What could be wrong?

[man in black]

I was mowing the aul grass the other day and the lawnmower starting letting on it was running out of petrol. So i filled her up anyway but she kept cutting out once started and basically carried on like the juice wasnt getting into her. I've never had this problem before. What could it be?

[The Gs Man]

Grass too long? Raise the mower up a touch and see if that helps.

The Gs in my user name is for "Greenfingers"........

Then again, if you say the mower was only letting on it was running out of petrol.  Maybe she was only joking about with ye.

[thejuice]

Give the spark plug a clean (works best with a wire brush) and clean the air filter of any grass, dust etc from it. Also check to see if the cables controling the choke are moving correctly. I am asuming its not a ride-on mower

[downredblack]

Sounds like the grass was too high and she was struggling to get through it . If I over fill my yoke sometimes she gives this problem as well , just let a drop of petrol out of her and away she goes . Fair play to ya getting a cut in this last number of weeks , my grass is ankle deep and growing and no chance of getting near it with the rain .

[man in black]

Give the spark plug a clean (works best with a wire brush) and clean the air filter of any grass, dust etc from it. Also check to see if the cables controling the choke are moving correctly. I am asuming its not a ride-on mower

You couldnt ride on the mower, the top of her gets hot and you would burn the hole of yourself. Its not the length of the grass as it only played up when id finished cutting. I'll try cleaning the spark plug but it starts fine, its just keeping her lit is the problem. Where would the air filter be? its a briggs and stratton engine i think

[mylestheslasher]

You might have some crap in your petrol tank. Is the tank full when it starts? Other possibility is the choke is on, check whether the choke springback is working i.e. that when you release the choke  the wee lad level that is spring loaded should be retruning to its home position.

[dodo]

If the grass is wet when cutting it sticks to the underside of the deck. This blocks up the chute and stops the blades rotating. Probably too obvious of an explaination but worth a look.
If you are cutting on a steep slope the oil and petrol can mix together leading to dark smoke being spewn out.
Does it need a top up of oil ?

[man in black]

If the grass is wet when cutting it sticks to the underside of the deck. This blocks up the chute and stops the blades rotating. Probably too obvious of an explaination but worth a look.
If you are cutting on a steep slope the oil and petrol can mix together leading to dark smoke being spewn out.
Does it need a top up of oil ?

Is any aul engine oil ok to put in it?

[Lar Naparka]

I'd imagine that dirty petrol is the cause of your problem. If you can start it up while the engine is still warm it's not likely to be the choke or the air filter. I had a similar problem once with an old banger. I could start her alright and it might idle for half a minute or so but as soon as I put the boot in, the hoor would cut out.
I had to call to a mechanic to sort things out. Straightaway, he opened the carb and cleaned the jets. The shite he took out of the bowl was unreal. Little bit of dirt were blocking the jets, he said. Once the engine stopped, the dirt would sink to the bottom of the bowl and petrol could get through when it was re-started. Of course when petrol began to flow again, dirt would get sucked up into the jets and you know the rest.
A good clean out with an air line solved my problem; seems like you have something similar.

[FL/MAYO]

Yep sounds like a dirty fuel line.