Mower Maintenance

[sally wright]

Dear Richard,
I have had both a flymo and allen hover mowers on fire (well smouldering anyway) before now with grass build up. Not a real disaster as long as a small stick is available for poking out duty. Not had that trouble with ride-ons though. We do have a lad who likes nothing better than picking out the fluff bunnies from underneath these machines so that may be why.
Regards Sally Wright.

[oldherbaceous]

The two Stiga ride on mowers i use, have a tendancy to flick grass up onto the silencer box, and what is just above and a little further forward, the plastic petrol tank. So i do keep an eye on that, especially after i was going along with smoke belching out the back. Luckily it was just smouldering and it hadn't ignited.

[sally wright]

Dear OH,
not had that particular trouble with ours which is the type that bends in the middle. However we do have a mulching blade on it which might counteract that problem. But whichever doolally Swede thought it was a good idea to put the battery underneath the petrol tank........ 'Cos it's a s*d to start when the battery is cold. We have taken to putting a heater in the shed the night before we want to use it in the winter.
Regards Sally Wright.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Sally, the ones i use are the articulated ones with mulching decks.
I think the problem arises where i have to cut certain peoples lawns the days i work there, so if the lawns are a little too damp the grass builds up on the treads of the tyres and then gets flicked under the engine cover when turning tight circles. So not really a problem now i'm aware of it.

[Ricard with an H]

Since reading about both your experiences I started to wonder how-exactly my fire started.

Doubtless it was the build-up of dry grass which mostly occurs over the cutting deck and around the gearbox which is in-between the rear wheels. Some grass collects under the engine block though the fire was over the gearbox in-between the rear wheels so I have to assume either a smouldering ember was blown backwards or that the drive belt had actually heated and ignited the grass.

Either-way I doubt it'll happen again since I have this routine of blowing the machine clean with the 2 stroke blower.

Another thing I learned over the last few years was to keep my ride-on battery connected to an intelligent charger, I tend to cut grass until Christmas so the battery only drains slowly for three/four months but it can be enough to drop the voltage beneath the required working level of that type of battery.

I'll probably cut grass with the ride-on within the next week or next dry period and as soon as the under-deck paint job and blade-sharpening get's completed. How do you sharpen your blades ? I use a a mini grinder with a steel grinding blade, you don't get a nice straight grind like with a bench grinder but it's fine and I can do it outside on a workbench. The ride-on blades are very-heavy forged steel quite unlike the 21 cut pedestrian mower and my Klippo side-eject which have pressed-steel fabricated blades.

[Geoff]

So do I buy wax oil or not?
I sharpen starting with a file, followed by the sharpening stone I use for the sickle then finish with a flat sharpening stone. Mine aren't straight either. I also sharpen the corners a bit more than how they came as I think it reduces jams on the patches of rushes.

[Ricard with an H]

So do I buy wax oil or not?

Sorry Geoff, all done with the very best intensions but my earlier recommendation of waxoil doesn't hold water. As pointed out by Sally there are a lot of things going on under there and seems whatever you smear on the grass acids get through it. You would have thought wax would soak into dry rusty steel and not allow anything in.

What I'm doing this year is reverting to the rust inhibitor/nutraliser/converter. In this case it's made by Flag and I got it from Screwfix. Once that stuff is dry i'll coat it with bitumous paint. Bitumous paint forms an inpenetrable and flexible barrier against water. It was the old way of tanking walls that hadn't been damproofed, bitumen paint has been superceeded for roof repairs by a more flexible rubber type but it's still a very useful barrier against water though I won't know the result until next years service.

Sorry.

[Geoff]

No need to apologise, anyway you weren't the only user of wax oil.
Years ago there used to be a gadget in the small adds that you attached to the deck then attached a hose and with the rotors running washed underneath. I think there were even mowers with something built in. Not seen anything similar recently, perhaps they didn't work, ring any bells with anybody?
I have built a set of steps that act like a pit, can drive the mower over them then pressure wash from underneath. Messy and a pain setting up so don't do it that often but I guess cleaning more regularly is the key to performing better and lasting longer, just wish it was easier.

[Ricard with an H]

How about this Geoff, there is another type that goes under the front wheels and lifts by the shape of the frame rather than any mechanics.

Unfortunately it's all costly, the one in the video is £130.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_pbCXTPi4w

[sally wright]

Dear Geoff,
on the John Deere we have there is a hozelock compatible joint built into the top of the deck on both sides which will accept a running hose. The alko we had previous to this machine also had the same fitting.
The drawback was we have/had to take off the grass bag to use it properly and put on the chute to allow the engine to run. Quite frankly it is much easier to use a pressure washer and a couple of car ramps to get under the deck. We could also deal with the clogged netting on the grass bag properly rather than adding to the gunk.
Regards Sally Wright.

[Geoff]

Thanks Sally, glad I wasn't imagining it. If I could find a fitting I can run my machine without a bag on as I have disabled one of the sillier microswitches. It stopped me lifting the bag for emptying without stopping the engine, now I can lift and empty it without getting off the machine (I haven't disabled the switch under the seat) and give it a blow through before lowering the bag and carrying on.
It has the usual B&S engine. Do you use SAE30 or multigrade? Finished servicing and found I was a bit short to fill up but have some multigrade. SAE30 is not as competitive a market so seems more expensive.

[Ricard with an H]

T
It has the usual B&S engine. Do you use SAE30 or multigrade? Finished servicing and found I was a bit short to fill up but have some multigrade. SAE30 is not as competitive a market so seems more expensive.

Good point Geoff.

I always have oil left over from oil changes to my van and the two cars because I won't take whatever the garage supplies if it's not the oil I use. Why can't we just use any quality engine oil. My ride-on is never stored below 10 degrees in the coldest of winters so I should be able to use a slightly thicker grade if I have some.

[sally wright]

Dear All,
I think it has something to do with the size of the engine, it's speed (revs) and also the physical properties of the oil. Clive is the chap to explain this better. My eyes glazed over during this lesson at college!
Regards Sally Wright.

[Geoff]

I've got a manual somewhere, will have to dig it out! In it's absence looked on B&S website and found:

Oil Recommendation

a) SAE 30 40° F and higher (5° C and higher) is good for all purpose use above 40° F, use below 40° F will cause hard starting.

b) 10W-30 0 to 100° F (-18 to 38° C) is better for varying temperature conditions. This grade of oil improves cold weather starting, but may increase oil consumption at 80° F(27° C) or higher.

c) Synthetic 5W-30 -20 to 120° F (-30 to 40° C) provides the best protection at all temperatures as well as improved starting with less oil consumption.

d) 5W-30 40° F and below (5° C and below) is recommended for winter use, and works best in cold conditions.

Then found B&S branded engine oil is one grade only SAE30 so still confused.

[Ricard with an H]

Well-done Geoff.
I was going to do that research but i'm still not firing on all cylinders and spending a lot of time in bed.

B&S SAE30 can be very expensive compared to competitively priced synthetic 5W-30. A very quick search found even Castrol Magnatech to be £25 for 4 litres.

I have sourced B&S oil locally at a reasonable price two years ago but I figure this might not be the case right now so why bother using B&S oil.

My ride-on deck has an all-over coat of thick bitumen paint and i'll give it a second coat shortly. One or two areas of corrosion will get a couple of layers of fibre-glass self-adhesive tape used by plasterers in between coats in order to reinforce the thinning steel. Mostly non are an issue.

The only concern I have is scraping dried grass off a semi-hard bitumous coating without damaging the coating.

I have an unqualified confidence that this years protective work will stop the grass-acids getting to the steel.

I am generally an optimist.