So the other day...

[Bruce(OR)]

The wife goes out to her slightly modified Fergy TO-20.
I am on the other side of the house and can only faintly her what is going on...
Crank, crank, crank....
Vroom! chug, chug, chug, spu-u-u-tter, ugh.

Crank, crank...
Vroom! chug, chug, chug, spu-u-u-tter, ugh.

Crank, crank, crank, crank, crank....
Vroom! chug, chug, spu-u-u-tter, ugh.

By now I have gotten down there and notice the ign switch is not quite in the correct position.
So, I try it.

Crank, crank, crank,crank, crank....
chug, chug, chug, spu-u-u-tter, ugh.

$%^%&***&^%^&!!!

Pull the plugs. Yep! Wet and black.
Where is my propane torch??
here is the striker, nearly worn out flint. here is the nozzle. Wrong nozzle, it"s busted. Fix it later cuz" I"m too cheap/lazy to toss it.
Find another nozzle. Where in blazes is the can?
Got sonme in the other shed. Somewhere.
Okay found that. Fire it off and heat up some plugs. Burn off some gas, clean off some carbon.
Good enough.
it"s getting late. Screw the plugs in and try it again.
Crank, crank, crank....
spu-u-u-tter, ugh.

F%^%^&* IT!

Another day or three...
"When ya" gonna fix MY tractor?"

Okay...
pull the carb fuel filter. Not enough crud to make it not run. Clean it out anyway and install the brass fitting back into the carb. What"s this piece? Oh yeah dope! That"s the screen. Remove brass fitting and reinstall WITH the screen filter.

How much gas is in this bomb? How about looking at the fuel guage? Huh? Okay, open the cap and verify. Yep! Out to lunch.
Find the gas can and make magic.
Wow, a little bit of liquid dead dinosaur works wonders.
 

[ShadetreeRet]

Yeah, we have all had days like that. Few years ago next door neighbor brought his riding mower to the house, wasn't running right, OK, I'll check it out soon as I can. Next day, fired it up, adjusted carb. ran OK for a minute and started acting up again. Tried two or three times, finally got it smoothed out, decided to ride it back to his house, (just couple hundred yards). Found out why it was so hard to get the carb adjusted, ran out of gas before I got there!
 

[Inno]

I did almost the exact same thing with my 202 about a month ago. I figured, it ran when I parked it there so it must have enough fuel to run..........wrong. Left it that day and came back a few days later with a can of gas. Whew! Immediately had back the tractor it was before........amazing what a little gas in the tank will do for ya!
 

[s19438]

been there, done that more times than i care to admit.
 

[John Kruer]

That is what exactly happened to me Saturday morning. I had used the tractor Friday afternoon and left it outside in the cold since it usually sits under the leanto in the cold. Ran when I parked it.......I ran the battery down and then was jumping it with the F150. I sould have smelled gas for how much I was choking it. Looked in the tank and it was bone dry and not any in the reserve. Added gas and while trying to figure out how the gas evaporated the engine started right up as it always does. Huh, Where did my gas go to?

Blamed it on the cheap gas these days and remembered that diesel fuel is too stupid to evaporate. Love to have a diesel in the future.
 

[John Kruer]

Also was reminded of the character "Carl Childers" from "Slingblade" when he said, "Aint got no gas in it".
 

[maxwell99]

Bruce,

guess i am just old school, maybe it comes from always having old used equipment,

but, before i try to start the old fergy, 1957, TO35 I always check the coolant, oil and fuel levels, 1/2 the time i also check the hyd/diff fluid level.

then turn gas valve on and fire it up.

the carb will leak fuel sometimes, if you leave the gas shutoff valve open.

it can drain your tank, but you would know if that happen, as you will have a strong gas smell in the storage shed.

good luck and always check your fuel level before starting up the old tractor, this practice will serve you well over the years, if you own an old fergy.
 

[2tractors]

With wet plugs its easy for one to be lead down the wrong path. My tractors all have a ball valve with a see thru filter so there's only one screen to stop up but you can't just look down and see if the filter has gas and assu me thats not the problem as I have done in the past.
 

[John(UK)]

I think that has happened to us all at one time or another, but you get over it...lol...John(UK)
 

[Tony in Mass.]

Propane torch??? What part of the 40 below Canadian Acrtic you live in??? Big Lots. Starter fluid $1.80 a can. Dries your mess, and when the girl fires up, and dies, and fires up and dies... THEN you can blame the gas guage....
I am scared to look in the tanks myself. They are always almost empty. Such a depressing thought.... did you see the thread about how I have to put gas in the one with the cab?