Over the road

This is the view of our neighbors' property from our kitchen window. They do a nice job keeping the grass cut and the shrubs trimmed. It helps that they have an army of kids, grand-kids, and friends to lend a hand. And, at this time of year, we get treated to a show of fall colors.

Fall 2021.

I had a small breakthrough yesterday. My little chainsaw has been temperamental since I got it back in 2013. Specifically, I have trouble starting it. The choke lever is very sensitive. This year, when I wanted to start it up, it wouldn't even sputter. Nothing. Nada. Rien.

Before I go further, I'll tell you that I made a decision this year to spend €€ on pre-mixed fuel for the saw. The engine is a two-stroke engine which requires a mix of gasoline and oil to run. I never remember the mix ratio and it's always a pain to look it up and mix the fuel, and I have to buy a special kind of oil for that at the hardware store. I noticed a couple of years ago, however, that the hardware stores sell pre-mixed fuel for two-stroke engines. It's expensive, but I don't really use much. So I broke down and bought some on Saturday morning. This prompted me to try to get the saw started again. No luck.

Ken suggested that maybe the fuel filter was clogged. Some research revealed that there is no fuel filter in this chainsaw, but there is an air filter. I've had a clogged air filter on one of my lawn mowers in the past that prevented it from starting until I replaced it. So, I opened up the panel on the back of the saw where the carburetor is, checked to see if the levers were working (they were), then pulled the filter off. It looked ok, but I took a toothbrush and water to it and cleaned it up a little.

You can guess what happened next. I put the cleaned filter back in and the saw started right up. Now it's time to get out there and slice up some birch branches!