Ted B. wrote:
A few months ago, we bought a house in New York with over 2 acres of
landscaped yard. Obviously, I needed a lawn tractor to care for it, but I
didn't want to spend too much money on it. I was happy to find a Troy-Bilt
"Pony" (779) at Lowe's for a thousand bucks. For those who don't know, this
is manufactured by MTD, the same company that makes the ultra high-end Cub
Cadet lawn tractors. See:

http://www.mtdproducts.com/home.jsp

Overall, this Troy-Bilt "Pony" works pretty well. If it lasts a few years,
I'll be happy with it. But it has a design flaw (IMHO) which MTD is not
willing to acknowledge.

The oil drain plug of the Briggs/Stratton engine sits right on top of a
horizontal metal panel.

The service requirements for this engine call for the oil to be changed
after the first 5 hours of use, and then at certain intervals after that.
(depending partly on how it is used)

The instructions for changing the oil are in the Lawn Tractor's owner's
manual, page 19. It does not say that you have to remove the side panel to
drain the oil, but it does say that you might have to remove a side-panel to
replace an oil filter. Anyway, you have to remove the (right) side panel of
the tractor to change the oil, even though there is no oil filter. That's a
minor thing, nothing to bitch about. Just pop off four bolts and the side
panel is off.

The problem is in the oil draining procedure. MTD includes an oil drain
sleeve to snap onto the B/S engine to use to drain the oil. But there are
three problems with this oil drain sleeve. First, because the oil drain
sleeve sits on a metal plate, it is HORIZONTAL when installed on the engine
(remember fluids like to flow downhill). Second, the oil drain sleeve does
not make a tight seal with the engine. Third, the oil drain sleeve is not
nearly long enough to move oil away from the tractor. Bottom line, if you
follow the oil change instructions to the letter, you will have a huge mess
on your hands. With the oil drain sleeve sitting level, oil pools up on the
oil drain sleeve, and then seeps between the oil drain sleeve and the
engine. (because there is not a tight seal) So the oil doesn't drain as it
should. This is ignoring the fact that if it DID drain, there is nowhere to
place a container to catch it. I tried to use a oil change pan (what else?)
to drain the oil into. BUT, there is not nearly enough space for an oil
change pan between the tractor's cutting deck and the right front wheel, if
you try to place the oil change pan under the end of the too-short oil drain
sleeve. I ended up balancing the oil change pan on the cutting deck and a
block of wood. But this wasn't a great solution, as I had a lot of oil end
up on the ground anyway.(escaping between the oil change sleeve and the
engine)

I brought this matter to the attention of MTD. They replied stating that I
should use an oil siphon to suck the oil out through the fill hole. Well,
that's certainly one solution. But if that's the actual recommended
procedure for changing the oil of the Troy-Bilt lawn tractors, why is that
not in the owner's manual for the Troy-Bilt lawn tractors? Also, the main
reason to change the oil of any engine is to remove impurities that
accumulate in the oil (some of which are heavier than the oil, so they are
pulled down by gravity). I would think that draining the oil with gravity
would be more likely to get these impurities out than sucking the oil out
through the top of the engine. Right???

Well as a last resort I might buy an oil siphon to use that to change the
oil in my lawn tractor. But first I'm going to try propping up the left
side of the tractor a few inches, so that the oil drain sleeve might
actually DRAIN oil. (This might not be real safe, unless the wheels are
firmly chocked) I'm not sure this will be good for the engine. I'll have
to see how much oil actually comes out. There is supposed to be about 48
ounces of oil in the engine. I got -just- over a quart out of it following
the recommended oil change procedure as written in the lawn tractor's
owner's manual. (actually, I'm not sure how much came out, as I couldn't
measure what was spilled on the ground)

Anyway, I tried googling to see if anyone else had this problem, but I came
up with no hits. It's hard for me to believe that I'm the first Troy-Bilt
lawn tractor owner who has had a problem changing the oil, considering that
the proper procedure for doing so is not even in the owner's manual. Is
everyone else hiring somebody to change the oil in their lawn tractors? Or
are they just not changing the oil? We do have a neighbor who does
small-engine repair professionally out of his own house. But, I don't see
the sense in hiring somebody to do a job that should take about 10 minutes
and ~5 bucks worth of materials (some full synthetic 10W30, a little over a
quart)

Just thought I'd let people know that if they want to buy a Troy-Bilt lawn
tractor (or the Pony, at least . . . I wonder if the other models have the
same problem?), the maintenance of the engine is a little harder than the
instructions written in the lawn tractor owner's manual might lead you to
believe. This is not a major gripe. Overall, as I said before, the Pony is
pretty decent. It gets the job done. It's a real pain to change the oil,
though. -Dave

No news to me. I went through the same mess the first time I changed
it. I then fixed it. Inserted a short nipple to let it drain past the
frame member. Yes, it is a tight fit but can be done. Should have
been done at the factory.
Took me a few tries to get the nipple the right length. Amazing how
much stuff gets in the way there.

Harry K