Technology has blessed us with tools and machines that have made things much easier than they used to be. Grasses grow – they have always been growing but instead of going under the hot sun to cut these stubborn grasses, lawnmowers make it possible to lawn a field in minutes without breaking a sweat.

It is also quite understandable as to how you’d want to invest in purchasing the best lawnmower for yourself and your needs. But as you do so, it is also best to purchase the best engine oil and also learn how to change the oil in a lawnmower. Here’s why. No matter how great your mower is, it will always break down from wear and tear or too much friction (all machines do).

Therefore, at that point, you would need to lubricate all the movable parts and also add more oil to the engine drum. Lack of this would result in a short lifespan of your lawnmower. So without any further time wasting, read on to know about how to properly change the oil in your lawnmower for a better experience.

Every engine is designed differently with various pumps, strokes, motors crankcase, and so on. In the same way, engine oils are diverse in their viscosity levels and hence, are fit for disparate engines/machines. Using one for the other can do so many negative things to your machines including causing its end.

This is why you need to identify what sort of engine your lawnmower has. If you don’t know what engine your mower runs with, you can check the manual that comes with the packaging. If you did buy your lawnmower from an online store, it would be written in the specifications list. Else, you might need to check for the type of engine online.

There are roughly only two types of lawnmower engines – two-stroke and four-stroke. Though most recently-created mowers use four-stroke engines, the two are still in existence and are lubricated differently. For example, while oil is added to a four-stroke engine once in a long period (externally), it is added together with fuel for a two-stroke engine.

Lubricating too early can result in high expenses because you’ll purchase the oil many more times than necessary. Also, changing the oil too late is bad for your mower. However, it would surprise you to know that how frequently you change your oil depends on more factors than you’d expect.

For one, the more you use your lawnmower, the more you’ll tend to lubricate and vice versa. For example, a hill mower does more work than one that’s not and hence should be lubricated more frequently. If you fall in this category where you are more than moderate with mowing, work every four days for lubrication. The other side of the coin can still manage for about 10 days.

But the most recommended way to detect whether or not you should change your oil is to listen to your machine. This is especially useful when using a self-propelled mower in which you are not actively watching how much work it does. Pay attention to any change in sound when running the mower or check the dipstick to see if the oil is low or pitch black. That way you can be surer than ignorantly counting days while your mower is already calling for an oil change.

Promise – this is the last section before the step-by-step guide to changing your oil by yourself. Lawnmowers can use only three types of oil; SAE 30, SAE 10W-30, and SAE 5W-30. These oil types aren’t different in much except in their viscosity. However, this slight difference if mixed could affect bad results.

Normally, many of the best lawnmowers use the SAE 30. It is the thickest but great for hot or warm weather. The 10W-30 is best for cooler regions but is consumed very quickly and hence you might need to ‘top’ or change your oil more often than you normally would.

Finally, the SAE 5W-30 is the best of them all – with an ability to work in all regions of the world. It doesn’t have much of a drawback, doesn’t consume too much of its constituent, and also protects your engine. The only downside might be that it is the most expensive of the three.

Finally at the core of this guide, here are the things you need to do before, during, and after changing the oil of your lawnmower.

The first stage for every successful process or activity is preparation. Good preparation can make the rest of the steps go smoothly or not. With that being said, you might want to kick off by gathering together the tools required to change the oil. This is so that you won’t have to wander around during the process. Use this checklist to know if you have prepared everything:

Gathering the listed items is only a fraction of what you’ll do when preparing. You would also need to idle-run the engine of the mower (not use it) so that you can help remove debris from the engine. While doing this, ensure that you are not running the engine inside your garage or any other enclosed space. It is extremely dangerous and fatal even. The gas that is emitted from the mower’s exhaust is poisonous and should not be inhaled by a human being especially when it is intense.

Also, you might want to remove the spark plugs of your engine after running since no one likes surprises at the workshop. If you leave them on, your engine could start up all of a sudden at any moment while you are working on it.