Needle & Seat, Tech, B&S

[jwales]

I have been working on a couple Toro snow blowers with Tecumseh engines (3 powerlites,diff model years). The seats are hard/brittle. To replace them I can only find needle & seat kit or rebuild kit. (Which isn't a bad idea but most of my friends/neighbors are cheap.) The needles are not rubber tipped so I don't feel the need to replace them. I also wonder if the seats for the same engine brand are the same for different models.

Is there an option for a pseudo back yard/hobby mechanic to purchase just seats and or float bowl gaskets without the "kit" maybe even in "bulk" (ex. 5-10)?

Thanks

[RoyM]

For the price of the kit why worry about it? IMHO if a couple of dollars makes or breaks the job you are wasting your time.

[38racing]

https://www.bantasaw.com/catalog/viewpr ... ?i=&p=1722
for 80 cents more you bowl gasket and I find they need replaced often.
those are cdn prices before my discount.

[StarTech]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-NEEDLE-SEAT-KIT-For-BRIGGS-STRATTON-398188-281144-YG-/122097800619

https://www.lawnmowerpartsworld.com/lawn-mower-parts/small-engine-carburetion/inlet-seat-only-for-our-1434/?utm_medium=googleshopping&utm_source=bc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwKvTBRC2ARIsAL0Dgk3D9F3IbKSj3QbIsGBPpqNQCbe5HzbFUv3C6TdQUE3jBQi74wi4EwgaAp77EALw_wcB

http://tewarehouse.com/s.nl Use search term "Bowl Gasket"

[NO0C]

Sell them a scoop shovel ! See how that works out for them.

but most of my friends/neighbors are cheap.)

[StarTech]

(Which isn't a bad idea but most of my friends/neighbors are cheap.)

Sounds like these Alabamians that think you should do work at cost or below cost with free labor. Plus they like you @2 am drunk wanting you service that mower. And then when you do the work want to wait several months to pick it up and then want to it on an I pay you later attitude.

[KE4AVB]

Yes there are those, actually most customers, that are wanting the cheapest repair possible and then are the those that things fixed right. Everyone's situation is different too.

As if buying just the seats are worth it, you got add in the shipping costs and your profit markups. Sometimes it is and other times it isn't. For me it depends what I am ordering and if same the same supplier has the parts as it is cheaper in the long run to combine orders. I have vendors where shipping costs are higher at first but the prices are better. Most these higher shipping cost vendors then have reducing shipping rate as you order a larger quantity parts. Here I got one that starts the shipping at 9.50 then reduces it as order value increases with it dropping to zero except on engine orders.

You also got figure in will the equipment come back for rework which will affect your reputation as a good shop or not. This why I install the needle seat sets over just the seat in the case of these rubber seats. Bowl gaskets are a common item to go bad so I do buy them as a separate item.

There are other items that I buy in bulk from bearing and seal suppliers as the OEM parts are simply way over priced. A good example is the Cub Cadet tapered bearings I needed last year. Cub was wanting over $70 for 2 bearings, 2 cups, and 2 seals. I manage to get these for under $15 for the rebuilt kit. And considering the 6 after market spindle I had fought with because none of them were right it simply wasn't worth it buy the $35 units. Now the MTD spindles were over $75 but the aggravation was not worth it for AMs when compared to the rebuilds. I ended up making decent profit on the job though I did lose a lot time because of the defective spindles and learned some useful info for later repairs.