Hi,

i've just gained a rotavator with a briggs and stratton engine, which
has a choke and a throttle.

How should it be started? I havent got the knack of it yet! Choke out
presumably, throttle full? half?

Someone recommended putting a bit of fuel in the cylinder with some oil
and turning slowly to get it all lubed up first..

Thanks!
Dan

oh; it's a 3hp model, but it says nothing more than that on it, other
than the comical "easy starting" words

You might put some fuel /oil in the cylinder first if it has been setting
for a long time, but don't overdo it. Next I would pull the choke all the
way out and the throttle 1/2 - 3/4 the way out. Then I would crank the
engine 2 times. Then push the choke back in and try to start if. If it
doesn't start pretty soon, I would replace the spark plug (if the rotavator
was used rather than new).

Dwayne

"Connor T" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

i've just gained a rotavator with a briggs and stratton engine, which
has a choke and a throttle.

How should it be started? I havent got the knack of it yet! Choke out
presumably, throttle full? half?

Someone recommended putting a bit of fuel in the cylinder with some oil
and turning slowly to get it all lubed up first..

Thanks!
Dan

ok brilliant thanks. we have confirmed there is definately a spark!
if i do have to replace it, are they of a standard type? I know with
cars there's loads of different sorts, and i can't actually find an
exact model number anywhere on the engine. I guess the old plug may
have a code on it..

Thanks!
Dan

"Connor T" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

i've just gained a rotavator with a briggs and stratton engine, which
has a choke and a throttle.

How should it be started? I havent got the knack of it yet! Choke out
presumably, throttle full? half?

Someone recommended putting a bit of fuel in the cylinder with some oil
and turning slowly to get it all lubed up first..

Thanks!
Dan

If the engine is really old and has not been run for some time it may be
contaminated with leaded fuel. It will not start on unleaded if that is the
case. I weaned mine onto unleaded by using high octane unleaded for a year
(1 gallon) after that it was ok.
Best of luck
Colin

"Connor T" wrote in message
oups.com...
ok brilliant thanks. we have confirmed there is definately a spark!
if i do have to replace it, are they of a standard type? I know with
cars there's loads of different sorts, and i can't actually find an
exact model number anywhere on the engine. I guess the old plug may
have a code on it..

Thanks!
Dan

Try, http://www.briggsandstratton.com/

There is a section there on where to find the model number and what the
numbers mean, download the manual as well.

HTH
Anthony

Try, http://www.briggsandstratton.com/

There is a section there on where to find the model number and what the
numbers mean, download the manual as well.


Thanks, problem is i can't find the model number on the engine, there's
no number on it anywhere.

As for the other post - i was warned it would only run on leaded fuel,
which is what it has in it at the moment. I guess when i need to get
some more fuel i'll have to find somewhere which still does LRP.

Connor T wrote:
Try, http://www.briggsandstratton.com/

There is a section there on where to find the model number and
what
the numbers mean, download the manual as well.


Thanks, problem is i can't find the model number on the engine,
there's no number on it anywhere.

As for the other post - i was warned it would only run on leaded
fuel,
which is what it has in it at the moment. I guess when i need to
get
some more fuel i'll have to find somewhere which still does LRP.

No problem: next time you have it serviced, the mechanic can probably
adjust it to run on unleaded. Now is a good time for a service, of
course, before the rush. He'll also probably tell you what model it
is.

But if it's got leaded juice in there, it's certainly gone stale;
that alone could account for your starting problem. I'd get it
serviced, and pick the bloke's brains at the same time.

--
Mike.

Connor T wrote:
As for the other post - i was warned it would only run on leaded fuel,
which is what it has in it at the moment. I guess when i need to get
some more fuel i'll have to find somewhere which still does LRP.

What sort of engine is it - a side valve one, like
on lawn mowers? If so, the valve will seat on the
cast iron block, and you must have leaded fuel, or
use unleaded with an addative (these are widely
available).

"Connor T" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

i've just gained a rotavator with a briggs and stratton engine, which
has a choke and a throttle.

How should it be started? I havent got the knack of it yet! Choke out
presumably, throttle full? half?

Someone recommended putting a bit of fuel in the cylinder with some oil
and turning slowly to get it all lubed up first..

Thanks!
Dan

If a B&S has been sitting with fuel in the carb over winter the jets will be
either blocked or nearly blocked and the fuel in the float bowl will be
"dead" (as far as the higher more evaporative elements need to start it are
concerned).
If that is the case throw away any fuel in it and use some "Carb Cleaner" as
directed.
As for Leaded fuel - No Briggs has run on that for decades! Anything since
1970s should be run on unleaded. They do run/start better on unleaded.
And remember when you finish using it to switch off the fuel and let it run
dry.
As for starting - Full choke - one pull - choke off - one pull. (If the
throttle is on a governor don't touch it - if on a lever put to full - most
Briggs have a lever connected to the governor spring not direct to the
butterfly, so the butterfly will always be open at start.).
As for squirting fuel down the bore - OK it does work but it's just as quick
to take off the air filter and do it in there as you will see if it is
flooded.
For easier starting I recommend opening the plug gap to 0.030" (But if it
misfires at full load close it down a bit)
If it does not start also check:
- That there is compression - The valves sometimes stick if left.
- That the flywheel key has not sheared.
- The air cleaner is clean - Foam type needs oiling

Slatts.

You seem to indicate that you may be trying to start it on the "old
fuel" that was in it when you got it. Forget about the "leaded v
unleaded" argument" for a minute. Gasoline older that 60 days will be
much less volitile than fresh petrol and often will not ignite except
in autos with a strong electric starter. Replace the old fuel now.
Drain out the carburator completely. Ensure that new fuel (leaded or
not) is getting in to the carburator. Pull it over hard once or twice
with the choke full out and the throttle half open. If it starts
-fine-if not -choke half out anf try again and a couple or tries with
no choke at all. If that doesn't work the carb jets may be plugged
with old fuel residue (gum) and must be removed and cleaned. There is a
spray product that may help you do this without taking it to a shop.
Lead used to be added to petrol to act as a cushion for the valves so
that their closing impact did not damage the valve seat and that is
still important on older engines. Leaded or unleaded has nothing to do
with the combustionability of the petrol and wont effect the engine
starting operation. If it starts--I would get on with the
rotavating--the inherent valve seat dammage may never occur--or you can
use the additive from Halfords for it.

I concur with the information from Sla@ts above and here is a bit more.
I forgot to mention that the spark you see in the open air may not be
the spark you get inside the cylinder when the plug in in a compressed
air situation. Engine compression can "snuff out" a spark if the
magneto is weak. Have a "nutter" hold the plug lead 1/2 inch away from
the plug when you strongly pull it over--if it is a blue spark your
magneto is probably OK. If it doesn't fire or is a weak yellow your
magneto could be a problem. Good Luck

"Sla#s" wrote in message
...

"Connor T" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

i've just gained a rotavator with a briggs and stratton engine, which
has a choke and a throttle.

How should it be started? I havent got the knack of it yet! Choke out
presumably, throttle full? half?

Someone recommended putting a bit of fuel in the cylinder with some oil
and turning slowly to get it all lubed up first..

Thanks!
Dan

If a B&S has been sitting with fuel in the carb over winter the jets will
be either blocked or nearly blocked and the fuel in the float bowl will be
"dead" (as far as the higher more evaporative elements need to start it
are concerned).
If that is the case throw away any fuel in it and use some "Carb Cleaner"
as directed.
As for Leaded fuel - No Briggs has run on that for decades! Anything since
1970s should be run on unleaded. They do run/start better on unleaded.
And remember when you finish using it to switch off the fuel and let it
run dry.
As for starting - Full choke - one pull - choke off - one pull. (If the
throttle is on a governor don't touch it - if on a lever put to full -
most Briggs have a lever connected to the governor spring not direct to
the butterfly, so the butterfly will always be open at start.).
As for squirting fuel down the bore - OK it does work but it's just as
quick to take off the air filter and do it in there as you will see if it
is flooded.
For easier starting I recommend opening the plug gap to 0.030" (But if it
misfires at full load close it down a bit)
If it does not start also check:
- That there is compression - The valves sometimes stick if left.
- That the flywheel key has not sheared.
- The air cleaner is clean - Foam type needs oiling

Slatts.

That's interesting! Where did you get unleaded petrol in the 70s and 80s?
2* and even 3* progressively disappeared over the years and when unleaded
came out I could not get my engine to start. I was advised to strip it
down and clean the interior thoroughly to remove the lead contamination.
In the event I ran for a year or two on RRP after which the engine would
run on standard unleaded.

Colin

"Colin Hammond" wrote in message
...
SNIP
That's interesting! Where did you get unleaded petrol in the 70s and 80s?

That's what we said to Briggs! But you could get it if you ordered a 45gal
drum. Or a bit sillier if you used lighter fuel!
But the manual said we could use 2 star if lead free was unavailable. You
just had to clean the plug more often.
This all started when some of our teams started to use 5 star thinking it
would be better for the engines but their units started to have more
problems than the other teams. The engines kept stopping at tickover. And as
they were hanging below a helicopter at the time - they were difficult to
restart. We use to have a lots of these problems but using the correct fuel,
particularly when lead free came out, made things a lot better.

Slatts