It is important to know how to care for your lawn mower and maintain it easily. That will improve the performance and extend your lawn mower lifespan. The maintenance of a lawnmower is like your motorbike. You need to change the oil to get better performance, and check the diesel proportion of the engine and spark plug connection.
Similarly, your lawn mower needs this kind of caring and repairing while any services are desired. A well-maintained lawn mower that lasts longer and lowers the cost of your mower ownership. With proper use and care, your mower can last almost 10 to 15 years.
This article will discuss lawn mower care and how to maintain a mower step by step to get a desirable performance while ensuring your protection.
How can you make lawn mower maintenance a habit?
Lawn owners can keep one’s mower in excellent condition by developing a routine for per year maintenance. While the plant is actively growing, you need to perform some routine maintenance. In your daily routine, you can make a specific plan for the maintenance of your mower.
If you want to make your following year’s tasks easy, spend some time every time using the mower by taking care of it. You will be happy when you observe that your daily maintenance task or the mower of maintenance after use makes your job convenient. Your less time spent on care after a growing season reduces your time, labor, and costs for the next season. So, make it a habit alongside your daily tasks.
How to care for your lawn mower and maintain it?
1. Change lawn mower oil:
The working capacity of a lawn mower highly depends on changing the lawn mower’s oil regularly. This will improve performance, reduce costly repairs and extend engine life. The different lawn mowers have different oil capacities. Such as, a push mower has an oil capacity of 15 to 18 ounces and needs to be changed every 50 hours or annually. A riding mower has 48 to 64 ounces of oil capacity and needs to be changed every 100 hours or annually.
To change lawn mower oil properly, you can follow these steps:
- Disconnect the spark plug, before changing the oil.
- To allow oil to drain into a container, remove the drain plug. Otherwise, use an oil extractor in the absence of a drain plug.
- Add a new small engine to keep your mower running at its best through oil formulating. You need to be concerned about recycling old oil in considered conditions.
- If you are uncomfortable doing these steps, do that at local hardware stores for a pretty reasonable price.
2. Clean or Replace Your Air Filter:
You will find a filter in your lawn mower on the opposite side of the engine to fit forth the oil cap. There will be some sort of housing for air filters. You can find mainly two kinds of air filters. One is the paper air filter and another is the foam air filter.
The Paper air filter is replaceable, on the other hand, the foam air filter is cleanable. Paper ones are cheaper than foam and replaceable annually. Foam filters need to be cleaned 1-2 times per season. Replace or clean paper filters when they look dirty. Disconnect the spark plugs before removing the filters. After removing foam filters, wash them with soapy water and dry them thoroughly. Then, clean the filters with clean mower oil and reconnect the spark plugs.
3. Clean the mowing deck:
You should clean the mowing deck each time you finish cutting the deck. Cut grass, dirt, and debris spread on the top area above blades known as the mowing deck. Remove these particles before it is dried. Once it dries, it becomes incredibly hard and difficult to remove. It will be a very easy task for you if you clean your mowing deck after each cut. But you should do a thorough cleaning of your deck at the end of the growing season. Then, you can freely store your mower for the winter.
4. Blade maintenance:
It is a very important step to keep mower blades sharpened to work it orderly during mowing. A dull mower blade cuts the grass unevenly slightly which can make your lawn look dry. To get a desirable cut as you want, sharpen the blade regularly. Remove the spark plug then remove the mower blade from the lawn mower. With a grindstone or bench grinder, you can sharpen the blade keeping them at a 45-degree angle. Be sure to wear eye protection.
5. Change the spark plug annually:
At the beginning of the mowing season, replace the lawn mower spark plug once a year. It is a very easy process and low-cost maintenance. When your mower starts more slowly than before, you have to understand that you need to change the spark plug in this condition. First, disconnect the spark plug wire and then remove the existing spark plug with a wrench. You can write down the code on your existing plug to consult with the mower’s owner manual.
6. How to winterize the mower:
You have to maintain a few easy steps to get a hassle-free start-up in the spring.
- Empty the gas tank:
The remaining gas in the tank is responsible for the non-starting condition of a lawn mower. leaving gas turn to varnish and mucks up the engine. There are two ways for emptying the tank. One is, to run the mower until it’s dead after your last mow. Another is, siphoning it out into a container. When you have a lot of gas, siphoning is the best way to collect the fuel into a container.
- Disconnect the spark plug and wash it.
- Follow your mower manufacturer’s recommendation to refill the engine oil reservoir.
- Select a protected location to store your mower safely. Such as a garden shed or garage. But never store it in a damp place.
Additional tips to take care of a lawn mower:
- Dust, dirt, and debris can clog the external and internal parts of a carburetor and gradually decrease the performance of a lawn mower. The carburetor needs to clean up at least every two years.
- Check the condition of the wheels. Because molded wheels can spoil a mower’s performance and cause an imbalance situation while riding.
- Before mowing your lawn area, clean rocks or other particles that could hamper your mower.
- To maintain your lawn mower professionally, you can hire a lawn mower repair service to perform yearly maintenance and tune-up.
- If you have a riding lawn mower, change the fuel filter once a year.
Two-stroke vs Four-stroke:
Before getting into specific maintenance procedures, a brief discussion about the various mower engine types. Your machine has a 2-stroke or 4-stroke engine. The two-stroke engine is more powerful and lighter than a four-stroke engine. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to start, produces more pollution, and is noisier. A two-stroke lawnmower uses a combination of oil and natural gas in the same container for maintenance. Upon being knocked over, they’ll continue to run which will be dangerous for many homeowners.
Due to all of these factors, 4-stroke engines have largely taken over the retail market in the past ten years, even though two-stroke engines are still frequently found in large commercial mowers. If you’re not sure which engine type your vehicle has, just look for an oil dipstick or fill the tub. The following oil-related guidance is intended for four-stroke engines. A four-stroke mower is what you have if there is just one. Additionally, your pump nozzle will inform you; that if it has a two-stroke engine, it will show the oil-to-fuel ratio.
Warnings:
You must follow some precautions to protect yourself from any danger during maintaining a lawn mower.
- Be careful about old blades when changing them.
- Before taking any steps to repair, always remove the spark plug
- Some internal components will be warm at temperatures of 1200 °F. Don’t touch internal-blazing parts in this condition.
Conclusion:
Before mowing your lawn with your lawn mower, adjust all the parts of the machine. you need to be concerned about checking loose parts as well as inspecting the wheels. To get a desirable similar cut all over your lawn yard, ensure proper maintenance steps. Such as oil level, and blade sharpness. You won’t face any problems or disturbances while you run your mower.
If you are interested in tips for your lawn mower maintenance, follow the information given above. You can also see the manual instructions as a guideline.
