I went over a sharp ridge.
Cutting deck got pushed up, spinning pulley contacted chassis, sparks flew, grass ignited.
Luckily I wear rigger's gloves when mowing, and I was able to beat the flames out before it spread.
Four hours ago, I was using the petrol powered hand mower on the steep slopes up the hill in front of the house.
I see yellow flames coming out of the exhaust shroud. Immediate shut down to investigate.
Meanwhile, flaming material dropped on the grass, setting that on fire. Luckily managed to stamp that out.
Grabbed the mower and raced down the hill, flames behind to keep them away from the mower itself as much as possible. Doused it with garden hose on mist setting.
Plastic petrol tank was melted across front, but thankfully the petrol didn't go up.
Mrs A hears the clattering mower passing the back door and comes to investigate.
"Do you know that there's a fire behind the car?"
Bits of the plastic intake unit had dropped on the driveway. I hadn't noticed that on account of cooling the mower before the tank exploded.
Dragged the hose to the car and put that fire out.
Removed the exhaust shroud and discovered the cause: dry grass dust hidden between cylinder and exhaust had caught fire.
Hope to buy a replacement intake assembly, as that was all plastic, and now unrecognisable. Some wiring will have to be replaced, as it's black and crispy.
Looks like I'll have to introduce an annual strip down and clean.
And it was only mid 20s today. Cool for this time of year.
EricT