Done Mowing for the Year? How to Winterize Your Lawn Mower

That final mow of the year is a pretty good feeling.

The grass has finally slowed down, the leaves are disappearing, and for the first time since spring, you can look at the lawn mower and think:

“I don’t need you anymore.”

At least until April.

Before you push it into the back corner of the garage, park the lawn tractor in the shed, throw a tarp over it and forget it exists for the next five months, spend a little time getting it ready for winter.

A few simple steps now can help prevent the classic first-day-of-spring experience of turning the key or pulling the cord repeatedly while questioning all of your life choices.

Whether you have a basic walk-behind mower, a self-propelled mower or a riding lawn tractor, here are the things worth doing before calling it a season.

1. Give It a Good Cleaning

Your mower has probably collected an impressive amount of grass, dirt, leaves and other debris over the course of the season.

Don’t store all of that with it.

Remove accumulated grass and debris from:

• The mower deck
• Underneath the deck
• Around the engine
• Cooling fins and air-intake areas
• Wheels and drive components
• Around belts and pulleys on riding mowers

Wet grass packed underneath a steel mower deck can hold moisture against the metal and encourage rust.

Safety first: Shut the mower off, let the engine cool and disconnect the spark-plug wire before working near the blade or underneath a gas-powered walk-behind mower. For riding equipment, follow the manufacturer’s shutdown and service procedures.

And no matter how tempting it may be, your hand is not a lawn-mower cleaning tool.

2. Don’t Ignore the Fuel

Old gasoline is one of the biggest reasons small engines become difficult to start after sitting for months.

Gasoline deteriorates with time and can leave deposits inside carburetors and fuel systems.

There isn’t one fuel-storage rule that applies to every mower, however.

Depending on the engine manufacturer, equipment and length of storage, the recommended procedure may involve treating fresh gasoline with fuel stabilizer, running treated fuel through the system, shutting off the fuel supply, or draining the system for longer storage.

The best answer is surprisingly simple:

Check the owner’s manual for your specific mower or engine and follow its long-term storage instructions.

What you don’t want to do is park the mower with questionable old gasoline in it and hope for the best next spring.

Hope is not a maintenance strategy.

3. Change the Oil — If Your Mower Uses It

For four-stroke gasoline engines that require engine oil, the end of the mowing season is a convenient time to change it.

Used oil contains contaminants from normal engine operation. Replacing it means the engine can sit through the winter with fresh oil inside rather than several months’ worth of accumulated residue.

Riding mowers may also have an oil filter that needs replacement.

Use the oil type, capacity and service interval specified by the engine manufacturer. Don’t simply pour in whatever bottle happens to be sitting on the garage shelf.

And don’t overfill it. More oil does not equal more protection.

4. Check the Air Filter and Spark Plug

You don’t necessarily have to replace everything simply because winter is coming.

But this is a good opportunity to inspect the basics.

Air Filter

A dirty air filter restricts airflow and can affect engine performance.

Depending on the mower, the filter may be:

• Paper
• Foam
• A combination of both

Clean or replace it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Spark Plug

Inspect the spark plug for wear, deposits or damage and replace it if needed.

Even if it doesn’t require replacement yet, checking these inexpensive maintenance items now gives you one less thing to deal with when the grass starts growing again.

5. Inspect and Sharpen the Blade

Your mower blade spends the summer spinning at high speed while encountering grass, sticks, dirt, rocks and occasionally whatever toy the kids swore they picked up from the yard.

It deserves an inspection.

Look for:

• Dull cutting edges
• Chips
• Bends
• Cracks
• Excessive wear

A dull blade tends to tear grass instead of cutting it cleanly.

Winter is a great time to have the blade sharpened because there is no pressure to get the mower back together before Saturday’s mowing.

If you remove the blade yourself, follow the mower manufacturer’s procedure and make sure it is reinstalled correctly and securely.

For riding mowers with multiple blades, inspect all of them.

6. Give Riding Mowers a Little Extra Attention

A lawn tractor or riding mower has more components than a basic push mower, so there are a few additional things worth checking.

Inspect:

• Belts for cracking or wear
• Tires and tire pressure
• Deck components
• Pulleys and moving parts
• Battery and battery terminals
• Grease and lubrication points specified in the manual

Don’t Forget the Battery

Cold weather and months of inactivity can be hard on batteries.

Depending on your mower and battery type, the manufacturer may recommend disconnecting or removing the battery and storing it appropriately during the winter.

Clean corrosion from the terminals if necessary and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for charging and storage.

Finding a dead lawn-tractor battery during the first beautiful weekend of spring isn’t anyone’s preferred way to start the season.

7. Store It Somewhere Dry

Once everything is clean and serviced, choose a dry storage location.

A garage or shed is ideal.

Moisture is the enemy here. Months of exposure to damp conditions can contribute to corrosion, especially on the deck and other steel components.

If you use a cover, make sure the mower is completely dry first.

And remember that gasoline-powered equipment and fuel should always be stored appropriately and away from ignition sources.

What About Battery-Powered Mowers?

Battery-powered lawn equipment eliminates oil changes, carburetors and gasoline problems, but it still needs some end-of-season attention.

Clean the mower thoroughly, inspect the blade and deck, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for battery storage.

Lithium-ion batteries generally should not simply be forgotten in an unheated shed for months. Storage temperature and recommended charge level vary by manufacturer, so check the manual for your particular battery system.

Your End-of-Season Mower Checklist

Before retiring the mower for winter:

• ✓ Clean the mower and deck
• ✓ Remove accumulated grass and debris
• ✓ Follow the manufacturer’s fuel-storage procedure
• ✓ Change the engine oil if applicable
• ✓ Inspect the air filter
• ✓ Inspect the spark plug
• ✓ Sharpen or replace damaged blades
• ✓ Check belts, tires and moving parts on riding mowers
• ✓ Take care of the battery
• ✓ Store the mower somewhere dry

Twenty or thirty minutes of maintenance now can save considerably more aggravation when mowing season returns.

Or There’s the Other Winterization Method…

Of course, some Mass Landscaping & Snow customers have discovered an even easier mower-maintenance program:

They let us take care of the lawn and barely have to worry about owning a mower in the first place.

We admit that’s a pretty effective system.

For everyone else, take care of your mower this fall and it should be much happier to see you when spring arrives.

And if you know somebody whose end-of-season mower-storage procedure consists of “park it behind the snowblower and deal with it in April,” send them this article.

They may thank you in the spring.

— Mass Landscaping & Snow

Serving Worcester and surrounding Central Massachusetts communities since 2009