Liquid Mechanic

It is probably perspective, but I feel like I’m in the yard ALL the time. So that makes my yard equipment very important. My best yard friend (my backpack blower) was not feeling right so here’s what I did to fix it back up.

If you do not care to read (or about) all the words and explanations, feel free to skip to the SHORT VERSION

BACKGROUND

Out of all the equipment I use in the yard, I use my blower by FAR the most. This is largely because I am constantly in an unwinnable war against the leaves in the yard. And I understand that small engines are probably not meant to be run at 100% for very long periods of time. But I run that thing full blast for a few hours a few days a week. You could say that I abuse it and you wouldn’t be wrong.

It is also my favorite piece of yard equipment (as a side note and maybe as something I should investigate further…it is the only piece of equipment I purchased new). So I was really disappointed and my feelings were hurt when it started acting up. It is hard to describe, but it felt like it wanted to cut off sometimes when I had it running full blast. It also took longer to warm up. And the motor sort of “cut” and kept jerking on my back. There is probably an explanation (as well as more descriptive words) for all of that, but I blamed it on the fact that I didn’t do any maintenance on the machine (I had winterized it in previous years but neglected to do so this year).

So I accepted the fact that I would have to put in some quality time with it. But when I went to get out my tools I saw that I had purchased some “Mechanic In A Bottle” for an old mower I was trying to get working. I followed the instructions and let the blower run while I took a look at (and ended up breaking) my lawn mower (be on the lookout for a post about that).

After a few minutes, the blower was purring like a kitten. There might be magic in that bottle.

NEXT STEPS

• See how long this band-aide lasts
• Review my Husqvarna 350BT blower because I love it

SIDE NOTES

• I’ve been meaning to mention the numerous battles in the unwinnable war that comes with a large yard in an old neighborhood, the stupid leaves are just one battle

WHAT I LEARNED

• Sometimes not throwing stuff away (also known as “being a packrat”) has its advantages
• Breaking the lawn mower was stupid
• Also, I should take better care of all of my equipment

REFERENCE

• N/A

SHORT VERSION

To avoid tl;dr enjoy this instead:

• Try some Mechanic In A Bottle before committing to all the time of taking apart the engine!

[return to top of page]