Just a heads up on some smaller engines

Old Roy · Jun 20, 2011

I had my garden tractor down a few weeks ago for the PTO clutch. It was apart for a week in my garage. When I went to re assemble it the bolt hole in the end of the crank shaft was full of mud

No other signs of mud wasps in that building ???

Now 2 weeks ago I do have a good running McCullough weed eater -- (I know I wouldn't give it a good review either), but has been one of my best ones.
It ran fine that time. last week my step daughter couldn't get it started so I told her to use the little weed eater I would check it later ( figuring she flooded it. Next day I decided to try it . That cotton picker would not start Had spark and fuel and always started in a combination of full choke till it putted then half choke would run like a champ.

I was about ready to give up when I noticed -- yep you guessed it mud wasp built a nest in the muffler.

ben(tn) · Jun 20, 2011

yep those little critters are every where,i have a ole farm truck,dont use it very often,went to start it ran maybe 2mins an shut off,started it again,ran less than 2 mins ,raised the hood and the air filter horn was completly covered,opened it up wow! the whole inside was full

Mike (WA) · Jun 20, 2011

We have a little critter called a "mason bee" here- looks more like a fly, and I don't think it stings. Lays its eggs in holes everywhere and then fills the hole with mud (doesn't build a nest as such). I had an IH 674 with a little valve in the intake (similar to the draincock on a radiator) that you opened to spray ether, if needed. Had to clean out the mason bee mud and egg with a wire every winter, without fail.

They're highly prized around here for pollination, as they come out earlier than honeybees (in our cold climate) so can catch the fruit blossoms. I drilled 3/8" holes in a block of wood, hung it by the blueberry patch, and they filled every one.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 20, 2011

As a student pilot I checked over the Cherokee I took lessons in with my instructor then fired it up (solo)went to the end of the runway and after run up and t/o checks took off. As I reached speed I was too far down the grass strip to abort but noticed the airspeed indicator was wacky but the plane flew just fine. I remembered that the door seals whistled above 60mph so I used that to go around the patten and land. Upon inspection on the ground the pitot tube was bug plugged. Could have been lethal and never made that mistake again.

PJH · Jun 20, 2011

Good one Roy - I had the same thing happen to me, but I was too stupid to look at the muffler. It was embarrassing when the local Stihl guy told me what was wrong with it.

We call them dirt dobbers around here. I think I'm on the migratory route. . .

Paul

agpilot · Jun 20, 2011

Hi mjbrown: That was a great lesson to have lost relible airspeed info and early in your student flying. I"d say to try again to get comfy without airspeed on the dash and start looking again for other clues. Just a couple weeks ago on National News they recovered parts of that big airliner that went down mid-Atlantic from South America to Europe. Probable cause was false airspeed info. ..and 3 pilots were not able to save it. I watched an hour long story about it last Winter. (in happened 2 years ago and was very deep & hard to recover parts) In fact you could start learning how to not rely on many instruments but rather just your eyes and ears for clues... etc. Don"t let a die-hard By-the-Book instructor make you too stiff in coping with thing that are NOT normal. LEARN to be flexable. Make a written list of "What-if such & such happened". It might come in real handy sometime. Good luck to you.. ag

Old Roy · Jun 20, 2011

Back in the 80's I was working for a petroleum out fit before I started pulling trailer for them I was mowing some of their stations.

One day they sent me 40 mile away with a weed eater because the junk mower they kept there wouldn't gut 20" grass without overheating.

The weed eater was a Tanaka (Spelling) It was only a year old I did start it at the shop before leaving, but when I got there it would run for maybe 2 min then quit. I kept trying to mow with it for an hour or so. It was still under warranty so Company said to take it back to shop where they got it another 40 mile to that place Dinner time by then. They knew exactly what was wrong with it. took less than 5 min to fix. Behind the muffler was a factory installed screen that would intentionally plug with carbon so they would be taken in for the first year service recommended by the company.

Just a heads up on some smaller engines

Old Roy

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ben(tn)

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Mike (WA)

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Anonymous-0

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PJH

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agpilot

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Old Roy

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