Macon Pro Power Equipment

10/29/2026

National Cat Day! As usual, these three little turds are sleeping instead of hunting mice. Good job their mom patrols the neighborhood like an assassin. Say hello to the least productive members of the team: Mango Chutney, Fluff Nut and Buddha.

10/26/2026

A Day in the Life of a Small Engine Technician, part 22. Sometimes you can Sherlock Holmes the cause of the issue, and the customer knows exactly when it happened. This great little Jonsered (RIP!!!) top handle saw was presented as having a lock out trigger non returning and being hard to start, with variable RPMs and low performance. In test running, these symptoms were verified quickly. The lock out trigger was easily repaired- the housing was opened and the spring re-placed in proper position. Dirty fuel filter replaced. Carb adjustment gave no positive change, and all behavior pointed to an air leak. So, the next step is stripping the carb and muffler to do a pressure / vacuum test. Removing the muffler on these saws is a process so I decided to take the easy part first and do the carb- and it's a good job I did as it saved a lot of work? The intake boot behind the carb was wrinkled and unseated and clearly the cause of the air leak. It was re-fitted correctly, and the saw ran perfectly. So- what of all that Holmes talk? Well, how did that intake end up like that? This saw is set up in such a way that the fuel tank and carb are part of the handle and therefore independent of the engine housing due to the shock mounts. Hence the rubber intake boot for flexion. The saw had got jammed in a cut and been pulled on so hard that the rubber boot- despite being pinched behind the carb- had been pulled out of place. This was likely when the lockout trigger spring came off due to being pulled on so hard. When I mentioned this to the owner he knew exactly the moment it happened. Lesson learned. Equipment: Jonsered CS2236T.

10/21/2026

The hell were they thinking? Part 2. This job sucked. Presented as non-moving, with the cause found as a broken hydro belt. But what caused the belt to break? Maybe the toasted V idler. Skipping over the semi-impossibility of access to the clutch connector, anchor and tension spring, and complete lack of room to get a hand or slip the belt in place...let's just look at a couple things.

Firstly, the failed idler pulley is not aligned with the hydro drive pullies - it sits significantly higher up so that the belt is pulling on it at an angle. It's hard to see in the picture. Look at the bearing in the pulley body- it failed and moved to that angle. I checked the IPL and there were no missing spacers, etc. I had 1/2" of extra bolt length to play with so I added an extra nut and washer to make the belt alignment straight.

Secondly. When re-assembled- with all factory parts- the belt almost rides inside the other side of the V pulley, even under maximum tension. A little slack and contact and...belt time.

Third, all of this was compounded by the fact that the IPL diagram is terrible. The engine pan and belt in the diagram are shown from two different perspectives so as you look at the pan it shows the belt routing backwards to what it needs to be, which wasted LOTS of time.

Equipment: Ariens Ikon XD 42" zero turn, previous generation.

10/16/2026

A Day in the Life of a Small Engine Technician, part 21. Aftermarket parts. I get it...OEM parts are expensive and things are tight right now. But AM parts quality varies. I use trusted and well reputed providers for AM parts, but sometimes I have AM parts brought to me to fit by customers. This AM spindle assembly was a free replacement for one that detonated in less than 5 minutes. As you can see, the seal fitment was terrible and there wasn't a lick of grease in the bearings- which at the top end were not even shielded from dirt ingress. In the light of the previous failure, I did not fit it and got a real one instead. Equipment: Redmax CV54.

10/14/2026

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10/12/2026

The sun may be setting on another mowing season and the mowers are headed in to hibernation, but if you own an Altoz TFX, TRX or TSX with All Terrain deck system you can keep mowing all winter! Cunning commercial operations can leverage the light brush cutting abilities of these units to work all winter doing annual, bi-annual or one time cuts on non-turf materials in places such as solar farms, rights of way, disused developed sites, greenways, vacant lots, field margins, dam walls and more! You can leverage the versatility of these units to keep income streams flowing all year long. Give us a call to schedule a demo!

10/10/2026

Workshop Radio! Closing in on the end of the 39 hour epic audio book of Anthony Beevor's "The Second World War." I did a WW1 audiobook, so I figured I'd do WW2. I've read Beevor's excellent "Stalingrad" before, so this was an easy choice. What to say? Horrific. Acts and numbers that just defy logic and credulity. A great work on the subject.

10/05/2026

World Teacher's Day. I'd like to throw out some appreciation to those who taught me a lot and helped set me on the path to doing what I do. Some are, sadly, no longer with us. I miss them and think of them often. So, thank you to Tom James, George James, Ron Sullivan, Chris Markham, Bernie Wagner and Carl Barkman. I appreciate the wisdom ...and I am still learning.

09/29/2026

A Day in the Life of a Small Engine Technician, part 20. This one was literally an all-day project. "There was a bang and something came off the side of the engine and it stopped." That something was the starter, because the side of the engine block blew out, because the piston came through...because there was no oil in it. And then the mower was parked in the weather for...well, over a year. So what did we do?

First. New engine. We replaced the 23hp Kawasaki FR691 with a 24hp FR730- which on a 48" deck is going to be killer! Quicker to type than achieve- especially when the clutch is rust-welded on!

The bearings in the front wheel rims and at the caster forks were gone and or seized solid from sitting in the weather. the front wheels had to be cut out of the forks and the bearings hammered out. The bearings in the front axle were so solidly rusted in that the entire axle had to be removed in order to be able to get them out. This is no small task as the deck drop / lift mechanism ties into this.

Then we did all the small things- Liquitubed the flat front tires, replaced the battery, replaced the fuel & evap lines, replaced the hydraulic oil reservoir that was taken out by the starter, completed a service of all other components...and washed her up.

Check your oil, folks!

Equipment: Altoz XR480 zero turn mower.

09/25/2026

Workshop Radio! It's 9-2-5, so it's gotta be Dolly! Legend!