "berries" like the ones I saw on wikipedia under "juniper berries."

Trash or treaure?

fixedgear — Sun, 14 May 2006 09:19:28 -0800

What should I do about my weird neighbor encounter? Scene: I'm cutting my lawn. It's 11 a.m. on a Sunday, not crazy early. I have a bagger mower, and I put the clippings in a trash can then throw them on the compost pile. I'm finished, so I go to empty the trash can and leave the mower on my front lawn, by the curb.

When I come around the corner of the house, I see the teenage (13/14) son of the neighbor who lives directly behind me pushing my mower into his yard, while walking his dog on a leash. I'm so stunned I can't really say anything, so I just follow him into the backyard and take my mower back. I talk this over with my wife and she suggests that I ring their bell and say something.

I do so, and it seemed like my neighbor (female) was sort of expecting me. I said "Something odd just happened..." and explained what I saw. She calls the kid to the door and he say "Oh, I thought it was in the trash." Trash day is Thursday around here, and this kid doesn't seem like the industious lawn-mowing hustler type. She say "better give it back" and I say, yeah, I already recovered it. She sort of seems to shrug it off as some misunderstanding.

I'm not sure if she sent the kid over herself (not wanting to hear a lawnmower on mother's day, no problem but do it yourself), or if the kid is kind of acting out. His Alzheimer's grandfather has just come to live with them - my wife found him wandering confused in our front yard a week or so ago - and maybe he just needs attention? I've never seen this kid walk his dog on my block. He cut through my next door neighbor's yard and made a beeline for the mower then pushed it back to his yard. I don't really want to have neighbor wars (I've spoken to these folks twice in the seven years we haved lived here, once when lightning struck a tree in their yard casusing a limb to fall in our yard) but this is sort of wierd and unsettling.

Should I let it go? Call the cops? Talk to the kid's father?

Lawn mower 101

carter — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 14:32:56 -0800

Lawn mower 101. We're renting a new place. It has a large garden, with a petrol/gas-powered push lawn mower to keep it tidy. The mower has two orifices, one for petrol/gas, the other for oil; what goes in each? My first guess would be low-octane petrol/gas, and motor oil (30W or 40W); but I don't know, and I can't find anything via google. The mower is a Sears/Craftsman Eager-1, if that helps.

my lawn is too long - help me

TurkishGolds — Fri, 28 May 2004 07:40:13 -0800

What do you do when the lawn gets so long your mower can't possibly cut through it?