Yard work: Why lawn mowers seem to start so easily now

Self-tutoring about yard work: the tutor mentions how easily a current one starts, versus some he remembers.

When I was a kid, starting a lawn mower could be hard – you just never knew. I had one, a two-stroke, that took 100 pulls one time before it started. Then, it roared to life, and you could have cut down a wheatfield with it.

A few years back I bought a new lawn mower at the end of season. I think it was $250 and has a four-stroke Briggs and Stratton engine. It seemed, when I left the store, like nothing special.

I got that mower home and put oil and gas in it. It took some effort to start – maybe three sets of five pulls. Thereafter, it got easier each time. A couple of seasons ago, I was down to 3-5 pulls to start it.

Last season, it usually started in 1-3 pulls. Yesterday evening, after winter dormancy and using last summer’s gas, it roared to life after just one pull. I could hardly believe it.

From my research, it’s either a loose spark plug, a clogged air filter, or a clogged fuel filter that causes a motor not to start (assuming it’s got fuel in the tank, of course). Back when I was a kid, most mowers I knew were old, and I guess people simply didn’t maintain them. The mower that I replaced with the current one was very old, and likely its spark plug was finally going (or gone). Likely it needed a new fuel filter as well. (I had replaced the air filter.)

This new mower’s filters are obviously still clean, and its spark plug strong.

Source:

briggsandstratton.com

koenigequipment.com