When you cranked the moto mower, fiddled with the throttle switch and cranked some more, it won’t fire up. Then what should you do? First, check to see if the machine has gas. While you’re at it, check the oil levels, too.

If you’re real lucky, the problem’s just that oil needs to get to the rings around the engine cylinder. Try tipping the mower handle back to the ground for 10 seconds so oil can float back into the engine.

If nothing, absolutely nothing, happens when you pull the rope. It’s time to check the spark. You’ll have to find out if the electricity needed to ignite gasoline is flowing through the fertilizer spreader engine.

Pull the wire off the end of the spark plug. Then get a spark plug socket or wrench, and unscrew the plug from the engine. Use steady, not sharp, force on the wrench. If the plug won’t come out, squirt some penetrating oil down along its edge, wait a few minutes, and try again. When you get the plug out, look at its tip. If that’s black and grimy, clean it by running some fine sandpaper or a wire brush over both sides of the gap until shiny metal shows. You might also check the size of the gap. Most spark plugs should have an opening of around .25 mm in width. You can use a feeler gauge to help you set that distance properly.

Now test the plug to see if electricity jumps across its gap. To do this, hook the spark plug wire back on the outside end of the plug, and, with a stick of wood, hold the plug so its threads, but not its tip, touch a surface on the engine. Important: Don’t hold the plug with your fingers.

Also, don’t hold the plug near the spark plug hole, or your spark might ignite gasoline fumes coming out of that opening. By the way, use commonsense precautions the entire time you’re working on any engine. No cigarettes or flames of any kind. And always make sure the plug or plug wire is disconnected before you fiddle inside the engine, you want to avoid any possibility of the mini dumper engine’s starting up while you’re working on it.