Question for the Mechanics

[Stepho_62]

Guys n Girls

I recently brought a Murray lawn Tractor and its got a 15.5 HP Briggs n Stratton single pot 4 stroke in it.

Now I'm not paying the stealer to service it but was wondering if someone can give me some general guidelines re service fequency, filter equivilents and SAE rating of a good oil to run in it.

I've just purchased an engine hours meter and will fit it over the weekend and its probably done 10 hours so time for its "run in" oil change.

Is 20 hour service intervals ok or more????

Cheers,

[incisor]

really depends on how hard it works as to how often you service it...

usually sae 30 engine oil

a 20hr schedule should be fine as they used to do a 50hr schedule at a couple of the places i worked at in years gone by.

air filters are the biggest thing service wise, clean air = longer engine life.

[discowhite]

all our small petrol engines at work are serviced monthly or at 100hrs. just depends on the type of use it gets. ide clean the air filter every 2nd or 3rd use.
you should have got an engine maintance manuall with it (if it was new) if not have a look at the B&S website for the info you require.
all our B&S motors use the B&S filters, now knowing my company IF there was a cheaper alternative we would be using it! so ide hazard a guess and say the ther may not be any equilavant filters.

cheers phil

[Blknight.aus]

I'll back incisor on this but I generally use a 15-40 grade oil in them change the oil at 50ish hours (which is about once a year for most mowers) and the airfilter gets inspected after each run and cleaned/replaced as needed every 10 hours or so at the 10 hour mark is also when i check the blades and if fitted drivebelts/shafts/box seals. Sparkplug gets cleaned/replaced at 50hrs.

[rovercare]

I'll back incisor on this but I generally use a 15-40 grade oil in them change the oil at 50ish hours (which is about once a year for most mowers) and the airfilter gets inspected after each run and cleaned/replaced as needed every 10 hours or so at the 10 hour mark is also when i check the blades and if fitted drivebelts/shafts/box seals. Sparkplug gets cleaned/replaced at 50hrs.

50hrs a year:eek:must be a big ****ing lawn:p

[Blknight.aus]

average it out to about an hour for the front yard and same for the back so thats 2 hours a fornight 26 fortnights a year = 52 hrs per year.... {sarcasm}Crud Im not servicing it on the correct service intervals its gunna throw a rod on me cause the oils gotten overused and the big end bearings gunna seize{/sarcasm}

Truth be told since Ive been up here I havent mown properly as the grass dont grow without watering or rain... but I do have to do it..

[rovercare]

average it out to about an hour for the front yard and same for the back so thats 2 hours a fornight 26 fortnights a year = 52 hrs per year.... {sarcasm}Crud Im not servicing it on the correct service intervals its gunna throw a rod on me cause the oils gotten overused and the big end bearings gunna seize{/sarcasm}

Truth be told since Ive been up here I havent mown properly as the grass dont grow without watering or rain... but I do have to do it..

1/4 acre takes roughly half an hour, **** all in winter and once a week in summer, like I said, ****ing big lawn, or pedantic lawn mowerer person:D

[Blknight.aus]

or lots lof obstacles to mow around..

and the beer in one hand mower in the other thing just aint conducive to effecient mowing speeds.... especially when it comes time to removing the catcher.

[Stepho_62]

Dave, Dave Phil and RC

Thanks for the info, Ill fit the meter this morning and do one oil change run it for the day and change it again along with the filter.

Then settle back into a 20 Hour routine of oil and filter simultaneously.

Its gonna get used as a tractor a bit as well as I brought a flat paked chinese trailer for it the other day ($180) and assembled it over a couple of beers last friday night.:eek:

Trailer is about 1000 x 600 x 300 and tips so very handy for running stuff round my acre (4030Sq M) block.:D

[JohnE]

Stevo,
This is from the ride on specialists that I go to. I Don't pay them just ask lots of questions.( they got my money when i bought it)
Even though mines a rover rancher the common motor is a briggs and stratton.
The oil you use in a B&S motor 30w is red as a general guide when it starts to go dark, change it.

You should have an engine manual, the one I have is for a 12 hp, they are simple motors to service, remember to turn the fuel tap off after you use, it, the B&S motors are renowned for having the carby float stick, the result is the sump fills with fuel.
In case you forget, to turn it off, just check the oil level each time before you start it.
Plus the usual check the belts,and lubricate cogs, and the deck lifter.

Now onto the chinese red devil tipping trailer, bought one for the missus, great ladys trailer.
if your half handy, you need to strengthen the rail when the latch is, its thin U channel and when you move on undulating ground and its a bit bumby the rail flexes and the latch comes undone, and the trailer tips.
Or as I have done a thick cable tie on the latch( can go and take a photo for a how to if you like)
Ok if you have rubbish in it, but when you have 3x 50kg tubs full of coffee cherry in it when it tips, you swear a lot.

john

[JohnE]

Nm'S
a round bale of silage is up to $88 down here, almost double last years rates. Haven;t checked the bale prices but they would be the same.


back to stevos trailer, had to take a photo or too of how to stop the bugger tipping,
big cable tie


http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w248/JohnE_1/HomePhotos270.jpg


this trailer is 3 years old see the thickness of the rail.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w248/JohnE_1/HomePhotos271.jpg


john

[rovercare]

or lots lof obstacles to mow around..

and the beer in one hand mower in the other thing just aint conducive to effecient mowing speeds.... especially when it comes time to removing the catcher.

Yea, grass catcher would make it last, thats why you dont use one:D

[mcrover]

I work on them every day this B&S crap lol.

I prefer my bigger mowers but I do have 1 ride on and plenty of other small engined equipment.

10w 30 oil is what you want to use and 50hr intervals.

Keep everything lubed and filter clean, Baldwins will have a cross reference, if you can PM me with the B&S number I can look it up on monday.

Is it a the presure fed crank or splash fed, the presure fed will also have an oil filter and you can get them from Baldwins aswell.

The only other filter is the fuel filter.

For storage between cuts, turn the fuel tap off and then run it out of fuel.

This drops the float and lifts the needle off the seat so when you go to start it the needle isnt stuck to the seat and you dont get sludge buildup in the fuel bowl.

As everyone else has said, keep the air cleaner clean and keep the pre filter lightly oiled.

As far as belts go, a company called BSC who own the aussie desributor ship for special belts that are specifically designed for use on rideons and the like.

I cant think of the brand off hand but they are built differently and out of stuff like Kevlar and stuff like that.

There is an outlet near me in Dandenong and I could probably find out if there is a stockist in Tassie.

[LandyAndy]

Hi Stevo
Visit the US B/S website,all the info you need
Andrew

[Stepho_62]

:D Well

Guys, n Girls. Thanks for all your advice.

I started the day by warming the ol B & S up and then draining the sump. ****, No one warned me that the friggin oil was going to go everywhere xcept in the catch bowel eh! (Sounding like a true Queenslander now ):D

Put 1300 ml of the nice new sae 30 Mrs brought from the stealer in the sump then drove to around for a few hours carting stuff every where.

The other thing I noticed was the "run in oil" was absolutley loaded with metal particles. Now I'm a tool maker by trade n this smaks of something stuck together in china with poor quality steels, appaling tollerances and crap assembly methods and FA QC.:( However i might be completely rong.:p

Sorted a way to jack it on its side to drain the sump for the second time and fitted a new filter. Who was the ****in tosser that designed an engine with a tapered steel plug in an aluminium casting?????? ******* :wasntme:

mcrover, I'll pm u the number of the filter,ts on the side of the box. I'll buy a couple and leave them on the shelf. One question, SAE 30 strikes me as being a bit thin for an aircoooled engine 10 degrees south of the equator. What do u think?

John, Cool. Same trailer. Damn handy gadget. I'll cut out n bend up a couple of twist locks for the tailgate shortly. The drawbar assembly I'll probably completely replace with a peice of 75 x 50 RHS with a coupling on it. Still rekon its the best $180 I've spent for a while.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Cheers,

[Blknight.aus]

a heap of small fine particals in the inital run in oil is fairly normal thats why you do the initial run in...

on the note of oil changes, next oil change you might want to look into fitting a ballcock valve to the drain and then capping the end when it comes time to drain it again, remove the cap, attach hose and drain oil, Easy neat and clean.

If you dont like that Idea I have a GJ kit of magnet insert plugs and if you get me the size of the one in yourse If i have that size left I'll send you one. (its an old well ratted kit so theres no landrover size plugs left just really small and freaking huge)

[mcrover]

:D Well

Guys, n Girls. Thanks for all your advice.

I started the day by warming the ol B & S up and then draining the sump. ****, No one warned me that the friggin oil was going to go everywhere xcept in the catch bowel eh! (Sounding like a true Queenslander now ):D

Put 1300 ml of the nice new sae 30 Mrs brought from the stealer in the sump then drove to around for a few hours carting stuff every where.

The other thing I noticed was the "run in oil" was absolutley loaded with metal particles. Now I'm a tool maker by trade n this smaks of something stuck together in china with poor quality steels, appaling tollerances and crap assembly methods and FA QC.:( However i might be completely rong.:p

Sorted a way to jack it on its side to drain the sump for the second time and fitted a new filter. Who was the ****in tosser that designed an engine with a tapered steel plug in an aluminium casting?????? ******* :wasntme:

mcrover, I'll pm u the number of the filter,ts on the side of the box. I'll buy a couple and leave them on the shelf. One question, SAE 30 strikes me as being a bit thin for an aircoooled engine 10 degrees south of the equator. What do u think?

John, Cool. Same trailer. Damn handy gadget. I'll cut out n bend up a couple of twist locks for the tailgate shortly. The drawbar assembly I'll probably completely replace with a peice of 75 x 50 RHS with a coupling on it. Still rekon its the best $180 I've spent for a while.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Cheers,

Deffinatly not unusual for the run in oil to have metal in it, I have been told by manufacturers that it is from wearing in parts as well as the oil carrying out machined metals that have got into places they cant clean out properly.

In your operators manual there should be a chart of what oils for what temperatures, if not I could look it up in my library at work as long as you have the model number of the engine it shouldnt be a problem.

Screw a barbed fitting into the sump port and then another at the end of a short hose and then cap it off.

This is used on a lot of earth moving equipment (CAT, Vermeer and Bobcat) and Ive used it on some machines.

The thread should be on an angle to allow for drainage but it can be a pain when they are bolted down to a plate.

Sometimes there is another pulg underneith that goes straight up into the sump, normally in the later B&S they ate 12mm allen key grubscrew as the plug.