This is my trusty old bladed edger. It's first time use was on July 4th, 1986. So, yea, I have had it a while. It was built back when really American made quality was important.
Each wheel has a grease zerk, as does the arm that lowers the blade. It has a large fuel tank, a fuel shut off, and the air filter intake it up high by the handlebars, away from dust and dirt. For the last 36 years it has started on the first pull, and made short work of the 1/4 mile of edging I have here. Just walk along at a normal pace, and done.
Of course I still have the owner's manual. The model line started with serial number 500001 and went up from there. Mine is serial number 5000131. When I went to edge the yard a few days ago, it fired right up as usual, but it would not stay running. It just acted like a carburetor issue of choking out, or running way too rich. Of course I tried to find a carb rebuild kit, and that is like finding a brand new 4 cam Porsche engine case.
So I took the carb apart with great care. There are a few gaskets that were all in good shape actually. Some surface dirt, and just a layer of dirt on the bottom of the float bowl. The float is made of brass, and has no leaks. I soaked the parts in my chem dip carb cleaner for a full 24 hours. I wiped down and inspected the jets, and all look OK.
It fires up and continues to run, but a little bit rich.
I have only ever used 100% real gasoline, no ethanol, but my yard equipment gas does all have Stabil in it. When I am done with it, I always shut the fuel off, and let it run out of gas in the carb. I change the oil evey couple of years.
I really need to pressure wash it to clean up the decades of oil oil and grease, but I think of it as patina and rust prevention!
