Garden Tractor Maintenance

Hi, my name is Jeremy Van Dam. I have been in a lawn care service for ten years doing everything from keeping the lawn pristine to maintaining the equipment. Learning to maintain equipment will help keep your lawn looking clean and neat, and your lawnmowers going on from season to season. Today, I will show you some basic maintenance on your mowers in 6 easy steps. Learning how to maintain equipment will save you over $200 over the lifetime of your equipment and your curb appeal looking as good as the day you bought it.

First, place block of wood so that the block will catch inside the deck and create a resistive force against the socket. Most bolts attaching blades are right turn thread. Next, place the socket wrench in so that the socket turns to the left. Then turn the socket to the left until you can loosen by hand. Remove the bolt and blade, then hand-tighten the bolt on so that it can’t be misplaced.

Next, turn the bench grinder on and let it reach full rpm. On the inside of the blade, the one that is not curved at the end, gently put the blade on the grinder and move along the edge of the blade so as to not leave deep grooves in the blade.

After the blades are sharpened, grab the chisel and try to loosen the chunks that have filled up since the last time it was cleaned. Clean the deck to the best of your ability. Turn the deck around and clean off the top side, especially underneath the pulleys. The chunks are the result of high moisture grass that has been thrown into the sides of the deck which can cause the deck to rust out prematurely or cause the exhaust to become clogged. It is always helpful to clean under pulleys on your decks so that the pulleys can spin more freely and not cause a possible fire.

Next, to reattach the blades, use the block and socket again. Have the blade with the curve side facing the top of the deck. Tighten the bolt down till it is tight against the blade and does not wobble. Some brands of mower have different blades that have patterns on their blades to make it so that only their type can be used. Place the correct blade in place so that the blade is locked in place.

After the blades are attached, find the zerks on the machine and clean them. Most grease zerks on lawn mower are set at 50 hours which mean that every fifty hours you need to apply more grease into the zerk. Clean the zerk with a paper towel, attach the gun and pump at least five pumps. On your average riding mower, you will have a grease zerk on the front axle where the joint moves on each wheel. All grease zerks are noted on owners' manuals and along with location, also comes the schedule for when the zerk needs grease.

Finally, when everything else is done, it is time to change the oil. First, let the mower run for a few minutes so the oil and engine are warm and drains easier. Next, check the owner’s manual to see what oil is required for the engine. Locate drain plug, place used oil pan underneath the plug, unscrew the plug and let the oil drain out. Wait ten minutes then screw the plug back in. If present, change oil filter. Refill the adequate oil into the oil pan, do not overfill. Now that the oil is changed, everything should be ready to go.