I get a kick out of the amount of hand wringing Bitoggers do on choosing motor oil for lawn mowers.
I’ve changed out my lawn mower which was 18 years old and it had nothing to do with engine wear, which by the way was pretty much non-existent. My latest mower is a Toro self propelled with a Honda GCV 160. It replaced the Craftsman self propelled equipped with a Honda GCV that was still running fine after 18 years.
This is why I changed it out.
1. A screaming deal came on on a brand new return. I knew the manager of the outdoor department at the local Home Depot and he gave it to me for half price. The original owner said he didn’t like the Personal Pace system because he felt like “ the mower took off on him” when he pressed the bar.
2. The Personal Pace push bar was way more comfortable than the hand grip on the Craftsman, and no, it doesn’t “take off”.
3. The Toro had an automatic choke that has worked flawlessly.
4. The old mower started to have minor leakage at the gasket and collected a black film. I guess I could have still given it a good cleaning.
5. The height adjustment lever was slipping and I had to wire it to keep it from dropping.
I still kept the old mower and use it on neighbours lawns and crappy areas of rough lawns.The old mower works great. The oil was was changed every year or two with whatever xw30 or 30 grade conventional “ lawnmower oil” I had laying around. Sometimes it was synthetic and sometimes not. Still does not burn oil. Here is a shot of the tag on the old mower.
Why did YOU buy a new mower?
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