products including lawn mowers,Lawn Mower Slope Operation
Lawn mowers are machines and like any machine care should be taken at all times when they are being operated. This post is focused on using a lawn mower while cutting the lawn on a slope and steps you should take to protect yourself and others from an accident. Lawn Mower Slope Operation can be very dangerous at all times, however when you are on a slope trying to mow the lawn, the operator is in an awkward position and the lawn mower is also in an awkward position. This can lead to serious accidents if care is not taken. It is easy to slip and fall and the lawn mower can slide backwards if you are going up slope for example.
Slopes are a major factor related to slip and fall accidents which can result in severe injury. Operation on slopes requires extra caution and if you feel uneasy on a slope because of the angle or grade, then do not mow it. For your safety, some manuals will come with a slope gauge which you should use to help you decide on whether you should mow the slope before operating this unit on a sloped or hilly area. If the slope is greater than 15°, do not operate your lawn mower on it, since there is a high probability that you will slip and fall.
Lawn Mower Slope Operation – Do’s
Mow across the face of slopes; never up and down. Exercise extreme caution when changing direction on slopes. this gives you much more control of your footing and also the lawn mower.
Watch for holes, ruts, rocks, hidden objects, or bumps which can cause you to slip or trip. Tall grass can hide obstacles.
Always be sure of your footing. One slip and fall can cause serious personal injury that may be made worse depending what happens to the lawn mower. If you feel you’re losing your balance, released lawn mower control immediately, which will stop the engine and blade rotating within 3 seconds.
Do Not:
Do not mow near drop offs,ditches or embankments, you could lose your footing or balance. Better to use a weed eater than a lawn mower in these conditions.
Do not mow slopes greater than 15° as shown on the slope gauge. These slopes are just too sharp to mow the lawn safely.
Do not mow on wet grass. Unstable footing could cause slipping.
Children
Tragic accidents can occur if the operator is not alert to the presence of children. Children are often attracted to the lawn mower in the mowing activity. They do not understand the dangers. Never assume that children will remain were you last saw them.
Keep children away from the mowing area and under the watchful care of a responsible adult other than the operator.
Be alert and turn the lawnmower off if the child enters the area.
Before and while moving backwards, look behind and down for small children.
Use extreme care when approaching blind corners, doorways, shrubs, trees, or other objects that may obscure your vision of a child who may run into the lawn mower.
Keep children away from hot or running engines. They can suffer burns from a hot muffler.
Never allow children under 14 years old to operate a lawn mower. Children 14 years old and older should read the operation instructions and safety rules in this manual. They should be trained and supervised by a parent.
Always prevent people and animals from approaching the lawn mower from the exhaust side or discharge side to avoid being hit by debris from the lawn mower.
Lawn Mower Slope Operation – Summary
These are a few simple and straightforward guidelines to help keep you and your family safe. Additional comments and suggestions are more than welcome, especially if they will keep our readers safe. Spam comments are auto deleted.
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August 21st, 2012 at 4:40 pm
this is really serious stuff. be very careful mowing lawns on a slope. I almost cut my leg off doing this when i was cutting the lawn on wet grass on a slope. it is really not worth it if you have an accident.