Maintaining Your Lawn Mower

Double the life of your mower by following this simple routine:
• Before you begin to mow, check the lawn for stones, tools, branches, or other objects. Running over a toy can turn it into a missile. Running over a root or stone can severely damage your mowing machine.
• Clean your mower after each use. For a push mower, keep a brush handy for the task. For cleaning gas or electric power mowers, a blast from your garden hose under the carriage will do the trick. Disconnect the spark plug before you begin, wait until the engine is cool, and avoid getting the engine or spark plug wet. If you forget to clean it once or twice, you may need a scraper to loosen the dried accumulations.
• To prevent the engine from overheating and becoming damaged, use a long-bristle brush or stick to clear debris that has been caught between the engine’s cooling fins after each use.
• Keep the engine housing and all mechanical connections clean. A rag and an old toothbrush simplify this task. Lubricate cables where they enter and exit cable sheathing to keep them from getting stuck and breaking.
• Change oil according to your manual or after every 25 hours of use. To get to the oil drain plug, usually located under the mower carriage, prop your mower on concrete blocks. Catch the dirty oil in an oil pan so that you can take it to your recycling center. If your engine has an oil filter, change that as well.
• Change or clean the air filter according to the instructions in your manual. Simply replace a paper filter with a new one; clean the filter housing and insert the filter, pleat-side up. If your filter is foam, soak the new filter in oil and squeeze out excess with a rag before inserting it.
• When you put away your mower or lawn tractor for the winter (or your snowblower for the summer), siphon out most of the fuel and then run the equipment until the tank is dry. You can use the leftover gasoline that you siphon out in your auto as long as it has not been mixed with oil.