Curbside Treasure Part 2

I wasn't the only one to score a curbside treasure yesterday.  R was beside himself with his little find.

Someone had put out to the curb a little gas weed whacker.  It was almost like new.  Over the years, R has found that when it comes to weed whackers there are several things that go wrong with them.  Some people just toss and replace the first time it takes more than 3 pulls to get a weed whacker to run.

1. Bad spark plug or a fouled plug (wet with fuel).

2. Dirty air cleaner.

3. Dirty or old fuel.

4.  Dirt in the carburetor.

5.  Needs new recoil. (rare)

6.  Primer button dried and cracked so that you cannot prime the engine.

He jumped out of the car the minute we got home, ran to the back of the vehicle, took the weed whacker out and immediately pulled the cord AND proudly announced "it's got compression!!"  If it's got compression....you're 90% of the way to whacking weeds.

The gas tank was empty, so the first step was to fill the tank with mixed gas.  He uses a synthetic oil for two stroke engines (engines not motors...motors are electric.......despite what you hear after the NASCAR race when the drivers all thank their motor builders).  With the tank filled, the next step was to press the primer button.  He proudly announced ...."primer button works".  If it didn't, it's a cheap and easy fix.

Next step was to turn the choke on and pull the cord.  The first two pulls sounded like it wanted to start. He mentioned the possibility of changing the plug but pulled one more time and it started.  It ran a little rough at first but after it warmed up, R took the choke off and it idled perfectly.

The weed whacker is a lightweight type used mainly for edging and whacking grass.  Which is actually perfect for us because we already own a heavy duty powerful weed whacker.

Not too shabby.  I'd say we both scored.