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Got a Craftsman lawnmower?

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I have a Craftsman lawnmower. It has a Briggs & Stratton motor with a 'Fresh Start' fuel cap. The mower needs B&S fuel additive to run (stupid priority software...) and their special fuel cap has a little container filled with the additive that plugs into the bottom of the cap and sucks out drops of the additive as you mow.

Those cap containers, seen here, are VERY expensive for what they are and NOT necessary. ;)

I went to Sears and saw that for a 2-pack of those little cap containers, they wanted a colossal $10.99! But...I went to Canadian Tire before that and got a little squeeze tube (here) of exactly the same stuff (one tube is around the equivalent of one container) for the grand total of..........73 cents. :o I'm sure you can get them in any hardware/seasonal/automotive-type store, too.

You totally pay for the convenience of just plugging that thing into the cap rather than the back-breaking labor involved in cutting the top of the squeeze tube and pouring it into your gas can. (one tube is good for 2.5 gallons) And it does exactly the same thing. And even if I don't use all the gas this summer, it works in snowblowers, too.

Something to think about.

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wait, what?

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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Ripplin is known for useless posts but this one takes the cake.

I love everybody. Lets all smoke some reefer and chill. Hug and kisses for everybody.

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LOL, funny to hear vbangle (beyond a doubt, the most useless poster I have had the pleasure of meeting), calling someone else out for a "useless" post.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Welcome to the off topic forum, where obscure and basically useless threads are happily accepted.

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I also have a Craftsman lawnmower with a Briggs & Stratton motor. It's a lawn tractor, and it's major problem is that it drains batteries. I found this is a common problem with this model (now 5 years old). We have to push the thing over to our truck to jump start it every time we use it.

 

I never mind something new to read around here. Please keep posting.

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Thanks, FF and Moth3r.

I looked around the net yesterday and it seems that a lot of people have problems with the Craftsman lawn tractors. I remember my grandparents had to return one as well. My guess is that maybe some of those priorty parts are problematic. (hopefully not on purpose, huh?) My ancient old lawnmower has a regular old B&S motor on it and until recently, would start on the first pull, even after sitting all winter.

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One thing I like about Craftsman is that replacement parts are not hard to get. My dad recently recruited me into getting both belts for his Toro - it was like looking for the Holy freaking Grail.

If he had a Craftsman, he would have had those belts five minutes after he realized he needed them. For the Toro, he had to wait about ten days for shipping.

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Ripplin said:

I have a Craftsman lawnmower. It has a Briggs & Stratton motor with a 'Fresh Start' fuel cap. The mower needs B&S fuel additive to run (stupid priority software...) and their special fuel cap has a little container filled with the additive that plugs into the bottom of the cap and sucks out drops of the additive as you mow.

Stumbled onto this while looking for something else (missed it this past summer).

I made a rather lengthy post several months ago about an older motorcycle I was selling, partly due to fuel issues - struggling with gasoline that has a percentage of Ethanol (E-10).

Fresh Start is just a fuel stablizer. Ripp's mower doesn't need Fresh Start to run, but it does help keep the E-10 gas more stable, which helps it run better.  If you didn't use it, you'd see a marked decrease in performance, but it would take time. Carburetor engines struggle with E-10 much more so than injected engines.

E-10 also has a much shorter shelf life than regular gasoline.  It can start to go stale in just a few weeks. That's why it's a headache for lawn mowers.  The fuel usually sits much longer (in the gas can) than in a car. Personally, I use Sta-Bil, but there are others. Just make sure they are for E-10 fuel stabilization, not cleaners (those generally have alcohol, the very problem you're trying to combat).

 

Two thoughts on the cap dispenser.

Those are more expensive because they're a small, manufactured, application-specific piece delivering a concentrated version of the stabilizer (hence the drip application).

It's in B&S's best interest to get their customers to use the cap dispenser because customers may not always pre-mix the stabilzer\gas in their storage cans - which would lead to more engine problems - which in turn become warranty claims\customer complaints.

 

 

 

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Interesting stuff. I don't believe any of the local stations have ethanol in their fuel. (if they do, they're not saying so) I think I'd have to go to a Shell station for E-10, and there aren't any around here. But anyway, I can tell ya, I had fresh (maybe two week old) fuel in the mower and it would not start, to the point where I had to figure out what was happening before I hurt my arm. Then when I put a few drops of the Fresh Start into the tank, it started immediately.

All in all, it's just a big unnecessary hassle, innit? :p

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It is a headache. Not only is E-10 shorter-lived, it's also lower octane. Sort of a lose-lose. If my older motorcycle would have been ok with E-10, I would have kept it and just added the new one.
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 (Edited)
1995 Speed Triple. There's a post a few pages back. I'll look around and link to it.
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Ripplin said:

I have a Craftsman lawnmower. It has a Briggs & Stratton motor with a 'Fresh Start' fuel cap. The mower needs B&S fuel additive to run (stupid priority software...) ......

I think you meant "Proprietary ".

:D

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Davnes007 said:

Ripplin said:

I have a Craftsman lawnmower. It has a Briggs & Stratton motor with a 'Fresh Start' fuel cap. The mower needs B&S fuel additive to run (stupid priority software...) ......

I think you meant "Proprietary ".

:D

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_isUvlzkZPIQ/R2dzSbb6bbI/AAAAAAAABSk/CgdK1QWwQVU/s320/steve-martin03.jpg

Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me!

Ah well, I guess it's payback for me telling you a video was rough when you told us beforehand that it was rough. ;)

P.S. Found this while looking up a picture of Steve:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ga7C06rZKuY/SjDzTxma43I/AAAAAAAAAZA/2c6t3n_GBZ4/s400/john-fogerty-totally-looks-like-steve-martin.jpg

Neat, huh? I'm going to check out that site now.

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Anchorhead said:

"And if you get lost, come on home to Green River"

Huge CCR fan here.

Me too! The first CD I ever bought was a 2 disc best of CCR set. This one, in fact:

http://www.kolumbus.fi/profinium/ccr-jcf/kuvat/bestccr.jpg

P.S. Would still love to see the Speed Triple, which is also a favorite of mine. It's on my short list of dream bikes. (if I ever get to ride one) I always thought it was neat how on one year of the World's Strongest Man competition, in the super yoke event, they carried Speed Triples down the course. :)

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Ripplin said:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ga7C06rZKuY/SjDzTxma43I/AAAAAAAAAZA/2c6t3n_GBZ4/s400/john-fogerty-totally-looks-like-steve-martin.jpg

Neat, huh? I'm going to check out that site now.

My new favorite site.  Thanks for that!

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TV's Frink said:

Ripplin said:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ga7C06rZKuY/SjDzTxma43I/AAAAAAAAAZA/2c6t3n_GBZ4/s400/john-fogerty-totally-looks-like-steve-martin.jpg

Neat, huh? I'm going to check out that site now.

My new favorite site.  Thanks for that!

Great! :) There are some good Star Wars-related ones, too.

I made one there. I had this pic I took at a restaurant near my grandmother's house, and now there was a place to showcase the rip-offedness of it:

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/10/7/128994430148548960.jpg

 

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