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So I've had this lawn mower for years and never changed the oil. I figure I should because the level is pretty low. It's just a smal Kawasaki 6.5hp engine self-propelled.
I feel like an idiot, but what kind of oil does a lawn mower take? Is there just a universal thing for lawn mower engines? With a car there's all different types, kind of the same with outboard engines on boats (but less options).
It's a Kawasaki 6.5 hp Yardman. Can I just go the the local Home Depot and they'll give me the right oil?
I imagine I've gotta empty the old oil before adding the new oil too? That'll be a pain in the butt
Last edited by PeteyDangerous; 04/20/12 09:22 AM.
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there's a few different types of oil.
best bet is to find the owners manual (online if you don't have it) and it'll state it specifically. also, it'll give you all the steps of how to change the oil.
you can dispose of the oil usually at any Jiffey Lube or Walmart (that has an oil change station).
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Typically those push mowers use 2-cycle engine oil, which you can get at any Walmart or hardware store.
To drain it, just lay down some newspaper with a bucket or pan on it, remove the spark plug wire from the plug, open the filler, and tip the mower til it drains.
Last edited by FloridaFan; 04/20/12 09:54 AM.
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Quote:
To drain it, just lay down some newspaper with a bucket or pan on it, remove the spark plug wire from the plug, open the filler, and tip the mower til it drains.
Thanks, the guy at the hardware place said it was probably 4 cycle. Of course I went to Home Depot, so who knows. The manual is confusing too
But yeah, they just said it's 4 cycle (the manufactureer on the phone)
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I feel like an idiot, but what kind of oil does a lawn mower take?
Canola.
yebat' Putin
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Quote:
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I feel like an idiot, but what kind of oil does a lawn mower take?
Canola.
Shoot ... need to drain the whale oil out now. 
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I thought it was olive oil ..... but I ran out so I just shoved a bunch of olives into the oil reservoir.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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It does get confusing though .... my mower takes 2 cycle oil. My snow thrower takes 10w-30. My rototiller takes an oil/gas mix. 
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I thought it was olive oil ..... but I ran out so I just shoved a bunch of olives into the oil reservoir.
well that was silly, everyone knows that you just have to mow over an olive garden.
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They need oil? 
<><
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I heard if you put a tablespoon of sand in the oil, it helps to clean the buildup off the cylinder walls and valves.  Note: this is a joke, DO NOT try this.
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I heard if you put a tablespoon of sand in the oil, it helps to clean the buildup off the cylinder walls and valves.
Note: this is a joke, DO NOT try this.
It really depends on the engine. The only way to be sure is to look in the manual. Even 2 stroke engines may need different mixtures of gas/oil depending on the manufacturer. I have a 4 stroke mower and snow blower made by Cub Cadet. They both take different oil. The snow blower takes a thinner oil because is only used in the colder winter months. I have a 2 stroke weed eater and leaf blower. One takes 40 to 1 mix, the other is 50 to 1. I give them both 50:1 and they seem to run fine.
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It does get confusing though .... my mower takes 2 cycle oil. My snow thrower takes 10w-30. My rototiller takes an oil/gas mix.
I know. I'm not that mechanical or anything, and I usually just refer to manuals with my car/outboard motor. But I don't have the manual and it didn't say on the mower.
But now I do know. 4 cycle. If the oil and gas tank are separated it's 4, if you put oil in the gas it's 2.
Just those important life lessons 
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Use the drain plug to drain the oil. Can't find it - look at the engine block. Often times it's a square headed bolt. On my J.D. push - I have to tip the mower deck up, as the drain plug is mounted there.
It's never a bad idea, after the old oil is drained - to dump a little clean oil in the filler and let it drain out as well. That helps to remove more sediment.
Put the drain plug back in, fill it up with oil to the proper level, and you're good to go.
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Quote:
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It does get confusing though .... my mower takes 2 cycle oil. My snow thrower takes 10w-30. My rototiller takes an oil/gas mix.
I know. I'm not that mechanical or anything, and I usually just refer to manuals with my car/outboard motor. But I don't have the manual and it didn't say on the mower.
But now I do know. 4 cycle. If the oil and gas tank are separated it's 4, if you put oil in the gas it's 2.
Just those important life lessons
Well, not always the case. You can have a 2 cycle engine with an oil injector. Which means the oil and gas do get mixed, but by the engine, not by you. Dount you have that though.
Oil is oil in a lawnmower. Buy the cheapest crap you can get
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I feel like an idiot, but what kind of oil does a lawn mower take?
Most mowers take straight 30 wt oil.
Should be some way to confirm it..
Did some checking and found conflicting info...one site said 10-30 wt oil, another site said 30 wt oil.
Also, some Kawasaki mower engines have an oil filter which should be changed when you change your oil.
Best thing to do is go back to the place you bought the mower and see if they can get you an owner's manual.
Until you get an owner's manual, you can add sufficient oil and mow.
Knowing the model number of the mower (Yardman) and Model number of the engine (Kawasaki) is the best way to be sure you are getting the right information/manual.
Hope that helps..
Last edited by mac; 04/20/12 02:42 PM.
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actually you can probably get it online too. http://www.mtdproducts.com/webapp/wcs/st...0&langId=-1I get .pdf copies of all my manuals when I can, that way I have a good readable copy, and they are easy to find.
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We put the owners manuals for all of our purchases into three-ring binders. Keep the stuff that stays (large appliances, etc) separate from the stuff that goes with you if you move (electronics, small appliances, lawn care products, etc). It's handy having all of that information in one place and easily accessible. I do the PDF thing frequently too.
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florida...I saw that website...no doubt it might be a good option for PeteyDangerous to get an owner's manual.
He will need the information (serial # and model #) from the mower and the engine to be sure he's getting the correct manual. While checking for info..it looks like Yardman used various types of engines for their mowers..make sure you get a Kawasaki manual and not a manual for one of the other engines they use on their self propelled mowers.
All of my mower manuals hang in the shop above my work bench for easy access.
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No 2 cycle, mix oil.....just add whatever oil you put in your car.
Oil is overrated.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn. GM Strong ![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/small-gator-chomp.gif)
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I heard if you put a tablespoon of sand in the oil, it helps to clean the buildup off the cylinder walls and valves.
Note: this is a joke, DO NOT try this.
Don't forget to add a little sugar to the gas tank to keep the Johnson rod moving freely. 
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
- John Muir
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Quote:
Quote:
I heard if you put a tablespoon of sand in the oil, it helps to clean the buildup off the cylinder walls and valves.
Note: this is a joke, DO NOT try this.
Don't forget to add a little sugar to the gas tank to keep the Johnson rod moving freely.
Again ..... a joke ...... do NOT do this ..........
My mower takes regular oil ...... I don't know why I had it down the other way ........ I'll blame it on the meds. lol
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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No 2 cycle, mix oil.....just add whatever oil you put in your car.
Oil is overrated.
Forget all that, just buy a battery operated mower. Easy start, quiet and no gas or oil mess with.
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Especially good if this is a FIRST oil change to do the filter and a bit extra new stuff to get out gunk. Probably need to budget for another quart for the next ten years or so. Of course, it can still run a bit longer. Good luck! 
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Oil is overrated.
Maybe so. My grandpap swears to run straight gasoline through a 2 cycle engine once every 8 tanks or so. Said it cleans the buildup out of the engine. He has a chainsaw and weed eater that are over 25 years old and run like new...
Same man also runs nothing but SAE 30w in his vehicles. We took apart an old chevy 350 to rebuild it years ago. The inside was pristine on the thing, and it had almost 300000 miles on it. Still running to this day. He painted quite a few refineries in the 60s/70s. The refinery workers all told him to run straight 30 weight, and he has since.
Might be onto something there peen.
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I agree with you and Peen. All the different crap they put on oil bottles now a days is just a big scam to sell more oil products to consumers.
Straight Castrol 30 wt is all anyone really needs.
KING
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I thought it was olive oil ..... but I ran out so I just shoved a bunch of olives into the oil reservoir.
if you touch olive oil, Popeye is gonna eat his spinach kick some ytown butt..
Happy birthday by the way...
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Quote:
I agree with you and Peen. All the different crap they put on oil bottles now a days is just a big scam to sell more oil products to consumers.
Straight Castrol 30 wt is all anyone really needs.
KING
It is a scam, as is changing your oil every 3000 miles. What a joke that is. Put in a quality oil and a quality filter and you can go 7000 miles.
People waste way to much money changing friggen oil. My granddad never changed the oil in his truck. He'd just keep a new filter on the thing and keep the oil level right....he drove that truck for decades.
If i had a top mounter filter I could change without dropping oil, I'd do that.
There is a reason the filter is usually under the car and not on top of the engine....they don't want people to figure out changing oil isn't all that important. Keeping it full and filtered is what matters.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn. GM Strong
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When we bought our Honda new they recomended 7500 mile oil changes, 3500 if we lived on a dirt road or something like that.
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Quote:
Quote:
I agree with you and Peen. All the different crap they put on oil bottles now a days is just a big scam to sell more oil products to consumers.
Straight Castrol 30 wt is all anyone really needs.
KING
It is a scam, as is changing your oil every 3000 miles. What a joke that is. Put in a quality oil and a quality filter and you can go 7000 miles.
People waste way to much money changing friggen oil. My granddad never changed the oil in his truck. He'd just keep a new filter on the thing and keep the oil level right....he drove that truck for decades.
If i had a top mounter filter I could change without dropping oil, I'd do that.
There is a reason the filter is usually under the car and not on top of the engine....they don't want people to figure out changing oil isn't all that important. Keeping it full and filtered is what matters.
Consumer Reports agrees with you. They did a study some years ago with NYC taxi cabs, some they changed every 3000, some 7000 and some 10,000. They concluded there was really no difference in the 3 and 7K cabs and recommended the average joe change every 7K miles. I've always goes with that strategy and while it's saved me money over the years, I've not noticed it's hurt me to any degree.
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Scheduled maintenance on my Jetta is every 10K.
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I change the oil in my Dakota about once a year. I only drive about 3000 miles/year now, so there really is no sense doing it more often than that. Sometimes I may wait longer than that even. The manufacturer recommendation was every 3 months or 3000 miles ...... (whichever is less) which would mean that I would be changing oil every 750 or less miles. Sorry, I'm just not that stupid.
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I'm a 5k guy myself.
1) I never believed 3k was necessary, and my uncle, a former NASA engineer, didn't either.
2) 5k Is just easier to remember, I don't ned a sticker or anything written down, when I hit a 5k mark It's time.
I use synthetic oil in the Mustang, and have considered going to 10k changes, but have held off. Between the salt air and the sand that is always blowing around here, it gets pretty dirty. I have to clean my air filter every other month.
I wonder how much oil we would save if everyone went to a 5k to 7k oil change cycle. And how many more people would do regular changes if the 3k rule wasn't so standard.
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I've never had a lawn mower long enough to change or add oil. 
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