Lawn mower question

[opposedtwin]

Don’t ask me why I don’t know this. I was just given a 3 year old craftsman lawn mower with a Briggs and Stratton motor. It has a place to put gas and another to put oil. No mixing then, eh? Also what kind of oil do I add? I got no manual and the id tag was a sticker that must have washed away. For years I have literally pushed a reel type mower so I am clueless about more modern mowers. Are all mowers 4 stroke these days?

[legendre]

Yes, it’s a 4-stroke and unless something has changed dramatically, you should run SAE30 (non-detergent) in the crankcase.

If the oil fill plug is oriented horizontally, you should add oil until the oil level just rises to the bottom of the threads. If vertical, then add oil until it just begins to run back out.. If you want to be really nice to it (you ought to..) then give it a change – it’s likely never had one.

Many mowers have a drain plug down below, under the deck. Others have the drain up top, near the filler. Some lack it entirely, and in this case, you just flip it over and dump it out.

Oh, it’s a new one.. =) If it has a dipstick, you not only measure it there, but add / refill via the dipstick tube as well.

[Mumbles]

Newer Briggs four strokes call for a high quality detergent oil. I’ve been using the same 10W-30 my truck uses for years now with no ill effects.

You can’t argue with the manufacturer.

http://www.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/ … d-capacity

[legendre]

quote Mumbles:

Newer Briggs four strokes call for a high quality detergent oil.

If that’s what’s called for, then, by all means..

My current ‘good’ mower is an MTD, about 8-10 yrs old, and it still calls for 30W on the info tag, for what that’s worth.

[Tubs]

I’ve got a 3 or 4 year old mower with the Briggs
and Stratton motor. The oil that came with it
was SAE-30W detergent. I needed to replace the
Briggs and Stratton mower that I bought in
1971. I had patched the deck several times
but when the motor dropped out of the center
I decided to replace it. I still have the motor.
I always changed the oil in the fall with
SAE-10W-30 detergent and have and will continued
to do the same with this new mower.

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

[crosbyman]

isn’t odd they never sell mower bases to mount perfectly good working engines on ?

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[Tubs]

quote crosbyman:

isn’t odd they never sell mower bases to mount perfectly good working engines on ?

Actually I bought this mower so I could put my
old motor on the new deck. The old motor has
a choke instead of that primer pump and a throttle
so I get to decide how fast it needs to be running.
Found the crankshafts are different lengths so I
didn’t switch them but the carb may get changed one
winter day when I’m looking for something to do.

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

[thegrassoutlet]

You can also make life way easy on yourself when mowing your lawn if you use these tips: https://thegrassoutlet.com/lawn-mowing-tips/

[outbdnut2]

Most mowers have been 4-stroke since the 1950s/60s, with Lawn Boy being the notable exception. They made only two strokes until pollution laws in some states and maybe some at the federal level outlawed them.

Lawn Boy’s parent company was OMC! …..but OMC either sold them or spun them off as a separate company several years ago. They are still alive making 4-strokes.
Dave

[Mumbles]

Lawn Boys rule!

This ’59 deck with a later D series motor on it uses 16/1 fuel mix and is virtually smoke free!

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