Lawnmower Care

Q. What care can I give my lawn mower in spring to ready it for mowing season?

A. Clean the spark plugs in lawn mowers (also spelled "lawnmowers") every spring. If the spark plugs are showing wear, don't even try to clean them -- just replace the spark plugs. When you're replacing a lawn mower's spark plugs, apply some anti-seize compound to the new ones to facilitate spark-plug removal next spring.

Q. Besides spark plug care, what other lawnmower care do you advice in spring?

A. Check that all nuts and bolts are secure every spring, tightening them where necessary. Re-check nuts and bolts for tightness periodically thereafter. Lawnmower vibration loosens nuts and bolts more than you might think.

Q. Should I add oil each time I use my four-cycle lawnmower?

A. No. The proper procedure is as follows for four-cycle engines (also called "4-stroke engines"):

Check the level of your lawnmower's oil before you start the lawnmower. To do so, extract the dipstick, wipe it with a clean rag, insert it back in, and check its reading. If the oil appears clean but the reading is low, add oil.

If the your lawnmower's oil appears dirty, however, you'll have to take a different tack. If the reading is not low, go ahead and do your mowing. When done mowing, drain out the lawnmower's oil -- it will come out easily, since the engine is warm at this point. Once the old oil has drained out, replace it with new oil.

If you have both dirty oil and a low reading, add a little oil before mowing, then follow the steps laid out in the prior paragraph. Sure, this way, you'll be draining out a bit of new oil along with the old; but wasting a little oil is far preferable to taking any chance that your lawnmower will run out of oil while you're mowing.

Q. What about the oil for lawnmowers with two-cycle engines?

A. Lubrication for two-cycle engines (also called "2-stroke" engines) is achieved by mixing the recommended oil into the fuel. Thus with two-cycle lawnmower engines, there isn't any oil to "check." The only checking comes in making sure you're using the recommended type of oil, and using it in the recommended ratio.