Um what?...Never change the oil?

[RandyT]

Some of those engines are no longer covered by warranty so we will have to wait and see how long they last. The average replacement interval on pushmowers is 3 1/2 years.

 

[MossRoad]

Who wears out push mowers that fast? I've had TWO in 32 years of home ownership. First one lasted 29 years. My dad had two that I can remember. My father-in-law has had 4 or 5, but he's 89 and still mows his lawn every other day!

 

[3930dave]

Who wears out push mowers that fast? I've had TWO in 32 years of home ownership. First one lasted 29 years. My dad had two that I can remember. My father-in-law has had 4 or 5, but he's 89 and still mows his lawn every other day!

Every other day ? WTH is he growing ? I sure could use some of that on my problem lawn areas !

You know better Moss, just posting this for people who don't know small engines:

The main purpose of the first oil change is to get the metal swarf from initial run-in etc. out of the sump/oil. The first thing you'll notice draining an air-cooled small-engine is that the oil looks a lot worse coming out, than it does on the stick. With no oil filter, any decent sump is designed to catch debris, metal particles, and degraded oil. The oil does end up stratifying in layers, by design.

As the oil ages, sludge will build up in the sump. As this progresses, there is less room in the sump for new debris, sludge, etc. You can top up oil as it declines, but obviously the capacity in the system for "good" oil continues to decline, until you actually change the oil.

Some people act like it's a big deal to change oil on a small engine. Never really understood that. If no drain plug, just tip it over after a run, so it drains out the oil fill hole. Just common-sense to do that with a nearly empty gas tank..... always good to have a fire extinguisher around the shop/yard regardless.

Small engines are pretty tough, and some do survive a long time with neglected oil. Just because some guys live to 90+ drinking a quarts of whisky and smoking dozens of cigars every week, doesn't make it a good life-style for everybody though..... :laughing:

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

An example of an engineered system for long oil-life on a small engine:

11 liter sump
7.5 hp, 272cc, 12.8/1 compression
1200-3600 rpm. Single cylinder

4,000 hr oil change interval
(Equivalent to 160,000 miles)

Ten year life or 40,000 hr.
(Equivalent to 1.6 million miles)


It takes a large oil sump to ensure long oil life / not running out of oil.

Rgds, D.

 

[MossRoad]

Every other day ? WTH is he growing ?...

The guy is like the energizer bunny! He'll be 90 in October. He likes to cut it every other day so that he can mulch it and doesn't have to bag it. He's got a nice Toro walk-behind mower with the personal pace feature. I had to do his lawn for him last fall because he had a foot of his colon removed and the Dr. wouldn't let him do it. I like it. You just grab the handle and start walking and it adjusts to your speed. It's like a walker for old people. Anyhow, he recovered from the surgery well, and this spring is strong enough to go at it again. He likes his oil changed, so I indulged him and changed the oil, air filter, and sharpened the blade for him this spring. He goes through blades about every 4-5 weeks, so I have three for him. One on the machine, a sharp one on the wall, and one at my house getting sharpened. Up until about two years ago, I was pretty sure he could still kick my rear end! Now I think it would be an even match! :laughing:

 

[3930dave]

The guy is like the energizer bunny! He'll be 90 in October. He likes to cut it every other day so that he can mulch it and doesn't have to bag it. He's got a nice Toro walk-behind mower with the personal pace feature. I had to do his lawn for him last fall because he had a foot of his colon removed and the Dr. wouldn't let him do it. I like it. You just grab the handle and start walking and it adjusts to your speed. It's like a walker for old people. Anyhow, he recovered from the surgery well, and this spring is strong enough to go at it again. He likes his oil changed, so I indulged him and changed the oil, air filter, and sharpened the blade for him this spring. He goes through blades about every 4-5 weeks, so I have three for him. One on the machine, a sharp one on the wall, and one at my house getting sharpened. Up until about two years ago, I was pretty sure he could still kick my rear end! Now I think it would be an even match! :laughing:

Big laugh Moss :thumbsup: Good on your Dad, and hopefully those genes serve you well ! Staying active with age can be a struggle; your Dad should be teaching classes on it.

That's a neat design on that Toro, hadn't seen that before. Aside from a lawn tractor taking more storage space, I've also stayed with a push mower @ the house for the exercise.

Rgds, D.

 

[MossRoad]

Big laugh Moss :thumbsup: Good on your Dad, and hopefully those genes serve you well ! Staying active with age can be a struggle; your Dad should be teaching classes on it.

That's a neat design on that Toro, hadn't seen that before. Aside from a lawn tractor taking more storage space, I've also stayed with a push mower @ the house for the exercise.

Rgds, D.

He's my wife's father. Might as well be mine, I've known my in-laws longer (38 years) than both of my parents when they were alive. They treat me just like their own. I'm very fortunate. A lot of folks don't get along with their in-laws. Unfortunately, while his body is in great shape for 89, his mind is starting to go. Specifically, short term memory. So, we just listen and agree when he repeats himself. At least he's a happy old dude and not an angry old dude.

 

[ultrarunner]

Who wears out push mowers that fast? I've had TWO in 32 years of home ownership. First one lasted 29 years. My dad had two that I can remember. My father-in-law has had 4 or 5, but he's 89 and still mows his lawn every other day!

In 1987 I bought a Craftsman 3.5 hp push mower... used if over 20 years at multiple rentals year round... use to move it around in the roof of my Plymouth Valiant from rental to rental...

I like you came to admire out of respect for service given by that mower... the deck finally rusted out so bad that there was nothing left to pop rivet sheet metal patches to patch the bad spots...

The mower has also been completely submerged several times for days at a time accompanied with the mandatory oil and filter change after each baptisim.

 

[PILOON]

Lubricated for life?
Well knowing the designed life spans of small engines they decided to optimize advertising hype.
It is generally accepted that most the small engines have an extremely limited life when actual hours are tabulated.

Longest life span is possibly Onan and many Wisconsin models but then look at the cost difference.

And then the life is up to and when it dies! 50, 75 or 100 hrs?

Like some have noted, mowing twice a month for 6 months still will not amount to a whole lot of hours and probably the mower deck will rot out B4 the motor fails.

Based on that advertising hype they could also say 'lifetime warranty' (life ends when it dies) LOL.
Today you need to be a lawyer and read between the lines.

 

[ultrarunner]

Having several decks rust through while the engines were still good prompted me to buy mowers with aluminum decks...

15 years ago I bought Mom a commercial aluminum deck walk behind mower as a gift... the Honda starts on one pull, has hydro and best of all idles when the blade is disengaged meaning no restarting every time the catcher is dumped... oil is changed every two years and mower is used year round just for her yard.

The other is a commercial Toro 2-stroke that I bought for $25 when the neighbor was moving... it's a running machine as long as the grass is not too tall or wet...

Looks like the regular fuel that was added a while back didn't destroy the motor... and with a 2-stroke there is not crankcase oil to deal with...