Manx small engine repair

04/09/2025

This is absolutely right. Spark plug tester will test for spark and the cleaner will act as fuel to burn. If these two things don't find a problem then it's compression or timing. Simples.

30/08/2025

Couple of quick wins today. A carb rebuild and a blade straightening got these two machines back up and running and back to their owners.

21/04/2025

This lovely old Mountfield was nearly written off by it's owners. But that unburstable Honda motor was absolutely tip-top.

A new drive cable, a sharpen and a clean down, she's good for another decade.

21/04/2025

This is today's project a Stihl TS350 concrete saw, first made in 1993 it looks like it's had a very hard life!

Will it ever run? We'll find out!

26/03/2025

Here's the secret to repairing 2 stroke garden equipment. 90% of the fixes I do are replacing this diaphragm in the carburettor.

Fuel hardens them, so they don't move in the way they should which prevents fuel flow into the engine and it first runs badly, then secondly doesn't run at all.

They cost pence and are quite easy to change.

There's the secret!

27/08/2024

This is the oil pump assembly on a Stihl MS251. When I saw this saw advertised locally needing an oil pump (which came supplied) at a bargain price I very nearly bought it.

Instead a friend did and I ended up doing the work.

I had to disassemble and reassemble it so many times I think I might be the fastest person in the world at it.

I had two parts brand new (albeit Chinese) that were unusable on arrival. Buy cheap buy twice, but sometimes they cost a tenth of the price of OEM, so twice is still a huge saving.

Anyway, it oils now. I should have bought it.

20/08/2024

Two Husqvarna strimmers and a Stihl concrete saw heading out the door to their owner this evening. The Stihl was a non runner traced to a perished fuel hose, the strimmers were a dirty carb and a broken throttle cable.

They're all now usable again!

23/06/2024

This beautiful Honda mower belongs to a repeat customer. As a first for me it came in with parts, and instructions of what needed doing. A full hydrostatic axle drive rebuild.

I'd never done one before, and after doing it, I never want to do one again! (Super interesting in how it works though, no idea why they could just use cogs like everyone else though).

But, it's done, it works like a champ, and while it was all apart it had new wheels, bearings, bushings and a service. It'll be good for a good few more years now!

20/05/2024

Love seeing some of the saws I work on in action. This one had a top end rebuild and the customer is giving it some love! Ain't she a beaut.

I know the woodwork from those slabs will be utterly gorgeous.

11/05/2024

Rebuilding the hydrostatic drive on a Honda lawn mower isn't my usual type of job. I should have heard the alarm bells when a repeat customer sent me a YouTube video of what they wanted doing.

The gaskets aren't available from Honda, so I'm making them.

26/04/2024

Got this old Snapper ride on mower back up and running ready for summer. There'll be lots of Ayre Mowers stickers on equipment all over the island for many years to come, I've no doubt.

25/04/2024

Sad to see another local northern business ceasing trading. The market has become disposable, and the availability of cheap machinery online I'm sure impacts on everyone.

An outdoor equipment store is the latest Manx business to shut its doors. Ayre Mowers, in Sulby, announced the news on its page yesterday (Wednesday). The store, which specialised in selli…