Now that I think about it, it was probably before the pandemic. 🤔

  • @reddig33@lemmy.world
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    832 months ago

    If you buy an electric mower, you never have to change the oil again. Or the spark plug. Or buy gas. Or clean the carburetor.

    • @friend_of_satan@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      And they’re quieter! God I wish my neighbors all had electric mowers. Sometimes it seems like they’re invited to all the zoom meetings I attend.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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        62 months ago

        After spending several hours on Saturdays doing yardwork I didn’t enjoy doing for years on end, I finally hired a gardener. Now I get to spend that time doing yardwork I do enjoy, like making landscaping improvements, or gardening.

    • @Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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      32 months ago

      I expect they do need lubrication from time to time. I just bought an electric mower this year and it’s pretty low power, so I predict that any amount of additional friction in the system is going to be too much.

    • Cornpop
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      12 months ago

      Wish they made an affordable electric zero turn that could handle mowing 7 acres of field 3-4 times a month in the summer. I need commercial grade sadly and there’s nothing in the homeowner space that comes close to my needs. The commercial ones are like 30k to compare with what I got for 6k

      • @Kadaj21@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        While I can’t say I have a large yard. My 80v Greenworks system can do the job 90% of the time on 1 battery (I have 2). When it can’t from being lazy and not mowing as often as I should have or it was especially rainy, I can swap the batteries in moments and the battery charges within 20 or so minutes. By then I am done or using the battery from the mower in the leaf blower or weed whacker.

        I would imagine if I had a larger yard I would go with a third in the event of having longer grass to cut and would have a battery charged, battery charging, and one in use.

        I would not trade my yard system with a gas one for any amount of money. If i do anything it’d be to hire someone that uses electric (quieter!) to mow and edge and all that jazz. Or use a Fiskars reel mower.

        Oh yea. I drive an ID.4. Suck it gas stations trolololol.

      • @shottymcb@lemm.ee
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        12 months ago

        I have 1/3rd acre, takes 2 batteries to mow uninterrupted. Anything bigger than that I hope it’s not just grass, that’s a waste of space.

          • @shottymcb@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            About $70 I think. I didn’t have to deal with buying an extra battery, cause my original mower was stolen out of my garage. I keep the battery inside to prevent temperature degradation, so I still had it when I bought another mower with the battery included.

            Before that I’d just mow half, and do other yardwork while the battery was charging.

            I bought it after getting tired of having to fix my old gas mower. The pull cord broke, then the mechanism that it attaches to broke, then the priming bulb cracked and started leaking gas, having to go get gas for it, etc… the electric just works. I don’t have to winterize or fuck with the carburetor, I just press the button and it works. It’s more powerful than my old mower, doesn’t bog down if I skip mowing for a week. It’s better in every way.

            • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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              12 months ago

              I have all DeWalt electric power tools for most of my stuff, but the lawnmower was pretty expensive, and required a lot of expensive battery power. Since then I’ve purchased a couple of 9a 60v batteries, so I could probably switch now, but I started just paying someone to mow my lawn a while ago. Now I can spend my time improving the yard instead of just maintaining it.

    • Jay
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      82 months ago

      I’ve owned a car like that. Drove that thing for years until the driver’s side door fell off and I parked it.

    • @higgsboson@dubvee.org
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      12 months ago

      Some mowers are designed that way. Mine advertised “no oil changes”, but really it means I have to add oil a couple times a year instead of draining it.

      • @Machinist@lemmy.world
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        52 months ago

        Most mowers are four stroke like automobile engines, this includes pushmowers. Modern ones even have oil filters. Generally, riding mowers have two cylinder v-twin engines and pushmowers are single cylinder.

        Two stroke engines are generally found on smaller things like chainsaws and weed eaters.

        You mix special oil into the gas for two strokes. They do produce more smoke, especially when first started.

      • @ililiililiililiilili@lemm.ee
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        12 months ago

        Nah, most push and riding mowers are definitely 4 stroke. You’re absolutely correct that 2 strokes need to burn oil and create some visible smoke (to be properly lubricated). Only small, powered equipment (such as trimmers, blowers, and chainsaws) are still commonly made with 2 strokes. My smoking push mower was made in the mid 1980’s and is miraculously still running. It apparently has worn seals that are allowing crankcase oil into the combustion chamber.

        • @Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Cool, did not know that! I have to admit I made assumptions there, figuring 2 stroke engines are probably more appropriate for smaller equipment. But I guess since you don’t have to carry a mower, a heavier engine is not a big deal, makes sense.

          Good luck with your mower, no need for something else as long as it’s still working! After all, with a lot of things they really don’t make em like they used to, that old mower could serve you for a very long time.

  • @Aremel@lemmy.world
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    262 months ago

    I thought two-stroke engines mix the oil and fuel together? Every time you refuel, you should also be topping up the oil. Am I wrong?

    • Nougat
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      222 months ago

      I’m not sure you can even buy a two stroke lawnmower. Snowblower, maybe.

      Yes, you need to have oil mixed with the gasoline in a two stroke, because the area under the piston (where the crankshaft is) creates the vacuum on the upstroke to draw in the next fuel charge. Lubrication of the crankshaft bearings, then, must come from oil that is in the gasoline, either by premixing it, or from an oil injection system.

      A four stroke, on the other hand, uses the top of the cylinder, above the piston, to draw in the next fuel charge through an intake valve, and the area underneath the piston is bathed with oil. Over time, that oil (including its additives) breaks down and loses its lubricity, and must be changed for fresh oil.

      • @HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
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        12 months ago

        I’ve got and used them.

        Making sure I’m reading this right - are two and 4 strokes oriented differently? I always thought both were above the cylinder.

        • Nougat
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          122 months ago

          Orientation isn’t terribly relevant, although it is easier to design a two stroke engine in an “odd” orientation, because it does not have to be concerned about engine oil draining back into a sump.

          In the simplest kind of two stroke, the compression and intake happen at the same time. Piston goes up (toward the cylinder head), compressing the fuel in the combustion chamber, while at the same time, fuel is drawn in beneath the piston, around the crankshaft. At top dead center (ish), spark occurs. Combustion powers the piston down (power), while at the same time forcing the fuel charge from beneath the piston into the combustion chamber via a transfer port, which also directs the exhaust to exit the exhaust port.

          These two strokes - one up, one down - are one complete “cycle” of the engine’s operation.

          In a four stroke, starting with the intake stroke, the piston moves down and the intake valve opens via a camshaft. Intake fuel charge enters the cylinder between the piston and cylinder head. The next stroke is compression. Both intake and exhaust valves are closed as the piston goes up. When the piston is all the way up (ish) to the cylinder head, spark occurs, causing combustion. The intake and exhaust valves remain closed, and the piston moves down. That was the power stroke. The next time the piston moves up, the exhaust valve is open, and exhaust is ejected through it. Intake, compression, power, exhaust; or colloquially “suck, squeeze, bang, blow.” Those four strokes complete one “cycle” of the engine’s operation.

          Each engine has a crankshaft. This is the rotating shaft on which the piston is attached with a connecting rod. On the crank end of that rod there are bearings. (Two strokes will use roller bearings while four strokes will (usually) use flat bearings.) The connecting rod attaches to the piston with a wrist pin bearing. These bearings require lubrication. Without a thin layer of oil between the metal surfaces moving against one another, friction will quickly create heat and catastrophic bearing failure. (A four stroke also needs lubrication of the valve train, contained in the cylinder head; two strokes have no valves, and so no top end lubrication is required.)

          A four stroke engine accomplishes this lubrication with thick engine oil. Most commonly, this oil collects in a “wet sump” oil pan at the bottom of the engine, is picked up by an oil pump, and circulated through the engine, being directed at the parts which require it, finally draining back into the sump. (There are also “dry sump” systems, where the oil resides in an elevated oil tank.)

          A two stroke engine - since the crankshaft portion is also the engine’s fuel intake - does not have an independent oiling system. Such a system would interfere with the fuel intake, so the lubrication for the crankshaft bearings has to be included in the fuel. As described previously, this can be either with an oil injection system, where oil in a separate reservoir is delivered directly into the crankcase, or by premixing thin two stroke oil into the gasoline. In either case, the two stroke oil provides lubrication to the crankshaft, and then is burned in combustion. This is why two stroke engines have tha blue exhaust plume; that’s the two stroke oil burning.

          Two strokes also have incredibly good power to weight ratios, mainly because they have twice as many power strokes per engine rotation. They are also incredibly simple, what with not having camshaft and valve train. Why don’t we use two strokes all the time then?

          Well, mainly because they burn oil by design. But they are also noisy, and their design makes them severly RPM limited (they’ll lose power as they’re unable to intake enough air/fuel to keep running). Where two stroke engines shine is in very small applications (weed trimmers and model airplanes) or very large applications (industrial and maritime), though the latter makes use of fuel injection as opposed to carburetion, and does use a wet/dry sump engine lubrication system.

    • nerobro
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      22 months ago

      Depends on the engine. Small 2 strokes usually use premix. Big ones, like on scooters or motorcycles, usually have an oil pump and an oil tank. You add oil every few thousand miles.

  • @ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee
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    142 months ago

    For the money you save by not doing the oil change you can probably afford a new mower every 10 years or so.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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      22 months ago

      This is my strategy. I’ve never done any maintenance on any of my mowers except for sharpening the blade, and they still run for around 10 years.

    • @GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social
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      22 months ago

      How often were you changing the oil in your mower? I own an electric lawnmower now, but before that I just changed the oil once at the beginning of each mowing season.

      • @ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee
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        -22 months ago

        I only changed it once with the extra can I bought with the mower but never since. I’d imagine it easily costing somewhere around 20 to 30 euros a year so that’ll pretty much cover a new mower every 10 years.

        • @GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social
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          52 months ago

          Lawnmowers only take about 16oz of oil and you can buy 5qts(160oz) for $23 here in the states. So that $23 would last 10 years of oil changes if you replace it once per season like I did.

          Not sure what that would cost you in Europe. So maybe that’s where the disconnect is.

  • @Hux@lemmy.ml
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    72 months ago

    I’ve had my current mower about 14-years.

    I don’t think I’ve ever changed the oil.

  • @Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    72 months ago

    I never changed the oil in my mower. Never had an issue, except with the power cord getting in the way.

  • @sevan@lemmy.ca
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    62 months ago

    I got my lawnmower about 9 years ago secondhand and have never done any maintenance on it. I’m pretty sure that’s how you’re supposed to do it.

      • @mortalic@lemmy.world
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        22 months ago

        I had a mower I bought in 2001, took it with me for a few moves. Sometime around 2011 it started sputtering and just take running like crap. Tried to drain it, and it basically took so afternoon. But I got it drained and replaced. The filter had disintegrated.

        With the electric mower, I’ve had it since 2013 or so. The battery is finally starting to show its age but it does still work well enough. Still haven’t done anything to it. Might replace the blade soon

  • @Grass@sh.itjust.works
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    62 months ago

    The mower I got from my grandpa has never had an oil change and it still works as of last week. Your mower will almost certainly be fine.

    Now my pressure washer… I forgot to empty the gas from my pressure washer before storing it for several years and it became mucky glorp inside.

    • icedterminal
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      22 months ago

      I would be cautious with this thought process though. Oil cools, lubricates and cleans the engine. These engines are air cooled so keep that in mind. Degraded oil can’t do the job very well.

  • @the_tab_key@lemmy.world
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    52 months ago

    My neighbor had a crazy old Montgomery Ward tiller, I’d guess from the late 60 or early 70s. I borrowed it once and decided to be nice and change the oil in it since I doubted he ever had. Could not for the life of me figure out how to drain the oil without flipping it over… It’s ran for this long on old oil, it’ll run for a bit longer!

  • @Tyfud@lemmy.world
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    42 months ago

    Most mower engines are 2-strokes, they’re designed to burn oil as lubrication basically, it’s added to the gas. You don’t need to change the oil. Unless it’s a 4 stroke engine (unusual due to size/complexity), or you’ve got a transmission or some other motorized mechanical behavior.

    • @Steak@lemmy.ca
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      82 months ago

      I wouldnt say most are two stroke. In fact most mowers available for purchase at your local hardware store are going to be 4 stroke if not all of them. 2 stroke lawnmowers are a thing of the past. Everyone wants 4 stroke and self propelling now.

      • @Tyfud@lemmy.world
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        02 months ago

        Hmmm, I guess that makes sense. It’s been a while since I’ve bought a gas mower, roughly the late 90’s/00’s hah, been using electric/battery since then.

    • Cornpop
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      42 months ago

      Most mower engines are absolutely not 2 strokes… they are 99.99% 4 strokes.

      Now strim trimmers are maybe 60/40 2s to 4s.

    • @AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      32 months ago

      Genuine question as I haven’t actually thought about this, how does that work when you don’t have a winter? Where I live it doesn’t get below 40° ever, or above 85°. Those are literally the overnight low in Feb, and midday high in Aug/Sep. Do I still need to drain, or just treat it like changing the oil in my car? I.E.: Every 6 months or 3500 miles, whichever comes first.

      • @CM400@lemmy.world
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        52 months ago

        Like u/possiblylinux127 said, any time you’re not going to use it for more than a month or two, it’s best to drain the fluids. Oil is less important than gas, and you can leave gas in it as well if you add a stabilizer to it.

        Personally, I wouldn’t use gas stabilizer for more than one season, but I know many who use it every year with no problem. Just make sure you run the motor with the stabilizer for a few minutes before you store it so the gas in the carburetor doesn’t gum up.

        As for oil, I tend to only change it when it looks darker than a piece of burnt toast I’d still be willing to eat. I know that’s vague, but it’s how I do it.

        • @Fosheze@lemmy.world
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          22 months ago

          Ideally, you should be using nonoxygenated gas for your mower, in which case stabilizer is unnecessary. The ethanol is what gums up carbs.

          • @baldingpudenda@lemmy.world
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            22 months ago

            I usually have to use starter fluid first time each year. I beat the shit out of it. Only changed the oil once, when I bought it second hand. I’m really waiting for it to fail to buy electric, but it’s been 3 years and and still going strong.

      • Possibly linux
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        22 months ago

        If you don’t need it there is no point in having fluids in it. It might not be necessary but it is good practice