Get Your Lawn Mower Ready For Spring
Spring has sprung, and with it comes grass - and lots of it.
So your yard is getting pretty thick and you decide it's time to finally drag the mower out of the shed to do some much-needed mowing. You get everything out of the way and have clear room to back your John Deere X350 lawn tractor out of your clutter and into the fresh spring air. You push your foot on the break and go to turn the engine over, and then: ver-ver-ver-ver. The starter tries to crank the engine into motion while your hand has the key pined to the right and the other on the choke.
Nothing.
You try one more time: ver-ver-ver-ver. You hold it over for a good 30 seconds, playing back and forth with the choke before you start to hear the starter losing power. You get off and check to make sure you have fuel in the tank. Yup, it's almost full, and you haven't touched it since the fall. You look to see if the fuel line isn't chocked or in the off position - it's not.
By now you’re confused, you have only had the tractor for a few years. What could be wrong with it already?
This scenario is more common than you think, and the folks at Pittsfield Lawn & Tractor get dozens of calls about this problem on their fairly new John Deeres every spring. There are some simple steps you can take to avoid potential problems while keeping your lawn tractor running at top shape for a long time. And the person in the above scenario can do some things differently to have a nice start to his spring season instead of having a growing chore list.
The first and most important step is simply fallowing a regular maintenance program. Now, this may not sound like a big deal, but there is a lot more that goes in regular maintenance than you think. Let's start with daily maintenance, which simply referrers to the everyday stuff you should be doing to prevent larger problems from occurring. (No, it doesn’t have to be done every day, just before every use). This includes simple things like checking to make sure your lawn tractor has the appropriate fluid levels before trying to turn the engine over and make sure your air intake and exhaust is free and clear of debris and other blockages before attempting to start the motor.
As important as daily maintenance is, it won't prevent the major problems that form over time, like belts breaking and bearings seizing up. To prevent these problems from happening, it's important to plan and setup periodic service appointments with your dealer. This is actually so important that under the hood of every single John Deere lawn tractor there is a chart to help guide you in recognizing when it is that you should be planning and preforming maintenance to your machine.
.jpg)
Now, what could the person in our scenario done differently to prevent their situation? That answer falls under the category of long term storage. This goes for any engine that uses gasoline as a fuel source; it is not just isolated to lawn lractors. It's not a well-known fact that fuel can go bad, especially fuel containing ethanol. What happens often is a seal might not be completely air tight and all the volatile gases that make the combustion possible have evaporated and what you are left with is the extra additives that are thrown in to the fuel mixture often becoming a sludge like substance. To prevent this you can do one of two things: You can either completely drain the fuel tank of gasoline before storage and run the engine until it's starved of fuel (gasoline only). Or you can add a fuel stabilizer that will effectively keep your fuel fresh for the duration of a winter storage period.
If you remember to do these simple maintenance and preventative measures you will be ready and good to go this upcoming spring and summer season. For more help and information you can stop in and test drive any John Deere lawn tractor this April 7-14 when Pittsfield Lawn & Tractor will be hosting a "Drive Green Event." At the event you can also enter to win a chance at a 2025R Compact Tractor Equipped with a H130 Loader and a 62D Mid-Mount mowing deck and also receive a coupon for hundreds off attachments or the purchase of a new John Deere tractor. They will have plenty of salesmen on staff to answer any and all your questions.
