Guide To Changing Your Mower Oil

To keep your lawn mower running smoothly and efficiently, it's important that you change the oil every 20 to 50 hours of operation. It's a relatively simple maintenance task that you could tackle yourself.

Here's how to do it.

What you will need

  • socket spanners
  • spark plug spanner
  • shallow container in which to collect the old oil
  • cloths
  • old newspaper to protect the floor
  • oil (check your owner's manual for the required grade required)
  • gloves

How to do it

Choose a well-ventilated area for this job with a level, flat surface on which to place the mower.

  1. Start by putting old newspaper down to protect the work area.  
  2. Run the mower for five minutes or so to warm up the oil and make it less viscous and easier to drain.  
  3. Before you continue, put on a pair of disposable gloves to keep your hands free from oil or petrol.  
  4. Drain any petrol from the petrol tank into a petrol can.  
  5. Using the appropriate spanner, remove the spark plug lead and take the plug out of the engine. This will prevent any risk of the mower starting up accidentally while you are working on it.  
  6. Place the mower onto its side with the carburetor uppermost so that oil doesn't leak into the breather.  
  7. Remove the oil drain plug from the underside of the sump and allow the oil to run out into the container. You may find that you need to tilt the mower slightly until all the oil is out.  
  8. Right the mower when the oil has finished draining. Use an old cloth to wipe around the underside of the deck so that it doesn't start to smoke when the mower is started up.  
  9. Replace the oil drain plug in the sump and tighten it up.  
  10. Now you can refill the mower with oil. Check the owner's manual to make sure that you don't overfill it.  
  11. Replace the spark plug and reconnect it.  
  12. Finally, refill the mower with petrol. Start the mower and allow it to run for five minutes to make sure there are no leaks.

Changing the oil in your lawn mower regularly is important to make sure that it continues to run smoothly and economically. You can do the job yourself by following the instructions given above. If you're not confident in carrying out the task, take your mower to a reputable lawn mower service engineer like Yarra Valley Ag at least once during the summer season when the machine is in regular use.


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