Lawn Mower Oil

[Sean Troy]

Hi all, I have a Troy Built 6.5 hp yard mower and need to tune it up. What oil/weight do you use for your mowers?

[Gary Hodgin]

I have a 6.75 hp Briggs and Stratton on my Cub Cadet and use SAE 30 weight B&S oil. This is what my manual calls for in my temp zone.

[Matt Meiser]

There's a 30w Mobil One synthetic too. Maybe not as beneficial in a mower you don't start in the cold but in something you do it's nice that it actually flows in cold temps. That's what I use in the B&S in our generator.

[David Weaver]

I use 30 wt full synthetic, usually mobil 1 is what I can find on sale.

my mower is a mulcher (honda) and that causes it to lug hard in the spring, and it probably runs hot because of that. I don't know if it ever gets hot enough for synthetic to make a difference, but if you keep the air cleaner clean, there shouldn't be much dirt in the oil. I change mine every 50 hours of service or so - more to get the dirt out of the engine than to replace the oil, because the synthetic oil itself seems to be in fairly good shape still when I change it - it's the dirt that worries me more.

It probably matters most that the oil is clean, and then secondly that it's the right viscosity. Oh, and first that the oil is there at a level where it's circulating.

I have met more than one person who runs their mower for a few years until "it dies" never changing the oil or checking it. I had a boss like that when I was in high school, whose mowers got tired after about a year of hard use. After working for him for a year, it occurred to me that maybe I should check the oil in one of the mowers that was getting tired - they were used hard in grass heavier than yard grass. There was nothing in the resivoir but a film of oil when I looked in the mower. He did what he usually did when it pooped out - drive a mile down the road to wal mart and buy whatever was on sale for about $100....

... and throw the old one in a barn with tons of other stuff that no longer runs. I wonder what happened to all of that stuff, as that was two decades ago now. I'll bet the barn is still full. Some people can't ever let go of anything.

[Sean Troy]

Thanks for the help. rainy day today. I might as well tune up the mower and sharpen the blade. I'm sure i still have a couple of mows left this year.