The bulk of yard work for the year is just about finished! But before you stow away your lawn equipment, it is important to follow these maintenance tips to ensure you’re ready to go when spring comes around.
Proper maintenance on your lawn equipment helps prevent any problems down the road, ultimately extending the life of your equipment. Let’s start with the most used tool – the lawn mower.
Much like a car, your lawn mower requires some tune-ups. Allowing your lawn mower to sit for long periods of time without proper preparation can lead to gas evaporating and clogging the fuel lines and carburetor. We advise adding a fuel stabilizer to the tank and flushing out the gas. To do so, add the fuel stabilizer to the tank and run the engine. Meanwhile, flush out the gas tank until your lawn mower shuts off. This ensures that the lines are empty.
The blades of your mower are key to a healthy-looking lawn. With the mower turned off, carefully remove the blades and inspect their condition. Ensure that the blades are not rusted or chipped and sharpen if necessary. Clean the blades before reinstalling. Similarly to a knife, dull blades can do more damage than sharp ones. Guarantee a close and precise cut with sharpened blades.
Your lawn mower may have endured mud, pebbles, leaves, and pounds of grass over the past spring and summer seasons. With your mower flipped on its side, rinse and clean the undercarriage of your mower with hot, soapy water. Clean and wipe away any dirt and grime and allow your mower to dry before stowing away.
Give your lawn mower a chance to breathe! Similarly to your car, changing the air filter will keep your engine from getting suffocated and causing issues when attempting to start. Replacement filters can often be found at your local hardware store. However, cleaning the filter is another option. Let the filter completely dry before reinstalling.
With your other lawn equipment (shovels, weed eaters, rakes, etc.), it is important to clean them as well to prevent contamination and the spread of lawn and tree diseases. Give your tools a good rinse and scrub! Remove any soil, sap, grass clippings, rust, or other remnants, and allow your tools to dry before stowing away. Inspect and replace any internal parts if necessary.
Following these steps will help prevent possible corrosion while stowed away. As deterioration is the main cause of lawn equipment malfunctioning in the coming year, we strongly encourage taking the time to winterize your outdoor equipment and tools!
Read our recent blogs for further tips on how to prepare your lawn for the winter:
Prepping Your Lawn for Cooler Temps
The Importance of Winterization
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