Keep mower humming

WICHITA, Kan. — If Eric Otte’s guess is right, about half of us haven’t done much in the way of lawnmower maintenance in a while.

If the mower works, we keep pushing it. If it stops, it’s into the shop. Or time to buy a new one.

Otte is a Sedgwick County, Kan., extension agent for 4-H youth development who helps teach a lawnmower clinic for kids each spring break.

He figures that most people who do any maintenance of their mowers limit it to changing the air filter and maybe buying a new spark plug, while fewer of them also change the oil before starting up in the spring.

If you think you’d like to start paying a little more attention to your lawnmower — but not a lot — here’s a checklist to help you get started.

Where’s the manual?

It seems that a manual is more helpful when it comes to mowers than with some of the other equipment we use around the house.

Otte suggests placing yours in a big manila envelope marked LAWNMOWER MANUAL and placing it in a file drawer, or putting it in the garage. If organizing owner’s manuals is an across-the-board problem, get a three-ring binder and three-hole punch your manuals, placing all of them in the binder.

It may gather dust there, he says, but when you need it you can find it.

If it’s too late and you can’t put your hands on the mower manual, look for the make and model number of the lawnmower and see if the company has a Web site where you might be able to download a manual. Or go to the store where you bought the mower, or a specialty lawnmower shop, and see if someone there can help.

You can usually find a model number on the engine as well, usually on a small plate up around the cylinder head or on a shroud that can be removed, Otte said. Most lawnmower engines are made by Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh.

When you go shopping for parts, you should have the model numbers for both the mower and the engine.

How to test the blade

To tell whether your lawnmower blade needs to be sharpened, take a look at the grass after you have mowed it. If it’s clean-cut, the blade is OK. If it looks as if someone has pulled the grass off at the edges and they are jagged, it’s time to get the blade sharpened.

Otte doubts that most people sharpen their own blades. Not only do you need a grinder or have to file it by hand, you need to be able to balance the blade. There are inexpensive balancers that can be purchased for the purpose, Otte said.

Taking the blade to a store for a machine balance and sharpening should cost less than $10. You can either haul the whole mower off to the shop to have the blade sharpened or you can save a couple of bucks if you remove the blade yourself.

Remember to disconnect the spark plug before touching anything on the mower, but especially before removing the blade.

“I would say the average person who had a socket set could take that blade off without fear of hurting themselves or damaging things,” Otte said.

Some factors influencing how often the blade needs to be sharpened are the size of the lawn, how often you mow and how well you pick up the yard before you mow.

Look at the wheels

Another area that bears scrutiny is the drive wheels of a walk-behind self-propelled mower, Otte said. They can wear out and need to be replaced. They can be either the front or back wheels — check that owner’s manual.

If it seems that when you engage the drive mechanism the wheels spin, or you have to push the mower a little to get it started, the drive tires may need to be replaced. Look at the tires for the presence of tread bars as well. If the tires are balding — you know.

Other basics

Tim Lowery of Olathe, Kan., not only maintains his lawnmower properly but waxes it. He works at AES Lawnparts. If you’d like to take your maintenance to the next level, he gives some other maintenance basics:

• If you didn’t drain the fuel last fall, do it now. Lowery says AES Lawnparts recommends putting the leftover gas in your vehicle’s tank, as long as oil isn’t mixed in with the gas.

• If you do nothing else, change the oil and replace the air filter.

“If you neglect those two things, you’re asking for trouble,” Lowery says. You can clean the air filter with soap and water for foam filters or compressed air for element filters.

Jim Platt, owner of Northland Feed in Kansas City, recommends cleaning the air filter every three to four mowings if your yard is dusty.

• Replace the spark plug(s). Make sure the threads don’t cross when installing the new one. “Take your time,” Lowery says. “You don’t want to force it or you’ll blow the plug out.”

• Inspect the bolts, chains and belts on the mower. The belts should not be checkered or cracked. The chains might need lubrication. Make sure the wheels and handles are tight.

• Using either a putty knife or water, clean the dried dirt, grass and other gunk under the deck. If you use water, Platt recommends running the mower for a minute afterward to dry off the engine.

If you prefer a pressure washer, Lowery recommends noting the model numbers from the stickers on the engine and mower. Pressure washers can blow those stickers completely off. If you lose the sticker, you’ll have trouble finding replacement parts.

• Finally, lubricate. Look in the owner’s manual to find the grease zerks, if the mower has them. The areas in need of oil might be obvious because of the surrounding black stains. Check the steering area and where the blades attach.

Or, you could save yourself time by taking the mower to a shop for spring cleaning ($50 to $80, not including parts).

Before you begin

Remove the keys before messing with a riding mower.

With push mowers, you MUST disconnect the spark plug before maintenance. Push mowers rev up from force exerted on the blade when the cord is pulled. When you move the blade with your hand, you are setting in motion the start process.

If you don’t know how to disconnect the spark plug, check the owner’s manual or call your local parts store.

Be safe

Gas-powered lawnmowers can be dangerous. They create hot exhaust fumes. Their blades spin 2,000 to 4,000 times per minute, so they can turn small toys and garden debris into deadly missiles.

U.S. safety experts estimate that lawnmower accidents severely injure 75,000 people a year, said Bruce Chladny, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.

Minor accidents could easily number in the millions.

“Mechanical failure accounts for a very small percentage of those injuries,” Chladny said. “To me, that suggests none of us ever becomes too old or too experienced to brush up on what’s involved in safe mowing.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children not be allowed to operate a walk-behind mower until they’re 12 and not be able to use a riding lawnmower until they’re 16.