Lawn Mower Maintenance

[David]

We sit on 6 acres so I do my share of mowing with my 48" ZRT Cub Cadet.

Was curious on what the general consensus was for the annual tune-up...oil, filter, etc.

Beginning of the season?
Middle of the season?
End of the season?

 

[joshua]

We have a push mower and the only thing we do is fill the oil when its low and put gas it it. Its been going strong (Starts in the first three pulls) for over 5 years

 

[Eric]

Where's the option for middle of the non-season? If it's an annual tune-up, wouldn't you do it on the anniversary of purchasing the mower?

End of the season is my vote.

 

[tripp]

When it breaks.......

 

[jcgoldner]

Maintenance? What's that?
I'm with John. When it breaks........

 

[Wasch_24]

I only touch the gas. Hasn't needed oil yet and starts on the first pull everytime. Althoug, I have less than 1/5th of an acre to mow. :hysterica

 

[derek]

I really have no maintenance to do to my mower. I cut about 1/2 acre with a push reel mower. No gas or oil, no mess. Keep the blades sharp and i'm good to go.

 

[Poni]

maaaaaan i got about 5"x5" of grass.

 

[tedski]

I'll have to ask my gardener ....

 

[cf2112]

My son and I cut our yard (1 1/2 acres) and my dads and our rentals (24 units) totaling another about 10 hrs of mowing per time. My son changes the oil and filter and sharpens or replaces the blades every 50 hrs and we take it in for service at the end of the mowing season.

It's a Cub Cadet with a 42" deck and it has over 2000 hrs on it, never a problem, my brother mows about 3/4 of an acre on his John Deere when its not broken down. then I mow his too and give him crap about his Deere with less than 200 hrs. :eyepoke:

 

[PWeeble]

After it has sat all winter, it will then need oil change and fresh gas, (hopefully you put stabil in the gas before storing) and that is a good time to sharpen and tighten. These things will keep even the cheapest push mower in good working order for a long time. My $99 Murray pusher is 8 years old and still going strong.

 

[Jwrussell]

Season? What the hell is this "Season" you speak of? :rofl:

I'm pretty much of the "when it breaks" crowd. We have a small yard. I watch the oil, refill the gass and hose the sucker off after each mow and that's about it.

 

[stogies&hoagies]

We sit on 5 acres. We fix it if it breaks, other than that, nothing. It's still under warranty and we just had a belt break. We're waiting on the repair guy (don't want to void the warranty.
Of course, this is what I hear, as my wife handles all the yard work. She calls it her therapy. A chance to get away from the kids and I. She puts on her ipod, headphones, grabs a cold beverage, and zones out for a couple hours, tooling around the estate.

 

[Jwrussell]

LOL. Same here, except with our lawn it's a push mower and it takes her 30 minutes maximum to finish the whole thing.

Estate. Jeez. :wink:

 

[sunivy]

Have a Lawnboy (before anyone says it - the machine, not a person) self-propelled push mower that my father-in-law gave me in 1990. Put a new spark plug in it in 1990 (don't think I've had to change it yet - if so, I don't remember doing it), have replaced the blade a couple of times, and I've cleaned the filter once or twice. Darn thing is near indestructible (knock on wood).

 

[Black Dog]

I use fuel stabilizer when I park it for the winter and then do the oil/filter change before I fire it up in the spring.