We Bought a House

Well it looks like we are in for another major rainstorm from another hurricane-turned-tropical-storm. If they call it “tropical storm,” can I have one of those beachy drinks with a little umbrella in it?

From Wednesday through Friday morning we could be seeing anywhere from 3 – 6″ of rain. Yes, I will have my second sump pump ready just in case…

For right now though, let me tell you a story of how I almost destroyed my push mower and how I brought it back to life!

Parts of my yard will not comfortably accommodate my normal lawn mower, so I need to use a push mower for the rest of it. It is still too much grass to solely use a weed whacker on, so I have a full arsenal of lawn equipment to maintain these large tracts of land (any Monty Python fans out there?)

When I used my mower last week, I noticed that it was beginning to make some weird noises and it would shut off in the middle of using it. I was just attributing this to the fact that the blades were set too low and the grass was too high – a common thing that has happened these past few cuttings.

I have been topping it off with gasoline before each mowing, so it was definitely filled with enough gas. On a whim I checked on the oil level and it was dry as a bone.

I was only finished with half of my push mowing but knew well enough to put it off for the next day out of fear of blowing the motor and needing to buy another one. I called my dad and asked his recommendation on a good oil to get for the mower – the manual and my father both confirmed the same type: SAE 30.

The next day, my wife and I walked into Lowe’s for the outdoor power tool section. We quickly made our way past the premature Halloween decorations which in my mind shouldn’t be out on sale until at least mid-September (don’t ask me about the Christmas decor at Family Dollar…)

I never added oil to a lawn mower before, so I assumed that I should treat it like gasoline – just fill it up before it overflowed. Well…that proved to be very wrong.

I waited a few hours to let it settle into the hoses before trying to start the motor again.

As I began to pull the cord to start the mower, it started with a lot of smoke billowing from the exhaust, and oil beginning to drip from the air filter! I knew here that something else was majorly wrong.

I removed the air filter just to see the problem. Oil began to drop from the air intake and was pooling on top of the mower deck. I pulled out my phone and learned that the crank case was filled too high with oil and it was going through the motor at an alarming rate, looking for a place to go.

I ran to get a pan to collect the oil making its way through the motor. I then opened the oil cap, turned the mower on its side, and drained it of almost all of the oil, leaving just enough to show up between the markings on the dipstick. Unfortunately I was not able to reuse the new oil I had just bought, as when it was coming out of the mower it was mixing with potting soil that was in the bottom of the pan.

After pouring off enough of the excess oil, I started the mower again and let it run for a minute or two before using it. The excess oil was burning off nicely and it started to smoke less and less.

I finished mowing the yard and successfully saved the lawnmower and motor.

You see, I learn something new every day. Next time, check the oil level as you are filling it – check!