The Professional Expert

Lawn Mower Tune-up

If you would like to do your own lawn mower tune-up, it should take 2 hours to do. You can also do all but sharpening the blade and take it to the garden center to have that done.

Spark Plug

The spark plug has some letters on it that indicate what type it is.  You can take it out and bring it to your local big-box home improvement/garden center. They will have spark plugs there. Just find one with the same number as yours.  Don’t go crazy when you tighten it or you can strip out the threads, which will ruin the motor, just tighten it firmly.

Oil

Your owner’s manual will specify what type of oil to use. If you don’t have the owner’s manual, they also have oil labeled by the motor manufacturer (Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh, or Honda) at the store. You can just use that.  You will need to drain the old oil out and dispose of it.  Most auto parts stores will take used oil.

Rope

Check the rope on the pull handle for worn out sections. You don’t want it to break while you are trying to start it. Depending on how handy you are, you might want to replace it yourself.  To do so, you will need to take the top of the engine cover off (3-4 bolts) to get at the starter rope.  There are many different configurations of this, so I can not go into detail. You should be able to see where the knot in the end of the rope is, so you can cut it off to remove the old one and then slip the new one thru it.  Don’t let the spring unwind while you are doing this.

Blade

If you have a grinder, or know someone who does, you can sharpen your blade.  It is important to make sure it is still balanced when you are done.  The easiest way to check is to hang it on a nail and see if it sets level. Just grind a little bit more off the heavy side.
Happy Mowing!

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