The End-Of-Season Tune Up Your Lawn Mower Needs In The Fall

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If you're someone who values work-life balance, you likely know exactly how many hours you spend at your job versus how much time you get with your family. If you consider yard chores work, you may have even calculated the number of hours you spent mowing last year. For those who aren't quite so precise with their time, most lawns are mowed 20 to 30 times a year. If you have a large lawn, you could be spending 50 or 60 hours a year behind your mower. There's another reason tallying these hours is important: the spark plug and air filter are among the lawn mower parts you should replace every 100 operating hours or less.

Spark plugs, no matter what machinery they're in, wear out and need to be replaced. As mentioned, most lawn mower spark plugs should be replaced every 100 hours, which means that most people only need to change this vital component once every other year. Some people, however, replace them once every season. You can also judge whether a spark plug change is necessary by how your lawn mower is running. If the engine sounds rough, it's a warning sign. Running a mower with a worn spark plug puts stress on the ignition coil and can shorten the machine's life. It's common practice to change the air filter on a lawn mower every year. However, depending on the kind of filter your mower uses, you might be able to get a little more life out of your old one.

A quick tune-up at the end of the mowing season isn't always enough, particularly if you're winterizing your lawn mower and protecting it until spring. Replacing your spark plug and air filter in the fall may save you some time when the weather warms again, but it's somewhat redundant if your lawn mower's going to sit unused indoors for months. A spark plug and air filter replacement is supposed to make your mower run better, not protect it from cold weather. Doing it in the spring is the best option, but fall is better than never.

First, look up your mower engine's make and model or consult the manufacturer's user manual to find the correct spark plug. You can also consult the number printed on the spark plug, which reveals the plug's physical dimensions, thread size, and operating heat range. Before removing the spark plug, disconnect the spark-plug wire. Clean around the plug, and then take it out with a Pwkauka Spark Plug Socket Wrench. Screw in the new spark plug by hand so it doesn't get cross-threaded, then tighten it with the wrench, taking care not to over-tighten it.

How you approach replacing your lawn mower's air filter the right way depends on the type of filter it uses. Paper filters are disposable; you simply throw away the old filter and replace it with a new one. You can reuse oil-soaked foam filters. Wash the filter with soap and water. Once it's dry again, re-oil it before putting it back in the lawn mower. Once you've finished these chores, your mower will be tuned up and ready for the rest of the season. You've checked off one more thing on your spring to-do list!