small engine oil temps

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steve20

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Last Firday, took off from work early to get the grass cut. Outside temp 70 degrees mower= 1982 Snapper ride on with 8 hp B & S-burns about 16 oz of oil per hour of operation. After cutting one half acre of 9 inch tall grass, and mowing various hills in first gear, stopped the engine to add oil. Put a stick thermometer in the fill spot and 280 degrees pops up. Added the 16 oz of oil, and went on my way. 280 is a record, usually runs at 240 on the hottest summer day Steve
 
 Originally Posted By: steve20
Last Firday, took off from work early to get the grass cut. Outside temp 70 degrees mower= 1982 Snapper ride on with 8 hp B & S-burns about 16 oz of oil per hour of operation. After cutting one half acre of 9 inch tall grass, and mowing various hills in first gear, stopped the engine to add oil. Put a stick thermometer in the fill spot and 280 degrees pops up. Added the 16 oz of oil, and went on my way. 280 is a record, usually runs at 240 on the hottest summer day Steve
Worn out engines run the oil hotter. Not that I'm jumping to the conclusions that at 16 oz/hour oil consumption on an 8 hp engine indicates problem. Sometimes a lot hotter because of the oils more intimate relations with combustion process.
 
 Originally Posted By: XS650
 Originally Posted By: steve20
Last Firday, took off from work early to get the grass cut. Outside temp 70 degrees mower= 1982 Snapper ride on with 8 hp B & S-burns about 16 oz of oil per hour of operation. After cutting one half acre of 9 inch tall grass, and mowing various hills in first gear, stopped the engine to add oil. Put a stick thermometer in the fill spot and 280 degrees pops up. Added the 16 oz of oil, and went on my way. 280 is a record, usually runs at 240 on the hottest summer day Steve
Worn out engines run the oil hotter.
Not to mention that the oil gets much hotter when the oil level is low, because it spends less time cooling in the sump before being circulated through the engine again. 16 oz is probably half the capacity of that engine, so it had a lot less oil volume to absorb heat right before that temp reading was taken. But yeah- 16 oz/hr. is a seriously shot 8hp engine. There are probably flames blowing by the piston rings... My 6-horse Briggs burns about 1/4 that much in a whole *season*.
 
 Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
 Originally Posted By: XS650
 Originally Posted By: steve20
Last Firday, took off from work early to get the grass cut. Outside temp 70 degrees mower= 1982 Snapper ride on with 8 hp B & S-burns about 16 oz of oil per hour of operation. After cutting one half acre of 9 inch tall grass, and mowing various hills in first gear, stopped the engine to add oil. Put a stick thermometer in the fill spot and 280 degrees pops up. Added the 16 oz of oil, and went on my way. 280 is a record, usually runs at 240 on the hottest summer day Steve
Worn out engines run the oil hotter.
Not to mention that the oil gets much hotter when the oil level is low, because it spends less time cooling in the sump before being circulated through the engine again. 16 oz is probably half the capacity of that engine, so it had a lot less oil volume to absorb heat right before that temp reading was taken. But yeah- 16 oz/hr. is a seriously shot 8hp engine. There are probably flames blowing by the piston rings... My 6-horse Briggs burns about 1/4 that much in a whole *season*.
Perfect motor to try a little engine restore in.(just to see if it does any good)
 
That sounds like an engine to run the used oil from your cars in instead of wasting money on good oil.
 
Sounds like time for a 12 or 16hp. 12hp is enough.. tree's will be scared of your presence. We have a 12hp on ours 30 inch Snapper quite a monster.
 
right on both accounts: tried the 4 cyl Restore-----> did absolutely nothing to lower oil cinsumption. Once a year the oil gets changed with straight 30-all of the top-off oils are left over 5-30 from automobile oil changes. I pour the used oil from the car into quart bottles and let em sit for 6 months or so. It's mostly reused synthetic from the little used Corvettes, so it is still good stuff. Spark Plug has to be removed and cleaned about every 4 hours of use,otherwise the deposits will bridge the gap.
 
I had a Briggs engine that was smoking a bit, so I put in a little fuel system cleaner and now I mix 1 ounce of MMO in my 2 gallon gas can. I also added an ounce of auto-rx to the engine oil. I think the MMO will keep the fuel side clean and deposit free while the auto-rx will clean up the inside of the engine. Does this Snapper Mower look like the one Tom Hanks was mowing the field in that movie called Forrest Gump. My Dad bought one in 1973, it came with a 5 horsepower engine, not enough power so he got an 8 horsepower engine put on, I remember seeing them back in the early 1980's with 11 horsepower engines on them. I would see how much a 12 horsepower engine is compared to buying a Cub Cadet tractor that has a 20 horsepower engine with an oil filter on it. If you put another engine on try to get one with an oil filter, full pressure lubrication is better than the splash type system.
 
 Originally Posted By: c3po
I had a Briggs engine that was smoking a bit, so I put in a little fuel system cleaner and now I mix 1 ounce of MMO in my 2 gallon gas can. I also added an ounce of auto-rx to the engine oil. I think the MMO will keep the fuel side clean and deposit free while the auto-rx will clean up the inside of the engine. Does this Snapper Mower look like the one Tom Hanks was mowing the field in that movie called Forrest Gump. My Dad bought one in 1973, it came with a 5 horsepower engine, not enough power so he got an 8 horsepower engine put on, I remember seeing them back in the early 1980's with 11 horsepower engines on them. I would see how much a 12 horsepower engine is compared to buying a Cub Cadet tractor that has a 20 horsepower engine with an oil filter on it. If you put another engine on try to get one with an oil filter, full pressure lubrication is better than the splash type system.
Yeah I wonder about that horse power stuff too.Yes the 5hp might not have been enough power,but do we really need anything on a riding mower/lawn tractor more than an 8 or 10 horse?? I remember 30 years ago most of the Wheel horse,JD,CC`s were all 8-12 hp.And those were steel tanks!! These days my CC has a 20hp v-twin and I`m sure much less weight than the old ones.You see my point here?? I mowed the lawn,plowed snow,pulled a lawn sweeper,pulled tons of rock with a dump trailer (big lawn cart)all with my dads old Sears 8hp LT/8E Deluxe lawn tractor.And it had plenty of power with that old B&S 8hp
 
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For years I used a 11hp Snapper with 33" deck and a 8hp on 30" deck. The 8hp was sufficient with the 30 but the 33 was a dog with the 11. Eventually the 11 got replaced with the 12 almost unstoppable. Our 8hp Snapper got replace with a 12 and that's beyond unstoppable. Same thing with my current push mower it has a 6.5hp.. compared to the 3.5hp I had growing up. I wouldn't go back on any of them. I always hated having to slow down so the engine could play catch up.
 
 Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
For years I used a 11hp Snapper with 33" deck and a 8hp on 30" deck. The 8hp was sufficient with the 30 but the 33 was a dog with the 11. Eventually the 11 got replaced with the 12 almost unstoppable. Our 8hp Snapper got replace with a 12 and that's beyond unstoppable. Same thing with my current push mower it has a 6.5hp.. compared to the 3.5hp I had growing up. I wouldn't go back on any of them. I always hated having to slow down so the engine could play catch up.
Yeah I can understand that with those old 3.5hp push mowers,they were underpowered.I just dont understand all the 18,19,20 horse stuff going in the riders.
 
All depends on the deck size. My grandpa also has a 42" Snapper with a 16hp. Very adequate for the deck size. Not for sure if they have them in 50's or more but I can see a 18 or 20hp. Now a 18hp with a 30 or 32 that's a bit much.
 
 Originally Posted By: steve20
right on both accounts: tried the 4 cyl Restore-----> did absolutely nothing to lower oil cinsumption. Once a year the oil gets changed with straight 30-all of the top-off oils are left over 5-30 from automobile oil changes. I pour the used oil from the car into quart bottles and let em sit for 6 months or so. It's mostly reused synthetic from the little used Corvettes, so it is still good stuff. Spark Plug has to be removed and cleaned about every 4 hours of use,otherwise the deposits will bridge the gap.
Why bother changing the oil once a year when you are really changing it every 4 hours or less anyway by topping off at a 16 OZ per hour rate?
 
change is once a year because I'll catch a sale once and a while on 30 wt- like the one at Sears a few months ago- 1.50 per quart, so what the he? I believe it is a 28" deck. Got the mower in 1996 from a friend whose Dad had Alzheimers-so yes, the previous owner had ALZ--any guesses on previous oil change intervals--bad joke Steve
 
 Originally Posted By: steve20
change is once a year because I'll catch a sale once and a while on 30 wt- like the one at Sears a few months ago- 1.50 per quart, so what the he? I believe it is a 28" deck. Got the mower in 1996 from a friend whose Dad had Alzheimers-so yes, the previous owner had ALZ--any guesses on previous oil change intervals--bad joke Steve
Hopefully things work out, is it easy too get parts for that Snapper.
 
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