Spring is just around the corner, but before you start mowing, there are several checks you should run on your lawn mower to make sure it’s in tip-top shape. During the winter, your mower could develop several issues that can cause it to perform poorly or develop long-term damage. So let’s check out the 16 steps to getting your lawn mower ready for spring and make sure your mower runs great all mowing season long.
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How to Get Your Lawn Mower Ready for Spring (16 Steps)
Preparing a lawn mower for spring is essential to ensure the mower is in good shape. Over the long winter months, a lawn mower is subjected to issues such as corrosion, fluid separation, and mower component degradation. Therefore, before starting your lawn mower in the spring, you’ll need to make sure you inspect the following items:
- Engine Oil
- Fuel Filter
- Air Filter
- Spark Plug
- Fuel
- Deck
- Blade
- Electrical Connections & Terminals
- Pulleys
- Grease
- Belts
- Cables
- Battery
- Oil Filter
- Tire Pressure
- Hydro Fluid
How Do I Prepare My Lawn Mower for the Start of the Season?
The best way to make sure your lawnmower is for spring is to winterize your lawnmower the previous fall. Then, when spring rolls around, all you have to do is some spring maintenance. So, before you start up your lawn mower engine, be sure to check each of these 15 maintenance items first to make sure your mower is ready for the mowing season.
Check the Engine Oil
The engine oil plays a vital role in lubricating the internal engine components and managing engine temperatures. Therefore, you’ll want to check two things: the oil’s condition and the oil’s level. Both of these factors need to be at acceptable conditions and levels to perform their task efficiently. Read my easy how-to guide to learn how to check the oil in your lawn mower.
If your lawn mower oil is low, you’ll want to top it off. If you find that your oil is a dark color, then you’ll want to drain the oil and refill the engine with fresh oil. I’ve written an article on how to drain oil from a lawn mower to help you out.
Check the Fuel Filter
The fuel filter sits inline within the fuel system to filter out any impurities within the fuel. Over time, the fuel filter will degrade as it does its job. So, if you haven’t changed your fuel filter recently, there will be a reduction in fuel flow to the carburetor, affecting how the lawn mower performs.
If you have a transparent fuel filter, then you can do a visual inspection. If the fuel filter appears discolored, it’s a good indication that it needs to be replaced.
On the other hand, if your mower has a non-transparent fuel filter, then you’ll need to think back to when you last changed it. If it’s been longer than a year, then it’s recommended that you replace the fuel filter. Here’s an easy guide on how to replace the fuel filter on a lawn mower.
Check the Air Filter
The air filter is a device that filters the air before it reaches the carburetor. This is an important process because any dirt or grass clippings in the air will cause a number of issues when it comes to the combustion and performance of your lawn mower’s engine. If your air filter is really dirty, you might not even be able to start your lawn mower.
To check your lawn mower’s air filter, you’ll need to remove it from the air filter housing, which you’ll find attached to the side of the carburetor. Usually, it’s a rectangular black box. Then, remove the air filter and pre-filter and inspect it for dirt, cracks, holes, contaminants like oil, and finally, if it feels brittle.
If the filter looks like it can be cleaned, then you can try using an air compressor to do so. But if the filter is damaged, then you’ll want to install a replacement.
Here’s an easy step-by-step guide on how to clean your lawn mower’s air filter for both foam and paper air filters.
Check the Spark Plug
Checking the spark plug’s condition should be part of your spring lawn mower maintenance. The spark plug is the last item in the ignition system and is responsible for providing the spark to the combustion chamber to ignite the compressed fuel/air mixture. If the spark plug is damaged, worn out, dirty, or gapped incorrectly, it will generate a poor spark or no spark.
Remove the spark plug and inspect it. If you discover that the spark plug’s tip is dirty with oil or carbon deposit, you can clean it using a wire brush.
To check the spark plug gap, you can use a spark plug gapping tool and the gap measurement from the manufacturer.
For spark plugs that have worn/burnt-out ground and center electrodes, you’ll need to install a replacement spark plug.
For a more thorough inspection, check out my easy-to-follow guide on how to test a lawn mower spark plug.
Check the Fuel
If you left fuel in your lawn mower over the winter without using a stabilizer, then it’s pretty much guaranteed that the fuel will be bad. Fuel only lasts about 30 days in a lawn mower before it starts to degrade. Therefore, it is vital that you don’t start your lawn mower before you inspect the gasoline.
If you start your lawn mower with bad fuel, you’ll risk damaging the fuel filter and clogging the fuel lines, the fuel solenoid, and the carburetor. This is because bad fuel creates a varnish and fuel gum that won’t combust.
An easy way to test the fuel is to compare the gasoline from the lawn mower gas tank with fresh fuel. For example, if the gasoline in your lawn mower looks darker, this indicates that the fuel needs to be drained and replaced with new fuel.
Inspect the Deck
The next item you should inspect on your lawn mower in spring is the cutting deck. Over winter, rust can attack the metal inside the cutting deck and cause issues during the mower season.
Tip over your lawn mower’s deck and check for any rust or structural issues that may be of concern. It could be a case of tightening a few bolts where a mulching shroud is loose or repairing a hole. For a more thorough guide, check out my article on how to inspect a riding mower deck.
These types of lawn mower maintenance tasks will not only improve your lawn mower’s cutting ability but will also prevent any potential safety hazards for you and your lawn mower.
Inspect the Blade
An essential component of keeping a healthy and thriving lawn is ensuring that your blade is nice and sharp. Trust me, a dull blade can wreak havoc on your lawn and quickly turn it into a brown nightmare. There are various factors that can affect your lawn mower blade’s sharpness, such as the length of time since it was last sharpened, the angle at which it was sharpened, and if it has come into contact with rocks or hard objects. Check your blade and inspect it for sharpness, knicks, and any bends.
To help you out, I’ve written a few articles on sharpening lawn mower blades that will point you in the right direction:
- How Often Do Lawn Mower Blades Need to be Sharpened
- How to Sharpen Your Lawn Mower Blade Using 3 Common Methods
- The Best Angle to Sharpen Your Lawn Mower Blade
Inspect the Electrical Connections & Terminals
Another area where you might find some corrosion is inside the electrical connections and the terminals of your lawn mower battery. These sorts of problems can affect your lawn mower in several different ways, such as a clutch that won’t engage, lights that won’t work, an engine that won’t start, and even blades that you can’t switch off.
I recommend you disconnect each electrical connection and inspect for damage, corrosion, and proper fitting. Electrical contact cleaning spray products like WD-40 Specialist Contact Cleaner are a quick way to clean electrical connections. For year-round protection and rust prevention, I suggest using WD-40 Original Formula.
If your mower’s electrical system isn’t working as it should, check out my easy guide on testing and cleaning your mower’s electrical connections and terminals.
Inspect the Pulleys
Some lawnmowers rely on pulleys to transfer the power from the engine to the blades. So, it’s important to check the pulleys after winter to ensure they haven’t seized and can move freely.
Remove any belts from the pulleys and check that the pulleys can rotate as designed. Grease any pulleys that are stiff to turn. In addition, if your lawn mower pulleys are loose on their spindles, they will more than likely need to be replaced.
Failing to replace a damaged pulley can lead to several issues, including belt damage, clutch damage, engine wear, and mowing ability. Learn more by reading my article on how to test and replace a lawn mower idler pulley.
Inspect the Grease
Several grease fittings around your lawn mower need to be serviced, such as the belt pulleys, wheel bearings, and spindles. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to tell the amount of grease in your lawn mower other than attempting to add more grease.
Use a grease gun with lawn mower pulley grease and attempt to add more grease. Failing to keep pulleys, bearings, and spindles topped up with grease can lead to repairs such as pulley replacement and wheel bearing replacement. Head over to my article on how to grease lawn mower spindles to learn more.
Inspect the Belts
The next item to inspect when getting your lawn mower ready for spring is the condition of the belts. Depending on the design of your lawn mower, you might have a deck belt to drive the blades and a belt to power the drive.
In both cases, you’ll need to look for any cracking, stretching, and damage on the belts. Cracks in the belts are an indication that the belt is suffering. Spraying it will belt protector dressing can slow cracking down. For belts that are stretched, you can adjust the tensioner.
If you find that a belt has missing pieces or cuts, then it’s recommended to replace it. This is because the damaged belt will cause stress on the pulleys, tensioner, and deck. In addition, damaged drive belts can cause damage to clutches and various drive systems, such as hydrostatic drives and the driveshaft.
Check out my article on how to use belt dressing for lawnmowers to enhance the performance and extend the lifespan of your belt.
Test the Cables
Different types of lawnmowers use a variety of wire cable systems. These are the wire cables protected with outer housings. Cables can be found on the throttle, driver, and bale levers. Unfortunately, these cables can become corroded over winter, making them hard to use.
If some levers are hard to use, you should lubricate the cable using a spray lubricant. If the levers are still difficult to use after lubricating, you should install a replacement cable for the specific component.
Testing the cables is an important step when performing spring maintenance on your mower. Even though your mower will likely run if you don’t lubricate the cables, you will likely be putting unnecessary stress on the various components, and you might not be able to use the cable to its full extent. As a result, you may not be able to achieve full throttle, disengage the blade brake, or disengage the engine ignition ground.
Test the Battery
A lot of the time, you’ll find that the battery on your lawn mower is dead after winter. This could be because the electrical system continues to use a tiny amount of power while it sits, the cold weather itself, and the fact that batteries naturally lose power over time.
Depending on the type of battery, this process can damage the battery beyond repair. For example, lead acid batteries can’t withstand going flat, which causes permanent and irreparable damage to the cells.
Checking your battery both underload and without load before using it at the start of the mowing season will save a lot of headaches and avoidable downtime.
If your battery is dead at the start of the season, check out my article on how to charge a dead lawn mower battery.
Inspect the Oil Filter
The older an oil filter gets, the less efficient it is at filtering out the impurities in the oil. The result is that your lawn mower engine will struggle to lubricate efficiently, leading to overheating and excessive engine wear.
Also, because the lawn mower oil filters are sealed units, it’s impossible to do an inspection. Therefore, you’ll need to remember the last time you replaced it. So, if your oil filter is overdue, you should replace it before starting your lawn mower.
Check out my 15-step guide to changing the oil filter on your riding lawn mower.
Test the Tire Pressures
Larger lawn mowers like ride-on and tractor-mowers have pneumatic tires that need to be kept at particular pressures to cut the grass evenly. A common effect of long winters is that pneumatic tires lose pressure over time via punctures, poor seals between the tire and rim, and leaking valves. Therefore ensure that you test the tire pressure before heading out to mow for the first cut of spring.
If you’re having trouble with your tires, check out my blog on how to fix lawn mower tires that keep going flat.
Check the Hydro Fluid
Ride-on and tractor lawnmowers have hydrostatic drive systems, which you should inspect as part of your spring lawn mower maintenance. Low fluids in hydrostatic drives can lead to a weak drive or complete loss of drive.
Usually, a larger lawn mower will have a hydrostatic drive fluid reservoir with an inspection window to check the level of the fluid. So, locate the inspection window and check if the fluid needs topping off.
However, some hydrostatic drives don’t have reservoirs or inspection windows. This is because some hydrostatic drives do not require homeowner servicing. I recommend you check the servicing requirement in your owners/service manual.
