I'm 14 and I've worked on small engines since I was 11 and I've watched your videos since I was 11 and your videos inspired me to become a mechanic so thank you very much for the inspiration.
Two cycle vs 4 cycle for me depends on what the machine is used for. An edger like this one has wheels and one does not need to lift most of the weight. So for this process I prefer a 4 cycle. I did purchase a 4 cycle trimmer and it is to heavy for me at my age. I still use it and it has lots of power but I can't use it for a long time as it gets to heavy and I have to take a break. Personally I don't mind changing the oil etc so for me it is all about the weight and use. Thanks for the video.
I was always a 4-cycle guy until I got my Echo PAS-225. Not having to do oil changes and lighter weight make mixing fuel worth it. I also feel like you have more throttle control in low RPMs on 2-cycle engines.
Be careful when diagnosing machines. I recently had a small tiller in my shop. It would run for about 3 minutes, and then shut down like it had lost spark. I put my spark tester on in and cranked it up. This was to see if I lost spark when it shut down. It didn't. My partner suggested it was a fuel issue. I told him it wasn't because it wouldn't run that long if it was a carburetor, but I went through it anyway. And as expected, nothing wrong. Then I got cerious about the plug. It is the same plug that is in my personal blower, so I swapped the plugs. The blower ran like crap, but the tiller worked. I got a new plug, and everything is fine, just be aware.
I don’t particularly care what the exact valve clearance was to begin with. I just get the feeler gauge for where I want them set and adjust to that. It saves time.
I have 4 cycle weed eater I need to check and see if it has a valves on it that need to be checked because it has a hard time to start as well not sure if it setup for it the one I have. Good video on the adjustments
I'm not familiar with that style engine. I have two older 3 wheeled edgers and they both have Briggs flathead engines. I'd consider one of those style, but I doubt I'll ever have to. Those flatheads will run forever.
I think I'd still prefer a 4 cycle engine. From my experience, they are more durable. I thought about something.... why didn't you gap the spark plug😁 now you had the feelergauge out. Great video as always. Looking forward to seeing more from you
Do you remember the engine I told you about that had the flywheel failure? Two of the posts that the magneto screws into are broken. they are part of the block casting, so there are two dime sized holes in the top of the block. Do you think it would hold if I jb weld them in place?
I have a Craftsman ws4200 4 cycle trimmer i bought for 48 dollars and the only thing wrong with it was someone overfilled the crankcase with oil to the point the engine was hard to turn over these engines only need 3 ounces of oil to run properly i bet it had about 6 ounces of oil in it after i dumped the overcharged oil out and put the correct amount back in it started right up after about 3 pulls now it starts first pull from cold these 4 cycle engines are torque masters when correctly running i've seen it take down some pretty thick grass and weeds without bogging down.
I am 60-years old and I don't work on small engines: in fact I have never worked on a engine, but I have stayed at a lot of Holiday Inns in my life. Anyway I am not a mechanic, but life has thrown a lot curveballs at me. I have some skills - I built a Open Source Prusa i3 3D printer - technically assembled all the pieces. Anyway I have to repair my Troy Bilt TB516EC 25A-516-766. I recently learned that one of my fuel lines is broken. Geez Louise I thought I could just tape the fuel line, but it just cracked like brittle candy. I know if I am going to work on it I have to empty the oil and gas. I started removing a few parts - air filter and stopped because all the parts are original and I think it has ever been mechanically loved other than a oil change since my dear old Dad purchased it in 2011/2012. I am beginning to think I may have strip it down and rebuild it with replacement parts. I already found your video helpful to me as a guide. I guess I need to purchase a carburetor kit and/or Fuel Tank Assembly
I personally never used a 4 cycle piece of equipment before but I think if proper maintenance of the said piece of equipment is being done when need then I'm sure that you wouldn't have any problem like this ever
I use my Stihl edger every 2 weeks to keep on top of the edges, this is also because it’s difficult to edge a lawn that hasn’t been done in a very long time.
Nice job. I've never owned an edger. I like either 2 or 4 stroke engines. The maintenance on a 4 stroke might put a lot of people off them, but not me.
Another great video,I have a little edger just like that,it says craftsman no model number,it needs a new belt,would it be. possible to get the P/N for the belt,it should fit. Thank You.
Most would pick the 4 Cycle only due to being quiet, but being needed to be maintained every 10 hours of use, may sway them to a 2 Cycle, depending on their mechanical skill.
I would buy the 4 cycle one,as far as cleaning the spark plug.goes on.small 4 cycle engine such as a Honda GX25 or a GX35 I would only clean the spark plug with a fine Bristle brass brush because the electrodes are delicate & easily damaged. If I do gap it ,it tends to work best on its upper limit (0.7mm) because if I set it in the middle (0.65mm) it tends to misfire at idle speed & run a bit horrible at idle speed !
I always add mixed fuel even though the tag says no oil mix fuel needed ,yes its supposed to pick oil up ,that lubricates the piston and rings ,thats good for the lower end ,but what about the top end I use a 30-40% fuel mix readjust the valves as needed by the book hour ,my machine has been running for a long while ,not so good, for the other machines folks bring me , I see burnt rings ,scarred cylinder wall, and almostvalways a hot piston !
That's a really good point. I had a TB weedeater that suffered fatal engine damage even though I diligently checked/changed the oil. I got it used and ran it on & off for several years so the failure didn't happen right away but perhaps progressively. Thus, as you say, the top end might have finally deteriorated from lack of lube. However, please clarify what you mean when you say 30-40% fuel mix. Are you talking about 2 stroke oil mixed with the gas in addition to the regular oil in the sump?
@@jjparody8257 I use the same fuel mix that my weed trimmers use, 30 -40:1 the 30 weight oil does lubricate the bottom end and yes the tranfer ports are supposed to pick up enough to lubricate the piston in my opinion it's just to heavy a lubricant,I have had the same machine for 4 years it starts ,and runs, everytime I need it ,whereas, I have had 4 brought to me that where followed and used by the book, it hurts to see practically new shiny machine go to waste ,I have seen 3 no compression the cylinder walls galled extremely bad and rings froze stuck, the other lost all of the seals like it had an, explosion inside the crankcase which in turn lost vacuum and pressure, I have noticed every 5 hrs of use or so Check the valve lash, sometumes if you notice you are having to pull it a lot to start it ,as you know hard starts could mean something different could be going on i.e fuel timing plug coil you know the nasty little culprits 😆lol anyway I'm just sharing what i have found works for me ,thought a share would help save someone a couple $2-300.00 hard earned scoots!
@@joeortiz3455 Got it, thanks. I like the little 4-strokes but it seems that mfgs are making fewer of them these days as the momentum towards battery increases.
Damn valves stick on these engines and youll want to check valve lash, very sensitive to that. Also, remove rope from handle and shorten a bit. Easier to crank just pulling straight up.
I say it all depends on who the person is and how they feel on doing work on a 4 stroke aka 4 cycle engine where a 2 stroke aka 2 cycle engine which is generally low maintenance etc.
I would take a two stroke over those. I love 4 stroke engines however when they started doing overhead valves on small engines they created a lot of issues
Did your friend pay you for travel? Was this a free fix? I have an edger that I can lower the right wheel to make it easier to cut along the curbs. By lowering the right wheel, the person using it is facing the traffic making it a little safer. I do not think they make this model anymore. Have good days!
I’ve seen this style of edger but it was electric, now this is a. Great tool, actually its in very high demand for landscapers i hear, they go used from the low of 300 up to a. 1,000+. Good money in this machine if you ever sell it. Especially since stuff is so hard to come by, im sure people wou;d be willing to spend whatever to get this machine jsut knowing that there investment will make them there hard earned moolah back
I don't have any problems with this engine . It would be address I can prove it if they would switch over to fuel injection.. fuel injection is far superior when we're dealing with the oxidation of fuel which occurs anywhere from three to six months
I have to say I don't have a shop or anyting but when word gets around. Like every spring s host of people contact me to fix their equipment. Pepe said it must be. There are benefits for using ethanol. What's even better and I've applied this is to add .8% (point 8%) of hydrogen into the internal combustion engine and because the hydrogen burn slightly hotter and it's a little more explosiveness. Let's just say he burns at a faster rate then gasoline. The molecule of gasoline is not just the result of cracked crude oil.. this is a well-designed molecule. It obviously has to be designed to function correctly at minimum. By adding an atom of oxygen to the molecule may help with emissions all the cost of processing. Hydrogen would enter the engine through the air intake. It should preferably be regulated to maintain 8 percent of the total cubic feet per minute at any given RPM.. of course you only way to do that is to have a tank of hydrogen and some type of metering device that will determine that specific hydrogen released to maintain and my calculations .8%. I had a mustang 4.6 l/ 281 cubic inch. I should not regulate the hydrogen because it was produced at a specific rate per minute. So two liters of hydrogen per minute was a fixed amount. So at 2000rpm 70 miles per hour on cruise control I would start the hydrogen generator. My gas mileage went from 28 mph to 46 mph. because his computer controlled. That means just looking for oxygen exhaust and if you were to use that well varying the RPMs it would exceed the computers fuel-air mixture compensation and all hell would break loose as far as giving false check engine light etc. I really have to do that on a small engine. They're so computer control.
It's ridiculous hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and yet the cost of using it for locomotion for the amount you need it's too expensive.. they prefer to extract hydrogen from natural gas which leaves pollution. Doing it with the energy from the Sun it takes too long. When you think about what we're burning putting into the atmosphere it really is pure insanity.. a glimmer of hope though is the success of controlled fusion with the main source of energy like which yields one and a half times more energy output then it took input we would have plenty of energy to extract hydrogen to operate our vehicles you'd have plenty of energy to extract freshwater from seawater through the use of evaporators. This process has been and will continue to be used on Warcraft to make drinking water as it goes along using the residual heat from their main engines. It is not cost-effective though to do it at the level that we need until fusion turn power our energy grids.
I'm 14 and I've worked on small engines since I was 11 and I've watched your videos since I was 11 and your videos inspired me to become a mechanic so thank you very much for the inspiration.
wow I really appreciate that Braden Henderson. Thank you
Very cool!! i am the exact same.
Two cycle vs 4 cycle for me depends on what the machine is used for. An edger like this one has wheels and one does not need to lift most of the weight. So for this process I prefer a 4 cycle. I did purchase a 4 cycle trimmer and it is to heavy for me at my age. I still use it and it has lots of power but I can't use it for a long time as it gets to heavy and I have to take a break. Personally I don't mind changing the oil etc so for me it is all about the weight and use. Thanks for the video.
Thank you D Butler, and me too, it's too heavy so I prefer the 2 cycle
I was always a 4-cycle guy until I got my Echo PAS-225. Not having to do oil changes and lighter weight make mixing fuel worth it. I also feel like you have more throttle control in low RPMs on 2-cycle engines.
thank you Marc Schroeder.
Be careful when diagnosing machines. I recently had a small tiller in my shop. It would run for about 3 minutes, and then shut down like it had lost spark. I put my spark tester on in and cranked it up. This was to see if I lost spark when it shut down. It didn't. My partner suggested it was a fuel issue. I told him it wasn't because it wouldn't run that long if it was a carburetor, but I went through it anyway. And as expected, nothing wrong. Then I got cerious about the plug. It is the same plug that is in my personal blower, so I swapped the plugs. The blower ran like crap, but the tiller worked. I got a new plug, and everything is fine, just be aware.
wow I've never had that problem, but it does make sense.
I don’t particularly care what the exact valve clearance was to begin with. I just get the feeler gauge for where I want them set and adjust to that. It saves time.
makes sense.
I have 4 cycle weed eater I need to check and see if it has a valves on it that need to be checked because it has a hard time to start as well not sure if it setup for it the one I have. Good video on the adjustments
more than likely it's going to be slightly off.
Your very welcome
The valves were my guess as to why the difficult starting. I’m partial to the 2 cycle system as well. Nice video.
I feel the same way.
Runs good now thanks for the tip 👍
No problem 👍
I'm not familiar with that style engine. I have two older 3 wheeled edgers and they both have Briggs flathead engines. I'd consider one of those style, but I doubt I'll ever have to. Those flatheads will run forever.
you're not missing out, by not knowing about them. Stay with the flatheads, like you said, they're going to last. Thank you Clif B.
Found one in my old barn that the previous owners left after the sail of the house.
Great video, I would probably go with a 2 cycle version as they're lower maintenance, nice work!
Good choice!
Nice looking machine, working well, grea Job once again...😀🇦🇺
Thanks 👍
I think I'd still prefer a 4 cycle engine. From my experience, they are more durable.
I thought about something.... why didn't you gap the spark plug😁 now you had the feelergauge out.
Great video as always. Looking forward to seeing more from you
you know what , you made a good point. I'll have to update the video. thank you Christian Larsen.
@@HomeGaragechannel no problem sir. I thought, that the gap would be messed with, when you scrub with a metal brush
I put a saw blade on it and it makes for a great stump grinder.
hm... I might have to do that, thank you Jgoldie318.
Do you remember the engine I told you about that had the flywheel failure? Two of the posts that the magneto screws into are broken. they are part of the block casting, so there are two dime sized holes in the top of the block. Do you think it would hold if I jb weld them in place?
I would say yes it would hold up, but you'll have to prep the surface really well.
I have a Craftsman ws4200 4 cycle trimmer i bought for 48 dollars and the only thing wrong with it was someone overfilled the crankcase with oil to the point the engine was hard to turn over these engines only need 3 ounces of oil to run properly i bet it had about 6 ounces of oil in it after i dumped the overcharged oil out and put the correct amount back in it started right up after about 3 pulls now it starts first pull from cold these 4 cycle engines are torque masters when correctly running i've seen it take down some pretty thick grass and weeds without bogging down.
I can agree to that. thank you Jamie Crisp
I am 60-years old and I don't work on small engines: in fact I have never worked on a engine, but I have stayed at a lot of Holiday Inns in my life. Anyway I am not a mechanic, but life has thrown a lot curveballs at me. I have some skills - I built a Open Source Prusa i3 3D printer - technically assembled all the pieces. Anyway I have to repair my Troy Bilt TB516EC 25A-516-766. I recently learned that one of my fuel lines is broken. Geez Louise I thought I could just tape the fuel line, but it just cracked like brittle candy. I know if I am going to work on it I have to empty the oil and gas. I started removing a few parts - air filter and stopped because all the parts are original and I think it has ever been mechanically loved other than a oil change since my dear old Dad purchased it in 2011/2012. I am beginning to think I may have strip it down and rebuild it with replacement parts. I already found your video helpful to me as a guide. I guess I need to purchase a carburetor kit and/or Fuel Tank Assembly
thank you Peter Pa, good luck to you
I personally never used a 4 cycle piece of equipment before but I think if proper maintenance of the said piece of equipment is being done when need then I'm sure that you wouldn't have any problem like this ever
Thank you Ramadin Sookhoo, Maintenance definitely helps.
I use my Stihl edger every 2 weeks to keep on top of the edges, this is also because it’s difficult to edge a lawn that hasn’t been done in a very long time.
that makes sense, I only edge rarely, mainly use my trimmer.
where can you buy the quick start key
amazon
amzn.to/3QY5Tz3
Nice job. I've never owned an edger. I like either 2 or 4 stroke engines. The maintenance on a 4 stroke might put a lot of people off them, but not me.
Great point!
I don't use a wire brush on a spark plug because it can leave metal tracks that could cause misfires.
interesting topic.
Another great video,I have a little edger just like that,it says craftsman no model number,it needs a new belt,would it be. possible to get the P/N for the belt,it should fit.
Thank You.
give me a minute to do some research.
here's the link for the part number, boy it's not cheap.
amzn.to/38qZsA3
Thank You for the P/N
no problem
Thank you, im having the same issue
no problem
Most would pick the 4 Cycle only due to being quiet, but being needed to be maintained every 10 hours of use, may sway them to a 2 Cycle, depending on their mechanical skill.
you make a great point.
Can you go over in your next Q&A about when you're going to fix your Stihl super chainsaw?
Yeah I agree you should really get that chainsaw running it's such a good chainsaw
Yes I can, thank you for the suggestion
yes I can, thanks for the suggestion
Your welcome
i once drove 2 hours to get my piece of equipment but it was a shidaiwa b530 and was totally worth it
I completely agree with you on that.
Awesome job. Great repair as always. 🙏👍🙏👍
Thanks 👍
I don't think I'd use an edger like that enough to warrant the increased maintenance. I'd probably opt for a 2-cycle. Thanks for the video.
Great point and thank you A Patterson.
I would buy the 4 cycle one,as far as cleaning the spark plug.goes on.small 4 cycle engine such as a Honda GX25 or a GX35 I would only clean the spark plug with a fine Bristle brass brush because the electrodes are delicate & easily damaged.
If I do gap it ,it tends to work best on its upper limit (0.7mm) because if I set it in the middle (0.65mm) it tends to misfire at idle speed & run a bit horrible at idle speed !
thank you Russell Booth, I should have checked the gap while I was at it.
Good video I enjoyed your voice.
thank you I appreciate it
Great video
Thanks!
I’ve been working on small engines since I was 12 and im now 70 years old.
very nice, I envy your experience
I'm not a fan of these little 4T engines. I purchased one of those starter adapters for my drill - no regrets.
thank you for the information The Lawnmower Lady.
Best way to warm up equipment is to run it wide open throttle under load, after brief warm up.
yes sir.
I always add mixed fuel even though the tag says no oil mix fuel needed ,yes its supposed to pick oil up ,that lubricates the piston and rings ,thats good for the lower end ,but what about the top end I use a 30-40% fuel mix readjust the valves as needed by the book hour ,my machine has been running for a long while ,not so good, for the other machines folks bring me , I see burnt rings ,scarred cylinder wall, and almostvalways a hot piston !
you know what, I think that's a great idea. thank you Joe Ortiz.
That's a really good point. I had a TB weedeater that suffered fatal engine damage even though I diligently checked/changed the oil. I got it used and ran it on & off for several years so the failure didn't happen right away but perhaps progressively. Thus, as you say, the top end might have finally deteriorated from lack of lube. However, please clarify what you mean when you say 30-40% fuel mix. Are you talking about 2 stroke oil mixed with the gas in addition to the regular oil in the sump?
@@jjparody8257 I use the same fuel mix that my weed trimmers use, 30 -40:1 the 30 weight oil does lubricate the bottom end and yes the tranfer ports are supposed to pick up enough to lubricate the piston in my opinion it's just to heavy a lubricant,I have had the same machine for 4 years it starts ,and runs, everytime I need it ,whereas, I have had 4 brought to me that where followed and used by the book, it hurts to see practically new shiny machine go to waste ,I have seen 3 no compression the cylinder walls galled extremely bad and rings froze stuck, the other lost all of the seals like it had an, explosion inside the crankcase which in turn lost vacuum and pressure, I have noticed every 5 hrs of use or so Check the valve lash, sometumes if you notice you are having to pull it a lot to start it ,as you know hard starts could mean something different could be going on i.e fuel timing plug coil you know the nasty little culprits 😆lol anyway I'm just sharing what i have found works for me ,thought a share would help save someone a couple $2-300.00 hard earned scoots!
@@joeortiz3455 Got it, thanks. I like the little 4-strokes but it seems that mfgs are making fewer of them these days as the momentum towards battery increases.
Can you clarify what you mean by “readjust the valves as needed by the book hour” ?
Damn valves stick on these engines and youll want to check valve lash, very sensitive to that. Also, remove rope from handle and shorten a bit. Easier to crank just pulling straight up.
thank you
Nothing like a Valve adjustment to.gey it running in top shape
I know right, it's so often look over. Thank You Robert Mailhos
@@HomeGaragechannel 👍😎
can 2 stroke engines also have a problem with the valve lash?
only on stihl 4 mix engines
so this would not be a problem for a chainsaw?
unless the chainsaw is a 4 stroke
@@HomeGaragechannel Ok thanks :)
Can I ask a Cub Cadet riding mower question?
sure
I say it all depends on who the person is and how they feel on doing work on a 4 stroke aka 4 cycle engine where a 2 stroke aka 2 cycle engine which is generally low maintenance etc.
thank you Patrick Stapleton, that makes sense.
awesome video!
Thanks!
nah, I also heard they are heavier and rev less so no thank you
I completely agree with you
I'm having a problem with my troy bilt edge, it starts with chock on but when I try throttle up it chocks out. Help please
sure, unfortunately it sounds like the carb is having a problem giving enough fuel to the engine. You can either rebuild the carb or just replace it.
Is that a Powermore engine on that edger????????🤔🤔🤔🤔
I don't think so.
@@HomeGaragechannel Is it a Briggs and Stratton??????🤷🏿♂️
no I believe it's an MTD engine.
thanks
No problem
all machines will last forever as long you take care of theme
yes sir
@@HomeGaragechannel gas prices are going down
really?
I would take a two stroke over those. I love 4 stroke engines however when they started doing overhead valves on small engines they created a lot of issues
I completely agree with you.
Did your friend pay you for travel? Was this a free fix? I have an edger that I can lower the right wheel to make it easier to cut along the curbs. By lowering the right wheel, the person using it is facing the traffic making it a little safer. I do not think they make this model anymore.
Have good days!
thank you Buddy Reed, no free service,
To me, having to mix two cycle gas and keep a second gas can around is much more of a hassle than doing an oil change.
it's a toss up for me, I find them both a hassle either way
Valve adjustment is like a root canal, I avoid them both. Lol
I know what you mean.
Good morning
Morning
this is what I call a baby 4 cycle. Literally.
I can see why
I’ve seen this style of edger but it was electric, now this is a. Great tool, actually its in very high demand for landscapers i hear, they go used from the low of 300 up to a. 1,000+. Good money in this machine if you ever sell it. Especially since stuff is so hard to come by, im sure people wou;d be willing to spend whatever to get this machine jsut knowing that there investment will make them there hard earned moolah back
thank you Alexander Costa.
Edge only a few times a year? String, Mow, Edge, Blow. It’s a saying for a reason. 😉
I like that, it flows really well.
Bit of garbage design in regards to the valves don't these usually use a lock nut type of concept so that way you know they don't just loosen off
unfortunately, for this size of an engine, they don't a lock nut, but it would help
It was hard to start because it was so edgy.
Great vids...Try running you 2cycle on kerosene
Great suggestion!
I don't have any problems with this engine
. It would be address I can prove it if they would switch over to fuel injection.. fuel injection is far superior when we're dealing with the oxidation of fuel which occurs anywhere from three to six months
you got that right.
I have to say I don't have a shop or anyting but when word gets around.
Like every spring s host of people contact me to fix their equipment. Pepe said it must be. There are benefits for using ethanol. What's even better and I've applied this is to add .8% (point 8%) of hydrogen into the internal combustion engine and because the hydrogen burn slightly hotter and it's a little more explosiveness. Let's just say he burns at a faster rate then gasoline. The molecule of gasoline is not just the result of cracked crude oil.. this is a well-designed molecule. It obviously has to be designed to function correctly at minimum. By adding an atom of oxygen to the molecule may help with emissions all the cost of processing. Hydrogen would enter the engine through the air intake. It should preferably be regulated to maintain 8 percent of the total cubic feet per minute at any given RPM.. of course you only way to do that is to have a tank of hydrogen and some type of metering device that will determine that specific hydrogen released to maintain and my calculations .8%. I had a mustang 4.6 l/ 281 cubic inch. I should not regulate the hydrogen because it was produced at a specific rate per minute. So two liters of hydrogen per minute was a fixed amount. So at 2000rpm 70 miles per hour on cruise control I would start the hydrogen generator. My gas mileage went from 28 mph to 46 mph. because his computer controlled. That means just looking for oxygen exhaust and if you were to use that well varying the RPMs it would exceed the computers fuel-air mixture compensation and all hell would break loose as far as giving false check engine light etc. I really have to do that on a small engine. They're so computer control.
It's ridiculous hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and yet the cost of using it for locomotion for the amount you need it's too expensive.. they prefer to extract hydrogen from natural gas which leaves pollution. Doing it with the energy from the Sun it takes too long.
When you think about what we're burning putting into the atmosphere it really is pure insanity.. a glimmer of hope though is the success of controlled fusion with the main source of energy like which yields one and a half times more energy output then it took input we would have plenty of energy to extract hydrogen to operate our vehicles you'd have plenty of energy to extract freshwater from seawater through the use of evaporators. This process has been and will continue to be used on Warcraft to make drinking water as it goes along using the residual heat from their main engines. It is not cost-effective though to do it at the level that we need until fusion turn power our energy grids.
I have no need for an edger.
me neither, I just use my trimmer.
An edger? Why not just use your weed whacker?!