How To Clean Grass Clippings Off Your Ride On Mower

Whilst a ride on mower can be highly useful for taming a large lawn, it will not work as efficiently if you allow grass clippings to dry and accumulate in the mower deck. Cleaning out this sort of garden debris will only take a few minutes, but continuing to put it off will only result in more problems, as well as making the caked on grass even harder to remove.

Step 1: Begin by driving the ride on onto a two-wheel ramp to ensure that you have easy access to the deck. If you do not have a ramp, you can use a jack to lift one side of the mower up off the ground, giving you similar access to its underside.

Step 2: Using a garden hose, give the underside of the mower a good spray down, making sure that you get the deck, side chutes and blade area. This will loosen up much of the accumulated grass clippings.

Step 3: Take a bucket and fill it with warm water and a squirt with household dishwashing liquid. Dip an old scrubbing brush into the bucket and use it to gently scrub away any caked on clippings that the hose was unable to remove.

Step 4: Give the blades and deck a good rinse with clean water to remove any traces of the dishwashing liquid. Leave the mower to air dry outside before putting it away.

Even though your ride on mower will be relatively clean all your round if you regularly clean it in the way outlined above, it is still important that you remove the deck at least once a year for additional maintenance (including a more thorough clean). This will keep your mower in tiptop working condition.

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How To Fix A Mower’s Pull Cord

If you own a walk-behind or a push mower, chances are you need to use a pull cord in order to start it up. The friction created by trying to get your mower to start can cause the cord to break or deteriorate over time, but it is a problem that can be quickly fixed.

Begin by disconnecting the spark plug, as you don’t want to accidentally turn your mower on whilst you are working on it. You will then need to loosen the bolts that secure the starter shroud to the top of the mower’s engine (there’s usually 3). Lift the starter shroud off of the mower and place it, upside down, on a flat surface.
Holding the mower’s starter shroud with one hand, turn the centre pulley counter-clockwise until it refuses to turn any further. Use a pair of wide-jaw vise-grip pliers to hold the pulley in place. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to take hold of the knot in the hole near the centre of the pulley and pull out the damaged section of mower pull cord.

Take the new pull cord and insert the end (ensuring that the handle is on the opposite end) into the hole in the mower’s starter shroud. Guide the end of this cord into the pulley and towards the knot hole; when you see it in the hole, use the needle nose pliers to take hold of it and pull out about a foot of cord. Tie the end of the cord into a knot, singeing the end with a flame to stop is from fraying.

Pull on the cord from the outside of the mowers starter shroud until the knot is seated firmly into the knot hole. Remove the vise-grip pliers, allowing the cord to recoil around the pulley. Replace the starter shroud onto the engine and retighten the bolts that secured it to the mower. Once you have reconnected the start plug, your mower’s pull cord should be good as new and ready to go once more. 

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How To Change A Mower’s Battery

There can be little more annoying than preparing for an afternoon of cutting your grass, only to pull out your mower and discover that its battery is completely flat. You might try to jump it with your car but get absolutely no response. The only thing to do in a situation like this is to replace your mowers battery.

First, make sure that your entire mower is switched off. This includes lights and any other devices that can be used without the engine running. Then, you will need to locate the battery and unscrew the bar that is holding it in position. You should also check the battery’s positive and negative terminals for corrosion, as this could lead to damage in the mower (if you find any, simply scrape it off with a stiff wire brush).

To remove the flat battery, loosen the negative cable clamp, which should be marked with a minus (or subtraction) symbol on a mower, using an adjustable wrench. You will then need to loosen the positive cable clamp, which should be marked with a plus (or addition) symbol on a mower. The battery should then be able to be pulled out of the mower’s metal holder.

You can then place the new battery into the mower’s metal holder, replacing the cable clamps over the terminals and tightening them with the wrench. Be sure that the negative cable is connected to the negative side of the battery before tightening. To finish, you can screw the bar back in to hold the battery in position whilst the mower is in use.

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