How to Maintain a Power Mower
It's important to maintain your lawn mower just like your passenger vehicle. Your mower will provide many years of quality use if you keep it maintained. You shouldn't need many tools to keep your mower maintained and the work isn't that hard.
Things You'll Need:
- Jack
- Jack Stands
- Owners Manual
- Oil Bucket
- Wrench
- Metal Files
- Wheel Wrench
- Change your oil on a regular basis. Mower motors are rated on the number of hours it has been used rather than miles. Refer to your mowers owners’ manual for how many hours you should wait until change the oil. All you should need to change the oil is a jack, jack stands, oil bucket and wrench. You should be able to find the right kind of oil for your motor at auto care or farm supply stores.
- Sharpen the blades whenever they become dull. A lot of factors determine how often blades become dull. Check the blades if you notice the grass not being cut efficiently.
- Clean underneath the deck every couple times you mow and especially after cutting wet grass. The grass will stick underneath the deck and could also cause inefficient cutting. A metal file should remove the grass fairly easily.
- Check the wheels to make sure the nuts are tightened. A regular wheel wrench should tighten the wheel nuts easily.
- Winterize your mower if you don't use it during the winter to plow snow by draining all the gasoline in the tank.