# Lawnmower engine orientation law?



## rohmell (Dec 21, 2009)

Lawnmower engine orientation law?

I have limited space in my garage, so I store my lawnmowers hung up on the garage wall with a hook. Years ago in the 1970s and 1980s, you could buy a 4 cycle lawnmower (usually with a Briggs & Stratton engine) with the sump facing the front and the cylinder head facing the operator. If the lawnmower was stored in a vertical position the oil would go toward the sump and cause no problem. 

I have looked at all of the new mowers at the big box stores, and they all have the cylinder head towards the front and the sump toward the operator. If this type of lawnmower was stored vertically, the oil would run into the breather, and into the muffler or carb and cause problems. Of course, a 2-cycle engine doesn't have this problem, but I think no new mowers with 2 cycle engines are allowed to be sold in the USA anymore. 

Is there some sort of law or something that dictates that new mowers must have the cylinder head facing 

towards the front?


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## indypower (Apr 8, 2009)

No law on that. It is just a lot easier to get at & change the sparkplug with it in front and most likely less debre flying into the front of the engine.
As far as hanging the on the wall, you could hang them by the front wheels and fold the handle up.


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## rohmell (Dec 21, 2009)

Indypower, thanks for your reply.

In my case the weekly convenience of being able to hang up my mower far outweighs the once-a-year inconvenience of the handle in the way of the sparkplug when replacing it. Also I clean my mower with compressed air after each use, so no debris buildup problems.

One of my small mowers had a Tecumseh engine go bad, so I wanted to replace it with a spare Briggs & Stratton engine that I had found some years back. I was surprised to find that the Craftsman deck had holes drilled to accommodate both Tecumseh and Briggs & Stratton mounting bolt patterns, and I could mount the engine in whichever direction I wanted.
I wonder if this is still the case with new decks. 

Maybe it would be possible to remount the engine on the new mowers 180 degrees?

Another issue I have with these new mower engines is that they have no oil drain plug, you have to tip the mower over and drain the oil out through the oil-fill tube.

I guess I will hold on to all my old 1970s and 1980s mower engines, although a nice new shiny deck would be nice to have.


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## dj722000 (Oct 29, 2008)

You should be able to turn any engine 180 as long as you remember what side everything is on when you turn it. Just unbolt the engine turn 180 and rebolt, take your rewind starter shroud off and where your recoil is mounted, drill out the rivets and spin the recoil to match the orientation from when you turned it. (Should be several different mounting holes for putting back on) Rebolt the recoil back to the starter shroud with short bolts so you dont catch the flywheel underneath. Should be ready to go.
I have done this several times with really good mower decks that were to nice to throw away and put different engines on them where i had to turn them 180 deg. to make them work right. I always try to orientate the pull rope back towards the handle bars for ease of starting and safety.

On another note for flipping the mower to drain the oil, mostly this is done on engines that have a fill tube. I have seen some mowers that you need to do this on. Pull out the dipstick and lean the mower over on the side the tube is on and dump oil into your catch, lay mower back down, refill and good to go.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

rohmell said:


> Another issue I have with these new mower engines is that they have no oil drain plug, you have to tip the mower over and drain the oil out through the oil-fill tube..


All Briggs engines have drain plugs in the sumps at least the smaller engines for walk mowers, the heads on the plugs are inset and require either an allen head wrench a square drive to remove. Most Honda mowers do not have drain plugs. I cannot remember the last time I used the drain plug to change the oil, I either tip them or draw the oil out.

Keep in mind that if you rotate an engine around on the frame, you may need to re route the engine brake cable.


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