I was mowing yesterday in VT when our neighbor drove by. We both stopped and chatted. My wife came out to join the conversation. My wife commented that he had a good amount of stuff in the pickup bed. “You guys want a generator?” Sure! He and I unload the Powermate unit from his truck. He then says “You want this other one too?” And pulls the cover off the Toro unit. OK! We asked him multiple times if he wanted anything for them. Nope, he had taken them from his mother’s house (which was for sale and closing soon) and he was going to have take them to another family members place to store before eventually having a yard sale in the spring. For him, this was easier. That being said, my wife and I will be getting them something; probably a gift card so he and his wife can have a nice meal out. He said the powermate hadn’t run in a few years, the Toro ran last year. I checked the oil on the Powermate, pulled the air box cover off, hit it with some cheater spray and it’ll run for a bit on full choke. I’ll most likely pull the carb and clean. I’m going to put some gas in the Toro and try starting that today. I went online last night and found specs for both engines. I plan on oil and plug changes on both along with air filters. The Powermate has a Yamaha engine that should be pretty reliable; unit is a 2007. The Toro is a neat older unit from the 1980’s with a Suzuki engine. And our neighbor’s son in law is an electrician so hoping we can have him do the work to our house for the hookup. Ironically, my wife and I were talking about getting a generator while driving up north Friday evening. So feeling very fortunate this weekend! We are so lucky to have them as neighbors. These are the same neighbors who gave us a bunch of logs after they had their property logged a few years back. Wonderful, generous people.
I recently gave $200 for a 1 YO Champion 2500W inverter genny that supposedly needed a carb clean...long story short, it actually had a bad electrical component, and Champion sent it to me for free, even though I told them I had bought it used! (VIN verified it was less than 1 YO, so I guess they figured it should have lasted at least that long!)
Thanks everyone! I got the Toro running this morning. Took apart the petcock as it was difficult to move. Then pulled the bowl off the carb and cleaned out a little “old gas dust”. Started third pull, then stalled. A quick shot of cheater spray and we were off to the races. It ran, but surged a bit. I let it run and after about a minute, it cleared up and ran nicely. Hooked up a drill and it spun it no problem. It’s a nice unit and cleaned up well. They don’t make them like this anymore; chrome frame and a chrome heat shield over the exhaust. I’ll get some pics soon. The Powermate spun up easily as well. I ran it a bit yesterday and that got some fuel in to the system. Today, it wouldn’t run off choke, so I restarted it and slooooooooooowly backed off the choke. It then settled in smoothly. The oil in this looks clean, but it’s a bit overfilled and smells a little like gas. The fuel shutoff was on when I got it, so I’m guessing there’s some gas in the oil. I didn’t run it very long based on that. Had no problem running a corded drill. I’m going to get some supplies this week and continue the work next weekend.
Had a good day yesterday working on the generators. As suspected, the Powermate had fuel in the oil. More than a quart of oil came out when draining the oil and it had a gasoline smell to it. Glad that got changed! Filled with 10w-30 synthetic. This unit was really easy to work on, easily accessible oil drain plug and very simple to get to the spark plug. The plug didn’t look bad. I’ll keep it as a spare. Cleaned up nicely! Just need to work more on getting the grime out of the texture on the fuel tank. On to the Toro! I love the chrome exhaust heat shield. They don’t make them like this anymore. The plug….yeah, that needed to be replaced! I’m surprised it ran smoothly given how crusty it was! Not saving this one as a spare… Thank you engineers for the nice big label regarding oil capacity (in multiple units!), weights based on operating temperature and change interval. And the oil capacity cast into the block is a nice touch too. Drained the oil oil and filled with 10w30 synthetic. I replaced the fuel lines and the shutoff. The metal shut off is non OEM and hard to move. Unfortunately, the OEM shutoff/strainer is no longer available. I used a spare new plastic shutoff I had in my parts collection. I need to to get new clamps as 1/4” ones are too big and the OEM ones are too small for the line I’m using. I gave it a good test up back. Hooked up the Swazall and cut up some old pallets. Worked great! The unit was surging for awhile. Last week, it smoothed out rather quickly; a minute or two of running. Yesterday, it surged for a good 10 minutes when I ran it after the working on it. I brought it up back an hour or two later and same thing. But it eventually settled out. I dumped a good amount t of seafoam in the tank and hopefully that helps clear thing out. This unit is great for running tools and it fairly portable in the trailer behind the quad. It’ll come in handy for cutting up old pallets and having to use when I’m wrenching on the snowmobiles in the upper shed.
The Powermate is a 2007. The Toro is mid to late 1980’s. I should look up the serial number and see if I get drill down to the exact year. We saw the neighbor who gave these to us yesterday. He was excited they both ran and were easy to get running. We gave him and his wife two bottles of wine and a gift certificate to a restaurant. We just couldn’t take these things without a bit of thanks.
Wait. I’m not the guy who says this. But…Nobody has told him “You suck!” yet. Great for you guys! Those are some great neighbors to have. Good luck with them. They are so very handy when the weather goes sour.
Nice ...nice..nice !!! Great job getting them running....and for doing what you did for your neighbors in return. Love when things turn out that way !
You guys are correct, amazing neighbors. These are the ones that gave us a bunch of logs after their property was logged and the one that helped us with his tractor last summer after we had some flood damage to our property. Great people! I ran the Toro yesterday and the surging is back. It smooths out here and there, but you can hear it surging/hunting. I may have to pull the carb apart to investigate. Ironically, my mower was doing this recently and it was an air leak.
Took the carb apart yesterday. Guess there was a little rust in the gas tank! Found the cause of the surging. It was a challenge to get that main jet out of the carb with that build up. I’m just happy I was able to get it unseated from the carb body; those sometimes seize up after time. All cleaned up. Carb is fairly simple; it’s a Mikuni and setup similar to a snowmobile/ATV carb. After I was done, I turned on the gas and a the carb overflowed. Pulled it apart and adjusted the tang on the float slightly. Same results. Ugh! So I fired it up to at least test it out. It runs really smoothly now. And after I shut it off, the overflow issue went away? Very odd. I’ll keep and eye on it.
Very nice of your neighbor. Is the rubber tip on that float needle hard/firm? If it isn't/wasn't seating perfect, the seal could be incomplete. I'm a fan of Seafoam, I'd be running a dose or 2 through it. With that tank crust, might be a bit before you get it all settled.
