109 Adventure er Money Pit
 

As I mentioned in my intro a good friend is in a rehab facility. Health wise he is doing okay but having difficulty walking after some back surgery. He convinced me to buy his 109 that has been sitting for at least 15 years. The 109 has a mower deck (size?), a tiller, and front blade. A few weeks ago I took on the adventure. Initially I could not find the tractor in his shop. It was completely covered with "stuff". After an hour or so of moving stuff I uncovered the 109. The front tires were almost flat, the battery corroded, and stale gas in the tank and carburetor. I aired the front tires and removed the battery. Next the task of trying to move it. Nothing I did seemed to free the tractor. The transmission cover was loose so the release lever did no good. I decided the best thing to do is try to get it started and drive it out. This past Saturday I removed the gas tank, air cleaner, and carburetor. I am going to buy an "aftermarket" carburetor (fleabay) which is less costly than a rebuild kit. I also need to buy an "inexpensive" battery. The gas tank reeks of stale gas/varnish and is rusty. I am going to try cleaning it with rocks and carb cleaner. Hopefully I can get the tank clean enough for a decent fuel flow. I will install a fuel filter to catch crap from the tank. So that is basically where I am at. If and when I ever get it started I will likely sell it with the mower deck. I have not seen the mower deck, tiller, nor front blade so I have no idea their condition. Hopefully they will be in better condition than the tractor.
On a positive note, the tractor is straight and the rear tires look original and are holding air. Stay tuned for the continuing 109 adventure. :popcorn:

There is a baffle in the tank.
Your plan will only clean a portion of it.
Best to use the muratic acid bath method

Where to buy muriatic acid? I see it is available at Home Depot and Lowes. I will give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

There should be a thread on here somewhere detailing how to go about this procedure.

Keep that old Carb. It is a better carb than the Chinese carb.

Yeppers! I never throw anything away. Just ask the wifey. :ThumbsUp:

I just want to get it running (or at least try to). Eventually I will rebuild the carb or give it to the "new owner" if I sell the 109.

Will muriatic acid harm the original fuel cap? If so, what do you recommend to plug the filler hole? I will insert a 1/8" NPT plug in the threaded bottom hole.

If you have one close by, you could try taking the gas tank to a radiator shop, too. The big vats of chemicals they use to clean radiators works pretty well on gas tanks, too. Plus they could probably pressure test your tank and fix any leaks while it’s there. That would save you from having to use and then dispose of HCl.

Rusty,
Thanks for the suggestion. It sure would save me messing with the tank and M-acid. I will check the yellow pages.

Evap-o-Rust is great stuff too. Little pricey but a small bottle will do for a gas tank (flip it over once) and it's reusable if you save it for at least two or three more uses.