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Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:25 pm
by Klapatta
Go ahead and laugh. I beat the tar out of this Homelite ST-145 weed whacker for THIRTY SEVEN years.
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DSCN8082.JPG (1.62 MiB) Viewed 4587 times
Last week when I got a blister on my index finger pulling the rope I decided I had had enough :lol:
Over the years I have scoured garage sales and roadside pickups (dumpster diving) looking for parts like brush guards and spools to keep it going. The parts supply dried out years ago. About 5 years back I changed out the outside covers from a 90's vintage machine and rebuilt the carb. But underneath the engine and shaft body remained the same.
If I get one third the life out of this Stihl that is dependability!

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:52 am
by dag1450
Yeah... there's a certain pride in keeping old equipment in use ( like our Cubs)....and my old Lawnboy but sometimes it's just time to let go. Lol.
Looks nice!

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:54 am
by Klapatta
The same thing that killed it five years ago as last week. Ethanol blend gas.
About a month ago the gas Sunoco gas station about eight miles away from me started offering 91 octane non ethanol. Since then I have changed over all my small engines to it. But it was too late for that one.
And I can tellya what, I think that the Cubs run better on it.

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 4:00 pm
by dag1450
Wow...good gas in VT....thats surprising!
Funny...my youngest was weed whacking for the neighbor horse farm today....and i showed him how to use that same or similar stihl unit. Very nice! but what is that black rubber grip in between the throttle and the handle?? I grabbed it there a couple times and the unit just spins and flips over...idk :roll:

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:33 pm
by Klapatta
Yeah. What is it with that thing? I used it for three hours today and the only thing that handle is good for is turning the machine upside down :lol:
There was a lot to be said for the old one, it was lighter and more compact. And the curved shaft was better for cleaning out the ditches too.

I can't understand why their selling non ethanol there, there are no lakes nearby. Perhaps people were requesting it. I intend to keep buying it.

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:02 pm
by Klapatta
Well, I have an unexpected twist to the end of this story.
I had some time on my hands today and took the carb apart. One of the first things that I noticed was this little blob of fiberous material lodged inside the filter screen. You can see it at the tip of the pen.
After a good cleanup and figuring how all those gaskets stack together I installed it not expecting much of anything much to happen so I left the basement door closed :oops: It spurted to life on the first pull :shock: I took it outside and set the hi and lo jet and idle adjustments. The thing runs like new.

So what's the end line to this tale? Well, I have seen these hair like structure formations in small engine carbs before.
And it's the result of what Ethanol gasoline turns into after sitting around for awhile. I am not using that stuff in any of my small engines anymore.

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:28 pm
by chzuck
Are you sure that blob is not lint? Unless you have a filter on your gas can, how can you know? I had similar debris on the pickup screen of a B&S engine on a lawn Mower and I just figured it was lint.

Re: Out with the old in with the new

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 9:28 am
by Klapatta
It looks like microscopic corn cobs to me :lol:
My old push mower sat around for an entire year while I was recovering from some back issues, that thing was always a pain in the neck to get started needing at least five to seven pulls to get it going every time. A couple of weeks ago I pulled it out of storage and tipped it on it's side to drain the old gas out. I refilled it with the 91 non E and wham! it started on the first pull.
So yeah, I'm staying with the non E whenever possible from now on. :D