The Wonder of Small Engines
 |
| John Trescott cleans up his workbench at Eagle River Small Engine Repair. |
(2020©donnliston.com)
Small engines can do big jobs,
but when they don’t work they are infuriating. Because they power many kinds of
tools and toys, when we want them to work we want them to work. For myself, when
a small engine won’t start it creates a lot of frustration.
I have spent plenty of time
messing around trying to start a small engine in the past. Now when it won’t
work I load up whatever machine that small engine is on and take it to a
professional.
I say this as someone who has
taken classes, and even overhauled small engines myself. But to this day I find
the damn things just too frustrating when I have something I want to get done
using a small engine that won’t start. So, I don’t waste any time messing
with small engines anymore if a particular small engine won’t run right away.
I have also learned some
things about how to keep small engines ready for use when needed.
Eagle River Small Engine
Repair http://eagleriverengines.com/
We are very fortunate in Eagle
River/Chugiak to have the best small engine repair shop I have ever
experienced. John Trescott has been doing business at 12049 Spring Brook
Dr. for 17 years and admits the reason he makes it look easy is because he has
been doing it for so long.
“I have a lot of practice,” he
explains. “When I started out sharpening chain saws I had to learn. As I have
done so many now, I am good at doing it efficiently. If you do something every
day you are going to be good at it.”
John puts this into further perspective:
“I’ve been teaching my son how
to shoot a rifle. We take things to the range to shoot and I hit the bullseye
every time with any weapon. My son asks: How do you do that? The answer
is I shoot a lot! I have a membership at the Birchwood Range and
I go there to shoot and it relaxes me. To me it isn’t a gun thing so
much as it is an accuracy thing,” he explains.
Military service oriented
Trescott to handling firearms.
“I had been around mechanical things
all my life,” he explained. “My father worked for General Motors for a
good part of his life, in Linden, New Jersey. I came to Alaska after I got out of
the Army; I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life in New Jersey! Everything
was the same there, and it wasn’t a place I wanted to be, so I came to Alaska
in a Dodge Aspin Station wagon. We put the rear tires in the Atlantic Ocean,
drove across the United States and put the front tires in the Pacific Ocean.”
The basics of small engines
Generally small engines are
small-displacement, low-powered internal combustion machines serving as an
independent power source for an implement, typically less than 15 horsepower. They
usually have a single cylinder that is air-cooled.
There are two kinds of small
engines: Two-cycle and Four Cycle.2
“You get a lot of power with
two-cycle but when it comes to engines everything is a trade. If you want all
the power you must give up efficiency,” Trescott said. The four cycle engine
requires a heavier block and cannot be turned upside down, but it runs cleaner
and doesn’t require mixing gas. When you gain the power from a two-cycle you
are increasing polluting emissions.
Trescott has his niche in the
market. He works on small engines used to power lawn mowers, snow blowers,
chain saws, generators, string trimmers and such. He doesn’t work on ATVs,
outboard motors, motorcycles or snowmachines. Other local small businesses
serve customers needing those machines. John will refer customers to those
other craftsmen and they reciprocate. This assures Eagle River Small
Engine Repair can guarantee quality workmanship and reasonable
turn-around time for their specific services.
How do YOU deal with these
things?
“The first thing I do when
approaching a new machine is check the oil,” explained Trescott. “You can find
out almost everything about how a person takes care of a piece of machinery by
how the oil looks. When I look at that oil and it is black and thick, that tells
me a lot. The level of the oil tells even more. The best thing anyone can do
for any engine is check the oil before starting it.”
Standing in his shop Trescott
explains further: “I put each machine on this platform and lift it to working
height; check the oil and address the customer complaint listed on the work
order.” He cleaned up the deck of the lift as we talked. Trescott recommends
bringing in a machine for tune-up and routine maintenance every two years.
Proper engine
maintenance and on- and off-season preparation are crucial” to small engine
performance, according to Trescott. Without it engine performance could be
diminished and lifespan of the machine drastically reduced--meaning you’ll be
spending more time and money on repairs or replacements. By making regular
engine maintenance a habit machines run at peak performance and the potential
for injuries and costly damage to components is reduced.
He demonstrated this
point with a broken gear on the bench:
 |
| A broken gear caused by using bolts instead of shear pins in snowblower auger. |
“There is only one thing that causes this,” Trescott explains: “It is the result of not using the proper shear pin in the snowblower auger. This gear was in the transmission and when the shear pin wouldn’t break the cost went from $3 for a set of shear pins to $300 for a new transmission. This is the main drive gear for an auger transmission. You MUST follow the manufacture’s specifications. That’s what the manufacture’s specifications are for--to assure the right parts are assuring safe operation of the machine.”
What does routine
maintenance look like?
Before starting a small
engine at the beginning of a season, whether summer grass cutters or winter
snow blowers, it is important to inspect the engine on a stable, flat surface
in a well-ventilated area away from ignition sources. All components need to be
checked including spark plugs, muffler, and fuel caps. Wires and fuel hoses
must be intact and in good condition because damaged fuel hoses can allow fuel
to escape, creating a fire hazard.2
My own problems with
small engines usually boil down to poor fuel. If it hasn’t been treated with
stabilizer the fuel degrades and becomes stale. Stale fuel causes residue
buildup that can plug the carburetor and prevent the engine from starting. Burn
off or throw out all of the fuel in a machine before storing a small engine.
Begin the season with fresh fuel.
At the start of the
season it is important to make sure the engine and recoil starter (if the
engine is equipped with one) is free from dirt, grass or other debris. Check
and clean cooling fins under the shroud that could cause the head area to
overheat if blocked. You can use an air hose to blow off the engine or wipe it
down with a dry rag. Avoid washing it with a hose or pressure washer, which
could force water into the engine and cause corrosion.
Eagle River Small Engine Repair
When people drive by this
place they might be struck by how many machines you have in your yard. How did
you get so many? I asked.
“They are mostly
donations—from people who have bought a new lawnmower and offer it to me--heck
yeah I’ll take it for parts,” said John. Some are too expensive to repair. Say
the repair on a lawn mower is $150 and a new one costs $150. I advise that it
is better to spend that money on a new machine.”
He continues: “For me, it’s
not about the money, it’s about customer service. I could make that $150 off
that customer but the customer is not going to be happy—especially if the
customer won’t get any longevity out of it.
It’s all about customer
service.
Do you have customers who
have been with you all 17 years you have been in business?
“I have! Eagle River has been
very good to me,” Trescott enthused. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my
customers. This Covid Pandemic has shown what great customers I have here; when
the Mayor shut me down it really hurt me. Everything stopped. My income went to
zero while costs of doing business stayed the same. The rent on this shop, my
house payment, everything stayed the same but income stopped. I was worried.”
“But there were customers who
brought in machines that were not due for another tune up until next year,” he
continued. “They asked me to do the maintenance early. I could tell a lot of
people came to give me business at a time I realty needed it and it really made
a difference. It was a game changer; it kept me in business. My customers kept
me in business! I couldn’t ask for anything more; they gave me a hand up, not a
hand out.”
Have you had to change the way
you do business? I continued. I’ve noticed you used to have some young men
around helping you but now you are doing it all alone?
“With the virus there have
also been new opportunities for some,” Trescott replied. “The last guy I had
working for me was able to get a lot more money as a truck driver. I
understand; he is a young man, with two kids, I would never get in a young
man’s way of making more money. In fact, most of the guys I’ve had working for
me were in their first job. I tried to teach them the discipline required of a
job, doing things right the first time.
What do you want your
legacy to be?
"I want to be remembered as
a guy who took care of his customers. Not the guy who made big money, the guy
who drives a Rolls Royce, but the guy who took care of his customers.
Our region of the state of Alaska is privileged to have a number of quality small businesses like Eagle River Small Engine Repair. I welcome the opportunity to tell your story. Forward this link https://donnliston.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-wonder-of-small-engines-john.html or let me know of a business deserving to be highlighted: donn@donnliston.com.
We aren’t just a suburb of
Anchorage, you know.
References:
1Small Engine Maintenance
2How a two-cycle engine works
https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/two-stroke1.htm
- Two-stroke engines do not have
valves, which simplifies their construction and lowers their weight.
- Two-stroke engines fire once
every revolution, while four-stroke engines fire once every other
revolution. This gives two-stroke engines a significant power boost.
- Two-stroke engines can work in
any orientation, which can be important in something like a chainsaw. A
standard four-stroke engine may have problems with oil flow unless it is
upright, and solving this problem can add complexity to the engine.
These advantages make
two-stroke engines lighter, simpler and less expensive to manufacture.
Two-stroke engines also have the potential to pack about twice the power into
the same space because there are twice as many power strokes per revolution.
The combination of light weight and twice the power gives two-stroke engines a
great power-to-weight ratio compared to many four-stroke
engine designs.
3How a four-cycle engine
works:
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Four_stroke_engine
A four stroke engine delivers one power stroke for every two
cycles of the piston (or four piston strokes). There is an animation to the
right (Figure 1) of a four-stroke engine and further explanation of the process
below.
1.
Intake stroke: The piston moves downward to the bottom, this increases
the volume to allow a fuel-air
mixture to enter the chamber.
2.
Compression stroke: The intake valve is closed, and the piston moves up the
chamber to the top. This compresses the fuel-air mixture. At the end of this
stroke, a spark plug provides the compressed fuel with the activation energy
required to begin combustion.
3.
Power Stroke: As the fuel reaches the end of it’s combustion, the heat
released from combusting hydrocarbons increases the pressure which causes the gas
to push down on the piston and create the power output.
4.
Exhaust stroke: As the piston reaches the bottom, the exhaust valve opens.
The remaining exhaust gas is pushed out by the piston as it moves back upwards.
