Yes, this does happen...!

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Jerryburger

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This is a true story, and I'm going to NOT drop names to protect the mechanically naive.
As part of cleaning/making room in our back yard, I had an old roto-tiller to give away. A friend wanted it, so since it was for a friend, I bolted on one of my better B/S 3hp engines onto it. (It's a pretty small tiller.) There was no throttle cable, so I set the motor's governed rpm at 3600 and then tightened down the lever. (Sort of like a generator, where the 3600 rpm is set, but the gov is free to do what it's supposed to do.) When he came to pick it up, I explained how the speed was set, and all he had to do was choke it to start and just worry about the belt tension lever.
About 2 hours later I get a call: It seems that the starter clutch was squealing (as they tend to do on old B/S motors) so he figures that rather than fix it, he'll just start it and yank off the blower-housing as it's running to keep the starter clutch quiet. (By this time, I'm standing in my kitchen with the phone to my ear, and my jaw dropped to the floor.):mad2:
Yup- you guessed it- NO cooling and running "WFO"... (remember....it's an air-vane governor) and he has the nerve to call me and ask why it DID run a lot faster but after a while started running crappy and then not at all....?:furious2:
After explaining the implications of the stupid move he made to him, he genuinely was surprised.
...and so was I. There are people out there that have NO CLUE.

Part 2: A younger friend comes to visit (Same Day) and mentions that the "Change Oil" light has been on for the last 5 days....her boyfriend checked it and told her she was probably due for an oil-change, and can I change her oil? "Wow!" I think to myself... "These new-fangled cars even tell you when it's time to change the oil!" So I asked her to show me this light.... (I've never owned a car newer than my 96 Geo Metro, so I wanted to see this new technology for myself.) As it turns out, it was the oil pressure light. 5 days, and they were concerned that as she and her boyfriend had been driving it, it's been getting louder. Once again I had to dig DEEP into my soul for restraint, as I poured 2 1/2 qts of oil into it before it showed on the dipstick. The boyfriend was truly in awe by the concept of checking one's oil.:censored:
...again. There ARE people out there that have NO CLUE.:huh:

The moral of this is, I'm giving a B/S motor to my son, and I'm going to make him KNOW the What/Why/How of it before he lays a finger on a car or a driver's license.
 

Kaptain Krunch

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WOW...The tiller one wasn't as embarrassing as the car one, not a whole lot of people would think that a housing makes a difference with anything. But the oil one is just crazy, how hard is it to pull out a dipstick and realize the oil isn't even on it?

I do know how you feel though, my best friend (were both 15) has absolutely no mechanical talent or even common sense about it. one time we were making some scrap wood bunkers for paintball, and i had him do the nailing, and he couldn't even hit the nail straight in, so i figured ok screws or cordless drill, but again he couldnt figure it out and kept stripping the screws... I also learned not to let him drive my shifter kart that i just made, because he doesnt understand that you can just floor it in 1st gear, and you have to keep the rpms down by shifting...

Also, someone gave me a free riding mower once because they said they hit a rock then it stopped running, this thing was in great shape too, so i took the flywheel off (i was 9 at the time) and sure enough, the key was sheared and thats it, put a new key in and the flywheel back on and it started right up.
 

kibble

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Those are some good ones, Jerry! I've had my share of "not the smartest cookies" before.
 

jr dragster T

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On my block I'm the fixer up guy for EVERYTHING. Some lady brings me her young sons bike and tells me "Its not working" "It wont move" So at first when I look at it I'm thinking the pawls in the coaster brake might have broken but after a second I look at it the chain just fell off when the kid dropped the bike! She offered me $10 I said dont worry about it and she insisted I took the cash, So I did Lol. So is the briggs engine fried?
 

Jerryburger

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She offered me $10 I said dont worry about it and she insisted I took the cash, So I did Lol. So is the briggs engine fried?
Time to make your million, Tyler!! Amazing, huh?
As far as I know about the B/S motor, amazingly NO. He did lube up the starter clutch and put the housing back on the next day and finished the yard. (?!?) Goes to show you how ridiculously tough these motors are. But I'll bet it consumes a BIT more oil than before!

You're a good father. I don't know how those ignorant people operate a toaster, let alone an automobile.

I'm self taught...got a long way to go to catch up to you blokes.

Thx, but I'm not really a good father for that. I'm a bit of a cheapskate, and education now will prevent expenses later! We all know pays when one of your offspring messes up!

I also had to learn from dumb mistakes. There's a garage wall in Spokane that has a HUGE plume-like oil stain on it, because some dummy (me) tried to check the oil on his minibike while it was running! (It's been almost 30 years! ... and I'm still making stupid mistakes!)
 

THE HUNTER

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yeah, i kinda know a few ppl like that! loll

im only 19, so im not gonna be having any kids of my own for a long time lol. but thats totally what i would do, teach my kid(s) about how to take care of stuff.
our garage is like a museum. really, we have an old roto-tiller from the 50s. 4.5hp and 300 pounds of cast-iron, though you'd never guess what it weighs by the way it handles. and it runs great too! (a little hard to start, and burns some oil. but otherwise fine) and lots of other old stuff (engines, tools, what-not)

all cause my grandfather taught my father to properly use things, and he taught me.
its great, even if ppl think we're crazy to keep so much old stuff. but why get rid of something that still works? lol
 

Kenny_McCormic

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yeah, i kinda know a few ppl like that! loll

im only 19, so im not gonna be having any kids of my own for a long time lol. but thats totally what i would do, teach my kid(s) about how to take care of stuff.
our garage is like a museum. really, we have an old roto-tiller from the 50s. 4.5hp and 300 pounds of cast-iron, though you'd never guess what it weighs by the way it handles. and it runs great too! (a little hard to start, and burns some oil. but otherwise fine) and lots of other old stuff (engines, tools, what-not)

all cause my grandfather taught my father to properly use things, and he taught me.
its great, even if ppl think we're crazy to keep so much old stuff. but why get rid of something that still works? lol

Same here, right down to the tank like tiller. My Grandfather worked on tanks in Korea, my Dad is a mechanic with over 30 years of experience. I dont plan on getting into that field but at 16 years old Im perfectly comfortable rebuilding/working on anything with an engine.
 

THE HUNTER

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Same here, right down to the tank like tiller. My Grandfather worked on tanks in Korea, my Dad is a mechanic with over 30 years of experience. I dont plan on getting into that field but at 16 years old Im perfectly comfortable rebuilding/working on anything with an engine.

M-E Tiller with a Wisconsin engine, even have the original manuals and stuff for it. i love that thing lol.

my grandfather was a truck mechanic/driver in WWII. i still use alotta tools from the era too. my dad is more into electronics, but passed the basic mechanical stuff to me. i have more of an interest in mechanical things than electronics now lol.
 
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