Lawn Mowers

I know people who change the oil in the car engines every 3000 miles religiously, however, when it comes to their lawnmowers, they rarely change the oil from year to year. They will not even think about changing the oil. Yet they expect their lawnmower to run each and every time they need it to cut the lawn. My neighbor has not changed the oil in his lawnmower in 3 years. It was black and full of sludge. I got him to change the oil and it even runs better now.

Many of the lawnmowers today are 4 cycle engines. This means that you do not mix oil with gasoline. They take regular unleaded gasoline. It also means that you must check the oil reservoir once and a while. Make sure that there is sufficient oil in the engine. Most new engines will not burn oil, so you should never see a drop in engine oil in a relatively new engine. Once your lawn mower engine is older and of course, this depends on how much lawn you actually cut each week, you might begin to see some oil usage. a good rule of thumb is to check the level of the oil each time you start the engine and part of your regular lawn mower maintenance routine.

Like any engine, the oil does its job of lubricating the engine and over time will become contaminated from combustion particles. A good indication of contaminated oil is that it begins to turn black and may even become relatively sluggish if it is left long enough.

Lawnmower Maintenance – Change the Oil

Basic lawn mower maintenance calls for the oil to be changed at a minimum once per year. Review the maintenance section of your manual to confirm how often you need to perform this level of maintenance. If you are unsure how to do this simple maintenance activity, the manual will also cover how to actually drain the oil. There are a few basic steps to follow, however, we strongly recommend you follow the steps in the manual:

• Run the engine for 5 or 10 minutes to warm up the engine
• Disconnect the spark plug wire before you do any work at all
• Locate the oil drain plug and place a flat pan underneath to catch the oil.
• Remove the oil plug and allow all of the oil to drain out
• Replace the drain plug
• Pour the recommended oil into the appropriate intake for oil on your engine
• Fill to the recommended level
• Reconnect the spark plug and run the engine for a few minutes to circulate the oil
• Shut the engine off, check the oil level once again and adjust the oil level appropriately

These step by step lawn mower maintenance procedures only take 10 to 20 minutes, will add years to your lawnmower engine life, and save you hundreds of dollars.

Lawnmower Maintenance – Sharpen Your Lawn Mower Blade

While you are changing the oil as part of your regular annual lawn mower maintenance routine, another excellent step to take is to sharpen your lawnmower blade as well.  You will need to actually remove your lawn mower’s blade from the engine shaft. Again follow the step by step guidelines in your manual and always make sure that the spark plug wire is disconnected before doing any of this work.

Once you have the blade off of your lawnmower, use a flat-file to sharpen the blade. You will see immediate results once you perform this function. Your old dull blade will rip the grass apart leaving jagged edges to the blades, while a sharp blade will actually cut the grass leaving a nice straight cut. If you have thick grass, your engine will not have to work quite as hard as well.

Dealing with Small Engine Repair Shops

If you are at all uncomfortable with doing this kind of work yourself, or perhaps do not have the tools to perform basic levels of lawn mower maintenance on your lawnmower, you can always take your lawnmower into a small engine repair shop.

These shops repair all types of small engines, including lawnmowers, snowblowers, weed whackers, and any other types of small engines that consumers use around the yard.

Many will have a standard charge for oil changes and blade sharpening. It is a good idea to go in early in the season if you would like your lawnmower worked on in time for the spring lawn cutting season. These guys get pretty busy at the beginning of the season when consumers go to start their lawnmowers the first time and encounter difficulty in starting their engines. They rush to the small engine repair shops along with everyone else and find they have to wait their turn.

If you can drop your lawnmower off in the fall after the season has ended, and before the snow comes, this may be another excellent time to arrange for basic maintenance to be completed. You can also request that all other aspects be checked as well. For example, the carburetor can be cleansed, gaskets replaced, a new spark plug installed and all systems checked to confirm it is ready for the next season.

Of course, this all costs money and it becomes a trade-off between paying for maintenance or repairs vs. purchasing a new lawnmower. I have maintained my own lawnmower for years and it is currently hitting the 30-year mark and still running well.

Clean Lawn Mower Housing

Another basic maintenance activity keeps the housing clean. Both the outside surface as well as the housing underneath. The grass can collect both on top as well as underneath and if it is moist at all can slowly over time eat away at the housing. Additionally, ( this actually happened to me) if grass builds up close to the exhaust, it can start to smoke or even start on fire. My lawnmower was smoking and I could not figure out why. I thought initially it had blown the piston ring and was burning oil. Actually, grass had caught fire and was smoldering, creating a lot of blue smoke. So keep the housing clean and free of grass!!!

For more information on this topic, click here.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.