Summer Tips on Lawn Mower Care

It’s lawn-cutting time as if anybody has to be told. At this time, though, the home gardener realizes more than ever how important it is to have his mower in good working condition: In my travels I’ve been asked a number of times about the care of mowers, how to keep them in good condition, so I decided to ask a man who should really know at my local lawn mower shop.

When I dropped in on Al Huttar he was literally up to his neck in mowers that were waiting for repairs. But he graciously gave his time for what he termed as “the good of the cause.” Here’s what he had to say:

Competent Service

“Most troubles can be avoided if the people take their machines to a competent service man once a year. Like most service men, we prefer to have them in the winter when we have the time to work on them. In addition to sharpening, we fix a lot of minor things which often saves a lot of trouble when the spring comes.

“A good many ills could also be avoided if the mower owner would leave well enough alone and let a competent man make the major adjustments. You know, it’s very easy to ruin a good mower if for example – the reel blades don’t meet the cutting blade exactly right. This is nothing for the gardener to fool with. One adjustment the gardener can, and should, make is the height of cut. On reel mowers this is done by raising or lowering the roller – raise the roller to lower the cut. On rotaries, this adjustment is made by changing the position of the wheels.

Stop Tinkering

“The commonest cause of engine failure is definitely ‘tinkering.’ When a mower leaves the store it’s in good working condition; nine times out of ten it will stay that way if you don’t fool with it. I think more people would be happier with their power mower if they’d leave their screw driver and pliers inside when cutting the lawn.

“However, there are a lot of things you can do to keep the mower in good condition, although they may be a lot less glamorous than taking the carburetor apart.

Keep Mower Clean

“0ne thing you can do, even if you don’t know the first thing about machines, is to keep the mower clean. By this I mean that after you use it, remove any matted grass on the blade and also remove any grass that may have wound around the reel, wheels, etc.

“Also, I’ve yet to hear of any machine that was harmed by too much oil and grease in the right places. The instruction manual you get with the machine will tell you where you can oil and how often. If the manual is lost you can usually find it in PDF form at the manufacturers website.

“On gasoline engines you should frequently check to see that there is a little oil in the air filter. This is extremely important.

“It’s also important to check the oil in the crankcase, just as you do in your automobile. You may have to add some from time to time, but I don’t think you will have to change it but once a year.

2 Cycle Engines

“On two cycle engines, be sure there is the correct mixture of oil and gasoline. The best way to do this is to mix about 5 gallons at a time; this should be enough for the whole season. Be sure to use a clean can when filling your machine. We had one machine that came in so gummed up that the pistons wouldn’t move. We found out that the lady had used an old can for filling the gas tank. I don’t know what chemical reactions were involved, but boy what a mess that engine was in!

“It would be a good idea if you kept a spare spark plug around. Make sure, though, that it is the correct one for the engine. If the engine fails, try the new plug. If this doesn’t help, take it to a mechanic.

“Very briefly, that’s about it. By the way, how’s your mower working?”