Oil Change Trough

Changing the oil in your walk-behind lawnmower, snowthrower and other outdoor machines can be messy and a pain to clean up. But this reader has a simple solution:

You won’t spill a drop of used oil on the ground or on the machine if you make a trough to guide it into the waste pan. Cut a small piece of cardboard and bend it to form the trough. Then tip the machine to drain the oil. I usually use a bacon box or cereal box and it works great! — Doug Simenson

You could use a regular piece of brown cardboard, too, but the glossy coating on the outside of cereal boxes and similar product packaging tends to keep the oil from soaking through as quickly.