Tilting a mower over muffler side up?

J

JBtoro

Well-Known Member
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..
 
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