[littletoes]

Guys, it sounds like there are some common types of equipment that the pro's on here are always working on. Maybe because of the volume of equipment that is sold in there area. Kinda like snow-blowers up here in the north.

I am just curious about what parts you keep on hand, or belts, or do you just "buy as you need".

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Plugs

J19LM
RC12YC
H8C
NGK BPR6ES

Belts
42" MTD deck belt (w/o manual PTO)
42" MTD/Troy Bilt/Bolens (w/ Manual pto)

The Common MTD Vari-Drive belts, mainly the current/recent Troy Bilt Pony/horse riders...

BLADES
42" MTD
42" AYP
44" AYP (3)
46" MTD (2)
38" MTD
38" AYP

3/16" Key stock

The 2 different styles of MTD steering gear bushing, and appropriate gears.

Briggs Intek/Quantum flat panel air filter

Briggs 31XXXX series panel air filter

Briggs Intek Vtwin Panel filter and Cartidge filter

Kohler Command filters, Single and V-twin
Kohler Courage single and V-twin filters

Napa Equivalent of Briggs and Kohler oil filters

A couple cases of Napa SAE30 and 10W30 oils

Some common black fuel line, and some inline filters...both pump and gravity style.

 

[themidniteryder]

Plugs

J19LM
RC12YC
H8C
NGK BPR6ES

Belts
42" MTD deck belt (w/o manual PTO)
42" MTD/Troy Bilt/Bolens (w/ Manual pto)

The Common MTD Vari-Drive belts, mainly the current/recent Troy Bilt Pony/horse riders...

BLADES
42" MTD
42" AYP
44" AYP (3)
46" MTD (2)
38" MTD
38" AYP

3/16" Key stock

The 2 different styles of MTD steering gear bushing, and appropriate gears.

Briggs Intek/Quantum flat panel air filter

Briggs 31XXXX series panel air filter

Briggs Intek Vtwin Panel filter and Cartidge filter

Kohler Command filters, Single and V-twin
Kohler Courage single and V-twin filters

Napa Equivalent of Briggs and Kohler oil filters

A couple cases of Napa SAE30 and 10W30 oils

Some common black fuel line, and some inline filters...both pump and gravity style.

:ditto:

NGK BPM8Y ( fits a lot of the Echo stuff)

RCJ8

I always keep 1 B&S flat panel style air filter base in stock. DIY'ers are always trying to clean their own carbs and tighten the base too tight ruining the primer passage.

1 each of about 15 different B&S filters, beside whats on Red's list

Round and Oval Tec. filters, as well as 1 cage for each style.

I pretty much quit buying carb kits, instead stock most of the diaphragms, needle/seats, baskets, etc. individually in bulk.

It takes a bit, but you will see a pattern of fast moving parts in your area and know what to keep on hand.

 

[littletoes]

Interesting answers!

I can see your both from warm environments. I'll just bet there is equipment that you guys work on all year, that we won't touch for at least six months.

I suppose letting stuff sit, opens a whole bottle of wax by itself, especially when no fuel stabilizer is used.

Thanks again for taking the time to help us out guys. Gives us a little peek in your lives.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

For 2 strokes, it depends on what is popular near you. If people like ECHO..then there are parts and kits to keep on hand, if they like Stihl, then there are kits to have on hand. If they are cheap and like Craftsman and Ryobi...good time to carry some Echo trimmers to try and retail...cause the cheapy trimmers arent worth the time. Good for getting $20 check out fees though.

 

[themidniteryder]

Seeing as how I have never used a snow blower, much less hardly been within 50' of one, I wouldn't know what to stock other than engine parts. Paddles? Shear pins? Scraper bars and shoes? A laborer to run it? :sidelaugh Ever thought of stocking a couple "power" brooms that go on a split boom trimmer? Handy for sweeping snow off the walk that is too thin to blow? Don't know about up there, but down here I don't even stock saw chain. With the margins it's almost as cheap to pick up the Oregon chains at the big box stores as needed rather than try to keep all the different sizes on hand. I will order those as needed IF I am placing a regular parts order.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Im going to start ordering 50 foot rolls of the most common chains this season..

3/8Low Profile
3/8 Full profile Semi-Chisel
.325/50ga

Its cheap to get it in rolls and get a breaker/spinner and make your own..

Like..for instance, buying at about 2 dollars a foot and selling it at about 6 dollars a foot...or more.

20" chain is about 44" long, and I charge 21.50 for it...so for less than 4 feet of chain, that I paid less than 8 dollars for, im charging 21.50 for...thats enough profit for 4-5 minutes of my time to make the chain.

 

[littletoes]

TheMidnightRider---I see more and more neighbors getting snow-blowers, and quite a few folks heat with wood. With the prices of electric/gas/and wood pellets getting higher and higher, you see even more folks turning back to wood.

But with the population growing like it is, and property getting chopped up more and more, there may be more homeowners around using saws, but there are less loggers, or if not "less loggers", soon there will be. We have huge tracks of timber disappearing while land owners are needing more and more money....that's another story.

Another interesting tidbit, we now have those "wood-boilers" taking off, so that's another thing contributing to the use of saws...

Biggest two around here are Huskies, and Stihl. Several other brands, but most serious wood cutters are using one of those.

I was told by one guy that Stihl isn't what it use to be, but another told me that the piston walls on the Huskies are not holding up because of the ethanol used in the gas.

Does that make sense to you guys?? Which of the two do you see more of in your shop, and why?

We live in a kinda meca of small engines...have a few boats/jet skis around here due to the large lakes, 4 wheelers are allowed to drive on the streets, and with the heavy snows, quite a few snow machines.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Ethanol and 2 strokes dont mix well to begin with. To run ethanol you have to richen the jetting, thats a rule, not up for debate...You literally need more fuel intake when you run ethanol. But semi-fixed and fixed jet carbs...dont have thast option, so on Ethanol, modern 2 strokes run lean...lean = hotter, more rpms, less lubrication...which isnt good.

Now, Husky and Stihl have gone to Strato-charging many of their 2 strokes as a way to pass C.A.R.B. Tier 3 emissions standards...Stratocharging is basically a 2nd air intake in the carburetor that, at full throttle, opens up and essentially blows straight air into the cylinder, through the piston ports to prevent unburned fuel from exiting the muffler...this idea WORKS...however ive found that it seems to run the engines even more lean than they already are. FOr instance, people were getting 2-3 seasons out of non-strato charged poulan wild things...the new Strato-charged versions arent lasting a single season before the pistons are scorched.

Husky has had some problems with casting flaws in cylinders...pores in the cylinders open up and make problems.

Stihls...well, they arent what they used to be for sure...The 362, 441, etc...I dont care for them, the plugs tend to come out pasty white..makes me nervous, and I dont like the torque curve on the new engines, very top heavy.

I prefer ECHO..for everything. No stratocharged engines except 1 model backpack blower, that is a rebadged Shin-Daiwa design.

 

[littletoes]

Which saws would you say are totally rebuild-able, to the point that they will last for years, with a good guess that parts will still be available?

When I was a young guy, folks use to shy away from Huskies because their parts were hard to get, and expensive. At that time quite a few logger friends used Johnsered instead. And Stihl was always around.

Haven't seen that many Echo's, but I have looked into them.

 

[themidniteryder]

Husqvarna makes the saws for craftsman, as well as their own subsidiary brand Poulan. I have seen countless Crafts. and Poulans in here, some as new as 2 years old, with scarred cylinder/pistons. I warn people away from purchasing them anymore. For people with lost of money to spend, I recommend Stihl, for those on a tighter budget, its Echo, although the price gap is closing between the two. Folks don't maintain saws as well as other equipment it seems. Run them without bar oil, don't clean/replace plug and filter as some are a pita (or rather not as easy) to get to. And that has a lot to do with longevity. Until the Ethanol fiasco is cleared up, all small engines will see a shorter life time I suspect.

Before you think about pulling the limiter caps and tinkering with the mixture, think about the huge fine if you get caught.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Ive never given a 2nd thought about removing the limiter caps, ive even devised multiple ways to to remove various caps to save time.

I dont know what the fine is, honestly I dont care...they would have to prove that you removed the cap, made an adjustment, and increased pollution...thankfully the EPA doesnt go around to small engine shops peeking into the carb access holes. My neighbor 2 doors down purchased a new weedeater brand trimmer, and a new Ryobi brand pole saw....brand new out the box both of them wouldnt run off of 1/2 choke...so lean that the plugs came out paper white.

I popped off the caps, gave them 1/2 turn out on the Low side and 1/2 turn out on the high side...bam, ran perfect.

 

[littletoes]

EPA will only go where the big money is...one guy couldn't do enough to even interest them.

Where I work, we had an individual develop lung cancer. It became a high profile case, so a couple of years later, a rep from the EPA showed up to investigate a quarter sized hole in an asbestos tiled floor....Not a threat, and nobody got fined.

There's no way the EPA would currently haven anyone working for them that would even know what they were looking at...they would have to hire one of you guys.

Ever think of it like that? Anyone they would hire would have to be a college grad, with a degree that wouldn't even apply to the problem.

That is how big business works....sad, ain't it.