Prince

Have a few questions for those of you handier than me.

1) Our lawn mower. We moved into our new place a couple of months ago and got this thing as a housewarming gift. It ran once, but after the initial run I didn't touch it for a couple of weeks and now it won't start. It's been sitting in the garage so it hasn't gotten wet or anything. It just sounds like it wants to start, and once it started for about 3 seconds but that was it. It's called EasyStart or something like that...a very basic, cheap mower. Any ideas as to what could cause it to not run? I've heard that if you don't start a lawn mower once a week it will stop running. I never had this problem back in Europe, we'd have ours in the garage for 6 months in a row and it would start fine, so I didn't expect this to be true.

2) I need ideas as to how to shelve my garage as cheaply as possible. I'm not much of a DIY guy so I don't have a load of tools and gadgets, but there's a bunch of chemicals, bottles etc I need to get off the floor so I can actually park the car there. There are shelves at WalMart but they're a bit too pricey and definitely a lot nicer than what I need.

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BadNick

1) I don't even bother trying to start my mower without spraying a little shot of starter fluid spray (ether) into the intake air cleaner. Then it kicks over instantly.

2) I would just look for nice strong shelf brackets at the hardware or home supply store; they are made for standard width boards so you also need enough boards to make as many shelves as you want; plus a couple of strong screws per bracket to attach them to the joists. Otherwise, floor standing shelves seem like the only other option.

Chamaeleontidae

Not running for a week shouldn't cause it to not work... Well, unless mice have been nibbling on it... two things come to mind,
1) Does it have gas? I know, seems simple, but I had to ask...
2) Does it have a kill switch? On a lot of models there is a kill switch attached to a bar on the handle for the mower. Is the handle is not depressed, the mower won't start.
I don't know where you live, but in my town we have a "swap shop" at the local dump. Stores going out of business sell their fixtures and shelves. Auctions, fleemarket or ebay... If you were more of a DIY'er I'de say 2x4s and plywood...

If you just need a shelf or two... Places like HomeDepot and Lowes (or your local hardware store) would have triangular bracket that screw to the wall, and you put a board between them... They will also have the two rail system that you screw to the wall. Bracket hook onto the rails, and you lay a shelf (or board) between the brackets. it all depends on what and how much you need to arrange...

If the mower is brand new you shouldn't need starter fluid...

There may also be a "bulb" (sometimes a button) with instructions to "push this 3x" before starting.

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canucker

Buy the angle brackets from Home Depot and a couple 2x4's. Pretty cheap.

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BadNick

For my old mower the spray is to save wear and tear on me. This is the first mower I ever bought right after I moved out of the city and had a lawn ...it's now 28 yrs old; I've had the motor apart a couple times just to clean it up, I also installed a replacement little reed valve of some sort a couple years ago, just a spare Craftsman part. It does not have a fuel prime button, so this mower would usually take several pulls on the starter to kick over; so to save my back and shoulder I hit it with starter spray and then it goes on the first shot.

Before I rebuilt the above, I bought a new mower which has a fuel primer button. But habits are hard to break, so I hit this with starter spray too ...if for no other reason than to also spray some bugs with the ether while it's out.

Chamaeleontidae

lol... Hopefully not too many things have a chance to nest, between mowings...

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Plaid13

for the lawn mower try pulling the cord slow a couple times before you start it. basicly to prime it. then pull hard and fast to see if it starts. If that dosnt work take the spark plug out and make sure it looks clean. then touch it to a clean gas free part of the lawn mower thats bare metal and slowly pull the cord to see if it has spark. If it dosnt... well if it is turned on and the spark plug wire looks good... its hard to explain how to fix it. but if it has a spark spray some starter fluid right into the hole where you took the spark plug out. then put the plug back in and try to start it.it should run for at least a few seconds. if it keeps running be happy. if it dosnt pull that cord a bunch of times and take the spark plug back out and check to see if theres gas in the cylender. if it looks dry you might want to check the fuel line from the tank to the carberator to see if gas is getting into it. if the hose to the carb is getting fuel you can try spraying some carberator cleaner into the air intake to clean it out some. if its getting fuel in the cylender and its getting spark... throw it in the trash because its a peice of crap if its still not running.

I have a lawnmwower thats 35 years old small little orange push mower and it still starts on the second pull every time without starter fluid. couple years ago i took it apart cleaned it out real well and it was as good as new. The small 4 stroke engine is so simple it just dosnt have anything that can really go wrong with it. they will last forever as long as nothing extra was stuck on it. engine + blade is all they need to last forever.

Shelves you can just go buy shelf brackets and stick some half inch thick peices of medium densty fiber board that sets across them. ask in any home depot or lowes or any of that type of place and they will know what you need. But if your putting alot of bottles of chemicals on them.. you might want something stronger. even a enclosed cabenet just to be safe. dont need stuff like that getting knocked over and spilling and messing up something like the cars paint. I got a metal shelving unit from home depot for like $20 last year that can hold 200lbs i had to put it together myself and it is ugly as hell but it took only a screwdriver to put it together and about 20 min and its sturdy and pretty safe to keep anything on. might want to look for something like that.

1010011010

1) Your story sounded very familiar to me so I went and checked what we have out in our shed. Yeah. If your problem is the same as my problem, the throttle springs are crap. The motor has to be hot before it will stay running but can't get hot because it will never run for more than a few seconds. Remove the air filter (to get to the throttle, if you have the same model), start it, and hold the throttle open until it warms up.

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Brewmaniac

The mower should have a little choke lever, add a little choke and give it a pull or two, if it starts right up move the choke lever back to it's previous position. After it warms up if you turn it off, you should be able start without adding choke.

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