Craftsman 28" Mower Starts First Pull; First Oil Change

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gathermewool

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I purchased this mower last September from Sears.com for just under $700, with $400 back in SYWR points...which I've spent every penny of!

I ran her for maybe 3 hours last year on the factory oil fill, before running the carb dry of fuel and putting her up for the winter.

I added fresh fuel this afternoon and she fired and ran on the first pull; it was kind of a half-hearted pull, too! This is literally the only OPE I've owned that has started on the first pull after months of storage.

Anyway, after taking 1.5 hrs to cut the lawn today, I drained the factory fill; maybe a total of 5 hrs on the FF. The oil looked opaque and had a noticeable amount of sparklies in the effluent, even though the dipstick showed nearly clear oil prior to draining.

I added RT5 15W-40 for this season.

//

Question: I'm wondering whether changing the oil early again makes sense. Without any sort of consensus, I plan to change the oil at the end of this season or next Spring.

Thoughts?

//

If anyone cares to hear my review of the mower, just let me know and I'll share my feedback, so far.
 
My opinion is that it is so little oil volume, do what ever makes you happiest. I found some Motomaster HDEO semi-synthetic that is CJ-SN. Sort of like a poor boy RT5. I'm going to start changing mid season. Not like its 6 liters like my truck.
smile.gif
 
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On a splash lubricated, oil filterless engine, the "sparklies" give you your answer. The metal in the oil is serving what purpose? It certainly not providing any benefit. With all of the practically "free" oil in the market place these days, why would a person not want to change the oil early? I change mine twice per season (at least) and it always has lots of metal in it. I vote that you did the right thing.
 
My 99'ish Murray B.S. 3.5hp still starts easy (3-4 pulls) after a winters sleep. I always leave the tank full with a big gulp of MMO. I dump that, refill with E0 gasoline and go. Second yard cut I sharpen the blade. Replaced the carb around 2012-2013'ish, a couple of blades later and it's still going. It's had almost every kind of oil you can imagine, bottom of engine sump is spotless clean aluminum. Put new wheels and axle bolts last week. Deck is still good.
 
Points taken, all. With oil being so cheap, I'll change it every five hours until I stop seeing sparklies.

With such a hilly yard, and with so many obstacles (trees, shrubs, etc.), this large mower makes the most sense for me. I also like the exercise, now that I've got a desk job that has cut my job calories burned by 1/10th over the past few years. I'd love a zero-turn, but that seems impractical.

I'm hoping this things lasts decades!

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I also changed the oil in my new Ariens snow-blower with only a few hours on it (this past year was pretty mild...of course, since I bought a snow-blower!!!) The oil looked perfect coming out, compared to the mower.

I'll also be changing the oil in my 4-stroke Makita blower, when I get the chance...
 
You guys and your new store bought OPE. Heh heh, I fired up the LB pusher and the '77 IH Cadet sit down, no drama. Tomorrow, Ill try my luck with the Mantis and the 94' Toro GTS 3spd. I love these stories. Last yr , I revived the LB 2 stroke, after a 6 yr hiatus stored under a storage tub out side. It was just a matter of doing a little on line research and some stale gas to soak the carb pieces in. The other thing to look at is the ignition coil / flywheel magnets. They can get dirty enough not to start. I ran into a period of no dough-itis and needed a lawn mower. My first dump find was a 19" dept store 69$ special. Then a buddy gave me a pair of' 80s Toros. In 2k , a fellow worker gave me the Inty. I have put money and time into it It does 90% of the mowing. The others are trimmers.

PS back on topic, I would change oil in the new engine every 5 hrs until the sparklies disappear. Just out of curiosity. I was prepared to for sparkles in my first change on the Predator. Nada, not a sparkle. Just assembly lube. I suspect the engine was test run
 
I would do another shortened OCI, maybe in another 5 hours, then a 10 hour OCI. After that follow the MFG recommendation for oil changes.
 
I once bought a new 'walk-behind' lawn-mower and changed the oil every hour.
The first several oil changes had quite a bit of sparkles in it.
After the 5th oil change, it looked a lot better (no sparkles) and I went with once a year oil changes (approx. 25 hours).
Maybe it did not help, but I never regretted it.

Edit: If your mower has a steel deck, clean the underside of wet grass to prevent rusting.
 
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Originally Posted by andyd
You guys and your new store bought OPE. Heh heh, I fired up the LB pusher and the '77 IH Cadet sit down, no drama. Tomorrow, Ill try my luck with the Mantis and the 94' Toro GTS 3spd. I love these stories. Last yr , I revived the LB 2 stroke, after a 6 yr hiatus stored under a storage tub out side. It was just a matter of doing a little on line research and some stale gas to soak the carb pieces in. The other thing to look at is the ignition coil / flywheel magnets. They can get dirty enough not to start. I ran into a period of no dough-itis and needed a lawn mower. My first dump find was a 19" dept store 69$ special. Then a buddy gave me a pair of' 80s Toros. In 2k , a fellow worker gave me the Inty. I have put money and time into it It does 90% of the mowing. The others are trimmers.

PS back on topic, I would change oil in the new engine every 5 hrs until the sparklies disappear. Just out of curiosity. I was prepared to for sparkles in my first change on the Predator. Nada, not a sparkle. Just assembly lube. I suspect the engine was test run


I think that's exactly what I'll do - change the oil frequently until the sparklies are gone.

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Re: new mower: Duuuuuuuude, if you can find me a similar mower for similar money (including wear and tear), around me, I'll buy you a 12-pack of beer.

The next cheapest, new 20" deck mower was a grand, with the commercial step-up double that!

//

Why I upgraded (and paid for new):

I killed myself last summer using a free-to-me 19" mower. It took me almost three hours to mow my lawn. It hunted and ran poorly when I first got it (the gas in the tank was likely two years old!), so I swapped the carb and replaced all other wear items; it's now a reliable backup mower. I don't think I'd get the cost of the carb back if I try to sell it privately, so in the shed it will sit, waiting in hot standby - I'll mow with'er for a bit every summer and change the oil every few years.
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
I would do another shortened OCI, maybe in another 5 hours, then a 10 hour OCI. After that follow the MFG recommendation for oil changes.

Originally Posted by MasterSolenoid
I once bought a new 'walk-behind' lawn-mower and changed the oil every hour.
The first several oil changes had quite a bit of sparkles in it.
After the 5th oil change, it looked a lot better (no sparkles) and I went with once a year oil changes (approx. 25 hours).
Maybe it did not help, but I never regretted it.

Edit: If your mower has a steel deck, clean the underside of wet grass to prevent rusting.


It takes me 1.5 hrs to mow my lawn. If I have time, I'll consider changing the oil after the next mow, but I'm usually tired by then and will punt the oil change to some other time. I'll make sure to change the oil within 4 mows, though. If there are still a lot of sparklies I'll definitely shorten the next interval to 1-2 mows.

The mower is the first I've had that has a deck-cleaning nozzle to hook up a garden hose. I was surprised how well it worked the last time I used it. Underneath the deck was pretty darned clean and the patch where I washed the deck had a nice layer of washed-off grass. I'll keep doing this every mow, if I have time.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Toro Timemaster is a step up from Craftsman.


Indeed, but not for the price difference
 
I just did on my new Sears walk behind
Yeah, a whopping 15 Oz of feel good after breaking it in on deep grass … what the heck …
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
I just did on my new Sears walk behind
Yeah, a whopping 15 Oz of feel good after breaking it in on deep grass … what the heck …


How many hours before dumping?
 
One heavy mowing … going to finish a half dozen times more and put the summer oil in …
then just change yearly
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
One heavy mowing … going to finish a half dozen times more and put the summer oil in …
then just change yearly



Ha! Summer oil; that's the only oil we know here!
 
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