New Craftsman 37710

[Hokiefyd]

I bought one of these for our church parsonage last night:

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-22inc...mp;blockType=G1

Priorities, as given to me, were self-propelled and inexpensive. I also had to buy a few tools last night, so I did both purchases at Sears. This deck is one of the few lower cost FWD mowers with a steel front end (vs. the plastic that's more common today).

Interesting to me is this has Briggs' new "Just Check & Add" engine. From what I can tell, it's one of their new smaller OHV engines (that replaced the age-old "Classic") with a few changes that enable the user to never change the oil. Briggs says this new EXi engine will replace their other age-old engine, the "Quantum".

http://www.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/engines/push-mower-engines/exi

I guess the air filter is supposed to be beefed up, as well as a redesigned oil fill tube, in order to keep foreign debris out of the engine. And they said that the engine also runs cooler, resulting in less oil consumption and less oil breakdown.

http://www.basco.com/Newsroom/{809FB5D7-88BB-403F-85DD-E8239B396DE0}

I ran it for about 10 minutes across some of my own front yard last night and I rather like it (the engine). It started on the first yank of the cord. It has the "Ready Start" auto choke. I don't care for that, but you can't get one with a manual choke or primer bulb at this price range anymore. The engine has a funny exhaust note -- it sounds like my grandpa's old Ford 8N. It seems to cut well. I'm used to nicer mowers, and the handle is real chintzy to me and the deck has tons of flex, so I don't care for those "features".

But, in terms of service at a church parsonage, I'm sure this mower will do well.

 

[Lawn_Care]

For occasional use at the church parsonage, i'm sure it'll be fine. While i'm not familiar with that engine, it should be more than enough for a 22".

I wouldn't want one of those for daily use in my lawn care business, but it should serve the church well. Typical Briggs maintenance - change oil often, keep the air filter clean, and the blade sharp.

 

[Donald]

Its a Husqvarna mower since the model starts with a 917.

 

[demarpaint]

Never change the oil, just check and add as needed. Interesting.

 

[spasm3]

While i never would, many people ( like my bil) have been doing " check and add" for years. I guess briggs figured they could market that as a selling point.

I assume you can still change the oil in that mower if you wanted to?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: spasm3


I assume you can still change the oil in that mower if you wanted to?


You can always suck the oil out through the dipstick/fill tube if they took the liberty of eliminating the drain plug.......

 

[BigCahuna]

Seems B&S finally wised up and realized that with minimal care and oil changes, their motors will last 40 years. You can't make much money selling only one mower to a customer, every 40 years.,,,

 

[spavel6]

I'd venture to say that 98% of lawn mowers don't change the oil in their B&S Quantum engines, so this is probably no different.

If you think about it, a typical home owner probably puts ~10-15 hours of use on the engine per year. That means that the normal oil change interval by time would arrive in ~5 years anyway.

By that time, the Ethanol-enriched fuel they are using has already gummed up the carb, and the owner either gets another $200 mower, or gets a $100 tune up, where the shop changes the oil.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


I ran it for about 10 minutes across some of my own front yard last night and I rather like it (the engine). It started on the first yank of the cord. It has the "Ready Start" auto choke. I don't care for that, but you can't get one with a manual choke or primer bulb at this price range anymore.


My Toro recycler (with a re-badged Quantum) with the "ready start" choke worked very well... for about 4 years. It didn't work BADLY after that, but it didn't just light off on the first pull, and sometimes I'd have to tip the carb side down to help prime it. So I dug through the bucket-O-parts I had left over from a really nice Briggs commercial that met an early end on a concrete pier a few years back (bent crank, broken case), and pulled out the primer bulb carb. Swapped it on my newer engine, tossed the "ready start" linkage and carb in the parts bucket just in case... now it starts on the first pull EVERY time. I mourn the passing of the primer bulb carb.

You're not REALLY going to operate that as a "never change the oil" engine, are you? ;-)