I got my craftsman 6.5hp briggs and Stratton 24 years ago. I paid 279.00 and it still started first pull a few weeks back after sitting the winter. It hasn't had its oil changed in over 15 years. The last oil in it is Mobil 1 10w30 that I got buy 3 get 3 free from pepboys calendar. Minimal top off over the years. I was going to change the oil this year but said no, let's keep going. Long story, but this is the only engine subjected to this in my household. It keeps on going, used 1 hour per week minimum April through early October
My mower
- Thread starter 93cruiser
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whats the reasoning behind this?
I believe lawn mowers are subject to a lot of dirt encroachment.
I do annual oil changes as I feel it gets dirt (as in soil) out of the crankcase.
My mower is an >40-year-old Sensation and I want it to last forever.
I always ran 30W in it. When it turned 40, I changed to 40W.
Someone here asked why.
No reason other than 'happy birthday'.
I do annual oil changes as I feel it gets dirt (as in soil) out of the crankcase.
My mower is an >40-year-old Sensation and I want it to last forever.
I always ran 30W in it. When it turned 40, I changed to 40W.
Someone here asked why.
No reason other than 'happy birthday'.
Set up a Gofundme for the 20 or so ounces it will take.
I have the same mower. I change oil annually and the air filter as needed. These are minor expenses. I also keep the blade sharp to mow grass year-round (Phoenix). My yard is small, taking less than 15 minutes to mow weekly and about an hour to scalp it in fall for conversion to winter grass. I want this mower to outlast me.
Considering how easy it is to tip, drain and fill the engine, there no reason for such behavior other than laziness. If the engine blows on you, it is deserved.
That mower was $279 24yrs ago? That was about the price of an aluminum decked toro super recycler back then IIRC.
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Pins out of the grenade now....
It will still run just fine. I've seen 20+ year old mowers that have never been changed, just topped off. They still have great compression, but will usually start smoking and burning oil.
I'm sure there are 10s of thousands of splash oiled B&S engines out there that are 20 years old and running fine on the factory fill still. Pretty hard to kill one of those engines even with severe neglect, which is one reason I've never understood the hate for B&S motors.
The flat heads yes, the others are a far cry from what they used to be. The Intek OHVs are a good example.
That isn't B&S fault, that is gov regs mandating OPE emissions regs, same as gov regs have caused the DI gas engines and all the turbo powered undersized engines, aluminum bodies etc.
Other manufacturers don't have the same issues with their engines that have to meet the same emissions. Honda, Kawasaki, etc. Also most of B&S issues stem from cost cutting like plastic camshafts, poor cylinder head design causing blown head gaskets, bad metal casting, poor carburetor design, and more.
Come on now, you're telling me that fuel injected lawn mower engines would exist without gov regs?
Never said that, but you stated that B&S problems are mainly due to government regulations. I like old B&S engines, but many of their problems with the new engines are due to build quality and design concerns. They have been making the same vertical shaft single cylinder Intek OHV carburetor engines for 20+ years for lawn tractors. For those 20+ years they have had the same design and suffered the same exact problems. That is a quality control and poor design problem, not a result of regulations. The only engine I can think of that is worse than a Briggs Intek is a Kohler Courage.
Nothing wrong with throwing some new Supertech HD-30 in there once a year. Takes ten minutes.
Those were the flatheads; not the newer OHV engines.