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Normally I don't worry too much about it, but the weather has been quite warm and the leaves are starting to fall. It's usually much cooler when I'm pulling the sweeper. The Hydro-Gear 0510 has had the original oil in it since 2005. I'm not sure if the hydro was showing symptoms of oil failure but it felt a little weak on really tight radius turns so I put my hand on the housing and it was too hot to hold.
I decided it was time to change the oil so I picked up 2 quarts of Mobile 20w50 synthetic and a new lube suction gun. My old gun either grew legs or I lent it out and never got it back. I had to modify the pump by replacing the 1/2 inch tube with a much smaller one that would fit down the fill plug hole.
I warmed up the hydro a little so that it would be easier to suck out the oil through such a small tube. I jacked up the front so I could get a little more out. Maybe I should have warmed up the new oil as well so that it would be easier to suck into my lube pump when it came time to refill. Now, the old oil wasn't all that hot, just warm so I'm thinking the difference in viscosity was because the old oil was tired. I suppose I could try sucking it into my lube pump again now that it's cold but then I'd have to wash out the pump again. The old oil looked a bit silvery grey in the small clear tube as I was sucking it out but looks almost black in the opaque gallon container I dumped it into.
I also raised the deck rollers so that on the next cut I can mow the grass shorter. It was still set for a longer cut. I normally cut it shorter in the Fall so that it doesn't trap as many leaves and so the sweeper has an easier go of it. If I were to cut it short enough, maybe the wind would blow the leaves away and I wouldn't need to sweep LOL.
I mow with the mulch plug in and with the deck set high, the leaves blow out and don't mulch well. Set too low and the leaves get plowed by the lip of the deck. The leaves mulch up better when damp such as in the morning or after a light rain but work and sun seem to conspire against me so I have to make more trips to dump the sweeper. My old compost area ran out of room and the new spot I picked out to dump is much further away. There are still more leaves on the trees than what fell and I'm already tired of all the sweeping. Who'da thunk I'd complain about seat time!
I decided it was time to change the oil so I picked up 2 quarts of Mobile 20w50 synthetic and a new lube suction gun. My old gun either grew legs or I lent it out and never got it back. I had to modify the pump by replacing the 1/2 inch tube with a much smaller one that would fit down the fill plug hole.
I warmed up the hydro a little so that it would be easier to suck out the oil through such a small tube. I jacked up the front so I could get a little more out. Maybe I should have warmed up the new oil as well so that it would be easier to suck into my lube pump when it came time to refill. Now, the old oil wasn't all that hot, just warm so I'm thinking the difference in viscosity was because the old oil was tired. I suppose I could try sucking it into my lube pump again now that it's cold but then I'd have to wash out the pump again. The old oil looked a bit silvery grey in the small clear tube as I was sucking it out but looks almost black in the opaque gallon container I dumped it into.
I also raised the deck rollers so that on the next cut I can mow the grass shorter. It was still set for a longer cut. I normally cut it shorter in the Fall so that it doesn't trap as many leaves and so the sweeper has an easier go of it. If I were to cut it short enough, maybe the wind would blow the leaves away and I wouldn't need to sweep LOL.
I mow with the mulch plug in and with the deck set high, the leaves blow out and don't mulch well. Set too low and the leaves get plowed by the lip of the deck. The leaves mulch up better when damp such as in the morning or after a light rain but work and sun seem to conspire against me so I have to make more trips to dump the sweeper. My old compost area ran out of room and the new spot I picked out to dump is much further away. There are still more leaves on the trees than what fell and I'm already tired of all the sweeping. Who'da thunk I'd complain about seat time!
