The low down on oil and slopes?

[Cheryl]

Is oil lubrication effected by slopes? This crossed my mind wrt to a 16hp riding mower I use for cutting close to the house. I know at some point, an engine won't be able to lubricate due to angle of the engine, but how much? Is the recommendation to always go up and down slopes a safety issue or is this also connected to oil distribution?

I have a M5030SU, 2wd. Much of my land is sloped on all sides but in most cases it isn't practical to go up and down slopes. One example strip of land is probably 800' x about 50'. Every turn tears up the sod when I mow so I mow across the slope. Now, I'm used to it, but it was way steeper than I was comfortable with when I first bought the land a few years ago. I'd appreciate any input.

 

[85Hokie]

The oil pan IS designed to allow the sump to pull from the lowest (almost bottom) point of the pan.

So unless you were down several quarts ....... a hillside should not be a problem of lube loss.


I had a honda one time - it burned some oil, if I did NOT check every 3000 miles ..... when I hit the brakes hard, the oil light would come on and flicker ...... reminding me to get some more oil in the pan!

 

[DustyRusty]

I would be more worried about rolling over the tractor / lawnmower than I would be about the oil killing the engine. You can always buy a new engine, but you can't put humpty dumpty back together if the lawnmower rolls over him. Sometimes doing it the safe way isn't convenient, but a hospital stay is neither pleasant or convenient.

 

[OrangeKrush]

The oil pan IS designed to allow the sump to pull from the lowest (almost bottom) point of the pan.

So unless you were down several quarts ....... a hillside should not be a problem of lube loss.


I had a honda one time - it burned some oil, if I did NOT check every 3000 miles ..... when I hit the brakes hard, the oil light would come on and flicker ...... reminding me to get some more oil in the pan!

I remember those days.. lol

 

[Cheryl]

Thank you everyone. I feel much better about riding across slopes

 

[Mlarv]

The 16HP riding mower may not be well off on a slope. Depending on type of engine it has. If there is no sump pump (like on most gas lawn mower engines) it will depend on the rod and crank to sling the oil around. Then you may be causing engine wear faster than normal.

 

[wendol]

I've been dealing with this issue in mowing a tank dam with my Scag zero turn.

Scag says do not exceed 15 degrees (for their liability, I assume) ........yet the Kawasaki engine manual states 25 degrees for that particular engine.

When in doubt check with the engine manual!!

 

[Henro]

Is oil lubrication effected by slopes? This crossed my mind wrt to a 16hp riding mower I use for cutting close to the house. I know at some point, an engine won't be able to lubricate due to angle of the engine, but how much? Is the recommendation to always go up and down slopes a safety issue or is this also connected to oil distribution?

I have a M5030SU, 2wd. Much of my land is sloped on all sides but in most cases it isn't practical to go up and down slopes. One example strip of land is probably 800' x about 50'. Every turn tears up the sod when I mow so I mow across the slope. Now, I'm used to it, but it was way steeper than I was comfortable with when I first bought the land a few years ago. I'd appreciate any input.

I would suggest that you actually make a measurement of what the angles of the slopes are you are mowing crosswise, and start another thread asking if what you are doing is risky or not.

You can make a simple rise over run measurement using a 4 foot carpenters level and a tape measure. Do this several times in different places to get an average.

You would not have to do the math, posting the numbers would enable some here to calculate the slope for you and give specific thoughts.

Having tipped my B2910 on its side once, I learned (after ten years of operation) how things can go bad suddenly.

 

[85Hokie]

the will do the math for you - and is magnetic- place on hood and run on!

 

[Fordtech86]

Mlarv nailed it. A splash lube engine will not be the best on slopes. A pressure lubed engine will be better off.