I have been troubleshooting why the lilttle yard tractor isn't drawing fuel. After dis-assembly of the plastic body and seat and removal of some of the metal frame plates I got down to the fuel tank and took it out. The pick-up tube (rubber) had loosened off the metal through fixture on the tank and the tank gasket (rubber) was all soft and deteriorated, so was the pick up hose. They were both all slimey and yucky. Not saying I have never seen that before but began to wonder why? Isn't fuel resistant rubber used for these kind of applications? Maybe a previous owner had added lots of addatives to the fuel, or they used lots of E85 and the tractors fuel system isn't resistant to that. I have read about this with older carburetors and the intolerance to E85 of their older style gaskets. Anyway, it leaves me with a big mess to clean up before re-assembly.

 

Even E10 or E15 will cause these problems. Ethanol is very corrosive to non-resistant rubbers. If you must use E10 or E15 gasahol, drain the tank completely at the end of the season

 

I let my lawn tractor run until it starves of fuel at the end of each season and I only use the 100% gasoline. You should be able to get 100% gas at the Buc-ee's in Ennis, if not closer.

 

Can't get it in Canada anymore. Colour me not impressed...

 

How old is the tractor ? Everything made now days has the correct fuel system parts so the Ethanol wont hurt it. E10 - E15 fuel shouldn't bother anything but I certainly would not run E85 in it unless the owners manual specifies it.

 

Not sure how old it is, probably 15 to 20 years old would be my guess. I bought it used from a junk dealer. I agree with ya'll about draining the tank for winter. I also run 'em dry after the last use in the fall.


That is not an o-ring on the fixture. It is where it was deformed and ripped apart when I removed the fixture from the tank.