If you have a lawn then a mower will be an absolutely essential piece of gardening equipment. It will enable you to keep the grass cut and tidy with minimal effort, as long as you maintain it properly. There should always be an accompanying manual when you buy a mower that will help you with maintenance, but here are some quick tips for getting it right.
Blade sharpening
There are three types of lawn mowers: ride on, rotary and cylinder ones, but all of them have blades that cut the grass. The most serious maintenance task is to ensure that the blades are sharp and balanced. And that process can be different depending on the type of machine.
Sharpening and balancing rotary mower blades is fairly simple. Use a bench or angle grinder and sharpen each blade at its default angle. You can test the sharpness as you go along and make sure the blades are balanced, to prevent uneven cutting and vibrations.
Cylinder mower blade sharpening is a bit trickier and should really be carried out by a company that offers mower sales and repair services. There are two blades that combine to cut the grass smoothly and these must be kept in absolute alignment.
Machine cleaning
Your mower should be kept clean to ensure the best results. The parts that will require regular cleaning are the wheels or rollers, the chassis, the chute, the blades and the underside. Mower cleaning is a very straightforward job that should be done once a month with gloves, a firm brush and some all-purpose cleaning fluid.
Avoid pressure washing, because the water can get into key parts of the machine and damage them.
Oiling the parts
Another key part of mower maintenance is to make sure that the engine always has enough oil for lubrication, to prevent it rusting up. To add oil, you should take the cap off and use a dipstick to measure the amount of oil in the engine against the recommendation in the manual.
Other moving parts of the mower, for example the wheels, should also be kept well lubricated.
At Redblade Mowers we both sell and service top of the range lawn mowers across West Lancashire. Get in touch for details.
