reply to skinneys stall problem

As an ag mechanics teacher for many years,I have encountered this problem many times. The vent in the fuel cap or wrong gasket plugs off the vent. This will allow the engine to run for a while and when no more air can enter above the gas the engine stalls. Try loosening the fuel cap when this happens and see if this helps. Your readers may benefit from the FOS or fundamental of service books published by john deere. They are for engines,electrical,hydraulics ect. They have a great system for troubleshooting, starting with understanding how the system works, looking at the simple maintenance things first and through tests ect eliminating possible causes. I used these books for texts in my classes and they were great. I used to tell my students there are two types of mechanics. Troubleshooters and parts store mechanics. They keep buying parts until they find the problem. Hope this helps.

Excellent call Farmer Tom. Good place to start. Doesn't cost anything to loosen the gas cap. I've seen the vent tube on the top of the tank and never thought where it actually vented the tank (and still haven't checked since the tractor is over at my son's house).

Had a Harley I had a hard time keeping running. Would start fine, run for a while then die. Let it cool down, start, run, die. Checked the coil and it was cracked and very hot. I suspect the previous owner didn't change out the coil when he upgraded to the electronic ignition (different ohm rating). Changed out the coil and it would run fine

Finally got the bike road worthy and took it for a spin. Cruising down the highway it started loosing power and died. First thing I checked was the gas level. It was all fine. Restarted just fine and motored on thinking it was just a hiccup. A few miles later same scenario. I then figured out the vented cap was clogged. Replaced cap and all was well.

Same thing started happening again after awhile. Run for an while die, wait, start without a problem, repeat. Checked coil. OK Checked cap OK
Scratched head a lot, read a lot, scratched head some more, left it in the back of the garage for a while then read somewhere the old circuit breakers would get hot and trip. Replaced the circuit breakers and that seems to have solved the problem. Now I just have to clean out the carb again since I let it sit too long. Then I can really check it out.

Same MO each time, different problem. Which frustrated the hound out of me, BTW.

Sometimes it is a simple find and fix, sometimes it is a combination of things (or one things leads to another). That's why forums like this are so helpful. The collective knowledge base can really help folks out.


Edit to add: The 1010 vents off the filler neck through the long tube on top of the tank. You cap may be fine but the tube may be clogged. Give it a puff of air and see if it is clear. You'll probably have to take off the hood to get to the tube.