A McCulloch Model MT2026 Corded String Trimmer

The trimmer hub is a disaster, and replacement parts are no longer available. There'll be no restoring this item to operability. I figure I'll take it to pieces just for the heckuvit. Maybe there'll be something of it that's worth salvaging.

The Hub

The hub's outer shell is a piece of wreckage. It appears that a repair to the torn out trimmer line exit holes has been attempted, to poor effect. The hub spring is an ill-fitting kludge -- not the original spring. I don't know what to make of the translucent sleeve over the trimmer line spool. How that arrangement could ever bump-feed trimmer line is beyond me.

The Business End

There's a steel rod bail holding the safety guard in place. (The bail rod is 4mm diameter.) With that bail pried loose and removed, the safety guard can be removed. The motor housing can then be opened up.

Opening Up The Motor Housing

The motor housing is fastened together by ten 4mm threading screws, No. 2 Phillips recess. One of the screws is concealed under the ID label. The two uppermost screws are 13mm long. The other eight screws are all 18 mm long.

Opening up the motor housing reveals two prominent features of the machine -- the handle length adjuster and the motor itself.

Handle Length Adjuster

There's a latch/detent affair that enables the handle shaft to have one of four different lengths. The length increments are just shy of one inch.

The latch and the detent lever are spring loaded by coil springs. (I'll salvage the springs.) It's a diabolical thing to reassemble if it springs apart on you, which it's very likely to do.

The Motor

The motor is quite robust looking. (It still works, by the way.) Motor rating is 120 VAC, 3.2 A, 10,000 rpm.

The motor mount bracket is fastened to the housing by two 4mm threading screws, No. 2 Phillips recess. That fan/hub on the output end of the motor appears to be press-fitted on. I can see no non-destructive way to remove it.

Motor Fan/Hub Removed

I bored into the centre of the plastic fan/hub so I could get a puller's nose to contact the motor's shaft. That got the fan/hub started coming off. From there, I was able to pry the fan/hub off the rest of the way. Here's a view of the motor out of its housing along with its detached fan/hub.

The motor's shaft is 8mm diameter, with splines that make for an interference fit with the fan/hub's bore. Shaft length is 15/16".

I rigged the motor for a no load current draw measurement, and a photo-tachometer reading. I got about 650 mA  at about 27,000 rpm. Evidently, the 3.2 A, 10,000 rpm rating represents full load values.

Anyway, I now have a very nice little universal motor that I can think of no possible use for.

The Handgrips

The lower handgrip is fastened by a single M6 x 52mm carriage bolt and wingnut. There's a flat washer under the wingnut.

The upper handgrip is held together by six 4mm threading screws, No. 2 Phillips recess. The two screws nearest the trigger are 13mm long; the remaining four screws are 18mm long

The Trigger Switch

The red trigger acts on a momentary slide switch. The slide switch is made by Defond. It's rated at 11 A, 125 VAC, 5.5 A, 250 VAC. Its terminals are 3/16" male spade terminals.

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So there we have it -- the whole thing dismantled. Here's what all I salvaged:

• Three compression springs.
• Motor.
• Slide switch.
• An M6 x 52mm carriage bolt with wingnut and flat washer.
• A 25 1/4" length of 7/8" diameter steel tubing.

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Some Dollar Store Tools

The local Dollarama store has some remarkably neat stuff.

The 9mm utility knives are excellent; they even have spare blade storage for two spare blades.

I was only in the store for the sake of the knives, then the screwdriver and bit set caught my eye. I'm a sucker for such things, so I figured I could gamble $4.00 CDN + HST. There's no exchange or return at the Dollarama, so I'm hoping that the screwdriver bits are the real deal -- not overly brittle or soft. We'll see.

The socket wrenches are all metric -- 4mm to 14mm. The handle would really be something if it had ratchets, but it doesn't. The handle attaches to the shank in either a 'T' or an 'L' configuration. The 'L' configuration should provide an abundance of turning force.

'Looking forward to having need of the set.

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Another Poulan 260 PRO 42cc 18" Chainsaw

My last attempt at getting one of these running was a washout.

We'll see how I make out with this one. It's another machine that was given to me by the small engines place that I frequent. It's a saw that wasn't worth the shop's while to repair, so the owner just abandoned it. It's in pretty rough shape by the looks of it -- the chain appears to be off its sprocket and jammed. I'll want to attend to that first thing.

I'd really like to get this saw going. I have three sickly cedar trees at the foot of my backyard that need to come down.

Anyway, here's the saw's ID label data:

FAMILY 2000US EPA PH1
                YPWES.0424CS:EM
DISP. 42CC
SERIAL # 00075D 100235-3

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Jammed Chain

Clutch/sprocket/bar access is by way of a single cover that's held on by the two bar clamp nuts. The nuts are hex washerface items, M8 x 1.25, 13mm A/F (across flats). Note that the chain brake must be disengaged in order for the cover to be removable.

The chain on this saw may have been run out of oil -- it had many seized links that wouldn't traverse around the sprocket without jamming. With penetrating oil and a good deal of persuasion, I've gotten the chain to where it will traverse complete circuits. On with examination of the saw.

Bar Oil Reservoir

It's bone dry. That may explain a lot. I won't fill it unless and until I can get the engine to run.

Fuel Tank

There's some fuel in it. The fuel takeup tube is iffy, but its filter is still in place..

Top Cover Removal

Three obvious screws, T25 Torx recess.

Spark Plug

The spark plug had been installed very tightly. I had to take an impact wrench to it to get it loose.

It's a Champion RCJ7Y. It's a bit sooty, but not in bad condition at all. Hex is 3/4" A/F. Gap is a loose 0.025". A spark test revealed that I do have spark.

Priming

The primer bulb is a bit stiff, but it appears to be intact. The thing won't prime, though.

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Problems/Solutions:

• A stiff metering diaphragm. The diaphragm in my scrapped Poulan 260 PRO was ok, so I swapped diaphragms.
• Embrittled fuel line tubing. The fuel takeup tube looks to be virtually impossible to replace by squeezing it through its hole in the top of the fuel tank. I drilled out that hole to 5/32" diameter so I could slip-fit a replacement tube through. The tube's interface with the fuel tank is no longer fluid-tight, but the arrangement will get me going.
• The bar and chain are past it. The bar and chain on my scrapped saw are good, so I swapped the bar and chain.

And after all that, I'm still getting nowhere. I can't get the saw to start, and I'm getting weary of putting in seemingly futile effort.

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Update -- MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019

My son pointed out to me that I have plenty of time on my hands. So, I decided to return to the chainsaw and keep on attempting to get it running, however futile the attempt might be.

After an outrageous amount of fiddling, I got the thing to run for awhile. Now I'm back to being unable to start it again. It's exhibiting high compression -- compression so high that I can't get a decent pull on the starter cord. 'Next visit to the small engines place in Pickering, I'll ask about that. I'm hoping that they'll have an answer.

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Further Update -- TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2019

I took the saw with me to Pickering yesterday to show it to the senior man at the shop. He deemed the saw to be normal. So, I have to confess that the problem is not excessive compression; the problem is my lack of upper body strength. When I got the saw home, I rigged a method whereby I could get both feet holding the saw down while I tugged on the starter cord with both hands. That got the saw started. Here's a view of my 'both feet' rig.

Right foot goes in the handle as per usual; left foot goes on the stick of wood. I can hoist the starter cord's handle with both hands, and away we go.

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I got my three ailing cedar trees taken down and limbed. Cutting up the trunks will have to keep for another day; it's raining today.

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FEEDBACK

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Roadside Find -- A Sears Craftsman 21" Rear-Bagging Lawnmower

My wife found this lawnmower just up the street while out walking with our granddaughter and hauled it home for me.

It's a Sears Canada Model 944.364372, Serial No. 050905M 005419. Engine is a Briggs & Stratton 6.75 MRS (Most Reliable Starting). No. 125K-0506-E1 05041258. (I don't know what to make of "6.75" -- evidently the engine has 6.75 of something, but there's no indication of what.)

The mower looks to be in not bad condition. The deck shows no rust bubbling up, and the safety bail is operative. Let's take a tour and see what's up with it.

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Muffler

An obvious fault is that the muffler is missing one of its two attachment screws.

That will likely call for a trip to the small engines place in Pickering, if I can't kludge a replacement.

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Muffler  Update -- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

The small engines place fixed me up with a salvaged screw. Here's a view of the complete fastener complement for the muffler.

The screws have 2 1/4" long, 3/8" diameter shoulders, with 1/2" long, 1/4"-20 threaded ends. The hex heads are 7/16" A/F (across flats).

And here's the completed muffler installation, with the keeper ends cinched. (I applied anti-seize compound to the screws' threads.)

Much better.

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Oil

The oil looks reasonably clean, but it measures way overfull on the dipstick -- overfull enough that I'll want to siphon some out if I can get the machine running.

Sump capacity is 591 ml or 20 US fluid ounces.

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Oil Update -- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

My siphoning rig's pickup tube wouldn't fit down the dipstick hole. The idea of tipping the entire machine to drain out oil didn't appeal to me, so I've left the engine overfull with oil. It doesn't blow smoke when it's running, so it should be ok with that.

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Fuel

The tank looks empty. On the fuel tank's cap there's written "FRESH START CONTINUOUS FUEL PRESERVER". On the underside of the cap there's a little vial affair attached that says "REPLACE WHEN EMPTY", like so.

It looks empty to me. I guess it had fuel stabilizer in it that's dispensed at some slow rate. That feature is a new one on me; I've never seen it before.

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Blade

The blade is on the right way around, and it doesn't appear to be distorted, or badly nicked and dull. A sharpening will be in order, though. The blade screw's hex head takes a 9/16" wrench.

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Spark Plug

The spark plug is a Champion RJ19HX. Hex size is 13/16" A/F. (An acceptable substitute for the RJ19HX is RJ19LM.)

It's in reasonably good condition. Gap is a snug 0.030", as it should be.

A spark test revealed that there is spark, so there's hope for the engine.

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Compression

Compression measures 60 psi, which in my experience is fairly typical for well used mower engines. The engine should still have plenty of useable life in it.

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Air Filter

Loosening off a single, captive 5/16" A/F hex head screw gives access to the air filter.

This one is pretty dirty. A replacement is in order. (Replacement filter P/N is 491588.)

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Fueled Up And It's No Go

I took the air filter off so I could observe carburetor priming, and nothing happens. There's no evidence of fuel being pushed up out of the main jet when the primer bulb is pressed. The engine won't start. So, the carburetor has to come off for inspection.

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Carburetor Removal

• Air cleaner cover and filter element.
• Small black cover above the air filter -- one pan head No. 2 Phillips recess screw, 10-32 x 13/16".
• Air cleaner base -- three hex washerhead screws, 10-32 x 5/8", 5/16" A/F. Note the gasket, which will likely remain stuck to the carburetor. Note also the crankcase ventilation tube to be reconnected at reassembly.
• Fuel supply tube at carburetor -- one spring clamp. Be ready with a suitable plug to plug the end of the tube. A bit of 5/16" diameter rod, or the shank end of a 5/16" drill will do nicely.
• Carburetor -- two hex washerhead screws, 1/4"-20 x 5/8", 3/8" A/F. Unhook the governor link. Note the O-ring at the intake tube. That O-ring must be in place and intact.

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The Carburetor

The carburetor is an ultra simple float bowl type, having no adjustments. There's no idle circuit to get clogged up; there's only the main jet that's easily checked for clogs.

To remove the float bowl, use a 1/2" socket wrench on the bowl's fastener. The float bowl on my carburetor was clean and free of debris.

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The Primer Circuit

Some study of the air cleaner base and its gasket will reveal the operation of the primer circuit. Pressing the primer bulb closes off the bulb's vent hole, and forces air through a channel in the air cleaner base. Priming air is ultimately delivered to the carburetor via a small orifice at one side of the carburetor's mouth. From there, air is channeled within the carburetor to the float bowl, where it forces a dollop of fuel up the main jet and into the carburetor's throat.

Given that the primer bulb is sound, priming failure is most likely due to poor seating of the air cleaner base to its gasket and the carburetor's mouth. The integrity of that seating is absolutely crucial to primer operation. Replace the gasket if in doubt.

On my engine, the primer resumed working after I reinstalled the air cleaner base on the carburetor. The engine became startable. Something must have been amiss with the seating of the air cleaner base.

The engine ran poorly with the air filter element installed; the air filter element is evidently badly clogged. The engine runs fine with the air filter element removed.

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Update -- THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

With a new filter element installed, the engine runs fine. I've never seen a filter element so badly clogged as the one that was on this engine.

Further to the matter of the air cleaner base gasket, I obtained and installed a new gasket (P/N 795629), and that didn't work -- with the new gasket, I had no priming. Reinstalling the old gasket restored priming. Here's a view of the inboard side of the air cleaner base, and the two gaskets.

The old gasket that works is at the left; the new gasket that doesn't work is at the right.

On the old gasket, note the full impression made in the gasket's surface by the priming air channel's ridges. That gasket fully seals the priming air channel; hence, priming is enabled.

On the new gasket, there's little impression from the priming air channel's ridges. The air channel leaks, and priming doesn't happen.

The fault lies in the design of the air cleaner base's fastening scheme, and the non-rigidity of the air cleaner base. The gasket doesn't get squeezed with uniform pressure all the way along the length of the air channel.

Maybe if I left the new gasket in place for long enough, the gasket would get squeezed sufficiently that it would seal the air channel. Another solution might be to install the gasket with a smear of silicone gasket maker.

Anyway, for now I've left the old gasket in place, ragged though it is.

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In Conclusion

The lawnmower was discarded on account of two minor faults that had a big impact on the machine's behaviour. The leaky primer circuit was causing failure to start, and the clogged air filter made for very poor engine performance when I did get it running.

I attribute the leaky primer circuit to questionable design. The clogged air filter was just neglect of routine maintenance.

With attention paid to those two faults, I've got a perfectly serviceable lawnmower, with plenty of life left in it.

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A Marble Vessel With A Broken Lid

At least, I take it to be marble. It's quite a nice little item -- about four inches in diameter by about four inches tall.

My wife tells me that the lid just spontaneously split in two; it wasn't dropped. Internal stress resolving itself, possibly.

Anyway, a fix was in order. The break was quite clean, so the two pieces of the lid fit back together nicely. A bead of gelled CA adhesive served to adhere the two pieces back together. At the lid's underside, I ran a bead of runny CA adhesive along the seam to further reinforce the repair. And that did it. Here's the vessel with its lid back together and in place.

The repair's appearance is not seamless; one will always be to see where the lid broke in two. I see no solution to that. At least, the vessel is fully serviceable again.

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Crappy Grinding Stones From Amazon

I got this set of twenty grinding stones from a Chinese Amazon vendor recently.

Diameters are approximately 16mm, 20mm, 24mm and 30mm. I thought they'd be just the thing to go with my new 1/4" die grinder for sharpening lawnmower blades. Was I ever wrong.

The shanks were described variously as 1/4" diameter and 6mm diameter. I queried that, and was assured that the shanks were 1/4" diameter. It turns out that they're 6mm diameter. So, right off the bat the things are worthless -- a 1/4" collet will not close down on a 6mm shank.

And to cap it off, the stones are badly mounted and don't run true. Here's a little video clip of one stone turning in a wood lathe at 500 rpm.

Imagine that wobble running at 20,000 rpm.

I complained to the vendor and got my money refunded. So I'm now the owner of a worthless set of grinding stones.

It's appalling some of the stuff that Amazon will sell.

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A Chimes Candy Tin

['Scraping the bottom of the barrel for subject matter here. The workshop has run into the doldrums.]

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Things have a way of just showing up out of nowhere. Here's a Chimes candy tin that did just that recently.

The tin is approximately 3 1/4" tall x 2 1/4" wide x 1" from front to back.

And here's a view of it with its lid slid open.

And three more views.

It seems that Chimes is still a going concern in Indonesia.

On the bottom of the tin, there's a "BEST BY" date of 2014/10/05.

The tin is an exquisite bit of fabrication. I'd love to see how these things are made with such perfection.

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