How High can I Lift Mower's Front End?

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Have_Blue

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Have a Raptor SD 60" with Kaw engine.


I thought about buying a mower jack for deck cleaning and blade sharpening, but it's a little bulky and hard for me to store.


Instead, I bought a very tiny, inexpensive 1.5 ton chain hoist, which would effortlessly lift the entire mower if I got carried away.


My question is, how high, or what angle can I lift the front end before bad things happen with the oil and gas?


Common sense tells me if I lift it near 45°, I should let it sit a few minutes until the oil flows back into the crank case.

Has anyone found the threshold that I should not cross?

Many thanks,,,
 
reynoldston

reynoldston

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If you drain the gas and oil you should be able to go as high as you like. If you don't drain them I would think 45% would be pushing it. It looks like the heads are in back of the mower and you could get oil in the cylinders.
 
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bertsmobile1

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Because the heads are at the back it is not safe to lift it very high as the oil will end up in the cylinders . carburettor exhaust and just about every where that you do not want it to go. Fuel will also spill out and even some batteries can leak out acid.

However this is of course takes time and for a short time you can almost stand the on their bum.
I run the rear wheels up onto a pair of car ramps then lift the front with a yard crane if I need to get a lot of space under the mower.

For general things like changing the blades I will lift the front about 3'

If you think it might have been abit too high pull the plugs and turn the engine over by hand a few times just in case you have fuel or oil in the cylinder.
In theory you should not get fuel contamination into the cylinder or sump as the carb is at the lowest point when you lift.
 
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turboawd

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i had a drive belt pop off, and we picked up the mower from the front and stood it up on its back end. after we got the belt back on, we found oil had worked its way out the carb and soaked the air filter, and got into the cylinder and made a smoke show on startup too. lol
so i guess you can probably pick it up maybe 45 degress or so, before oil starts coming out.
 
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Have_Blue

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turboawd said:
i had a drive belt pop off, and we picked up the mower from the front and stood it up on its back end. after we got the belt back on, we found oil had worked its way out the carb and soaked the air filter, and got into the cylinder and made a smoke show on startup too. lol
so i guess you can probably pick it up maybe 45 degress or so, before oil starts coming out.
Click to expand...


Good story! I've been in predicaments like that myself. I guess I have learned more from mistakes than successes.

Your reply and all the others together have answered my question very well.

Thanks to all for the help,

Bob

PS - Reminder to self: When I change oil and have it drained dry, then is a good time to hoist it up and do a good cleaning and inspection! (have to check the battery to see if it's an AGM or wet type!)
 
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turboawd

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Have_Blue said:
Good story! I've been in predicaments like that myself. I guess I have learned more from mistakes than successes.

Your reply and all the others together have answered my question very well.

Thanks to all for the help,

Bob

PS - Reminder to self: When I change oil and have it drained dry, then is a good time to hoist it up and do a good cleaning and inspection! (have to check the battery to see if it's an AGM or wet type!)
Click to expand...

whenever i need to change blades or clean the deck bottom, i just lift the front by hand and place a jack stand underneath. or you can use car ramps, but that wont give as much height.
but when i was in some rough brush (nowhere near any equipment), where a branch got up and knocked the drive belt off, so my only option was to flip up the machine to get the belt back on.
 
Carheir

Carheir

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turboawd said:
whenever i need to change blades or clean the deck bottom, i just lift the front by hand and place a jack stand underneath. or you can use car ramps, but that wont give as much height.
but when i was in some rough brush (nowhere near any equipment), where a branch got up and knocked the drive belt off, so my only option was to flip up the machine to get the belt back on.
Click to expand...

You are a better man than I am if you can lift that sucker by hand whilst fiddling with a jack stand. I don't think i could have accomplished that when I was a young'un full of piss and vinegar. :laughing:
 
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Have_Blue

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Carheir said:
You are a better man than I am if you can lift that sucker by hand whilst fiddling with a jack stand. I don't think i could have accomplished that when I was a young'un full of piss and vinegar. :laughing:
Click to expand...


It's not as heavy as I thought, I can easily lift it. The front end is actually lighter than my old Troy-Bilt 50". Must be the balance.

Still,,, jack stands are awkward and get in the way some times. My hoist works just great.
 
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bertsmobile1

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Carheir said:
You are a better man than I am if you can lift that sucker by hand whilst fiddling with a jack stand. I don't think i could have accomplished that when I was a young'un full of piss and vinegar. :laughing:
Click to expand...

The trick is a strap that goes over your shoulders so you are lifting with your thighs not your back.
Once standing upright you can walk around dragging the mower to a stand no problems or use your feet to slide a stand under.
The balance is about 70-80% on the back wheels.
Before the yard crane I used some old wide motorcycle tie downs hooked under the caster flanges which could be lengthened or shortened to suit.
Mind your these ones are very old when you could get thich wide woven strap unlike the garbage available today.
 
Tomster

Tomster

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I bought a lift from Harbor Freight that I use to lift the mower when I clean the deck and change/sharpen blades. It lifts it up the front wheel 24 inches off the ground and I've never had a problem with oil seepage.
 
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