Our pressure washer stopped working two days ago, in the midst of powerwashing our side deck.

Yep, we have two decks, both made of pressure treated wood. Pressure treated wood, btw, has nothing to do with the need for a pressure washer to maintain the deck. Both of course are related to pressure, force per unit of area, but otherwise this is just a coincidence.

Pressure treated wood has changed over the years, going from a treatment that could last for decades to one that lasts about a decade, or less depending on how you install it.

I know this from seeing wood from the deck that was originally on our house when we bought it in 1998 and comparing it to the wood I used when I built/re-built these two decks. 

I saved all of the wood from the original deck. I have, in fact, saved every piece of wood I’ve used for our place or that was originally here. I haven’t necessarily kept it under cover and out of the conditions, either. The wood from the original deck was just in a pile in the woods, up off the ground.

So, when the new pressure treated wood began to fail two years ago from rot, I replaced those boards with the original ones I’d stored in the woods. 

Now, though, I’ve run out of those boards and need to make a decision about the deck–replace the rotting boards one at a time with new PT wood or switch to manufactured boards and replace the entire decking all at once. 

The first is a relatively inexpensive fix. The second is a huge investment, but one that could save $, where time spent cleaning and maintaining is $.

Decisions. Decisions. 

But the broken power washer. I priced new power washers with Honda motors, the same specs as this one, and they are in the $600 range. That’s steep. 

I used the pressure washer several times each year, so renting isn’t going to save me money, not this time. For hole diggers or wood chippers, sure. 

The PW (power washer) has a pretty rudimentary starting system–you pull the choke and pull the starting cord. There is no primer to bring gas into the carburetor. So, I never get a first pull start and am lucky if I can get it in five when it is cold.

I noticed two days ago that I was having to keep the choke pulled to keep the motor running, which is a sign that the air/gas mixing isn’t working well. In addition the exhaust was barking. 

And then it just stopped working. I let it sit and it started up again, but stopped almost right away.

There is a local metal scrap yard that will pay for scrap metal, a thought here, except that why not just try a new carburetor? 

Younger me, say thirty years ago, was always keen to try mechanical fixes myself, on my car, the lawnmower, the weed wacker, the chain saw. 

Through that process I learned a couple of things–many gas engine problems can be fixed with a carburetor replacement, or rebuild.

I also learned that the rebuild process with my minimal skill was unlikely to work. 

So, I ordered a new carburetor two days ago and am going to replace it this morning. I have hope it will work. Not quite confidence, but hope for sure.

We will see. The new carb was $25, so if it works it is a huge savings. That $575 can go toward the deck boards that need to be replaced, or the new composite decking we are thinking about.

So much to say the poem “The Inside of a Carburetor” was inspired by all of these years of tinkering with gas engines.

I haven’t read enough poetry to know how many carburetor poems are out there–probably quite a few, but maybe less than flowers and plants and certainly love. 

When I get excited about a poem I’ve written, though, it is because I found insight when I wrote it, and in capturing that insight I have created a cairn that I can use to return to that moment.

Sure, I can write down notes and I’ll be able to remember things. But a poem, with the intensity of writing it, has so much more power. 

And maybe, when I find the right subject, the right pacing and sound and meter and words, the poem will also hold meaning for others. 

It is something to hope for. The way I hope that the power washer can be fixed with a new carburetor.

Not confidence. Hope. That with attention and patience I might find success in many places. 

Postscript–

I had planned to post this before I installed the carburetor, but it was such a nice day, the tools were already outside, and, well, I installed it.

And, it worked. 

My hands got oily. I spilled gasoline on the deck and onto my shoes. And the sun was just the way I’ll always remember mid-morning, spring sun: sunny.

Really sunny. 

Not one of the bolts and screws and gaskets I dropped fell through the deck boards where I worked. That’s a great day. 

And I got to spend all of the money I saved on a new fuel pump and fuel line for my 1994 Ford Ranger! How lucky is that?