Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Lawn mower trouble, fuel starvation, 3 stooges

Question
What can I do to troubleshoot this. Can I see the float? the incline is slight, so it may be the float.How do I fix it myself? (Craftsman 4.5 engine)-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
My lawn mower, a Craftsman push mower, starts fine, but will cut off if cutting on an incline. It'll start to cut off, I'll raise the deck...but not too much....and it'll come to life. I drained the gas out of it, then tried it again. Same thing! I looked in the fuel tank, and couldn't see anything out of place or suspect. It worked fine last week, and it's only a year old. The pregnant lady up the street asked if I wanted her to cut my grass while I got it repaired! That would really hurt an insecure guy, and nearly killed me! I've been watching Sports Center and reruns of The 3 Stooges just to feel manly again. Can you help?

  Thanks


Answer -
The answer really depends on the angle of incline you are cutting on.  Anything more than about 30° you can expect the mower to run poorly.  Otherwise, I suspect the issue would be related to the float level being either too high (flooding) or too low (fuel starvation) causing the problem.  Hope this helps.

Answer
You cannot see the float as it is in the carburetor.  All you can do is set it to the correct height.  With the carburetor off and turned upside with the float bowl off, the float should sit parallel to the carb body if the float height is correct.  You can change this by bending the tab on the float (if it's a brass float) or replace a plastic float to accomplish this (because the tab is usually worn from the steel inlet needle).  Hope this helps.