I joined the "Pull of the month club"

My dad got a big old riding lawn mower that had a pull start from a golf course. You had to wrap the (separate) cord around the pulley and give it a good tug. It worked great when he did it.

I inherited this beast and went to start it and had no joy at all after many pulls. Very frustrating. Somehow I accidentally found out I was wrapping the cord around the wrong way on the pulley ( I am left-handed) and it then started one-pull! Well, I had a few words to say about that!!! :(

I own two propane generators. One (5500W) for the house and one for the trailer (3600W) if needed. So far the trailer generator has not been needed. Turn the tank off, let the engine run until it dies from lack of fuel (5 or 10 seconds) and forget about it. Turn on the tank and pull the rope next time I need a generator.
Randy

After not using my 2800W Yamaha, it may not start. I then switch fuel source to propane and it will start in a couple of pulls. Running the gen on propane will clear the carb problem and the gen will run on gas the next start.

I've been washing the towels 1x a week for 40 minutes in the washing machine. I plug it in to the Honda EU1000i and let 'er rip. The wash/scrub cycle does a good job on exercising the throttle on the generator for about 7 minutes out of the 40 minute cycle.

Usage seems to keep the carb and fuel in the Eu1000i cycling such that the fuel doesn't have time to go bad. A half gallon of fuel seems to get consumed in about 10 weeks time. I still treat fuel with both Stabil and the other stuff that cleans the car, sometimes even Chevron Techroline, since buying a 6 pack of the stuff at Costco.

This is on crappy city gas sold in the South Coast Air Quality Management District of southern California, where the fuel is cut with all kinds of clean air poop "additives". When I go down to Quartzsite, I am going to buy 5 gallons of the good stuff down there... real, alcohol free gas. Real gas lasts much, much much longer before causing carburetor problems.

I have found it easy to buy good, alcohol free gas almost anywhere that is near Red Neck, ID... so any time I am up camping that way, I stock up on it, I just use the Google function on my phone to find alcohol free fuel... my observations confirm, it does make a big difference.

I set a reminder on my phone for the 1st of every month to go out and start the generator on our new trailer. It was recommended by Cummins to let it run for 2 hours a month at 50% load. I'm not sure I'll go for 2 hours but I will for 1 hour at least. I start my garage generator also with 1-2 pulls. My neighbor has an older motor home with a generator and we can't get that thing started to save our life. He hardly ever started it though.

My champion has a drain on the bottom of the carb. That is the only way to get it totally dry.I never exercise my two gennies, but they are seldom use gens.

I will bet anyone my next social security check they would fire right up.

I always turn off the fuel shut off valve and let the engine run until it runs out of fuel. That way there's no gas in the carburetor to get gummed up and cause problems later.
I also do what Swamprat01 does - but my fuel in a 5 gallon container and add the proper amount of fuel stabilizer to it.

TomG2 wrote:
After having the carburetor rebuild on my Honda generator (Over $100), I have been running my Champion generator religiously once a month. It only takes one pull a month to keep the thing running. Much cheaper in the long run.

It is a good idea to also use gas stabilizer too. I always add it in the 5 gal cans when I bring them home.

It's nice when things work like they should...

Years ago (more than I care to admit) I worked for a shop that did small engine repair, among other things.. (It was called Grinding Service, We sharpened, and overhauled, chain saws, Sharpened carving knives, sissors, shears, all manner of cutting tools,, Including big long knives used to slice the pages of your daily newspaper and smooth the ice at the local arena (Zamboni knives) I sharpened 90 pound tempered steel knives used in a metal cutting press and chain saws myself. The owner could also sharpen your wits if asked (Very smart man).

The rule we had was: Cold start (first time in time AM.. Up to 3 pulls, if not running after 3rd pull. Something wrong.
Warm start.. One pull only.

Well, that was a winter job (1976/1977) my Summer job was Roofing, We had a ladder with a gas engine that "Elevated" supplies to the roof.. I'd spent the last half hour watching some kid pull and pull and pull and pull on that lawn mower when we ran low on nails.. So down to the ground, Load a box of nails on the platform,, Flip the shorting bar off the spark plug (OFF switch) take just TWO FINGERS and grab the rope and a gentle pull.. Step on the pedal and up the ladder it goes. Flip the shorting bar and look at the kid.. He was.. Pissed.

(I will admit we had had the thing overhauled that spring, shop goofed and I had to finish the job (I'm more than up to the job) but I sure enjoyed that "If looks could kill" look on his face.. he had seen how hard I pulled.)