GUILTY!

Normally, I try to go into winter with the gas tanks either full or empty on our small engines and tractors, but last fall I parked this lawnmower with just a little bit of gas in the tank. After a couple of pulls without a pop I poured gas in the intake, and it fired, so I pulled the bowl off the carburetor and found this mess. I had it cleaned up in a couple of minutes, sharpened the blade, and put it back to work. The funny thing is, this mower was a freebie, because the previous owner let it do the same thing and he did not want to fool with it. We have another lawnmower with the same story. If you run into this problem, use fine wire, carburetor cleaner, and compressed air to clean things up. Wear your safety glasses when you are using chemicals and air.