maintenance on mowers

[mike lane lawn care]

i know that i am supposed to change the oil every 50 hours onm my machine, but for the bigger companies you must have to change your oil like once a week. my question is, if you are using it regularly, can it go longer between changes? is the 50 hrs. only for those who only cut their own lawn every week?

[oldrustycars]

if you dont want to change your oil, then dont. you'll save the 2 bucks for the quart of oil. but if you want to make your equipment last along time, then maintain it by the book. im assuming you're making a living with your equipment? do you want to drop 1000-1500 on a new engine because you didnt want to change the oil? just get a Tinytach, watch the hourmeter on it, and service it at the maunufacturers intervals.
for what its worth, my neighbor has a lawn service. he maintains his stuff religously. EVERY mower has 3 sets of blades....one set on it, 2 extra sets. they get changed every week. he sharpens them on a pro blade sharpener. he changes oil at 50 hours...or if he has downtime, and its 46 hours, he changes it. takes care of his trucks and trailers like this too. he hasnt had a failure in years. been running one scag he bought used for 6 years now....never had a failure. ask him how much oil costs. oil and grease are cheap. if you want to save money, dont put chrome on your truck, or dont eat at burger king every day.

[Restrorob]

I agree with oldrusty, Maintenance is the key to longer lasting equipment and less down-time. If you don't have a hour meter the Tiny Tach has the most bang for the buck; http://www.tinytach.com/tinytach/gasoline.php

[lawnmaniac883]

50 hours? Kawi suggests every 100 hours...

[Restrorob]

50 hours? Kawi suggests every 100 hours...


Your correct, But read your vehicle owners manual. I seen 7,500 miles per oil change. Would you wait that long ? I sure as hell don't. It all depends on how well you want to take care of your equipment, As oldrusty said oil and grease is cheap to major repairs.

[MowerMedic77]

The more frequent you change your oil the better, most engines running commercially are air cooled and use less then 2qrts of oil running 3600rpms for an average 5-6hrs a day sometimes 6 days a week..:eek: You can do the math and quickly see why it is so important to change it.

[oldrustycars]

"mr. smith, the reason your engine failed is because you changed your oil too often". thats something you'll never hear.

[lawnspecialties]

I've always changed my Kawasaki's with Mobil1 every 100 hours and they've always run flawlessly on the inside.

Hey, does anyone know of aftermarket filters (Fram, etc.) that match up to the Kawasaki's?

[JJ Lawn]

Kind of like having insurance......... oil is cheap compared to replacing an engine.

You do have insurance??

[lawnmaniac883]

I've always changed my Kawasaki's with Mobil1 every 100 hours and they've always run flawlessly on the inside.

Hey, does anyone know of aftermarket filters (Fram, etc.) that match up to the Kawasaki's?


Im running Frams now, may not be the best filter but the oregon garbage from my dealer wasnt the best either.

Also change my oil every 50 hours.

[Lawn Masters]

I have to agree. when compared, cost of oil and grease vs cost of new motor due to premature failure from lack of maintainence, its cheaper to just change the oil when you're supposed to, and grease it regularly. I've got an obsessive compulsive thing about that myself, I cant run a motor and just let it be neglected.

[lawnspecialties]

I'm running the Kawasaki's but my dealer is out of the way compared to the local Advance Auto store. Anyone know the part numbers to their aftermarket filters?

[oldrustycars]

get the Kawasaki part number. then look at the Wix, Baldwin or Fram website and see if it'll cross. Wix makes filters for napa, so if wix has it, so does napa.

[lawnspecialties]

get the Kawasaki part number. then look at the Wix, Baldwin or Fram website and see if it'll cross. Wix makes filters for napa, so if wix has it, so does napa.

Thanks pal:)

[ed2hess]

Im running Frams now, may not be the best filter but the oregon garbage from my dealer wasnt the best either.

Also change my oil every 50 hours.
I put a Proline on Kaw today and noticed that the size of holes in the ring were much smaller than the original filter....think I go see what Napa has or go get Kaw filters.

[all ferris]

NAPA part number 1394 is a napa gold filter and it's all I use on my KAW's.

[rklawnmowing]

i have 140hrs on my tiger cub with the 48/19 combo and my air filter is looking as clean as the day i bought it, and its still the same filter too, i did notice that you have to replace the fuel filter every 60-75hrs which is fine with me its a 5 dollar part. oh and every changes their oil every 50hrs? i thought it was every 30hrs. i just looked in the manual and it says ever 100hrs or bi-weekly

[ed2150]

Most Kawasaki engines use the 49065-2078 oil filter, and this changes to a Fram PH4967 filter. Most stores that carry Fram keep them.

[DLCS]

Why not use the Kawasaki filters? You are only saving a couple bucks by using Fram or Napa. Not all filters are the same on the inside.

[Audrey]

I've got a good friend who's an auto mechanic. He took the time to cut apart a few different filters. I saw the results firsthand. Fram and those cheapie Quaker State ones were the worst. What they do is skimp on the paper inside the filter. Less paper = less filtration. Wix (Napa & Car Quest) turned out to be the best all the way around in a few areas. On some of the better grade filters, Wix uses a ball check. What this does is keep the filter full of oil when the engine is off.

During the first few seconds on a cold start is a bad time for wear and tear on bearings and such. The ball check insures that as soon as the engine fires, it has oil going where it needs to be because it didn't drain back from the filter. Something like filling the new filter before installing it during an oil change.

I crossed my Kohler 23hp to a Wix/Car Quest. 85348 is the number. I believe 5348 with another number in front of the 5 will be the Napa number. I don't happen to have it handy though, sorry.

I also crossed my Honda engine/Porter Cable generator as well.

$10 for a regular filter from the dealer, or $4 for a top of the line from Wix/Napa. ;)

A

[topsites]

i know that i am supposed to change the oil every 50 hours onm my machine, but for the bigger companies you must have to change your oil like once a week. my question is, if you are using it regularly, can it go longer between changes? is the 50 hrs. only for those who only cut their own lawn every week?

I can not tell you what to do but I've changed oil in my cars for 20-some years, and now in my equipment. What I mean is, I know what oil looks like after 3 thousand miles in a car, and if my mower's oil is not at least that dirty, then I don't change it.

Today I also use at least a synthetic blend and in a few years will be switching to full synthetic, none of my stuff runs on standard oil and this makes a difference as well. They say if you've been running some type of synth that you can drain the oil from a motor and continue to run it WOT for several hours without damage, but it is not recommended. Either way, I know full synthetic when it first gets to the point where it needs changing, is still at least as good as completely fresh standard motor oil.

I have two mowers and I run them interchangeably, both machines get hours put on them and I run solo so I cut between 500 - 800 yards / year.

That having been said, I change oil and filter on my mowers once / year, in the spring. Should the oil ever get so dirty that it needs changing in-season, I would do that but so far this has not been the case, it hardly turns color.

[topsites]

For the 15hp Kohler, the Advance Auto parts filter that I run is AA3614

Sorry, don't know for Kawasaki.

[topsites]

i have 140hrs on my tiger cub with the 48/19 combo and my air filter is looking as clean as the day i bought it, and its still the same filter too, i did notice that you have to replace the fuel filter every 60-75hrs which is fine with me its a 5 dollar part. oh and every changes their oil every 50hrs? i thought it was every 30hrs. i just looked in the manual and it says ever 100hrs or bi-weekly

Order premium fuel filters in quantities of 30+ from J.Thomas and they run $1.03 each.
15hp Kohler air filters from J.Thomas, $6.50 each... Order 12+, $4.83 each.

Order over $350 in stuff from J.Thomas and the shipping is free.

You really need to get their catalog and go through it almost page by page, not everything is cheaper than the dealer but I did find enough to make up a large enough order to get free shipping, soon as I get the money together.

http://www.j-thomas.com/

[pondfishr]

My Dixie Chopper manual recommends that I use Lucus Oil 15W-40. How does this stack up against the synthetic types?

[lawnmaniac883]

Lucas is severely overrated IMO.

[boxsky]

Check out Walmart Supertech filters. One of the best oil filters on the market by several independant tests. They are made by Mobil and are cheap too.

[mike lane lawn care]

just checked back in on this thread, thanks for the info. I am approaching my next oil change as per the hour meter, but i have about 40 hours on mine and wonder when i can use synthetic oil, as i was told to wait a bit before using it in a new mower.