No need to change oil in new engine

Briggs & Stratton’s lawn mower motor designed to keep debris out of oil.

MILWAUKEE — Calling it an end to a messy annual ritual, and a first for the outdoor power equipment industry, Briggs & Stratton Corp. has developed a lawn mower engine that never needs an oil change.

The new engine will be available this spring on certain Toro, Craftsman, Snapper, TroyBilt and Yard Machine walk-behind mowers. Its air intake system is sealed tighter so that dirt doesn’t get inside the engine and contaminate the oil, and the engine runs cooler so that heat doesn’t break down the lubricant.

“If an engine runs cooler, with less debris in the oil, it will last longer,” said Rick Zeckmeister, Briggs vice president of marketing and planning.

The four-stroke mower engine is designed to last the life of the equipment it’s used on, which could be about 12 years, without an oil change. Briggs says the engine will set a prec- edent in the lawn and garden equipment industry, and none of its competitors has an engine that doesn’t require an oil change.

The new design stems partly from consumer research that showed people understood the value of changing engine oil, to increase the life span of their mower, but they didn’t necessarily perform the maintenance.

Walk-behind mowers usually have to be tipped upside down to drain the oil, and then there’s the hassle of disposing the used lubricant. If you’re not careful when doing an oil change, you also could introduce dirt into the engine which causes premature wear.

“It’s just messy, and sometimes you do more damage than good,” Zeckmeister said.

The new engine comes on mowers priced from $250 to $400, in power ratings of 6.75and 7.25-foot pounds of torque. Briggs says it has an automotive-style air filter to keep out debris, a new cooling fan for optimum airflow, an automotive-style piston and rings, and an overhead-valve design that rejects exhaust heat through the cylinder head, away from the oil.