Tips on Riding Lawn Mower Maintenance

Lowe's home improvement expert, Mike Kraft, gives tips on maintaining your riding lawn mower by replacing your mower's air filter and changing the spark plug. For more advice on lawn mowers, visit http://www.Lowes.com/Videos.

A running lawn mower is a considerable investment and you want it to last for a long time. And one way to ensure that it does is to maintain it properly including lubricating all of its moving parts, changing the air filter, replacing the spark-plug. We’re going to show you how to do that. Keeping a running mower running the way it should isn’t really hard. Here’s what you’ll need to do it. A drop cloth, some work gloves, a wrench to remove the battery cables, a cleaning brush, some spray lubricant, an air filter, a socket wrench and spark-plugs. Now before performing any maintenance on your running mower, read the manufacturers instructions carefully. If you’re uncomfortable working on you mower, call a professional for help. Any lawn mower maintenance should be performed in a well ventilated area. If you’re working in a garage, open the door for maximum air circulation and cover the work area with a drop cloth. Start your maintenance by raising the hood and brush off any loose clippings, dust and debris. Then for safety, disconnect the battery. Always remove the black or the negative cable first. Then remove the red or positive cable. Then lubricate any small moving parts with the manufacturers recommended lubricant. And be careful to not get any oil or grease on any nylon bearings. The grease may attract dust that will damage the bearings. And speaking of dust, your air filter will need to be changed too. If it’s paper, you’ll have to replace it with a new filter. Now some air filters have a pre cleaner which should be replaced every season as well. Check the manufactures instructions. Some pre filters require a light coating of engine oil to help filter out dust and debris. Also, replace the spark-plugs using a socket wrench. This one sure is easy starting. Finally, reconnect the battery starting with the positive cable then the negative cable. Maintaining your running mower on a regular basis will make sure you get the most out of your investment. For some more tips, watch our other how-to videos at Lowes.com/videos.