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The title says it.; I realize this is a no-no. But sometimes it would be useful to tilt a mower on either side depending on what one is trying to fix. From what I have read, the problem is that oil flows from the breather hose into the airbox and even into the combustion chamber if tilted muffler up/air box down. Wondering if this can be prevented by clamping the breather hose? That hose is relatively easy to access on most engines.

Less likely to have oil drain through the breather tube, more likely to have fuel drain from the tank, flooding the engine and ruining the air filter. A good breather should have a check valve to reduce oil draining.

JBtoro said:

The title says it.; I realize this is a no-no. But sometimes it would be useful to tilt a mower on either side depending on what one is trying to fix. From what I have read, the problem is that oil flows from the breather hose into the airbox and even into the combustion chamber if tilted muffler up/air box down. Wondering if this can be prevented by clamping the breather hose? That hose is relatively easy to access on most engines.

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Sure can. Dump the oil out. Easy right? Only holds mere ounces. Betting it needs an oil change anyway.

Rivets said:

Less likely to have oil drain through the breather tube, more likely to have fuel drain from the tank, flooding the engine and ruining the air filter. A good breather should have a check valve to reduce oil draining.

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Thanks. I usually empty the tank before tilting the mower for jobs that are going to take more than a few minutes. My experience, when I have mistakenly tilted muffler up, is with oil, not gas. That is, soaked air filter and lots of smoke when I get it running. This has happened on not only Briggs but also Honda so I guess those brands don't have an effective check valve.

JBtoro said:

Thanks. I usually empty the tank before tilting the mower for jobs that are going to take more than a few minutes. My experience, when I have mistakenly tilted muffler up, is with oil, not gas. That is, soaked air filter and lots of smoke when I get it running. This has happened on not only Briggs but also Honda so I guess those brands don't have an effective check valve.

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Doubt any of those brands have a check valve. If it failed, it would over pressurize the block. Start blowing seals and such.

Just drain the oil and gas. Be done with all the other drama. Again probably needs fresh oil and the tank cleaned out.

Sometimes you may find a work around to avoid tiling it muffler side up. May be tilt the mower front side up (never back side up- you will have the same issues) or put the mower on a table so you do not have to bend over and can see with out bending so much. One trick to eliminate draining all of the gas is to put saran wrap under the gas cap to keep gas from leaking out of the breather. You can pinch the gas line closed if there is no shut off. They sell tools for this but I use a small vice grips with rubber hose pieces over the jaws to protect the gas line.

WIW I always tilt mower backwards and advise my customers to do the same
Now I rarely see a US mower here but most of the ones I do se will stand upright of you trip the handles .

We have been tilting my vintage MTD Flathead B&S front up.. The mrs puts the handle under our back gate & front lifts up to clean it out after each mow. That's her mower..

bertsmobile1 said:

WIW I always tilt mower backwards and advise my customers to do the same
Now I rarely see a US mower here but most of the ones I do se will stand upright of you trip the handles .

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most of our push mowers, i have to use a heavy concrete block and put it on the handles for them to stay up.

Point the spark plug up.

hlw49 said:

Point the spark plug up.

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Good Point!!!!!. Some older machines have the spark plug facing toward the rear of the machine. I have seen some facing the side. So rule of thumb should be: Carb or plug up.

Scrubcadet10 said:

most of our push mowers, i have to use a heavy concrete block and put it on the handles for them to stay up.

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That is what old batteries are for
A weight with a handle
However with most rear discharge mowers if you hole the flap & trip the handles out they will sit upright supported by the flap

Just evac the oil and gas guys. 26 second job here.

Now what side do I tilt up? So much confusion. Plug where?

slomo said:

Just evac the oil and gas guys. 26 second job here.

Now what side do I tilit up? So much confusion. Plug where?

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That is a great approach if you can not recall carb or plug up. I had a guy today begin to tip his machine carb up to show me something on the bottom and I stop him and explained only carb up. He asked How do I know where the carb is? So for someone like this who does not know much or want to know much, evac is the way to go.

nbpt100 said:

That is a great approach if you can not recall carb or plug up. I had a guy today begin to tip his machine carb up to show me something on the bottom and I stop him and explained only carb up. He asked How do I know where the carb is? So for someone like this who does not know much or want to know much, evac is the way to go.

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Simplifies the entire subject. If you have a lot of mowers like me you must have an evac tool.