Life expectancy of lawnmower

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Life expectancy of lawnmower

1 | 2

andrew027

1286 posts

Uber Geek

#1476774 22-Jan-2016 12:41

I had a Masport with a Briggs & Stratton motor that I bought in Canberra in 1993 and was still running like new two months ago. It had a bit of rust, but not too much, and was in pretty good condition.

Over that time I probably used it every one or two weeks (maybe a bit less in winter), cleaned it after every couple of uses*, sharpened the blade once a year, had it serviced (maybe every three years or so), and replaced the pull cord, spark plug, and an air filter once each in that time. Only sold it because I moved into a house with no lawn...

* It also had three really thorough cleans, as after buying it in Canberra I moved to Wellington, then to Adelaide, then to Blenheim, and lawn mowers get a lot of scrutiny from the bio-security guys when your international container is getting unpacked. One of them told me that if he sees a lawn mower on the manifest he always checks that first - it's a great indicator of how much care people have taken with their stuff, and therefore how the rest of his day is going to go.

Lias

5589 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1477092 22-Jan-2016 21:33

Have a ~15 year old Masport with Briggs & Stratton engine.

It's lived most of it's life outside rather than in a shed or garage, it's been serviced twice, had the catcher flap replaced once, and had the spark plug replaced by me once.

Still runs fine, when it does finally die, it will be replaced with the same.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup.

insane

3240 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1477126 22-Jan-2016 22:54

My Masport with Briggs & Stratton engine unit is ~15 years old, no rust and it's never been professionally serviced. I've only topped up the oil and sharpened the blades once. Can't say I've noticed a change in the last 10 years, still works fine :)

k1w1k1d

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#1477130 22-Jan-2016 23:08

Uncle gave me his old spare Lawnmaster reel mower 31 years ago. Aunty got sick of tripping over it in the garage.

Original Briggs engine failed about 5 years ago, so repowered it with a new Kohler engine. Goes like a charm.

Hiamie

354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1477181 23-Jan-2016 08:27

ajw:

Bought my mower 23 years ago and still going strong. Briggs & Stratton 3.5 Horsepower engine, ballbearing wheels, alloy body an plastic catcher. And yes I do look after it including regular oil changes.

My Briggs and Stratton 3.5HP mower lasted over 30 years - and I did as little as possible to it - including using old car engine oil in it!!! I had to do the odd bit of tinkering with it from time to time.

If mine lasted over 30 years with abuse, yours will go forever with the care you take of it!

pctek

807 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1477401 23-Jan-2016 16:19

Bought one 2nd hand 12 years ago. Forget what brand, Briggs and Stratton motor, has mulch and a chipper.

Never used mulch, used chipper a lot.

No idea how old it was when we bought it, well used.

Then we used it on 2 x 1/4 acre sections, 1 x 700sqm section and then the current 500sqm section.

It's had home maintenance on occasion, not as often as it should have, and one oil seal fix.

It's still going well although it does smoke when first started now. Motor tired.

We have kept it for the chipper part - now (being aging and feeble) we have a lawn man.

Buy a decent brand it should last ages and ages.

tdgeek

29753 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1477409 23-Jan-2016 16:59

timmmay:
I have a plastic electric lawn mower, victa lawnkeeper, that's 8 years old. It's a bit beaten up from being rammed into fences and picked up to be used as a hedge trimmer, but it still works fine. Another advantage of electric :)

Chuckle, hedge trimmer. I won't tell OSH,

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

jaymz

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#1491120 12-Feb-2016 13:29

Proper care and maintenance of any engine will see it last many years.

I see lots of "dead" mowers at the local dump shop. I have brought a couple for friends who were after a cheap mower. All i did was change the spark plug, fresh oil, clean the carb, replace/clean the filter and sharpen the blades and they were good as new (at a fraction of the cost of a new one)

The main thing that tends to go in mowers is the deck's rusting out (mainly due to people not cleaning the grass off them) and the wheels/wheel bearings.

If you buy a new mower, and get it serviced (or service it yourself), store it in a shed, clean/dry it after each use, then you should almost be able to pass it on to your kids when they get their own place!

One thing i found to be of use, was to install a fuel filter on the mower (or filtering the fuel before it enters the tank).

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1491133 12-Feb-2016 13:57

We've got a Masport that we purchased approximately 15 years ago. It's been serviced a few times, and sounds a bit rough when it first starts. But it still works.

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#1491148 12-Feb-2016 14:22

Ours is a 1990s model and still going. A mower with a solid deck and a B&S engine should last decades.

Provided ... the deck is washed after use (they usually have a hole on the deck to hose through), it's allowed to drip dry before being put away, the oil is changed very year or two, the blade is kept sharpish and the oil level is checked before every use. If it has plastic wheels these may eventually need replacing, at which point steel wheels can be installed.

Moisture and grass corrodes metal, so the rinse after use and dry storage is important for the life of a steel or alloy deck.

If you have to do a lot of work on steep slopes get a 2 stroke.

Mike

networkn

Networkn
32358 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1491158 12-Feb-2016 14:40

My existing B&S engine is reliable mostly (Though won't start for 5 minutes if it stalls), the problem seems to be with my last two B&S a distinct lack of Torque.

Wheelbarrow01

1726 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#1491172 12-Feb-2016 14:57

I've got a "Canterbury" lawnmower - most likely a rebadge of a larger brand - it has a bulletproof Briggs & Stratton motor and aluminium deck.

If I had to estimate it I'd say between 10 and 15 years old now. I prime the fuel bulb 3 times and it starts first pull every time without fail. the throttle cable gave out a few years ago but I Macqyvered it up so it just runs at about 3/4 throttle all the time now. I have never had it serviced it's whole life. I replaced the blades once, and sharpen them up with a grinder now and then.

I have thought about getting a nice shiny new one but can't justify it. This one virtually owes me nothing now - it just keeps on going, and I mow about 1000m2 of my 1600m2 section at least once a week in summer and about every fortnight in winter. So it's had a thrashing, done plenty of hours, ingested it's fair share of stones and just keeps on going. If you buy anything, make sure the noisy part is a Briggs & Stratton.... There's a reason they are fitted to most branded mowers!

Handsomedan

7297 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1491177 12-Feb-2016 15:06

I have an old Masport with Briggs & Stratton motor.

Apart from a bit of an overhaul to put on a new blade and one wheel, it's lasted well over 20 years and still goes forst time every time.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

kharris

1209 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1491178 12-Feb-2016 15:08

networkn:

I think the Ryobi is a steel deck, it's heavy at 32KG.We don't tend to get large items getting caught in the mower.

Aluminium body unless you want to clean it meticulously. They cost more but are worth it imo.

Kirk

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1491185 12-Feb-2016 15:14

I have a 3 year old law mower from Bunnings I bought for $200. Has a Briggs and Stratton motor.

It still goes strong I just did a maintenance (sharpened the blade, change the oil, cleaned the spark plug, new air filter) on it couple of weeks back.

Works perfectly, one pull start.

1 | 2