Prepping for winter

Had a little spare time the other day so I pulled my 51 year old Snapper rear engine riding mower out of the garage and chewed up the leaves. They had been down for awhile so they were already pretty far gone. I worked from one side of the yard to the other pushing the leaves along so when I got to the other side it was easy to scoop the leaves and grass clippings directly into the compost bin. This makes excellent compost and it was heating up the next day.

With the yard clear I let the engine in the mower cool down a little and drained the oil. I refilled with Mobil 1 15w50 which is heavier than the 5w40 I usually use but won't cause any issues. I'll let it warm up a little longer next year before really putting load on the engine.

I use blue painters tape to remind me when the oil was changed, I like to change it before putting the mower into storage but I don't always get the opportunity. The painters tape removes easily when I do the next change. I do the same thing with the snowblower. Now I just need to find time to pull out the snowblower and push the Snapper back into that spot.