These are my top tips for riding lawn mower maintenance. After a few years now of fixing and flipping riding lawn mowers, I have several recommendations for you to keep your machine in tip top shape!
Be Diligent and Methodical With Riding Lawn Mower Maintenance
The first step to riding lawn mower maintenance is to have a plan. We need to approach it systematically so that we don’t miss anything crucial. I’m guilty of this with my personal machines, so I’ve had to develop a plan that works for me in order to keep my machines properly maintained.
By that, I mean thoroughly performing all of the maintenance checks as recommended by the manufacturer. To do so, we’ll need to refer to the manual.
Again, this is what works for me. I only use my riding lawn mower for cutting the grass. If you use yours in the winter for plowing or snow blowing, your needs will probably vary, so adjust your maintenance schedule as needed.
Refer to Manual for Hourly Riding Lawn Mower Maintenance
Machines are different; they have different fluid capacities, peripheral systems, transmissions, etc. While it’s ok to do basic maintenance to get a machine running, to properly maintain and prolong a machine, you’ll want the specific manual to refer to.
These manuals contain all the information you need in regards to exactly what servicing needs to be done and in how many hours.
Unlike a vehicle, riding lawn mowers are gauged in hours instead of miles. That makes sense when you think about it, but when you’re new to riding lawn mowers this can be a bit different.
The reasoning is because they obviously don’t travel very far, so mileage is a bit unnecessary. Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for machines to run while being stationary. Typically, this applies more for tractors because they have more attachments that can run in a stationary position. The same principle applies to riding lawn mowers, however.
Luckily, most manufacturers offer manuals free of charge on the internet, so just do a search for your specific model. That being said, I like to have a hard copy. It gives me the opportunity to write down my hourly servicing, and it prevents me from getting my phone dirty.
Record Riding Lawn Mower Maintenance Logs
There are different maintenance schedules for the varying components of a riding lawn mower. While it might be recommended to change the engine oil and filter, you might only have to change the hydrostatic oil and filter every 100 hours.
It can get confusing as to what needs to be done and when. The manual for my machine has a little spreadsheet in the back where I can record the maintenance and current hours of the machine. By referring to my owner’s manual, I can tell when the next service needs to be done, and then I record the date and hours.
You might think that you’ll just remember, but I certainly don’t. Chances are, you won’t either. That’s where the systematic approach works. The system only works if you’re doing it. So get in the habit of writing it down.
Preseason Riding Lawn Mower Maintenance
Now that we’ve discussed a basic approach to how we’ll be doing the maintenance, let’s dive into what exactly we should be checking.
Since machines and recommended servicing hour spans vary, I’m not going to give specific hour recommendations for servicing, but we’ll talk about the various riding lawn mower maintenance aspects that apply to most machines.
For me, maintenance starts with the first run of the season. After sitting all winter, I want my machine to be ready to go in the spring. So I’ll take some time to do a thorough check when I first start up my riding lawn mower.
Tools Needed (Commissions Earned)
Visual Inspections
I start off my preseason maintenance with doing a visual inspection. My riding lawn mower is in a covered lean-to shed over the winter. While it’s covered, it’s not immune to the elements, so I want to make sure that no damage has occurred over the winter.
Probably more likely, I want to ensure that no critters have developed a rodent condominium anywhere on my machine. These nests can quickly develop overheating problems, so I want to take care of it before any damage can occur.
Luckily, signs of nesting can usually be spotted without having to tear apart the shrouds.
On top of that, the visual inspection lets me identify if the machine has developed any leaks over the winter, or if there are any other obvious repairs that need to be done before I need to start cutting.
Deck
I like to take the time to remove the deck and do a quick assessment of it. This lets me inspect the spindles without the drag of the belts, so I know if I need to replace any. Plus, it makes it easier to remove the blades for sharpening.
Blades
Speaking of blades, I like to do annual sharpening in the spring. This is when I remove the blades and do a thorough sharpening and balancing. I do touch up sharpening through the season as needed, but the spring is when I do my main sharpening.
Belts
Belts are often overlooked with riding lawn mower maintenance, but they’re a vital component. A lot of machines have belts for the drive system as well as the mower deck (PTO). Just do a quick check to make sure that they’re not cracked or super dry.
Leaks
A visual inspection in the spring of both the machine and the area underneath will help me identify if any leaks have occurred and where they might be coming from.
I like to do a preseason check for leaks before the machine gets dirty because that gives me a baseline for the season to refer to. I often take photos to reference if I suspect a leak has developed during the course of the season.
Fluids
This goes hand in hand with leaks, but checking fluids is a vital component of regular riding lawn mower maintenance.
Your manual will recommend checking engine oil filter every time you start it up. I’ll admit, I don’t do that. In fact, I don’t check it hardly as often as I should.
I do check it at the beginning of the season. If it’s low and I have noticed a fluid leak, then using my powers of deductive reasoning, I can point towards an oil leak. Crazy, right?
Also, be sure to check the transmission oil. On a lot of machines, this would be hydraulic oil for a hydrostatic drive, but refer to your manual. Since this servicing gets done on a longer span than engine oil, just a fluid check will normally suffice until you reach that hourly benchmark.
Tires
Lastly, my preseason check concludes with tires. Normally, tires are usually checked on an as needed basis – when I notice a tire is low. In the spring, however, I like to do a check to make sure no cracks have developed over the winter or if the tires are losing air.
Now that we have crossed off the preseason riding lawn mower maintenance, we can move on to the in-season maintenance.
Air Cleaner
An air cleaner has a simple but important job. It filters the air that comes into the engine to prevent debris from contaminating the engine.
As far as checks go, just make sure it’s clean and in good shape. A lot of the foam filters degrade over time, so replace it as needed.
Some filters are clean-able. I like to just use compressed air; if it needs more than that, then I go ahead and just replace it.
Transmission
You’ll want to refer to your manual in regards to transmission servicing. I believe mine is 100 hours, but I usually do it every other spring. Again, this is all recorded in my maintenance logs.
You’ll want to make sure that the fluid is within the range and clean. Also, be on the lookout for “milky” fluid, as that is a sign of water contamination. In that case, you’ll want to do a complete flush of the transmission fluid.
Engine Oil
My riding lawn mower is recommended to change the engine oil and filter every 50 hours or annually – whichever comes sooner. For me, that means annually. I prefer to do it in the spring with my preseason maintenance. That way, I know that it’s done and I’m good for the summer as I typically don’t put on 50 hours of cutting.
Prior to changing the oil, I like to run the machine for 5-10 minutes to let it warm up. This helps to stir up any sludge that’s been deposited in the oil.
If it’s cold, that sludge doesn’t flow as well and usually doesn’t drain out. After you’ve warmed it up, however, it mixes better with the oil and you can get a more thorough drain.
Not only do I record the service date in my maintenance log, but I also write the date and hours directly on the engine oil filter for easy referencing.
Cleaning
Cleaning your machine is more important than you think. Riding lawn mowers are definitely workhorses, but they can also be quite fickle if neglected. You’d be surprised how many problems could be prevented with regular cleaning.
I like to do a thorough pressure wash of my riding lawn mower with my preseason and postseason checks. This helps me do a better visual inspection in the spring, and it helps preserve it over the winter.
Throughout the season, I like to wash my riding lawn mower after every cut. This makes a dramatic difference in the life of the mower deck. It’s usually a more cursory wash, but it still has a huge impact.
Battery and Electrical Maintenance
I start out the season by charging the battery overnight. I usually take the battery out of the machine to do this. That way, I can take the time to clean the posts and the battery cable connections. I also recommend applying grease to prevent electrical corrosion.
While I’m at it, I also like to clean the various electrical connections at the switches, grounds, and relays. This is for the same reason; to ensure good electrical connections that work. It helps to eliminate common failure points for various electrical symptoms.
Grease
I grease my machines as part of my preseason and postseason maintenance. So, they all get greased twice a year. Most riding lawn mowers only have a couple of grease zerks.
My riding lawn mower has one for each front axle shaft and one for the axle pivot, so three total. There’s also one for each spindle on the mower deck.
Greasing is super messy, but it’s also really easy to do. So there’s no excuse for not doing it. Regular greasing will also have a dramatic effect on the life of the “wearable” components of your machine.
Fuel Filter
Fuel is important for your machine to operate properly, no? That’s a rhetorical question; of course it is! The fuel filter prevents sediment and debris from entering the fuel system of the engine.
This comes in by way of the gas tank, and it’s super easy to contaminate a fuel tank. Plus, old fuel will foul a fuel filter faster than you anticipate, and it always seems like there’s a little bit of fuel that remains in the filter – even if you drain the fuel system.
I don’t use any fuel stabilizers, but I do use non-ethanol gas during the season, and then I make sure to completely drain the fuel system for the winter.
I typically replace the fuel filter every other season to ensure that it’s properly filtering the fuel coming into the machine.
Postseason Riding Lawn Mower Maintenance
At the end of the season, and before I put my machine away for the winter, I like to do one final bout of thorough maintenance.
Some of this I’ve already mentioned, but we’ll recap it here.
It starts with cleaning the machine thoroughly and letting it dry. Then I move on to another visual inspection to see if I’ve missed anything that needs to be repaired.
This year I noticed some cracks in the deck that I still need to fix before summer comes.
I then move on and grease everything and do a final fluid check.
Then, I refer to my maintenance logs to see if any other servicing needs to be done before the snow comes.
Recap
Regular riding lawn mower maintenance is extremely important. Your system only works if you use it, so take the time to figure out what’s recommended for your machine and the best time for you to do so.
Get on a schedule, keep the schedule, and write it down! Your machine will thank you, and reward you with years of useful service.
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