after thinking about what mountain man said,i thought about the abuse i have put my 5 ft. trail mower against, & it's always clean as a pin inside . i had an extra air filter, form the 13 hp briggs engine.it's folded like a media type central ac filter. i unfolded the element, scraped the gasket off, traced out a pattern from the stock foam element, cut it out, & put it in the filter housing. it filters much better, & breathes just as freely. plus if i unfold the whole filter( from the briggs filter, i should have enough for, oh i'd say about ten years.thanks for the ideas.