OK, tackled the beast, found the bowl free of sediment and crap, what I expected due to running it dry, etc. The main jet seemed to be partially plugged, so I gently reamed it with a very fine gauge wire. Now I could see through it, before, not so well. Sprayed everything well with carb and choke cleaner. Also gave a few shots down the throat while the air cleaner was off. Reassembled, drug outside in the rain and it started right up. Smoked billowed, due to the carb cleaner then it settled down. Seems to have much more power at full throttle now, so that's a good thing. Still hunts, and now only wants about quarter choke to idle. From what I can discern from the Briggs diagram, the idle jet is inaccessible. I'm suspecting that it's partially clogged. While apart, looked for a good place to put an inline fuel filter. I have two types in my stock. One is about the size of a golf ball with long barbs, the other is about the size of ...three fifty cent pieces together with short barbs. The way the fuel line runs, neither would work. If I get ambitious, I could reroute the line out the right side of the carb (viewed from the rear) and put whatever I want there. That's a big IF.... :-) Mike, intriguing idea, I don't have any MMO in my barn, don't know why, have everything else. Going in town tomorrow and will pick some up. So, in conclusion, I learned more about this "EPA blessed Carb" and based on the way it acts now, the main jet was partially plugged. Still wants to be choked to be happy. Guess I can live with that, when I'm doing heavy tilling. For the light stuff, have a Mantis and a 10 year old Sears 2cycle which I can't seem to kill. Thanks for all the good input!!! Ev

GP, Is money an issue or aesthetics or do you just want DIY get er done. Is a gravity flow well an artesian well that flows out on the ground into a stream? Expensive is drip but most efficient. PVC pipe with spray heads next and then polyethylene tubing with emitters. all these are pressurized systems that a timer or controller with automatic valves can be used for automation. You would need to pump the water to the deck and plants through piping and irrigation outlets. The pump design is based on the maximum water you will need during the summer months. The pressure needed will be based on how high the rim of the pots are above your pump. Recommend a submersible centrifugal electric pump. More details to follow if you need it. JMHO Aloha

Joel, epoxy is inert and more stable timewise than concrete or even cross linked polyethelene. Keep in mind that you want to use a Marine grade epoxy like West Systems. If you do not want to use epoxy, if you clean and prep the tank really well, wash it down with muratic acid, you can then coat the tank with a bonding agent, and trowel on a parge coat of acrylic and fiber reinforced topping cement. Mix it up thick and stiff. You need to trowel it, not pour it. To get a smooth surface, keep trowelling and polishing the coat until it is rock hard. That 120 gallons that Canadians use is just suburban use, and does not include farm irrigation water. The trick is to use the 80 or 120 gallon figure as an estimate to determine cistern size. Four homes sharing a 600 gallon tank, even though it is refilled during the day, is small if there are more than two people in each home. You may want to consider irrigating at night, or adopting less consumptive irrigation methods like drip.

David_cary ~~ as dlm2000 points out, there is NO pump used on the convection-style recirculating system. You can probably get a better explanation by googling, but basically what happens is that all the hot water is piped consecutively (and yes, pipes must be insulated, but they shoud be anyhow), but instead of the pipe dead-ending at the last faucet, the pipe returns to the hot water heater. Convection causes a slow journey through the pipes, hot water goes up and cooler cometh down, which results in hot water always being at the tap. As with any other issue involving moving heat, insulation of the transmitting unit (whether water pipe or air duct) is required for the best energy efficiency. I have no doubt that there is a slight increase in the overall cost of heating hot water, but it should be a *very* slight increase since the water within well-insulted pipes does not drop a great deal of temperature ~~ and if one is truly concerned about energy efficiency, there would be a far better cost return by solar pre-heating the originating water before it goes into the water heater.