On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:53:28 +0100, Contessa
wrote:


I've just bought my first petrol lawnmower. It's a Gardenmaster SP21,
powered by a Honda 5.5 4-stroke engine. It was secondhand, but had
never been used. I find it very, very hard to start. My son eventually
managed to start it and used it for only about one minute, then stopped
it so I could have a go. Very hard to start again. I only went about 10
yards before stalling it. Now it refuses to start. What are we doing
wrong? I presume we should have the choke on to start, then move the
lever to the fast position in use? Thanks for any tips-I know very
little about engines.

A local small engine shop can help you out. Sounds to me the
carburetor needs inspection and cleaning. More like air and fuel, is
the problem.