[Viking2002]

We had a squirrel get up under the seat on our riding mower and chewed the top edge of the plastic gas tank clean off, like he was eating an ear of corn. I slopped fuel halfway across the yard before I could figure out where the fumes were coming from. I ended up using duct tape to seal it until I ordered a new tank on eBay. Little beggars get into everything.

[cuban leaf]

I had a craftsman large rider mower with a v-twin engine that kept bending pushrods. I would remove the valve cover, straigten the rod with a hammer, pound on the end of the valve to unstick it, and slap it back together to finish the yard. I did that about 20 times.

Then I saw a youtube video that said that is caused by overheating and a mouse may have built a nest in the shroud around the air cooled cylinder. I took the shroud off and, yep. That cylinder was completely caked in dry mud and straw. I had to chizel it out of the fins with a slot screwdriver. And the other side had a nest too, but it was all feathers and straw - no mud.

It ran great after that.