My Dad just got a second hand mower which was leaking oil from somewhere.

Hopefully it won't anymore!

But what oil is used in these things? Can normal engine oil be used as I have 10w/40 semi-synth in my garage.

Or does it need motorcycle oil or 2 stroke stuff? :confused:

Its a mountfield mower

What make/engine is it?

Briggs & Stratton 4-strokes are happy on pretty much any engine oil you might have lying about. 2-smokes will need a 2-smoke oil for sure.

Is it an ordinary B&S (four-stroke) engine? 10W/40 semi seems a bit luxurious, normal motor oil for these is a straight SAE30, but I guess it will work.

Of course, if it is a two-stroke engine it's a totally different matter...

(and too late as usually...:P )

My B&S didn't get semi-synth, but did get 10W-40, because there happened to be some going spare from a car that was sold shortly before the mower was bought.

Anyway, that's 2 separate sources out of 2 have said the exact same thing about oil selection now.

They will run with anything in them.(dont say water :P)

my countax ride on currently has vw 505.01 spec oil in as thats all i had to hand last time i changed it.

If your wanting to buy some halfords do some special lawnmower oil

If your wanting to buy some halfords do some special lawnmower oil

It's undergoes a special process so they charge you more.

The special process is it's whatever is left over that has been sat around somewhere for ages.

...my countax ride on currently has vw 505.01 spec oil in

This is a Countax ride-on, right?

[gets coat...]

:D:D Now that's what I call a mower :thumbup:

This is a Countax ride-on, right?

[gets coat...]

That'sa funny-looking tractor!!

This is a Countax ride-on, right?

[gets coat...]

Bet the grass is well trimmed on that one too

mine got the same as my Octy on longlife as I had some spare. It was a secondhand 8/9 years ago Flymo Lawnchief no idea what the engine is. Hasn't been hardly touched and still starts first time even after the winter. I would buy another. I also use it as a shredder - anything up to an inch!

Bet the grass is well trimmed on that one too

I bet it ain't, that photo is pure 80's

I bet it ain't, that photo is pure 80's

I hadn't wanted to think about that, but true.

See the 80's really did have a taste bypass :P

my countax ride on currently has vw 505.01 spec oil in as thats all i had to hand last time i changed it.

You're supposed to change lawnmower oil??

You're supposed to change lawnmower oil??

Oh yes. I've done it twice in 17 yrs (B&S 3.5 hp)

I'm liking that ride-on

Oh yes. I've done it twice in 17 yrs (B&S 3.5 hp)

I did it about once a year, which was more or less as B&S recommended. Mostly I figured that it was getting the soot out of the engine, rather than that the oil was "worn out".

I did it about once a year, which was more or less as B&S recommended. Mostly I figured that it was getting the soot out of the engine, rather than that the oil was "worn out".

It's not that I'm particularly proud of my (lack of) maintenance and I'm more careful about our cars - fresh oil and filter every 10,000 miles (or rather 15,000 kms). But: our lawn takes about one hour to mow. Mowing season in Sweden is about 30 weeks p.a. - early April till late October. My ambition is doing it once a week, but sometimes it's raining and sometimes I just can't find the energy, so say that my mower has an annual runtime of 20 hrs. Oil change after 100 hrs can't be that bad?

Musst admit that I've never done this calculation before - I've been thinking of oil change many times

Still: mowers may rust to pieces, have carb or ignition faults or broken knife mounts, but as skudmissile I believe that a B&S engine runs with anything in it

It's not that I'm particularly proud of my (lack of) maintenance and I'm more careful about our cars - fresh oil and filter every 10,000 miles (or rather 15,000 kms). But: our lawn takes about one hour to mow. Mowing season in Sweden is about 30 weeks p.a. - early April till late October. My ambition is doing it once a week, but sometimes it's raining and sometimes I just can't find the energy, so say that my mower has an annual runtime of 20 hrs. Oil change after 100 hrs can't be that bad?

Musst admit that I've never done this calculation before - I've been thinking of oil change many times

Still: mowers may rust to pieces, have carb or ignition faults or broken knife mounts, but as skudmissile I believe that a B&S engine runs with anything in it

There is all that, but my B&S manual said every 20 hours, and with their engines being air-cooled, I realised that the oil is partly there as a coolant, not just as a lubricant.

The B&S website is a bit vague though (not to say contradictory):

"For optimum performance, you should change the oil in your small engine at least once per season, or every 25 hours of use"

"For optimum performance, you should change the oil in your small engine after the first five hours of use and then, every 50 hours of use"

Must admit that stretching it to 100 hrs is, indeed, stretching...

At one point B&S produced so many engines, they couldn't actually tell you how many they had made. I have seen so many in bits with shot cranks and scored bores due to lack of clean/any oil I can tell you that if you want it running nice then you should take care of it.

It's all supposed to be about what conditions your using it in, in this country I would say that SAE 30 is fine although if your going to be using it in colder conditions you should consider SAE 10 or some multigrade 5w30. If the unit is in domestic use you should change the oil every year.

We run 3-4 briggs and stratton four stroke engines.

Over the last 10 years I think I've done a whole oil change in each of them once. Here's the reason why.

They drink so much oil that they're effectively getting a full oil change every couple of months anyway! It's unbelievable. They are between 15 and 20 years old, so probably have worn out piston rings etc, but they manage to drink about 1/2 a sump full of oil per 2-3 hours of use....

We run 3-4 briggs and stratton four stroke engines.

Over the last 10 years I think I've done a whole oil change in each of them once. Here's the reason why.

They drink so much oil that they're effectively getting a full oil change every couple of months anyway! It's unbelievable. They are between 15 and 20 years old, so probably have worn out piston rings etc, but they manage to drink about 1/2 a sump full of oil per 2-3 hours of use....

As I've already said, one of the reasons for oil changes in these engines is to remove carbon, metallic particles etc that don't get burnt off in the combustion process. Slightly o/t, but this is also why I don't believe in variable service.