Offical OPE abuse thread.

[Texan4Life]

while I was working on cutting down some old pamapas grass I had a thread idea.

Post pics of your (or someone elses) abuse/jerry rigging of OPE equipment!

lol, no I don't treat all my ope this way, just this one. its the run it till it dies.

It really is amazing what they put up with.

In my case its the "will it run after sitting outside for years" push mower. turns out it did (after i hammered the valves lose) and so far all i have bought for it was an air filter and changed the oil.

The little rubber elbow crumbled when i cleaned the carb, so i just ran it without. Well today I got to feeling bad cuz of how dusty it was getting so I plugged it up with a ear plug:

http://i51.tinypic.com/20zphjn.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/15coiv7.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/296ja87.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/2qs0v7l.jpg

It tends to puke oil with not so level mowing (lol) so it always gets good plumage when it is first started.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVc1f1_twl8

 

[oggb]

Poor little mowers.

I haven't changed the oil in mine this year. I just keep it topped up. Oil still looks good. I'll change it before I put it away for winter, though.

 

[John_K]

Darn, I should have taken a picture of my old mower (died 3 years ago). The brackets that held the handle to the deck rusted through, so I took a scrap 2x4 (yes wood!), bolted it up from under the deck so the bolts stuck through and rigged the handle to the bolts.

John

 

[Donald]

My old "dog pen" riding mower would leak the crankcase empty (or close) with each cutting of the dog pen.

I certainly would not bring in my Kubota L225 into the dog pen with all the bones and poo.

 

[justinf89]

Originally Posted By: JRed
Poor little mowers.

I haven't changed the oil in mine this year. I just keep it topped up. Oil still looks good. I'll change it before I put it away for winter, though.


Exact same

 

[eljefino]

Deadman delete. "on" is off so I mounted it upside down. Grounds the coil low side to kill ignition.

I hate floppy handles. I do wheelies with my lawnmowers to trim around stumps etc and my handles get floppy. This got welded to the deck when I couldn't get the bolts out due to rust.

This front wheel got a piece of universal strapping metal welded to the deck to cure its negative camber. Incredibly the strapping had the proper 3/8" holes the same pitch as the three holes in the deck!

Here is another mower whose handle got floppy. I drilled the holes out to 1/2" and put new bolts in. Now it's so sturdy the engine vibrations make it all the way up the handle. This was my "good" mower but I found one at the dump I was going to use for a steep hill (oil starvation) but it mowed better and became my main-line one.

Custom exhaust mod on the snowblower. This odd duck was, IMO, designed on a napkin in a bar during a snowy winter and assembled from parts on hand. Stock exhaust pointed straight at the operator. I hit the plumbing section of Home Despot for some elbows and stuff.

Allthread for a shear bolt? Who did this?

Not recommended.

I got a mouse nest under the cowl of one of my mowers and it overheated and started dieseling. Video proof:



Youtube viewers got me a zillion hits arguing over it being some sort of prank/setup.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Texan4Life



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVc1f1_twl8

HEY! You put the muffler back on my mower!

My 15 year old 3.5 B&S pukes out huge amounts of oil when I first start it. A lot of oil. It collects in the same place on the deck.
I got it for free after it had been left outside in the rain and for one day of snow all winter. I had to replace the air filter. It turned to dirty yellow powder when I touched it.
I use it to mow the greenbelt and to consume used motor oil. Mostly Zosia and buffalo grass but some Pampas grass down by the creek.
It will not die.

 

[TFB1]

You guys have me beat, best I can do is a Craftsman yard vac with a 4.5HP Tecumseh that's run without a air cleaner... It would have one but the primer in the carb doesn't work, so I use starting fluid to prime it, starts first time every time...

 

[Nick R]

Lets see if I can find my killing a briggs thread from years ago... Hmmmm


Ah, here we are. I think I win

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1605260&page=all

 

[01rangerxl]

I have a badly beaten Chinese 2 stroke scooter that somehow still runs.



In late 2009 one of my friends received this scooter as partial trade for an ATV. It was in absolutely spotless, perfect condition. It was even street legal with signals, lights, and a horn. It had working electric start too. The frame, plastic, and accessories began falling apart within a month. There was an unfortunate manhole cover accident which cracked the frame. We continued riding it around the neighborhood like that and eventually road salt began to eat at the frame. The battery came out of the frame and the wiring harness got chewed up. Someone cut the throttle cable, brakes were shot, lights were smashed, but the motor kept going. Finally the air filter cover including the choke were lost, so we used ether, carb cleaner, and various other flammables to get it running.

While the motor never stopped working, the scooter became un-ridable and was left out in the elements for months. Earlier this year one of my friends bolted some new pieces on the frame and turned the former brake control into the throttle control. The horn button became the engine shutoff because the key start was ripped out long ago. I put on a gas tank from a junked wood chipper engine because the plastic one cracked again. It's ridable now, though the rear tire tube needs to be replaced and it has no functioning brakes at all. Currently it gets ridden around the yard about once every three weeks or so for the [censored] of it. The motor still runs like a champ with nothing more than one new spark plug. It takes a heavy dose of carb cleaner and a few pulls to start, but once it's going it doesn't miss a beat.

Most current pic, it's to the left of the tiller...