F5 HOW-TO: Preseason lawnmower tune-up

LAWNMOWER HOW-TO: F5 tune-up guide from Dan Conover on Vimeo.

I've been mowing grass on the cheap since the Ford administration, which means I've brought home some epically cruddy lawnmowers. Some I got for free and nursed back to "health." Others I bought and then couldn't give away. I've had mowers that went BANG and then fell forever silent, power-assisted mowers with bad attitudes, mowers with strange wheel-base set-ups and mowers with what could best be described as perpetual head-colds.

And what have I learned from all this? Two things:

1. Change your oil once a year;
2. The hand file you use to sharpen your mower blade is properly referred to as a "bastard" file. This has something to do with the pattern on the file itself. Seriously.

This week's Friday 5 is meant to help you get your lawnmower ready for the grass-growing season ahead, but I'm a guy who learns better by watching than reading. Which is why my wife Janet and I went out and produced these videos to help you through your pre-season lawnmower tune-up -- we figured that if regular people could witness a dork like me doing a tune-up, they'd feel more confident about doing it themselves.

And that will save you money.

Also, because we figured some of you would only want to see instructionals on specific tasks, I've broken the video up into five shorter chapters, too (ed note: video links will follow as these are posted):

1. Clean and lubricate
2. Change the oil
3. Replace the air filter
4. Replace the spark plug
5. Sharpen the blade

You can now watch all my Friday 5 videos on their own Vimeo channel. Free subscription via RSS!

Comments

[Sarah]

All very helpful, you smart man. However, some of us are dealing with riding lawnmower monsters and are, as you may remember, tool challenged. Any feedback on doing all of that on a "lawn tractor?" Do you flip those suckers on their backs or what?

[Daniel]

Here's the general thing to remember: Any time you flip something that has a gas tank, there's a good chance you'll be spilling gasoline out the gas cap. Which is generally a no-no.

So a couple of thoughts:

1. If you've got a small ride-on (plus enough muscle to tilt it) and all you really need to do is hose any debris out of the mowing deck after you finish the yard, you can tilt it up just a bit, put a prop under it (cinderblock, 2x4, etc.), and then spray the underside from a low angle.

2. If you need to do anything more than that -- such as removing the blade for sharpening -- then you need to remove the mowing deck. There are multiple kinds, but the popular ones are located under the lawn tractor and can be raised and lowered.

Anyway, the safe thing is to follow the book and remove the deck, which can then be turned any which way without worrying about spilling lubes and fuel, etc.

My best piece of advice? Don't cut a damp or wet lawn. If your grass is relatively dry, it won't clump up and stick to the interior of the deck.