Now that I think about it, it was probably before the pandemic. 🤔
Most mower engines are 2-strokes, they’re designed to burn oil as lubrication basically, it’s added to the gas. You don’t need to change the oil. Unless it’s a 4 stroke engine (unusual due to size/complexity), or you’ve got a transmission or some other motorized mechanical behavior.
I wouldnt say most are two stroke. In fact most mowers available for purchase at your local hardware store are going to be 4 stroke if not all of them. 2 stroke lawnmowers are a thing of the past. Everyone wants 4 stroke and self propelling now.
Hmmm, I guess that makes sense. It’s been a while since I’ve bought a gas mower, roughly the late 90’s/00’s hah, been using electric/battery since then.
Most mower engines are absolutely not 2 strokes… they are 99.99% 4 strokes.
Now strim trimmers are maybe 60/40 2s to 4s.
As a 2-stroke myself, I can confirm oil for lubrication is not required
If you buy an electric mower, you never have to change the oil again. Or the spark plug. Or buy gas. Or clean the carburetor.
And they’re quieter! God I wish my neighbors all had electric mowers. Sometimes it seems like they’re invited to all the zoom meetings I attend.
And when they’re being used the engine doesn’t have to spin all. the. time.
The mowers are fine, it’s the weedwackers that are the problem.
Electric weedwackers are also quieter.
Leafblowers. Fucking 2 cycle leafblowers.
Those too.
Wish they made an affordable electric zero turn that could handle mowing 7 acres of field 3-4 times a month in the summer. I need commercial grade sadly and there’s nothing in the homeowner space that comes close to my needs. The commercial ones are like 30k to compare with what I got for 6k
I expect they do need lubrication from time to time. I just bought an electric mower this year and it’s pretty low power, so I predict that any amount of additional friction in the system is going to be too much.
My next mower will probably be a lawn service
After spending several hours on Saturdays doing yardwork I didn’t enjoy doing for years on end, I finally hired a gardener. Now I get to spend that time doing yardwork I do enjoy, like making landscaping improvements, or gardening.
IDK if it’s the inner hispanic in me. But man do I love mowing lawns.
If you never mow and grow insect friendly lawns…you wont ever have to buy a mower…fuck lawns.
The HOA won’t let me have goats to keep the grass low though
The point is not having non native grass. Use local plants and let your garden be a humming bird and bee haven.
#NoLawnI did this for years. I even got into the HOA board just to keep them off my back. It was so freeing to not have to mow.
Jokes on you, I never did most of that anyway.
Also still got the gas can from pre covid.
But you will have to buy $1000 worth of batteries if you have a large yard.
While I can’t say I have a large yard. My 80v Greenworks system can do the job 90% of the time on 1 battery (I have 2). When it can’t from being lazy and not mowing as often as I should have or it was especially rainy, I can swap the batteries in moments and the battery charges within 20 or so minutes. By then I am done or using the battery from the mower in the leaf blower or weed whacker.
I would imagine if I had a larger yard I would go with a third in the event of having longer grass to cut and would have a battery charged, battery charging, and one in use.
I would not trade my yard system with a gas one for any amount of money. If i do anything it’d be to hire someone that uses electric (quieter!) to mow and edge and all that jazz. Or use a Fiskars reel mower.
Oh yea. I drive an ID.4. Suck it gas stations trolololol.
I have 1/3rd acre, takes 2 batteries to mow uninterrupted. Anything bigger than that I hope it’s not just grass, that’s a waste of space.
How much is a battery?
On the flipside if your yard is that big you can save a lot on gas.
I never changed the oil in my mower. Never had an issue, except with the power cord getting in the way.
Mine burns a little oil, so I just keep adding it. That way it gets a perpetual oil change. guytappinghead.jpg
I’ve owned a car like that. Drove that thing for years until the driver’s side door fell off and I parked it.
You parked the door?
The door parked itself, I parked the rest of it.
lol, that got me.
Ah, the ol Lemmy switcharoo
Hold my door, I’m going in!
I think most mowers are two stroke engines, which generally are designed to burn oil.
Most mowers are four stroke like automobile engines, this includes pushmowers. Modern ones even have oil filters. Generally, riding mowers have two cylinder v-twin engines and pushmowers are single cylinder.
Two stroke engines are generally found on smaller things like chainsaws and weed eaters.
You mix special oil into the gas for two strokes. They do produce more smoke, especially when first started.
Nah, most push and riding mowers are definitely 4 stroke. You’re absolutely correct that 2 strokes need to burn oil and create some visible smoke (to be properly lubricated). Only small, powered equipment (such as trimmers, blowers, and chainsaws) are still commonly made with 2 strokes. My smoking push mower was made in the mid 1980’s and is miraculously still running. It apparently has worn seals that are allowing crankcase oil into the combustion chamber.
Cool, did not know that! I have to admit I made assumptions there, figuring 2 stroke engines are probably more appropriate for smaller equipment. But I guess since you don’t have to carry a mower, a heavier engine is not a big deal, makes sense.
Good luck with your mower, no need for something else as long as it’s still working! After all, with a lot of things they really don’t make em like they used to, that old mower could serve you for a very long time.
Do you just have a cloud of smoke around you as you mow
Some mowers are designed that way. Mine advertised “no oil changes”, but really it means I have to add oil a couple times a year instead of draining it.
A true shower thought
I thought two-stroke engines mix the oil and fuel together? Every time you refuel, you should also be topping up the oil. Am I wrong?
Look at buddy over here with the 1960s lawn boy
Which PS was a damn good lawn mower
I’m not sure you can even buy a two stroke lawnmower. Snowblower, maybe.
Yes, you need to have oil mixed with the gasoline in a two stroke, because the area under the piston (where the crankshaft is) creates the vacuum on the upstroke to draw in the next fuel charge. Lubrication of the crankshaft bearings, then, must come from oil that is in the gasoline, either by premixing it, or from an oil injection system.
A four stroke, on the other hand, uses the top of the cylinder, above the piston, to draw in the next fuel charge through an intake valve, and the area underneath the piston is bathed with oil. Over time, that oil (including its additives) breaks down and loses its lubricity, and must be changed for fresh oil.
I’ve got and used them.
Making sure I’m reading this right - are two and 4 strokes oriented differently? I always thought both were above the cylinder.
Orientation isn’t terribly relevant, although it is easier to design a two stroke engine in an “odd” orientation, because it does not have to be concerned about engine oil draining back into a sump.
In the simplest kind of two stroke, the compression and intake happen at the same time. Piston goes up (toward the cylinder head), compressing the fuel in the combustion chamber, while at the same time, fuel is drawn in beneath the piston, around the crankshaft. At top dead center (ish), spark occurs. Combustion powers the piston down (power), while at the same time forcing the fuel charge from beneath the piston into the combustion chamber via a transfer port, which also directs the exhaust to exit the exhaust port.
These two strokes - one up, one down - are one complete “cycle” of the engine’s operation.
In a four stroke, starting with the intake stroke, the piston moves down and the intake valve opens via a camshaft. Intake fuel charge enters the cylinder between the piston and cylinder head. The next stroke is compression. Both intake and exhaust valves are closed as the piston goes up. When the piston is all the way up (ish) to the cylinder head, spark occurs, causing combustion. The intake and exhaust valves remain closed, and the piston moves down. That was the power stroke. The next time the piston moves up, the exhaust valve is open, and exhaust is ejected through it. Intake, compression, power, exhaust; or colloquially “suck, squeeze, bang, blow.” Those four strokes complete one “cycle” of the engine’s operation.
Each engine has a crankshaft. This is the rotating shaft on which the piston is attached with a connecting rod. On the crank end of that rod there are bearings. (Two strokes will use roller bearings while four strokes will (usually) use flat bearings.) The connecting rod attaches to the piston with a wrist pin bearing. These bearings require lubrication. Without a thin layer of oil between the metal surfaces moving against one another, friction will quickly create heat and catastrophic bearing failure. (A four stroke also needs lubrication of the valve train, contained in the cylinder head; two strokes have no valves, and so no top end lubrication is required.)
A four stroke engine accomplishes this lubrication with thick engine oil. Most commonly, this oil collects in a “wet sump” oil pan at the bottom of the engine, is picked up by an oil pump, and circulated through the engine, being directed at the parts which require it, finally draining back into the sump. (There are also “dry sump” systems, where the oil resides in an elevated oil tank.)
A two stroke engine - since the crankshaft portion is also the engine’s fuel intake - does not have an independent oiling system. Such a system would interfere with the fuel intake, so the lubrication for the crankshaft bearings has to be included in the fuel. As described previously, this can be either with an oil injection system, where oil in a separate reservoir is delivered directly into the crankcase, or by premixing thin two stroke oil into the gasoline. In either case, the two stroke oil provides lubrication to the crankshaft, and then is burned in combustion. This is why two stroke engines have tha blue exhaust plume; that’s the two stroke oil burning.
Two strokes also have incredibly good power to weight ratios, mainly because they have twice as many power strokes per engine rotation. They are also incredibly simple, what with not having camshaft and valve train. Why don’t we use two strokes all the time then?
Well, mainly because they burn oil by design. But they are also noisy, and their design makes them severly RPM limited (they’ll lose power as they’re unable to intake enough air/fuel to keep running). Where two stroke engines shine is in very small applications (weed trimmers and model airplanes) or very large applications (industrial and maritime), though the latter makes use of fuel injection as opposed to carburetion, and does use a wet/dry sump engine lubrication system.
Most lawn mowers are 4-stroke.
Never seen a two-stroke mower…
I knew some folks with a repair shop as a kid and got to use one of these.
I found a Lawn Boy in a barn a few years ago that I’m using. Two stroke from 1979. Infact those engines were also used as air cooled outboard boat motors.
I’ve seen and used them. Not for 10 years or so though.
Only for some engines. Make sure you read the manual and the cap.
Depends on the engine. Small 2 strokes usually use premix. Big ones, like on scooters or motorcycles, usually have an oil pump and an oil tank. You add oil every few thousand miles.
I got my lawnmower about 9 years ago secondhand and have never done any maintenance on it. I’m pretty sure that’s how you’re supposed to do it.
You nailed it
My neighbor had a crazy old Montgomery Ward tiller, I’d guess from the late 60 or early 70s. I borrowed it once and decided to be nice and change the oil in it since I doubted he ever had. Could not for the life of me figure out how to drain the oil without flipping it over… It’s ran for this long on old oil, it’ll run for a bit longer!
Flipping it over is often the correct way to drain the oil.
For the money you save by not doing the oil change you can probably afford a new mower every 10 years or so.
This is my strategy. I’ve never done any maintenance on any of my mowers except for sharpening the blade, and they still run for around 10 years.
How often were you changing the oil in your mower? I own an electric lawnmower now, but before that I just changed the oil once at the beginning of each mowing season.
I only changed it once with the extra can I bought with the mower but never since. I’d imagine it easily costing somewhere around 20 to 30 euros a year so that’ll pretty much cover a new mower every 10 years.
Lawnmowers only take about 16oz of oil and you can buy 5qts(160oz) for $23 here in the states. So that $23 would last 10 years of oil changes if you replace it once per season like I did.
Not sure what that would cost you in Europe. So maybe that’s where the disconnect is.
You’re supposed to replace the filter at the same time.
Most walk behind style mowers don’t have oil filters.
I haven’t pushed it anywhere near 10,000 km, so I should be good, right?
Right?
I’ve had my current mower about 14-years.
I don’t think I’ve ever changed the oil.
The mower I got from my grandpa has never had an oil change and it still works as of last week. Your mower will almost certainly be fine.
Now my pressure washer… I forgot to empty the gas from my pressure washer before storing it for several years and it became mucky glorp inside.
I would be cautious with this thought process though. Oil cools, lubricates and cleans the engine. These engines are air cooled so keep that in mind. Degraded oil can’t do the job very well.
I got an ev mower. Solved.
I also solved mine but by never changing the oil.
I had a mower I bought in 2001, took it with me for a few moves. Sometime around 2011 it started sputtering and just take running like crap. Tried to drain it, and it basically took so afternoon. But I got it drained and replaced. The filter had disintegrated.
With the electric mower, I’ve had it since 2013 or so. The battery is finally starting to show its age but it does still work well enough. Still haven’t done anything to it. Might replace the blade soon
I’ve changed the air filter on mine and I think that’s all the maintenance I will ever do
Sharpen/replace the blade. It’s cheap and easy to do, and it will cut like a brand new mower.
Also, this is a PSA that you should sharpen your shovel. Makes digging way easier.
Also, this is a PSA that you should sharpen your shovel. Makes digging way easier.
A shovel with the sides of it sharpened via angle grinder works wonders for chopping tall weeds too. Swing that mf like a baseball bat.
What do I look like, a person with a lawn mower, shovel and an angle grinder?
And my Axe
Who downvoted this?
Drain the fluids completely for Winter
Too hard! I just use it until it explodes. Still lasts about 10 years.
Genuine question as I haven’t actually thought about this, how does that work when you don’t have a winter? Where I live it doesn’t get below 40° ever, or above 85°. Those are literally the overnight low in Feb, and midday high in Aug/Sep. Do I still need to drain, or just treat it like changing the oil in my car? I.E.: Every 6 months or 3500 miles, whichever comes first.
Like u/possiblylinux127 said, any time you’re not going to use it for more than a month or two, it’s best to drain the fluids. Oil is less important than gas, and you can leave gas in it as well if you add a stabilizer to it.
Personally, I wouldn’t use gas stabilizer for more than one season, but I know many who use it every year with no problem. Just make sure you run the motor with the stabilizer for a few minutes before you store it so the gas in the carburetor doesn’t gum up.
As for oil, I tend to only change it when it looks darker than a piece of burnt toast I’d still be willing to eat. I know that’s vague, but it’s how I do it.
Ideally, you should be using nonoxygenated gas for your mower, in which case stabilizer is unnecessary. The ethanol is what gums up carbs.
I usually have to use starter fluid first time each year. I beat the shit out of it. Only changed the oil once, when I bought it second hand. I’m really waiting for it to fail to buy electric, but it’s been 3 years and and still going strong.
My grass doesn’t grow for like 5 months of the year. If you don’t have winter, you don’t need to store your mower for half the year.
If you don’t need it there is no point in having fluids in it. It might not be necessary but it is good practice
