This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of TRUFUEL® for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
6 Steps to Start of Season Lawnmower Maintenance #TruPros
Early Spring before the flowers begin to bloom and the grass begins to grow, is a perfect time to get your lawnmower in tip-top shape to carry you through the next 2 seasons. Below are the tasks I like to perform on my lawnmower before it takes its first cut through my newly awakened lawn in the Spring.
Change the Oil – Lawnmower oil should be changed around every 30 hours or so, but it’s a safe bet to just change it once per year. Changing your lawnmower’s oil is simple and quick. For most mowers, the process goes like this: (1) Unscrew the oil dip-stick. (2) Tip the mower on its side to drain the oil into a container. (3) Wait a minute or two to allow all the oil to drain. (3) Rest the mower back on its wheels. (4) Change the oil filter if it has one ( most mowers don’t). (5) Grab a funnel and pour new oil into the dipstick tube.The owner’s manual should specify the oil capacity, but if you don’t have the manual, just go slow and keep checking the level with the dipstick. That’s it! Replacing the oil in your lawnmower will help insure that your mower’s engine lasts for years.
Check the air filter – Some people replace their air filters yearly. I usually just check mine to make sure it’s not overly dirty or clogged with large debris. If it’s visibly dirty, it’s best to replace it. If it just has a few bugs in it, tap the debris out with your hand and place it back into the air filter box.
Check the spark plug – if the mower starts after one to three pulls every time, and runs smoothly, your spark plug is probably just fine. If your lawnmower runs roughly, or is difficult to start, check the spark plug. It could be worn out or fouled up with carbon. Make sure it’s clean, not black or has a worn out electrode. Replace if necessary.
Check the blade – After a full season of grass mowing, most blades need sharpening or replacing. My blade pictured above is dull, dinged, and done! I need to sharpen it. Sharpening a lawnmower blade is easy if your handy. However, if you don’t want to screw up your blade by running it out of balance, or you don’t have the tools or energy, go buy a replacement blade. You can get one for around $20. Your lawn and lawnmower will thank you for it.
Fill it with premium TRUFUEL®– TRUFUEL® is a high octane, Ethanol-free premixed fuel that contains synthetic lubricants and advanced stabilizers to keep your lawnmower and other yard equipment running its best for years to come. The Ethanol found in the gasoline at our gas stations is destructive to most small engines. It attracts moisture to itself, allowing water to accumulate in your mower’s gas tank, which causes corrosion, hard starts, nasty exhaust, and rough idling.
Ethanol also corrodes most plastic fuel lines and internal engine parts over time, decreasing the lifespan of our investments. TRUFUEL® comes in 32 oz cans, that you simply un-cap and pour into the gas tank.
Obviously, I use the 4-cycle formula for my lawnmower, but TRUFUEL® also comes premixed for 2-cycle engines at both 50:1 and 40:1 ratios. Super convenient, and super quality fuel for optimum performance!
Clean it – After months of pushing and pulling my lawnmower through my .25 acres of lawn, it gets pretty dirty. I like to give it a good spraying with cleaner/degreaser and hose off the loose dirt and grime. It keeps the paint looking sharp and protects against corrosion. Plus, it’s more gratifying to be pushing around a clean, sparkling mower, rather than a dusty, grimy one.Aside from any other obvious issues that might need fixing, completing the 6 tasks above will get you off to a trouble-free grass mowing season! Be sure to skip the gas station this season, and fill your 2 or 4 cycle engines with TRUFUEL®. It is the smarter choice for fueling your lawn mowers, generators, snow blowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws, and more! Plus, TRUFUEL® has a shelf life of 5 years and will not separate or damage your equipment in the off seasons.
Check out this video:
My husband would pay someone to do this for him before he would ever do it himself LOL.
We always forget the air filter- luckily we use an electric mower (rather than gas) so some of the upkeep is considerably less. We do try to keep the blade taken care of though.
Thank you. Rodney is out doing our now and I sent him to get Trufuel. Your right the ethanol kills and you spend forever fixing lawnmowers. No more I have our scheduled list of take care of’s and Rodney’s great about doing it.
These are some great tips. I’ll have to share them with my husband since he’s the one who mows the lawn. My husband is pretty good about cleaning things and keeping them well. He works on vehicles, so he makes sure everything is in great shape. :)
So THAT’S what my husband is doing out there with the lawn mower every year. It’s practically like giving a car a tune up.
At the end of every mowing season, my husband runs the mower until it’s out of gas. At the beginning of every season, he does a thorough run down on the entire engine and changes the oil. The mechanic in him is so happy!
I think my husband could really use this article! It seems when he “fixes” things, something else on it breaks, or he ends up with “extra” pieces at the end! Or maybe with tis article I could tackle the job myself!
Whoa, doing these never even crossed my mind. Ours sat out in the snow all winter too, I bet it needs some TLC before summer.
I honest to god didnt know there was such a thing as lawnmower maintenance. I’ll bet after sitting all winter though I better get some tru fuel and make sure everything is in good working order.
If it wasn’t for my husband, I swear I wouldn’t know either!
These seem like some great tips for taking care of your lawnmower. We have a service to mow for us as we do not own a lawnmower.
I will be checking this out! We replaced the spark plugs last year and want our mower to last a long time, now!
This is so funny, just the other day, Hubby was telling me that he had to get the mower ready for summer. This is a great post. Thanks for sharing.
Ugh. We have to take our blades off of our riding lawn mower and replace them at least once a year, plus just plain clean under there. That thing sure gets abused. We keep having to mow the hay field down because it takes me forever to mow our whole lawn.
I know my dad used to mow his farm and it was an all day process!
Just yesterday it took my boyfriend an hour to get the mower started. It’s still acting funky. I’ll need to show this to him.
It’s crazy the amount of people I know that don’t realize they need to maintain their mower. It’s alot cheaper than buying a new one every two years!
Great list of lawn mower maintenance to do!! I would be clueless as to how to maintain a lawnmower.
It’s definitely about that time of year again. I love the smell of fresh cut grass.
I wish I had a lawn to mow. The only thing I can grow in my yard seem to be weeds.
These are great tips. Mower tune ups are year round for us here in AZ!
I will pass this information along to my husband. Thanks for sharing!
We are actually going to be buying our very first lawn mower this spring, and I’m totally intimidated!! I’m going to have to share this information with my hubby so he knows how to take care of it.
great tips!!! it won’t be long until i need to get ours out. i will be saving this for later.
These are great tips for getting your lawnmower ready for summer. I am lucky i do not have to cut the lawn here at my new house. It is all done for me.
sounds like great stuff! We do not cut our lawn, our association does it for us.
I have taken to putting a little fuel line cleaner in the can every time I fill it at the station. Also, coming up on winter I add Stabil to the gas in all three mowers and keep the tanks full. Once a month or so I start and let them run about 5 minutes. Doing that also keeps the internal parts “wet” as oil will settle over time of no activity. The oil gets changed in the Fall and the blades get sharped. Air filters are cleaned or replaced as well. I am so over fighting machines that wont start after sitting dormant the entire winter and of gummed up carburetors. I have the option in this area of buying unadulterated fuel right at the pump.