Lawnmower Restore

[Alfredhob]

Not cabin related, more small engine related. About 3 years ago I severely hurt my back and basically everything came to a standstill.
I wound up having to hire a landscaper to take care of the yard. Fast forward 3 years, I had back surgery last summer and think I can resume my lawn duties, and the new contract just showed up ($80 per month, $560 for the season), so the motivation financially is also there.

I checked the gas tank and it is bone dry. I have no clue if I last ran out or if it just evaporated over the past 3 years. There was no stabilizer in there because of the sudden stop work order from my body.
I plan on changing the oil and spark plug, clean the air filter or replace, and sharpening the blade, and I was thinking of filling the carb with some seafoam or something, and letting it sit a while before I try cranking it over.

Any chance it still runs without a carburetor overhaul?
Anything else you would suggest I do before trying to start it?
I can't remember right now what brand it is (Yardworks I think), I remember is wasn't exactly cheap and rang in at around $425 so it is worth it to get her back up and running versus just buying another one.

[amegreerb]

May depend on how much gas may have been in it when it was shut down. I have things that start right up after a year or two.

First I would try it with some fresh gas.. maybe a bit of Berryman's Chemtool could be added in case of varnish from old gas. Try to start it. Next if it doesn't start it depends on the carburetor type, but you could pull the hose off to see if you are getting gas from the tank or unscrew the bottom plug to see if gas is coming into the carburetor. If not then the needle valve could be stuck closed so you could pull the bottom off the carb and get the needle valve unstuck or remove it and clean the hole. Check the jet in the bottom with a fine wire such as a torch tip cleaner.

That is about enough without knowing if there is any problem. Good Luck.

[AngelaSand]

Looks like a rebuild is in order.
Took out the plug and shined it up.
Sprayed into the carb with Seafoam at an attempt to clean it first.
Poured some new fuel... but noticed some crap at the bottom of the tank...
Cranked over and over until my arm hurt, nothing happened.
Emptied the tank to have a better look at the bottom... went in with a white paper towel and it came out with chunks of orange goop... basically sludge, fuel turned to varnish would be my guess.

Plenty of YouTube videos showing it should be relatively easy to clean myself, just to find the right gasket kit might be a challenge.

Edit: Still have to do the things mentioned above, did not get a chance to. Will check those first... thanks for the recommendations.

[ArnulfoDxh]

Good luck. You'll get it. Done it plenty of times myself. I try to keep a small amount of gas in if not planning to use for a while so it is near out, but hard to plan when seasonal use items are "done for now" and on to the rest of the projects at hand ...then comes next yea