Mower maintenance is not that hard if you service your equipment on a regular basis. The three most important parts of mower maintenance are: cleaning or changing the air filter, changing the oil and filter on a regular basis and keeping your blades sharp. If your air filter is dirty, it can restrict air flow to your engine. This can cause you engine to run irregularly or not run at all. Changing the oil and oil filter in your mower on a regular basis will keep your equipment running smooth. The harder you run your equipment, the more frequently you will need to change your oil. Oil is the blood of your machine and if it gets too dirty, the life of your machine may be compromised. Mower blades should be maintained on a regular basis to help aid in the grass cutting operation. Below is a review of mower maintenance for your blades.
Mower maintenance for blades.
- If you use your lawn mower quite often, for long periods of time, you should invest in a blade grinder. Most home owners use a hand grinder or bench grinder to sharpen their blades. This may be fine in the short-term, but sharpening blades by these methods is not as accurate as using a blade grinder. A blade grinder will have a flat shelf for you to lay your blade on. This will keep the angle of the blade the same on both sides and maintain the factor angle. Most blade grinders have a vertical spinning grinding wheel. This wheel can be adjusted up or down depending on your blade.
- If you sharpen your blades on a regular basis, it is important to balance your blades. Balancing your blades ensures that the weight from the center hole to each edge is balanced. If your blade is not balanced, it may spin irregular and may result in damage to your mower over an extended period of time.
- Check your blades for damage every time you change them during mower maintenance. If you blade is bent or damaged, replace it immediately. If you continue to use a damaged blade, you may cause damage to the mower or your lawn.
- When preforming mower maintenance on your blades, you should replace old blades if the metal is getting too thin or the cutting edge of the blade is getting too close to the back of the blade. Refer to the manufactures recommendations for replacement.