Edging for Drainage
2024-01-24 16:26 - General
The drainage in the backyard here is not great. At the corner of the driveway, there's a tiny drainage ditch which should help. But that corner of the drive way is not (is no longer?) the low spot. So when there's enough rain, a significant portion of the driveway ends up forming a large puddle. Last time I visited Mom, I brought back a 2-stroke edge trimmer, with the idea that it's the perfect thing to dig a tiny supplemental "ditch" along that edge of the driveway, to help get the water away. (Into the existing drainage ditch, from the too-low parts of the driveway. As-is the grass and dirt comes right up to the concrete, holding the water in pretty effectively.)
Today there was just enough of a break between the snow (now melting) and rain (forecast to start this morning, but not here yet) that I thought: now's the time! I gave it a shot and couldn't start it. (I'd guess it's been over a decade since it has run.) I checked the spark plug: very dirty, but I could see at least a faint spark. So I dribbled some gas straight in the cylinder, and then I did get it to start, and run but for only a second or so. So what's the problem? Fuel delivery!
Took off the tiny carburetor to investigate. Got surprised by the air intake path: there's only one option from the carburetor side, but it comes through a strange path. I can just see a foam air filter peeking out in one spot, but not where air gets into the other side of it. But then I wondered: wait, where does the fuel come in? Found the intake on the carburetor, which didn't have a fuel hose attached. Found that and ... quickly learned that it's hardened to unusability. And in fact, already broken in half. This is probably the primary problem.
It's so bad that a piece of it crumbled in my hand, just holding it, while trying to figure out the size. With the bit that was left, I managed to figure out that a 1/16″ fit a little loosely but a 5/64″ fit snugly. It snakes a complex path from the tank to the carburetor, so in addition to needing the right size to connect on either end, I'll need it small enough to fit through all those passages, too!
