My God!!! it seems some folk seriously need to take up a lawnmower maintenance program. The oil drain hole plug is located under the body's platform of the mower, about 3 inches away from the protruding crankshaft, where the mower's blade is located and attached. It's a plug that has to be removed by wrench, to let out the old oil and the built up grime sitting on the bootom of the crankcase. Never, and I say again, NEVER!!! should the old oil be removed back up, and out through where the oil is added to the crank case (dip-stick area). Who ever got the bright idea that the old oil should be removed by having it come back out through where the drip-stick is located, is totally nuts, or lazy, as they would leave most of the gritty grime still in the crackcase, by doing it that way. That will wear away the rings in a short amount of time, thus shortening the overall engine life span. Best thing I can say is, if you want your 6.5hp.engine to last along time and run smoothly, take it to a proper qualified repairman. Quit trying to do a job you are not qualified or trained to do. You will save yourself a whole lot of headaches and money in the long run, specially if your thinking on taking advise from these backyard want-to-be repairman clowns, who are giving you very poor servicing advice. It's pay me now, or pay me a hell of alot more, later on down the road, after you finish taking the advice from these so-called want-to-be small engine repairman who don't even know how to change the oil on a 4 cycle engine properly. It's your choice, what will it be?????

Oil under valve cover is normal and vital to the health of the rockers and valves components. In this engine, the oil is thrown/slung from the camshaft, into the valve compartment, some oil also migrates along the pushrods in vertical crankshaft engines. The oil inside the air filter is mainly due (in your case) to the blown head gasket pressurizing the crankcase, forcing a lot of oil mist to be vented along with the pressure through the crankcase breather tube and into the engine to be burned. That is how/why a blown head gasket causes the engine to consume oil and blow smoke out the exhaust. It does not suck oil into the combustion chamber through the blown spot, it is the pressure escaping from the cylinder and into the crankcase that carries the oil mist out the crankcase breather and into the engine intake system that transports all the oil to the "furnace".

The plant called geraniums that is grown as a bedding annual is actually a pelargonium. There was a mix-up back when old Linnaeus was running around naming things, and the name stuck ;-) Pelargoniums are annuals in the north, as a hard freeze will kill them. I keep some old blankets and sheets around, and just watch the forecasts. 'Pellies' aren't sissies about the cold though, they will do fine through a light frost with a blanket. I extend the season in the fall with blankets too. They just grow much slower when it is chilly. They also don't like it too hot either, by the way. Mine suffer a bit when it gets in the mid-high nineties. True geraniums are hardy perennials, many are native to North America. There is some similarities to the leaves, and the flower shape between the two species. But, pelargoniums are native to Africa, where they are perennials, and succulents at that. Both are great plants. Both get discussed on this forum. It is a bit confusing at first. If you overwintered yours in the house, you have pelargoniums. :-) The FAQs on this forum has a better explanation of the name mix-up than I gave. I can hardly wait to put my pellies outside for the year. :-) Oh, and I'm just a gardener out to learn. More knowledgeable posters, please correct anything that I was incorrect about.

I just joined and read the message about the maple purchased at Lowe's. I have been in the nursery industry for longer than I care to mention, as well as other fields. It is my experience that there is a good chance you didn't get a Tamukeyama as I visited a Lowe's here in the Pacific Northwest this spring and found numerous maples mismatched with labels. Another hardware store in the Seattle area had several mixups on the labeling of Japanese maples. Face it, these places are not nurseries but just mass marketers of plants and plants are not merchandise. I have a nice Tamukeyama and it never goes to the green, not unless it is too shaded. The heat in Texas is a problem and perhaps it is too shaded. One thing about nurseries in general, an incredible amount of nursery stock is shipped from Oregon to all parts of the country and most of these nurseries employ unskilled migratory workers and any amount of mixups can occur considering the staff. I have seen this first hand and it's regrettable but happens daily. Check with the book on Japanese maples by J.D. Vertrees, umpteen forms are listed. www.greergardens.com is a good reference as well, this is a nursery in Eugene, Oregon. Send an E-mail directly from that site to Harold for any questions.