Just hit 23.6 hours. Really loving this Gravely so far. Runs great, cuts great, rides great.
Zero Turns.
- Thread starter Jackalope
- Start date
Have a guy down here that does my blades. Has the balancer and sharpening jig. He’s doing a motor swap on one of the newer gravelys. Guy decided too change his own oil after watching YouTube. Cross threaded the filter. Poured in the oil, started it up and went too cut his grass…. $4,300 later he may get it back by the end of summer
Connecting rod was in 3 pieces, fist size chunk out of the cylinder. Pretty much trashed it.
Ha
Having to watch YouTube in order to change the mower’s oil was the first indication he shouldn’t touch it. Lol. Dang what a bummer!!!Have a guy down here that does my blades. Has the balancer and sharpening jig. He’s doing a motor swap on one of the newer gravelys. Guy decided too change his own oil after watching YouTube. Cross threaded the filter. Poured in the oil, started it up and went too cut his grass…. $4,300 later he may get it back by the end of summer
Connecting rod was in 3 pieces, fist size chunk out of the cylinder. Pretty much trashed it.
Hey now, i read the manual and then watched YouTube to make sure i understood. It was the first time I'd changed the oil in a mower.
Doug...this would ge a great time to exercise the ability to shut up. 
I'm the first to admit I'm not super mechanically inclined but I'm learning with our move to the country.Doug...this would ge a great time to exercise the ability to shut up.
And i had my farmer brother in law and father in law for questions and they laughed at me a few times during the process.
Take those laughs in stride and be proud you are trying and learning. More than most folks these days.
Yep, the aggravation level as a kid wouldn't have been so bad if I had YouTube
I’d have too wait for my neighbor too get off of work…
The first laugh came as i struggled with the two wrenches to hold the oil drain line and loosen the valve. Almost baptized myself when it finally broke free.
The one laugh that i shared was the factory installed oil filter was really f-ing tight. So my brother in law insulted my grip strength until he couldn't get it off with the filter wrench and ended up destroying it while using vise grips to get it off.
Oil filters can be a bitch. Sometimes you can try a little tighten action then try too break it loose. Gasket basically gets baked too the housing over time. Best too use a strap style wrench as close too the filter base as possible. Less likely too destroy the filter in the process.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Manufacturers recommend an hourly change, but yes, I do it in the spring before the first cut. I have 3 sets of blades too rotate, oil filter and oil always on hand. Also have the hydrostatic drive filters and oil as well. Just in case. I put a new set of plugs in and clean the old ones for a backup as well. Fuel filter gets swapped out also. And stabil gets added in the fall while mulching leaves, I’ll treat the last few tanks I plan on running through it.
Also if you find one of these, grab one. It’s a multipurpose tool around my garage, but is designed for oil filters.
I have a 2 stroke reservoir for the boat and that cap acts like a filter at times. 3” prong sealing it on. This works well on it also.
Not even worth the time or energy to me to try and muscle an oil filter. 99% of the time I would end up with a strap or hand wrench...might as well just start there and not get pissed to kick things off.