Tips for Changing Oil without Spilling!

[l008com]

I have an HU700H pushmower. It's about 6 years old maybe. I bought it brand new. It's a rear wheel drive model with a honda motor. Overall it's an excellent mower but man, they weren't thinking when they designed the oil drain! It's so short, and at a 45° angle, so as you tip it over, the oil starts gushing out before the spout can possibly be over a drain pain. It's terrible. Last weekend when I changed my oil, I spilled oil ALL OVER the place. It was a real mess! If they just put a vertical filler on top like every other motor, it would be so much simpler to drain.

Attached is a photo from the oil change. Some of the oil is getting in the pan :/ It was actually much worse than that photo makes it look. The spout either needs to be longer or at a different angle. So annoying.

 

[slomo]

Briggs and Stratton 5431K.

 

[7394]

Suck it up !! I'm referring to the oil, for FYI..

 

[sgkent]

tilt it up on its side before you remove the drain plug.

 

[StarTech]

Also you can invest in an oil extractor which would suck the oil out of the engine. As a shop with many oil changes and the need to keep both the customer's machines clean and my my shop I got myself a pneumatic 5 gallon oil extractor. So much nicer to use and empty into recycle containers as I recycle as much oil as I can.

There are some homeowner versions on the market as well as commercial use ones.

 

[l008com]

Update:
So I made yardwork related youtube videos. And I thought, oh here's a good opportunity to make a how-to video for changing the oil in these machines without making a mess.

I thought I figure out the key, which was to put 4x6 scraps of wood under the right side wheels so the machine could tip much further over and actually get the oil into the drain pan.

Things went well at first, but then it started going everywhere and made a huge mess and I had to abandon the whole video and just finish the job and be done with it.
I don't want to get one of those pumps for this mainly because the idea is it's a DIY video, showing regular people how to change the oil. I can't imagine how long the *average* mower goes between oil changes but I betcha its like 5 years or so.

Anyway, if anyone has any other ideas how you might be able to drain the oil out of this machine without using special equipment (an oil vacuum) let me know. A screw on tube extender might do the trick, I wonder if those exist. Just a small cheap piece of plastic so you could tilt and pour normally.

 

[Skippydiesel]

tilt it up on its side before you remove the drain plug.

Listen to this guy - he knows what he is talking about.

I do my small motors by tilting them (usually close to 90 degrees) so the old hot oil flows out of the fill port.
Works for all small engines that I have come across.
No need to purchase any fancy gadgets to add further clutter to my workshop.
When old oil stops flowing out, just return engine to normal position & refill with clean oil - simple & relativly mess free.

For larger equipment eg ride on mowers, I either make or purchase, a drain point extender, so that the old oil can be easily directed into the drain pan.

I have a couple of engines were non of the above is suitable - I use a piece of soft aluminium flashing (most hardware shops will have this in a role) which I shape into a V that can be slipped under the drain point (may be beneficial to slightly tilt the equipment to assist direction of flow into drain pan). The flashing can be remodelled and used almost indefinitely.

 

[StarTech]

Well for us with shops a good pneumatic oil extractor better and cleaner. Also we don't have fight stuck oil drains. A plus is with several capacity of the HFT extractor you can store the oil until you recycle the oil. This keeps your shop cleaner, the environment cleaner, and when the oil get recycled it gets reused. I even crush the oil filters to extract as much oil as I can before throwing remains in the trash.

Matter of fact I am carrying 8 gallons today to the local oil pickup site.

 

[ILENGINE]

Well for us with shops a good pneumatic oil extractor better and cleaner. Also we don't have fight stuck oil drains. A plus is with several capacity of the HFT extractor you can store the oil until you recycle the oil. This keeps your shop cleaner, the environment cleaner, and when the oil get recycled it gets reused. I even crush the oil filters to extract as much oil as I can before throwing remains in the trash.

Matter of fact I am carrying 8 gallons today to the local oil pickup site.

Just dropped of 10 gallon last week, and already have another 8 gallon collected.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

I have an HU700H pushmower. It's about 6 years old maybe. I bought it brand new. It's a rear wheel drive model with a honda motor. Overall it's an excellent mower but man, they weren't thinking when they designed the oil drain! It's so short, and at a 45° angle, so as you tip it over, the oil starts gushing out before the spout can possibly be over a drain pain. It's terrible. Last weekend when I changed my oil, I spilled oil ALL OVER the place. It was a real mess! If they just put a vertical filler on top like every other motor, it would be so much simpler to drain.

Attached is a photo from the oil change. Some of the oil is getting in the pan :/ It was actually much worse than that photo makes it look. The spout either needs to be longer or at a different angle. So annoying.