Mower dies after running for 20-30 minutes

jeepinmatt said:
I did check it early on in the process and it was flowing fine. I think it was a combination of a weak fuel pump and a clogging filter. Changing the fuel pump took the run time from 15min to 1hr.

Hey, I'm not too proud to share my failures. Hopefully it helps someone else. Nobody would have learned anything if I never posted or never posted a fix. Even if all you learned is that I'm a dumbass when I'm not a smartass, at least you got that. 🤷‍♂️
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True, learn from other’s mistakes because you’ll never live long enough to make them all yourself. Or something like that. So we all thank you.
 
jeepinmatt said:
I would if they made one with a 72" floating deck and suspension for under $10k.
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Can you get that in a fair quality new Internal Combustion mower for under $10k?
 
jeepinmatt said:
No, the current model of my Ferris is $18k. That’s why I bought it used for less than $5k.
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I knew they were high but not that level of Snoop Dog hanging with Willie high!
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
I knew they were high but not that level of Snoop Dog hanging with Willie high!
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A chiwanese 11hp 36in deck rider at a big box store is over two grand 🙄. The cheap zero turns start around three.

Duane
 
This is what yall need
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jeepinmatt said:
I would if they made one with a 72" floating deck and suspension for under $10k.
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But think of all the little helpless baby carbons you'll be saving.

I think the sacrifice of your money is worth it.
 
The best solution hasnt been mentioned. Forget gas, diesel or batteries.
You need a grass powered grass cutter. They say that the perpetual motion 100% efficiency machine doesnt exist...but it does. And your wife will think they are cute. And as a bonus when the fuel filter gets clogged you make a free bowl of chilli. Its greatest of all time solution.
 
Ron said:
The best solution hasnt been mentioned. Forget gas, diesel or batteries.
You need a grass powered grass cutter. They say that the perpetual motion 100% efficiency machine doesnt exist...but it does. And your wife will think they are cute. And as a bonus when the fuel filter gets clogged you make a free bowl of chilli. Its greatest of all time solution.
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Damn! Beat me to that by 2 min. But said more eloquently than “buy some fucking goats.”
 
mbalbritton said:
Damn! Beat me to that by 2 min. But said more eloquently than “buy some fucking goats.”
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and you beat me to saying buying those fucking goats.. :laughing: 15 minutes
 
So, I had this same issue today, smacked the fuel filter around and it cranked after about a minute with the choke on.

I’m loving cutting wet grass in sandals on the hospice and feeling the grass drag across my toes

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Shreddinlettuce said:
So, I had this same issue today, smacked the fuel filter around and it cranked after about a minute with the choke on.

I’m loving cutting wet grass in sandals on the hospice and feeling the grass drag across my toes

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how in the hell do you hold your beer?
 
And the saga continues...
It was slow to crank a couple weeks ago, battery was weak, so put a new Sam's Club Duracell in it, now it busts right off! And ran for like 1-2 minutes, started stumbling, died. I had not put a fuel filter on it yet, so I went to O'Reilly and picked one up, figured some junk had clogged the carb. Pull the carb off, clean it up, install the filter, cranked right up, rn great for about 4-5 minutes, then just died almost instantly. It was by the porch, and the wife was on the porch swing so we talked for a few minutes and she commiserated in my sadness and frustration, then it cranked and ran enough to get 2/3's of the way back to the shop. I sat there and searched marketplace for mowers for about 5-10 minutes, realized they are just way too expensive, and decided to fix mine, but it wouldn't crank and I needed to get it to the shop. The side by side said "ok". :laughing:
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Pulled the carb and this time there was a nice mix of gas and muddy looking water in the float bowl.
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I pulled the line off after the fuel pump and watched it pump some stuff that looked like muddy water too. Aha!
Pulled the fuel guage and looked in the bottom of the tank on the "good" side that was empty:
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Other tank was also full and looked the same. Those plastic things are fuel cap retainers that were dropped in and never retrieved by the PO. While not ideal, I couldn't get a bite on them to pull them out, but the shop vac and some brake parts cleaner took care of everything else. In the end I pulled both tanks off, siphoned 5 gallons out of 1, and cleaned them nearly to perfection. In the 5 gallon tank that I siphoned out and it was drawing from when it died, I ended up with this:
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And of course there was more that had already been through the engine and in the carb and drained out. No idea how that got there, or how long it has been there, but I'm 100% certain it wasn't helping anything :D

Cleaned every single line, filter, carb, and fuel pump, pulled the tank pickups and cleaned them, etc. So hopefully I'm FINALLY done f'n around with this thing and can just cut my too tall grass. Of course it was after 9pm by the time I got done fiddlin with it, but I cranked it til the completely dry fuel system primed and the motor cranked, then cut it off. Tomorrow will tell the tale.
 
I heard a rumble in the driveway at three,
It was my baby saying goodbye to me.
She didn't pack her bags, she didn't slam the door,
She walked right past my John Deere zero turn mower.
With a bucket from the creek, thick and brown as clay,
She poured that muddy water straight in where the gas should stay.
(Chorus)
Oh, she spiked my tank with a Georgia clay brew,
Now my twenty-minute mower cuts a foot or two!
It purrs like a kitten, then it gasps and it dies,
Right in the middle of the yard under angry skies.
Twenty minutes running, twenty minutes dead,
Got a muddy little monster inside my shed!
(Verse 2)
I drained out the carbs, I changed out the plugs,
I screamed at the heavens and I squashed some bugs.
I checked the fuel filter, it's a bowl of thick mud,
She poisoned my engine with a lover's bad blood.
I look at the lawn with the grass half-high,
I sit on the seat and I just wanna cry.
(Chorus)
Oh, she spiked my tank with a Georgia clay brew,
Now my twenty-minute mower cuts a foot or two!
It purrs like a kitten, then it gasps and it dies,
Right in the middle of the yard under angry skies.
Twenty minutes running, twenty minutes dead,
Got a muddy little monster inside my shed!
(Bridge)
My neighbor just laughs as I push it back home,
Stuck in this swamp-water-mowing syndrome.
She blocked my number, she took the TV,
And left this hydraulic disaster for me.
(Guitar Solo - fast, sputtering, then stopping abruptly)
(Chorus)
Oh, she spiked my tank with a Georgia clay brew,
Now my twenty-minute mower cuts a foot or two!
It purrs like a kitten, then it gasps and it dies,
Right in the middle of the yard under angry skies.
Twenty minutes running, twenty minutes dead,
Got a muddy little monster inside my shed!
(Outro)
Yeah, it died again.
Right by the mailbox.
Ten more minutes... wait, that's just nineteen.
Sputter.
Damn it, Mary.
 
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