Tru-Cut Estate edger Honda GC135 refurb

[bubbatime]

I recently posted an add on Craigslist looking for a used gas powered edger for $30 or less. Guy replied that he had one for $30 bucks and it ran for a few minutes and then stopped, might need carb work. I took a gamble and drove across town to pick it up. Guy started it up with one pull, it ran fine for about 30 seconds, and then he shut it off. It appeared to be a good candidate for what I needed, so I handed over the $30 bucks and loaded it in my truck.

I took it home and inspected it to find out what I just bought. Appears to be a Tru-Cut Estate brand edger with a Honda GC135 engine. Never heard of the brand, so I googled it and found this to be a commercial unit sold at dealers for $550-$700 when new!!!

Feeling pretty good about the deal now. Began my routine maintenance inspection to see what it needed. NGK spark plug was loose (!) about 1/2 turn. I checked the gap and found it to be at .37 when factory spec is .28-.31. The spark plug was in good condition so I regapped it to .30, cleaned it, and reinstalled it.

Air filter was clean and appeared to have been replaced in the last year.

Plastic oil dipstick was STUCK in the block. I had to use a wrench to get it off. Wiped off the oil, reinserted it, pulled it out and found there to be absolutely no oil on the dipstick. Not a good sign. I looked down into the oil hole and saw the nastiest, thinnest, aluminum filled oil I have ever seen. Gross. Pulled the drain plug and only about 4 ounces (maybe) of silver metal paste oil came out. Maybe there is a low oil sensor on this motor that keeps shutting it off and that is why the genius couldn't keep this thing running for more than a few minutes? Or worse, he ran it until it seized? It seemed to run good and strong for the 30 seconds I heard it run. I refilled the crankcase with SAE30 oil. I will do a super short run on this oil and then change it again to try and get out more of that metal paste.

Checked the gas in the plastic fuel tank and found it to be off color, possibly filled with premix oil and gas mix. I also found a large amount of rust particles and sediment floating around in the tank. I took the tank off and flushed out the garbage that was in it, cleaned the fuel screen, and reinstalled the tank. Filled the tank back up with fresh clean gas with stabil.

There are several zerk fittings on the edger so those got a couple pumps of grease. I doubt they have ever been greased based on the total lack of maintenance I’m seeing on this Honda engine.

I just finished up and it is past 3AM, so stay tuned for an update. I run it tomorrow when the sun comes out so as to not anger the neighbors.

I found a picture on the net of the edger.

 

[Merkava_4]

Tru-Cut is top drawer commercial equipment.

One thing unique about that edger is that it suits tall users very well.

 

[jhellwig]

Even if the motor is junk a new honda can be had for less than 200 bucks.

 

[nitehawk55]

Engine might be OK , lord knows how many mowers I serviced years ago with what little tar like oil was left in the crankcase . The fact after servicing that they still seemed OK always amazed me after being abused like that .

 

[bubbatime]

I just started up and ran the engine. It only runs for about 10 seconds and then dies. Appears to have a fuel delivery problem. . Doesn't smoke or appear to be too much damage from running on low oil.

Next I will check out the gas cap venting, the fuel pump, and then a carburetor clean. I'm not giving up yet.

 

[Rand]

you taking bets?

I'd place my 2cents on rust/crust stuck in the carb.

 

[nitehawk55]

Does it run with the choke partly on ?

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Does it run with the choke partly on ?


No.

Also, this engine has a gas tank mounted pretty low and uses a fuel pump to pump gas from the low tank up to the carburetor. I'm thinking of unbolting the gas tank, lifting it higher than the carburetor fuel inlet and using it as a gravity feed system to rule out if the fuel pump is bad or not.

 

[user52165]

Honda OPE hates ethanol. Once you get the carb cleaned use non-ethanol or Tru Fuel 4 stroke. You can mix Tru Fuel with gas and it will work well too.

I have a Tru Cut edger I got with a Honda GX engine for $50 - was not running well be cause of neglect. Tru Cut is very heavy duty and much better than McLane, etc. Needed more HP than the Honda 3.5 so went with a HF 6.5 HP Chonda that cost all of $90 on sale. Sold the Honda GX after I restored it for $200.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: user52165
Honda OPE hates ethanol. Once you get the carb cleaned use non-ethanol or Tru Fuel 4 stroke. You can mix Tru Fuel with gas and it will work well too.

I have a Tru Cut edger I got with a Honda GX engine for $50 - was not running well be cause of neglect. Tru Cut is very heavy duty and much better than McLane, etc. Needed more HP than the Honda 3.5 so went with a HF 6.5 HP Chonda that cost all of $90 on sale. Sold the Honda GX after I restored it for $200.


I've never had good luck rebuilding Honda small engine carburetors. A GC135 carb runs 40-60 bucks, the fuel pump is $21, and there are 7 gaskets that need replaced if I change out the carburetor ($20 for gaskets). For all that money I could buy a new engine at harbor freight. The 79cc 3HP is about $80 and should have enough power? I would think the next bigger size engine 212cc chonda would be overkill and too heavy.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: user52165
Honda OPE hates ethanol. Once you get the carb cleaned use non-ethanol or Tru Fuel 4 stroke. You can mix Tru Fuel with gas and it will work well too.

I have a Tru Cut edger I got with a Honda GX engine for $50 - was not running well be cause of neglect. Tru Cut is very heavy duty and much better than McLane, etc. Needed more HP than the Honda 3.5 so went with a HF 6.5 HP Chonda that cost all of $90 on sale. Sold the Honda GX after I restored it for $200.


I've never had good luck rebuilding Honda small engine carburetors. A GC135 carb runs 40-60 bucks, the fuel pump is $21, and there are 7 gaskets that need replaced if I change out the carburetor ($20 for gaskets). For all that money I could buy a new engine at harbor freight. The 79cc 3HP is about $80 and should have enough power? I would think the next bigger size engine 212cc chonda would be overkill and too heavy.


Not overkill and not too heavy. I had to shim it up 1" because shroud hit wheel - used wood blocks. I have thick grass and hard soil so the power is nice to cut a furrow next to concrete.

 

[bubbatime]

I forgot I had my Craigslist want to buy ad up still, and I got an email today from a guy wanting to sell a running McLane edger for the same $30. I just picked it up and brought it home. It is in really good shape and has a Briggs 3HP engine on it. The engine hadn't been ran in a few months according to the guy, so I squirted some gas down the carburetor throat, set the choke, and it fired right up. I just finished cleaning/regapping the spark plug, flushing the fuel tank, and changing the oil on the Briggs. It purs like a kitten.

So now that I have a running Edger, the Honda GC135 engine will be placed on the back burner. I won't give up on it though.

I can't believe that for $60, I bought over $1000 worth of equipment this week. Not bad.

Comparing the McLane edger to the Tru-Cut edger, the Tru-Cut appears to be higher quality, thicker steel, sturdier, and made better. I may swap the Briggs engine over to the Tru-Cut edger until I can get the Honda engine back up and running.

 

[bubbatime]

For those that were following this post, I got the edger up and running... by replacing the engine. I found an almost brand new 5HP Honda GC160 on Craigslist for $25. I swapped it on and sold the old 4HP GC135 on Craigslist for $80.

Bought the edger for $30. Bought the replacement Honda engine for $25. Sold the 4HP Honda for $80 equals a net profit of $25 and a free edger.

Here is the edger in question with the new engine installed next to the old engine.

 

[jeepman3071]

That's awesome! I do some of the same stuff with mowers on Craigslist. It can be addicting.