Personally, I would not add a counter weight.
Calculate your slope angle and follow the instructions laid out in your owners manual.
Keep the fuel tank side of the mower on the uphill of slope.
Set your tire air pressure to the lowest recommended pressures.
Don’t get yourself into trouble. You...
The only one that I found was the Snapper blade that @StarTech linked to.
Another option is to use a step drill bit to enlarge an existing hole in a commercial mower blade. A vice and drill press would work nicely.
The higher the air pressure, the more bumpy the ride. The ride is worse when there is no suspension seat or air ride seat.
It has zero to do with MPG. Fuel consumption on a mower is measured in Gallons per Acre.
No particular brand. 20W50 conventional motor oil. The Castrol GTX 20W50 will be fine.
Yes, after a service and purging the air, the fluid level will fall.
Check for leaks.
Fill to the COLD FILL line. Do this after it’s been sitting overnight.
20W50 is what is recommended by Hydro-Gear.
It’s normal for the oil level to go down after a change. It’s spelled out in the change and purge instructions.
Do you have access to the operators manual for the...
It sounds like a venting issue. Did you change out the vent tube filter? Most trimmers have 3 fuel lines on them. One line is the pickup line and it delivers fuel to the carburetor. There will be a small filter on that line and it goes in the fuel tank. There is one return line. There is one...
Listen to what @slomo said. Whether it has 18 hours or 180 hours, there could be a bad pulley or bad spindle. Don’t rely on what someone is telling you. You need to put your hands and eyes on the pulleys and spindles.
At 500 hours, the hydraulic fluid needs to be changed in the transaxles. Valve lash should be checked. Oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, and fuel filter need changing. Consider 500 hours as a major service.
The red pancake is 150 micron for gravity feed.
The white pancake is 75 microns and listed for fuel pumps. Grain of salt.
Most residential push mowers don’t even come with a fuel filter.
The Briggs cylinder type is 40 microns. For fuel pump. There is a similar Briggs filter with a 7-11 micron...
I still believe that he has purchased the wrong replacement blades. The OP has only replied once and was talking about grinding some length off of the blades.
It’s underneath the mower and on the back side of the transaxles. It’s going to be near the filter access. It’s slotted to accept a large screwdriver. You cannot see or access it from the top of the mower. For reference, it’s below the fan.
See if this helps.
https://www.hydro-gear.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BLN-52441_P25-23.pdf
The one you have circled is the vent. You will see it in the service manual.
For professional landscapers and repair shops, canned 2 stroke mix eats into the profit margin. So, mixing their own fuel is much cheaper. For the homeowner, who uses small volumes of 2 stroke mix, the canned fuel is more convenient and there’s not much sitting around to go bad.
If you go grinding on those blades, you may run into a balance problem.
Do you have the part number for those blades?
Gator Style blade: Personally, I don’t like using them in the growing season. The slightest bit of moisture in your grass will pack the deck with clippings and leave clumps...
Measure the blades diagonally. If they are 21.5” diagonally, they are too long. They should be 21.465”. In other words, they should be a hair over 21 3/8” measured diagonally.
https://usamowerblades.com/how-to-measure-a-lawn-mower-blade/
Your OE blades are GX 20433...
You need to find out what’s causing it.
Are both blades actually for your mower?
Is your deck bent?
Are your spindles in good shape?
I see that you have installed aftermarket Gator style blades. 🤦♂️
There are reasons SCAG put larger engines on the 61”. @JC Wren will either have to do expensive modifications to his 52” mower, live with the 52”, or trade for a 61”.
Modifications like he mentioned could void his original warranty.
Gravely wouldn’t replace a Yamaha engine with a Kohler or...
Using an engine oil filter in place of a dedicated hydraulic oil filter can get you in trouble. Most hydraulic filters do not have anti drain back valves or bypass valves.
Use an OE filter or the equivalent Stens or Rotary.
True enough.
Most of the local OPE dealers, in my area, carry Stihl products. I don’t see many of them carrying the new mowers. Most of the dealers carry two or three different brand mowers. I just can’t see them adding the Stihl mower line.
I’ll check around. There is one near me who might...