Well I had the new mower for 2.5 days and finally got 10 acres cut. But I've got problems! Got the mower late the first evening and started mowing. Cut was OK but not great. When I would do the turn around at the end of a row I would smell a rich running engine exhaust. I could look back and see a light amount of black exhaust smoke. Ok, I say to myself, I am running rich. Get on the cell phone and call the dealer who tells me they did a quick rebuild on the carb before delivery due to a gummy build up due to the engine sitting unused with gas in the fuel bowl. It might just be a little gummed up still but should clear itself up within one side tank of gas. Clean the mower up and park it overnight in my shop. Ok, first full day. Engine very hard to start and when I pull up on the choke knob the plastic knob comes off from the cable!!! I finally get the engine running, but running so rough that the radiator is vibrating and making more noise than the engine. I bump up the idle a little and it smooths out a little bit. Pull out to the cutting zone and engage the PTO and the engine dies. Ok crank, crank, crank, crank, crank, crank, crank, putt, putt, putt, putt, putt, varoom, ok I'm running again. Bump up the rpm off idle about mid way and engage the PTO. Dam near kills the engine but it recovers and I push the throttle wide open. RPM slowly builds and I'm ready to start cutting. Start down the first row at about 3 mph and the engine starts to die. I hit the PTO button to disengage the drive but nothing happens. The blades are still turning and the engine dies. Ok, crank, crank........................blades are still turning while I'm cranking, crank, crank.......putt, putt..............varoom, I'm running and the blades are still spinning. Engaged and disengaged the PTO and they continued to spin! Continued to cut and smell raw, unburnt fuel every time it turned around. Continued cutting but about once or twice an hour the mower would seem to loose power and slow way down. I would pull back on the sticks and come to a complete stop and sometimes the engine would recover and sometimes it would die. At mid day worth of cutting I should be getting close to an empty right side tank so I throw the lever to draw from the left tank. Half way down the next row the engine dies. Hey good news!!! The PTO disengaged! Crank, crank, crank, forever, crank....Ok put the lever back to the right tank and the thing finally starts. I can't draw any fuel from the left tank!! Time for me to take it back to my shop and call the dealer. On the ride back up the hill the mower doen't have enough power to climb a slight rise!! It dies again. Finally get it running enough to get back to the shop. I pull the spark plugs and see #3 is dark brown almost black in color. The other two are that nice toast color. So #3 cylinder is running rich. The plug also feels not as hot as the other two. The engine has one coil for each plug. I started looking for a bad coil or plug wire and I find the power lead wire to the bottom of #3 coil is disconnected! I hook it up and hit the start button and it starts right away and running smooth silk with no rich smell. Take it for a quick run around the yard it it runs great. But I still have problems with: Choke knob comes off any time you pull it. Engine still dies about once or twice an hour for no reason, like its running out of fuel even if the tank is full. Still cant draw any fuel from the left tank. Dealer says "Yea, had some people pull them knobs off, need a new cable....." And?!!! What about the stalling, fuel tank, PTO, loose coil wire? "Yea, engine ran rough when we got the mower in new, saw the disconnected wire, thought the mechanic fixed it. Guess not." Any one out there know if the fuel control valve could be connected incorrectly so the left tank could'nt feed fuel? I've tried the lever in the "off" position and the left position but still no luck. Guess my new mower is going back to the dealers shop for a long stay. Is this the norm for you all out there? Spend 11k+ for a mower and have these kinds of issues? Don't tell me it's because it's a Ferris. Post on this web site seem to think Ferris is a great machine. Thanks for letting me vent.
But I do have to say, when it is running on all cylinders the thing mows great.
