[Fastbuck]

I picked up a very rough 1811 and it was delivered today. First thing I had to do was get a new battery. Cleaned up the battery carrier and the cables and installed the new battery. I knew there was a problem with the fuel. Previous owner said he thought it was the fuel pump. Pump tests at 1 1/2 lbs which should be okay. Took the carb off the engine and opened it up. It's had water in the bowl for quite some time. Removed all the rust from the bowl, took the float off and cleaned everything with carb cleaner. Put the carb back on and installed new fuel line to the fuel pump and from the fuel pump to the tank. Oh yeah, also drained and flushed out the fuel tank. Crossed my fingers and tried the starter. It started right up. Got in the seat and tried the hydro lever. Nothing. Checked around and found the brake pivot was rusted up and so the brake would not release. Also found the brakes were rusted to the point where they wouldn't move. So I disconnected the springs for the time being. Lubricated and freed up the brake pivots on both sides and worked the pedal until it moved freely. Got in the seat again and tried the hydro. This time it worked like it was supposed to both fwd and reverse. Tried the PTO and the mower deck works but the belt needs to be replaced. Looks like its not the correct one anyway. Added that to the to do list with the brakes. Found that when I tried to move the deck up and down it wouldn't move and there was a nasty noise from the area of the cylinder. Checked various photos on the net and found that the lift mechanism is all messed up. Looks like Bubba put it on upside down and it's jammed. Will have to get some help from you fellas on how to fix this and anyone's guess as to why it's in this condition. I have photos but I'll have to put them on photobucket to get them inserted I guess. Cleaned up a lot of built up crud on the rear end. Gunked things and got them looking better and it will be easier to work on now. Blades need to be sharpened so I added that to the to do list. Did a test run in some high grass. Tractor doesn't seem to be running right at full throttle. Adjusted around on the carb and smoothed out but still doesn't have the power it should and after running for 5 minutes or so it shut down. Started right back up but isn't running right. Pulled the plug and did a compression test. 100 on both cylinders. What do you think? My guess is that it's okay since my 1872 is the same and runs great. Didn't have any new plugs handy so I put in a pair that I took off the 1872 last year. Still isn't running right but except for the implement lift problem I think the fixes will be pretty easy. I probably did a few other little jobs on the 1811 today but this message is already too long.