A lawnmower is something that almost everyone needs to own. If you have a lawn, you need to be mowing it almost every week in most cases. This means that you need to have a lawnmower that you can use for this task, and that mower needs to be a device that you can count on.
A lawnmower blade needs to be sharp enough to do a good job cutting your grass, or you might end up with poor results for your efforts. A dull lawnmower blade can also lead to added stress on your mower, which can cause it to break down. Between issues with the health of your lawn and damage to the mower itself, you cannot afford to let your lawnmower blade get dull. There are lots of other tips for maintaining your mower that you should be aware of, and we will cover them here.
Things to Do to Maintain Your Lawnmower
Many people do not think about lawnmower maintenance until their mower quits working. An ounce of prevention can go a long way when it comes to caring for a device of this kind. You will be doing yourself a favor if you learn to care for your lawnmower properly and take these steps as needed throughout the mowing season each year.
1. Sharpen Your Lawnmower Blade
As mentioned above, keeping the blade in your lawnmower sharp is a must-do item. This is the most important part of your mower when it comes to keeping your grass healthy and creating a beautiful result for your efforts to mow your lawn. Your mower blade also needs to be sharp enough to make sure that you are not damaging the rest of your mower, as dull blades require the mower to work harder to cut the grass.
Sharpening a lawnmower blade needs to be done by an expert, so make sure that you check out the options in your area before you send out the blade to be worked on. This is one of the tasks that you likely cannot undertake yourself in the name of maintaining your mower. You need to be sure that you have a skilled sharpening expert in mind when it comes time to take care of this kind of upkeep.
2. Clean Your Mower
After each use, you should rinse or remove by hand the grass clippings that have collected on the deck and around the blades. 
This prevents buildup and corrosion, as well as bad smells. The whole mower should be cleaned periodically as well and then dried thoroughly. You want to be sure that your mower is not sitting around and rusting or being exposed to the fermentation process caused by mounds of dead grass caught around the blade.
3. Oil Changes
You will need to change the oil and the oil filter as recommended by the maker of your lawnmower. Most mowers need this service annually or every 50 hours of use. It is easy to look up the recommendations for your specific mower online these days, and you can usually even find the instruction manual for the mower if your mower was made in the last fifteen years or so.
You will probably also want to change the air filter regularly to make sure that the engine is able to get the oxygen that it needs. You can change this part out when you do your oil changes, but you should also check on it periodically to make sure that it does not need to be changed sooner than the next oil change.
4. Spark Plugs
Mowers have spark plugs, so you will want to be sure that you check the health and condition of this component of your mower at least once a year as well. You will need to inspect the plugs for wear and tear and carbon buildup. If you are going to replace your spark plugs, be sure that you know what the gap is supposed to be for your particular mower. Plugs that don’t show much in the way of damage or buildup don’t need to be replaced, but you should replace all the plugs that are looking worn out.
If you are not familiar with spark plugs, you can take your mower to a repair and maintenance location to have these items inspected and replaced at least once a year.
5. Winter Storage
Since you are not likely to need to use your mower in the winter months, you will need to store it properly. It should be cleaned thoroughly before being put away for the winter. Tighten up loose parts and components, and check the blade for damage. 
You will also likely need to drain off the fuel from the mower so that it does not go bad while you are not using the device.
You should also make sure that you look up the winterizing recommendations for your specific mower. There are various kinds of recommendations for this process that might be made, and you should follow them so that your mower will come back into use without issue when the weather improves.
Lawnmowers Are Highly Reliable When Cared for Properly
When you take care of your lawnmower the right way, you should have no trouble getting years of use out of it. Winterizing the mower and ensuring that the blade remains sharp are two key aspects of keeping your lawnmower in tip-top shape all year round. Most people forget all about their mower until suddenly it stops working. You can avoid this annoying outcome by taking the time to do simple upkeep on the device.
Having a lawnmower on hand that works perfectly doesn’t have to be a dream. You can make this a reality just by following the simple advice in this guide. Being able to mow whenever you need to freshen up your yard is easy if you take the time to give your mower the proper care each year.
