I just saw one of these mowers at the Lowe's tonight. I, uhh, think this sounds as smart as a Mercedes "lifetime fill."
https://www.briggsandstratton.com/na/en_us/campaigns/just-check-and-add.html
Whatcha say; is it a good idea for a company in the business of selling new engines? Or, am I just too cynical?
I always check and add oil in my old Honda all the time! I guess they just neglected to advertise that fact! 
My gut instinct is that they realize the engine will at least make it through the warranty, so why not advertise this new "feature"?
And for the record my Honda mower is over 20 years old and burns oil faster than my van engine leaks it. I bet the oil in the engine currently is like new, since it was all added in the last month!
How many hours are you really going to put on that engine before the deck rots through?
No oil changes sound as good as "lubed for life" suspension parts.....only vastly more expensive
Drain plugs seem to have disappeared a while back- you have to roll my Honda- engined push mower over to drain the oil. My sister's new Corolla apparently has 15K oil change intervals. Why not?
i would imagine most of the people that read that didnt know they should have been changing the oil in their mowers all along.
If Li-on powered mowers are even close to as good the Li-on powered trimmer that I bought this spring, I'll never even consider another gas mower.
HappyAndy wrote: If Li-on powered mowers are even close to as good the Li-on powered trimmer that I bought this spring, I'll never even consider another gas mower.
That's what I have right now. It's the "40v MAX" unit from Kobalt that can take two batteries.
Like electric cars, there is some battery life management required if you have anything besides a reasonably small yard. I have a 5Ah, 4Ah and 2Ah battery. I can usually get my whole yard done with around 6-7Ah. I've had others use 9Ah on my front yard alone. My strategy minimizes time running when I'm not actually cutting grass, and minimizes turns. It's not stressful hypermiling, just a more efficient way of proceeding.
It's quiet, light and powerful, but if you have any question about battery life, buy your mower from somewhere with easy returns.
What? You have to check the oil on that one? ha! My 10 year old Toro hasn't had its oil checked, added, or changed ever!
I did have the guy at the local mower shop scold me once when I brought a mower in for service. It needed the carb cleaned out and the fuel line replaced due to something clogging it. Total cost was something like $75. He told me that if I had been bringing it in every spring for a "tune up" service, it wouldn't have cost me $75. When he told me that their service was $50, he didn't appreciate me doing the math on 5 years of mower ownership and saying that by waiting until something broke, I saved myself $175.
I've NEVER had a mower engine wear out before the rest of the mower does. About three mowers ago I started filling them with good full synthetic and checking the level once a year. Granted, my yard is very hard on mowers, so your mileage may vary. I get about five years out of them before the deck or something significant in the self propelled system dies.
Twenty years ago I was newly married and very poor, needing to mow the lawn on our rental house I noticed there was an old mower in the crawl space. It had been parked there 5 years earlier by the landlord when the muffler rusted off. So it was nearly 20 years old and had been submerged in flood water at least 3 times.
I dragged it out, a tiny 3.5 hp Briggs on 4" wheels, and replaced the plug, muffler, and gas. But NOT the oil. Little fella started on the third pull and mowed the lawn for two more years until I hit something hard enough to bend the shaft. Never once did I change (or even check) the oil.
I'm about due to change the worn-out wheels on my Lawn Boy. I was thinking I need to buy replacements and install grease fittings in them...
The Ag Engineering school at Mizzou has a club that does an annual Mower Clinic to raise funds. The change the plug and oil, check the air filter and pressure wash your mower for $35. I've done that the last four or five years.
My 29 year old Craftsman 3.5 Reserve Power mower gets the oil changed every couple of years or so, just because I feel I should. I treat it to quality synthetic. Mid season I check the level and it might need a couple ounces.
Starts on the first pull 95% of the time. Second pull the other 5%. I have a small lawn so the hours aren't that high.
I used to lift weights with a guy who treated his f150 the exact same way.
I change the oil in my mower every spring and I consider that to be severe neglect.
I didn't think anybody other than severe CDO cases ever actually changed the oil in a push mower.
Duke wrote: I didn't think anybody other than severe CDO cases *ever* actually changed the oil in a push mower.
Dang. Guilty. Every year.
I've got a Poulan self propelled pusher with NO OIL DRAIN.
At the end of the year when the gas is out, I dump it out and replace; call me a dinosaur.
I wind up putting a used briggs on the rider every few years.
I put oil in it then, check and add throughout the season. Never actually change it again.
I treat the mower like my DD toasters: Ten years and off to the scrap-heap you go. Even if you are running, I am bored of looking at you and want a younger model.
Might not be the most economical way to live, but it is the most carefree. My local small engine guy is over $100 for mower and snowblower tune-ups. He highly recommends that they be done every year.
We had a Murray second hand push mower for 22 years. Never, ever changed the oil. We'd check it once every 5 years or so. Maybe add a bit once a decade. Got rid if it only because we inherited a second hand, self propelled Toro.
stroker wrote: The Ag Engineering school at Mizzou has a club that does an annual Mower Clinic to raise funds. The change the plug and oil, check the air filter and pressure wash your mower for $35. I've done that the last four or five years.
That's a pretty genius fundraiser for a hands-on group.
An engine builder I know and trust will give a 1,000,000 mile warranty on the engines he builds if the owner uses Mobil1 10W30 and changes the oil every 25,000 miles. Assuming a factory fill of quality synthetic, how many engine hours would equal 25,000 miles?
I change it when I can't see through it any more. That usually equals every two or three years. The last mower was only replaced because the yard got bigger. I've never worn one out.
I have never checked or changed oil in a small engine.
10 years on my weedeater lawnmower. Still starts 1st pull.
I have five mowers right now, and I've only changed the oil in my main lawn tractor once in five years of owning it (bought it used). The other I just clean or replace the carb (a whopping $17 for an entire carb on Amazon) and run it till it dies.
Mowers are a weird commodity around here. A lousy or non running mower is free, but a new or recently repaired mower is a few hundred bucks around here. I've got three free mowers in the shed right now, each only needed a cleaned carb or a new carb ($17 for a whole carb assembly on Amazon).
You'll need to log in to post.
