stihl mm55 rototiller fixed / garden

[cookiedough]

ordered thru amazon.com a stihl carburetor kit for around 17 bucks figured why not try it vs. spending over 100 bucks (mostly in labor) to an authorized stihl dealer.  Carb kit was made in CHINA but the OEM stihl carb was also stamped made in CHINA but had STIHL name on the carb, go figure?  Fired up after several cranks finally and no leaks and still need to fine tune the hi/low/idle speed adjustment but got it pretty darn close I think to not affect longevity of the engine, or so I hope?    For 17 bucks in that kit also came with besides a new carb,  new air filter, new hoses, new fuel filter, new primer bulb, new spark plug,  new gaskets so really a good deal considering what a STIHL dealer would charge you for same things.    I swapped out air filter and fuel filter and spark plug but gaskets looked fine and hoses/primer bulb.
There really is not much to the square small carb just a primer bulb on top with diaghram gasket thin underneath which probably was the culprit all along since read up that over several years that black small gasket piece under primer bulb gets brittle and does not allow gas flow very well.  The only other part to the carb is on bottom one screw to remove and there is a gasket under there that I guess can go bad is about it.  I am keeping the old carb just in case I can find just the top gasket under primer bulb since one youtube video says 99% of the time that goes bad over time.

Feels good to save 100 bucks or so in labor and only 1 hour or so of fiddling around taking off the square small carb.   I read up on youtube on how to fine tune the hi/low/idle speed set screws and got it pretty well figured out or darn close.  I set them too high at first but then got them too low enough so engine died at idle so went up slightly to keep engine running and still a tad idle speed off but close enough I think?   Am sure the tech at Stihl dealer does the settings by hearing rpm speeds and not using a high tech adjustment tool or machine to calibrate the 3 set screws, but could be wrong?  

more good news got peas and potatoes in garden today after running tiller this weekend.  Sure beats digging up the hard winter dirt with a shovel all over the place some 6 ft wide by around 60 ft. long garden.    Tad bit too early for cucs, tomatoes, zucchini, beets, carrots, beans since prior years have tried especially beans before May 1st and only half or so germinate am sure dirt too cold at night to sprout and the bean seeds rot in the dirt.  Tonight temp is 39 degrees so eventually the 30s and 40s for lows at night have to stop, right?  

Not sure it helps, but have read it helps, so we have been doing it to put the bean and pea seeds in water for 1 day prior to planting to soften them up and germinate/sprout easier/quicker.  

Have heard that when the potatoe plants come up out of the dirt down 4-5 inches in the dirt to cover them up with more dirt mounding up the dirt covering the plants  up more so another 4-6 inches on top.  Never tried it, but read that even you can mound up straw a foot or so on top of the plants and the potatoes will grow up into the straw mounded up on top?  Not sure that works, but have read it works?   Our potatoes in all years doing this have grown up all in the dirt in the ground no idea how straw on top of the dirt they would grow still?    We only get though about 8 potatoes out of a potatoe with sprouts in the ground while some say they get over a dozen which for us has never been that many.

[Patrick]

Good.

Its nice to fix stuff yourself and even have it work correctly when finished ! 

[cookiedough]

agree,  I called a stihl dealer and the entire carb is 35 bucks called ZAMA but still made in CHINA no less.  I saw just the carb kit online ONLY 9 bucks but want 9 bucks shipping and all it is is 4 thin 1x1 inch gaskets and few very tiny metal needles, etc. which probably not need to replace.  DARN shipping gets me everytime.  I wanted to get just the carb kit for under 10 bucks local at a Stihl dealer,  since pretty sure what is bad is that top black gasket with metal round disc part under the primer bulb, but NO stihl dealer carries just the kit all just replace the entire carb for 35 bucks but NO idea why they want all that money for labor now that I took it apart and had the right tools figured out,  all it took me was say 20 minutes to take out and put back in the carb.  Most of that 1 hour was trying to find the right tools to take it apart and looking things over.  I guess dealers need to make money as well?  I could see 30 minutes labor tops but 1 hour is way excessive but guessing 1 hour minimum labor charge to keep the lights on?

[Patrick]

Yep, generally the kit isn't needed. That is, if the diaphragm can be removed without tearing it. But, ya never know. A little air thru all the right holes usually fixes them pretty quick.

[cookiedough]

Yep, generally the kit isn't needed. That is, if the diaphragm can be removed without tearing it. But, ya never know. A little air thru all the right holes usually fixes them pretty quick.

I think the diaghram behind the bulb primer is bad but sucks you have to get entire carb kit (4 gaskets plus small metal pieces of carb probably not needed) for ONLY 10-15 bucks less than entire carb itself.  That is why stihl dealers told me they do not mess with it just get new carb for 35 bucks or so.  Gotta love a stihl so called made in USA has a ZUMA carb on it stamped right on it CHINA.   
Tried carb cleaner spray and air nozzle did not seem to help on OEM carb that I took off.  Most repairs online said the diaghram gets brittle over time below primer bulb which makes sense if say 10-12 years old exposed to gas that long becomes brittle and not flexible I guess to make gas flowing thru carb good anymore.