Most homeowners have a lawnmower and lawnmower maintenance is a topic most are wondering about. A great-looking lawn starts with keeping the mower in tip-top condition. Sharp blades and a well-performing engine are a big part of maintaining a beautiful, healthy lawn. It’s also key to ensuring your lawn mower will last as long as possible – possibly as long as 10-15 years. Regular maintenance on your lawnmower, particularly its engine, will extend your lawn mower’s life and help it work its best all season long.

You can either tune-up your lawnmower yourself or hire a lawnmower service expert to take care of it professionally. Either way, lawn mower maintenance is something that should be done at least once a year and will only take a few hours to complete. Read on to learn how to properly maintain your lawnmower and extend its life.

When to Perform Lawn Mower Maintenance

Lawnmower maintenance can be done at any time of the year. The best times for it are at the beginning or the end of the season. The end of the mowing season is an ideal time to perform annual lawnmower maintenance because there are certain things you should do if the equipment goes unused for months at a time. By performing maintenance and winterizing your lawnmower in the fall, you’ll be able to get mowing right away when spring arrives and be less likely to cause damage to your mower’s engine or lawn from dull blades or malfunctioning parts.

Annual Lawn Mower Maintenance Checklist

Use this checklist to make sure you’re doing everything needed to keep your lawnmower running at its best:

• Change the oil
• Add fuel stabilizer to the fuel system, or remove all fuel from the mower if discontinuing mower use for more than 30 days
• Replace the spark plug
• Replace and clean the air filter
• Sharpen the lawnmower blades
• Balance the lawnmower blades
• Keep the mower clean
• Fog the engine

Tips for Lawn Mower Maintenance

Many people opt to take their mowers to a professional for lawn mower service at the beginning or end of the mowing season, but plenty of people perform their own maintenance. Caring for a lawnmower can be a messy and time-consuming process, but it’s a necessary evil. Here are some tips for you.

1. Get familiar with the owner’s manual. The last thing you want to do is cause damage to your lawnmower, so make sure you understand how to care for it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. These instructions are provided to make sure your mower runs as long as possible.
2. Disconnect or remove the spark plug. You’ll want to replace the spark plug annually to make sure your mower starts up easily, but taking it out at the beginning of maintenance is also a good idea for safety as it prevents the mower from being started accidentally.
3. Drain the gasoline out if it’s the end of the season. Either run the mower’s engine until the remaining gas is all used up or drain it out, and begin with new gasoline in the spring. Old gas can keep your mower from starting.
4. Clean the lawnmower. To aid in performance, clear out all the grass and any other debris that’s become caked on the undercarriage during the mowing season.
5. Replace or top up the oil. Consult the owner’s manual to learn how to change lawn mower oil correctly and the proper type of oil for your lawnmower. Change the oil in your mower if it is old or contaminated; drain it out and replace it with new oil.   Make sure to dispose of the oil properly. Most towns have oil recycling centers available for free.
6. Clean or replace the air filter. A clean air filter helps your mower work at peak efficiency. Follow the owner’s manual for specific directions on installing a replacement air filter.
7. Sharpen and balance the blades. Even if your lawn is relatively clear from branches, rocks, and foreign objects, the blades will wear down over time. You can sharpen the blades yourself, but this is one step that is generally better left to the lawnmower service professionals unless you’ve mastered the technique.
8. Fog the engine.  If your mower will be sitting idle during the winter, the lubricants in the engine can drain away over time, and then the water in the air can cause corrosion and damage to occur. Fogging oil can help prevent this from happening. Check your owner’s manual to see if your lawnmower needs engine fogging, and be careful to follow the directions exactly.

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Instead, consider hiring a professional mowing service and let them take care of all of that. You get fast service with great results, a beautiful lawn without the sweat, and all the trouble of maintaining it. You also save money having to buy a mower, not to mention having it take up space in your garage.

Looking for good and reliable lawn mowing service near you? Contact us if you live in Benicia, Vallejo, or American Canyon.