We're near the end of the mowing season, and I'm going to talk about lawn mower maintenance. Hopefully by now you have completed your fall lawn upkeep which you can find in my "It's Fall, Think Spring" post.
You don't want to put the mower away too soon because you want to make sure that before the lawn goes dormant for the winter, that you have it at a shorter height (2 1/2") to avoid fungus and snow mold come next spring. However, once you have made that last cut you want to take care of these 7 steps before putting your mower into winter hibernation. Please note that this is for 4-cycle engines.
1. Empty your gas tank: There are a couple options here for you. If you have too much gas in your tank you may want to siphon the gas out of the tank and then turn it on and let the engine run until the gas runs out, which is the other option if you don't have a whole lot of gas left in the tank. Regardless of which route you choose, you will want to run your engine for a bit to thin the oil, so when you change your oil (step 2) you get more of the old oil out of the crank case.
2. Drain the Oil: I have a Toro 22" Recycler lawn mower, so I don't have an oil plug at the bottom of my mower, so I have to tip my mower on its side to drain the oil into a pan or recyclable container. Some lawn mower's have a plug on the bottom and may require removal of the mower blade.
3. Remove the Blade (if you haven't done so already): Take a puddy knife or a wire brush and clean any grass and/or dirt that may be caked onto the bottom of the mower. This will help prevent rust and also allow a clear path for your mower blade to move.
4. Sharpen or Replace the mower blade: If your blade has damage and the dings/chips cannot be sanded out, it is time to replace the blades. If there are minor chips that can be easily sanded out, you will want to sharpen your blades. Blades that are dull or dinged up will not cut properly and could do unwanted damage to your grass. Whenever you have sharpened or replaced your blade, put them back onto your lawn mower.
5. Change your air filter: A dirty air filter does not allow your engine to burn gas efficiently, so you will want to make sure you have the air filter replaced or cleaned.
6. Replace your Spark Plug: They're not expensive, so for just a couple dollars, a new one will give you peace of mind that your lawn mower will start come next spring. Take your socket wrench and remove the old one, and plug in your new one and then tighten it.
7. Fill with fresh oil: Once all of these steps are completed, you can fill your engine with SAE30 oil.
There you have it, come next spring you will be happy you took care of these steps now as opposed to having a lawnmower that doesn't start and then paying someone to repair it.
