[njsteve]

Just for comparison sake I'd thought I'd post a good oil analysis.

Just got the oil analysis today for my 1989 John Deere 185 riding mower. I bought it used in 1990 and have been mowing our couple of acres for over two and a half decades since. I tricked both kids into learning how to drive by making them mow the lawn for years with this thing. They then proceeded to break everything breakable on the tractor but it stills keeps going. For the longest time I thought my daughter had a kickback scheme going with the local JD dealer. She'd break something - like the hub out of the wheel and I would bring it into the dealer and the parts guy would usually say "I have never seen one of those break before." And then I'd pay a ton for a new wheel, bracket, pulley, etc. I have since resorted to ebay for a lot of used parts since the dealer prices have gotten insane.

I change the oil every year or two whether it needs it or not. It runs a Kawasaki engine. Looks like Blackstone likes this sample from their comments. Interesting how they noted a high silicon result from possible dirty air filter. Turns out the air filter is clean but there is a big gap between the air cleaner duct and the carb inlet that is letting a bunch of unfiltered (dusty) air get through. Time to get out the duct tape and seal that up.