How do you read an oil dipstick?

I'm trying to read the oil dipstick on my push lawnmower but I don't know how.





I honestly don't know what I'm looking for.





The oil is clear so how am I supposed to tell where it is on the dipstick?!





I have no idea if there is too much oil, too little oil, or what.





I put in half a quart of oil. Does that sound like too much?





My mower keeps stalling. I heard it does that from too much oil. Do I need to drain the oil and refill it?





It looks like there is some greasy oil all the way up the dipstick but I can't really tell. It's not at all obvious.How do you read an oil dipstick?
Oil should be checked after the motor has run for a minute, so it thins out and you get an accurate reading. Wipe the dipstick from top to bottom with a paper towel, then dip it and check the level. You will get a perfectley clear reading.How do you read an oil dipstick?
It's kinda hard to tell what exactly is wrong without seeing the lawnmower. My biggest question though is if your mower has a separate tank for oil and another for gas, or is it one tank that is supposed to have a mix of both? If it's just one tank, well then there's your problem; You were supposed to mix gas with oil. If the oil tank is by itself, there should be some cris-cross marks on your dipstick, and the oil level is supposed to be within those cris-cross marks. To read it, first wipe off the stick and then dip it into the oil so that the lid is all the way in place. When you pull it out you can read it by seeing where the big glob from the oil starts. There may be a thin smudge of oil along the whole stick depening on if the dipstick touches other surfaces when putting it in place, hence the looking for where the 'big glob' starts.
Well use your finger to figure out were the oil mark is at and i think half a quart of oil is too much because they dont need that much oil.