Here are the hints and tips for lawn mowers. This includes push mowers, self-propel mowers, riding mowers, walk-behind mowers, roll trimming mowers and zero-turn mowers.
When you bought your mower, it came with an Owner’s Manual. If you bought it used, go online and get a digital copy of the Owner’s manual. Take 15 minutes and read on how to operate and maintain your unit. Make sure you write down your Model Number and Serial Numbers for your unit. Make sure you also write down the model number of your engine.
Do not cut grass when it is wet.
I know that sometimes that is the only time that you can, but when you cut your grass when it is wet, it causes all sorts of problems.
- Wet grass won’t cut right. There will be spots that won’t get cut at all because the blades were laying down with the weight of the water.
- Grass will stick to your tires and deck.
- On your tires, it will coat them with grass clippings and mud, which not only makes your tires lumpy and uneven, it makes it messy too.
- The grass will stick to the under side of your mowing deck. It becomes hard under there and hampers the proper air flow for the grass to be cut and set on it’s way. It also gets caked onto the deck and gets moldy. With the wet grass, both under your deck, and sitting on top of your deck, is the perfect environment for rusting out your deck. It can also get to the point that the blades won’t turn because the build up has gotten so bad that there is barely a rut in the hard packed grass clippings and dirt for the blades to turn. This puts excessive wear and tear on your blades, the mandrel assemblies, belts and your engine.
Before You Cut
At the beginning of the cutting season, once a month and any time after a heavy storm, walk your property. You know you property better than anyone. You know where that rock, root, stump, meter box, etc. that is in your yard that you may be able to just pass over with your mower. With time and weather, it seems like these obstacles rise up and all of a sudden, your mower hits it and you have problems with a bent blade, bent shaft, broken deck, etc. You need to double check your property to make sure that theses obstacles haven’t gotten worse. Grab a bag of dirt from Home Depot and pour the dirt around it so that it is safe to cut.
Also, if you have children or grandchildren around, walk the property first, before you cut to make sure you don’t find their favorite toy after you cut it up and maybe damage your mower too.
Fuel
Always use fresh gas. Using 100% pure gas is great, but you don’t have to. If you use 10% Ethanol gas, use mid-grade gas. Do not use any Ethanol gas more than 10%. If you read your Owner’s Manual, it will state that you should use at least 89 Octane. Gas starts loosing octane after 30 days. Only buy the gas that you will use in one month. If you store your gas in a gas can, make sure it is out of the sunlight and out of the elements. You don’t want water to get in your gas.
Oil
Always check your oil level before each use. This is so you can verify that you have the right amount of oil. You will be able to notice right away if you are loosing oil or if you have too much in your crankcase.
- If you don’t have enough oil in your engine, you can seize your engine, then you might as well replace the whole mower.
- If you have too much fluid in the crankcase, it could be that you put too much in, which is bad. It is like running in mud. It will put too much strain on trying to start/run. It could also mean that your carburetor is not shutting off the flow of gas correctly. Again, it is too much fluid in the crankcase and it dilutes the oil so it doesn’t lubricate the engine correctly.
Wheels
Make sure your wheels are all level. If you wheels aren’t level, then your lawn will show the errors. It will seem like one side is lower than the other, or maybe those rocks/stumps/roots/meter boxes that you could always safely pass over will now be hit by your blade and cause all sorts of expenses.
- On Push and Self-Propel mowers, make sure that all you wheels are on the same setting.
- On Riding and Zero-Turn mowers, make sure all your tires are properly inflated.
MAINTENANCE
Every Use
- Walk around unit to verify that everything looks fine.
- Verify that there aren’t any fluid leaks on ground under unit.
- Make sure tires are properly inflated, even if it is just by hand test.
- Use fresh gas.
- Check the oil level.
- Look at your engine to make sure you don’t see any oil or gas leaks or cracks.
Every Month
- Clean your air filter. If it is too dirty, replace it.
- Check your tire pressure on all your tires.
- Depending on how much you cut, you may want to sharpen your blades. A sharp blade will leave a better, cleaner cut. If you cut with dull blades, you aren’t cutting the blade of grass, you are tearing it and it will not look as nice.
Every Year
Get your mower serviced. (Sign up for our Winter Service Special and you will have this covered and save time and money too.)
- Change your oil and/or oil filter.
- Change your spark plug.
- Clean or change your air filter.
- Change your fuel filter.
- Properly inflate your tires. Check your valve stems for cracks.
- Sharpen your blades.
- Clean under the deck.
- Check your spindles.
- Check your belts.
- Lube your cables and zirk fittings.
- Check your RPM’s on your engine to make sure that it is running the way it should. Too slow and too fast is not good.
- Check your battery.
- Check your steering. You don’t want it too sloppy where your steering wheel moves all around and when you turn your wheel, your wheels don’t turn much.
STORAGE PROCESS
There are several different ways that you can store your unit when you know you aren’t going to be using it for 3 or more months, like over the winter. Some call it Winterizing, but it is the same process you can use on trimmers, chain saws, blowers, pressure washers, tillers, anything that is gas powered.
- Use Stabilizer in your gas. You can use Stabilizer in your gas year round and it won’t hurt anything. By using Stabilizer in your gas, it will help prevent the gas that is in the system from gelling up and causing carburetor issues when you go to use it again.
- Some people swear by just draining your gas out of your unit when you are storing it. That is fine, but there will still be some gas in the carburetor that can still cause trouble. You can drain it, then still try to start it. Don’t forget to prime it so you get the gas out of the primer bubble too.
- You can combine the first two by putting Stabilizer in your gas. Run it for around 5 minutes so it is distributed throughout the fuel system. Drain your gas. Prime it and try to start a few times to try to get as much gas out of the primer and carburetor as possible.
- To really hedge your bets so that when you need to use it again, use the Stabilizer in your gas. Run it for around 5 minutes so it is distributed throughout the fuel system. Then once a month, start it and run it for 5 minutes to get the gas moving.
- Any gas that you have left over when you put your unit in storage, get rid of the gas in a safe manner. Do not use it in your equipment when you start using it again.
When you use your unit again after it has been in storage, use FRESH gas. Gas that was purchased within the past 2 days.