Let’s face it: some people are naturally very mechanically savvy and are more than capable of repairing or servicing their own mower. Other people, like me, are not mechanically minded and rely on experts to spin the spanners when required.
Regardless of which type of person you are there are some very basic things you can do to protect your investment that will really help extend the lifespan of your mower and help keep maintenance costs down.
1). Get Your Mower Serviced as Per the Recommended Schedule
It may sound obvious but it needs to be noted that manufacturers have recommended service intervals for a reason, and there is no logical reason to skip this important step. A very common recommendation is that a ride on mower should be serviced at a dealership every 50hrs or once every 12 months, whichever comes first. Even if you haven’t done a huge amount of hours a yearly service interval is important because things such as oils have a shelf life and may still need to be replaced. However a service will entail much more than just an oil and filter change, a good workshop will be working through a large list of specific check-points and will advise any recommendations for repairs or replacements.
Ideally this service will be done at a dealership that represents your specific brand of mower, because just like cars, a certain brand or model of mower will have its own idiosyncrasies that a factory-trained mechanic will be very familiar with.
The beauty of relying on the dealership to perform regular service work is that it mostly removes the burden from you. It means you can relax knowing your machine has been treated the way it’s meant to be and you have set yourself up for stress-free mowing by keeping on top of preventative maintenance, allowing you to catch problems before they become problems.
2). Keep Your Mower Clean
In my opinion this is the easiest part of owning a mower, and it makes the biggest difference to the overall lifespan of your machine, yet it’s the step that people most often skip.
When I say keep it clean, I do not mean to spend hours polishing every scratch out of it. I simply mean to spend a few minutes after each mow doing a general clean up to avoid layers of grass clippings or debris from building up. What typically happens is people finish their mow, park the mower in the shed covered in grass and don’t think about it again until its time to get it out for the next mow. The problem with this is that over time layers of grass and debris will pile up in all kinds of sensitive areas of the mower and will eventually turn to rust, or cause other problems like damage to belts or pulleys or blockages of discharge chutes etc.
Often times the best way to clean a mower is simply using air. If you have access to a compressor with an air-gun this is ideal because you can blow most of the clippings away without needing to introduce water. A leaf blower can also do a pretty good job of cleaning out those hard to reach places.
Sometimes though, especially on the underside of the deck, water is the only way to really clean out that built-up grass. Using a water blaster or steam cleaner on your mower is generally fine and very common, but there are 2 main rules with this: 1) Avoid using water when your mower is hot, as hot bearings can suck a bit of water and cause problems later on. Let your mower cool down for an hour or so before getting the hose out. 2). Don’t force water where water shouldn’t go, stand back a small way when hosing down the engine and other sensitive areas of the mower.
Many mowers have a way to open up the body in one way or another to allow more access for cleaning, such as lifting the seat or in some cases lifting the entire body up to expose the engine. Your mower specialist will help you out here.
3). Keep Your Air Filter Clean
If you are not familiar with engines then this step might sound very mechanical, but it’s actually extremely easy and is really no different to cleaning your vacuum-cleaner filters which most people are familiar with.
Engines require air to work. This air gets sucked in to the engine via a filter which is designed to stop dust, dirt and debris from entering the engine while still allowing a certain volume of air to pass through. Naturally this filter becomes dirtier and dirtier over time and if it’s left to get completely smothered then air will no longer pass freely through and you will soon notice a decrease in performance. A clean air filter will allow the engine to make use of the full power it was designed for, and will result in a better quality mow for you.
Equally importantly, the air filter is the first stage of defense for your engine so keeping it clean is just good insurance. Sometimes an air filter can become worn enough that it must be replaced with a new one, your workshop will advise you of this.
Most mower air filters can be cleaned within a few seconds and without any tools, so there’s no reason to avoid doing it. This is especially important during the summer months when dust is much more of a problem.
4). Have Your Blades Sharpened Regularly
The condition of the blades on your mower will make a dramatic difference to your mowing experience. Straight, sharp blades allow the grass to be cut easily and evenly leaving behind the best possible finish. Bent or dull blades will instead break the grass, which leads to a very unhealthy lawn and a noticeably un-even finish.
Sharpening or replacing your blades is usually fairly straight forward, and it is the only point on this list that does require some tools. But your dealer will take care of this at each service so as long as you are sticking to point #1 then you can often avoid needing to do this yourself.
So there you have it, 4 super easy steps to take care of your ride-on mower and ensure a hassle-free mowing season.
Remember that a lawn mower is subject to very harsh environments and we are asking quite a lot from this piece of equipment. Taking small regular steps to care for your mower will make a huge difference to the longevity of the mower, and more importantly will help prevent those rage-inducing breakdowns when you are mid-mow on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Do yourself a favour and team up with a good mower specialist who can help walk you through all of these points and answer any questions you might have.