Do you have trouble starting your lawnmower up in the spring? Before deciding to take your lawnmower in for repair, try these few simple suggestions. After completing them most of the time your lawnmower will fire up and run like a champ.
Pull and clean the Spark Plug
Most of the time simply cleaning the spark plug will solve your lawnmower woes. To do this, disconnect the wire attached to the end of the spark plug. Then using a wrench or a Ratchet/Socket, remove the spark plug. If the spark plug is black or wet looking, you have probably found your problem on why the lawnmower is not starting.
Using fine grit sandpaper, sand the top of the spark plug down to bare metal. Make sure you sand all around the edges of the piece of metal (tab) that sits just above the electrode. Make sure that there is a gap between the metal tab and the electrode. If you still have the lawnmower manual and a feeler gauge you can adjust the gap to the specifications. However, if there is a small gap it is probably sufficient for the spark plug to operate correctly.
Make sure the spark plug is free of dust and dry. Then screw it back into the cylinder and connect back the wire to the end of the spark plug. Then try starting the lawn mower.
Check for Oil
Make sure there is oil in the lawnmower and that it is at the proper level.
Check for Fuel
Make sure there is gas in the lawn mower. If you have old gas in the lawnmower and did not put in a fuel stabilizer at the end of the season, replace the gas. If you had drained the gas tank at the end of the previous season, then fill the tank at least half full with new gas.
Check the Fuel Line
Like many of us, at the end of the previous lawn mowing season we turn off the fuel line switch. Make sure it is in the on position. If you have done all of the above and the engine will not fire, then check to see if the fuel is getting to the carburetor. Temporarily disconnect the fuel hose from the carburetor and see if gas pours out. If so reconnect the hose. If not, then check the fuel line. It may be gummed up or the fuel filter is clogged.
Check the Air Filter
Make sure the Air Filter is clean. If it is dirty and oily then replace it. If it just dirty shake it and knock out some of the dust. This may solve your problem; however I would still recommend replacing it.
Clean the Carburetor
First turn off the fuel line. Disassembling and cleaning the carburetor is not as bad as you may think. Usually there is a nut on the underside of the carburetor. Remove this and pull the bottom portion of the carburetor off. Clean the inside of this lower portion of the carburetor and then make sure the float valve moves up and down freely. The float valve is a plastic object about 1.5” in diameter that hangs down when you remove the lower portion of the carburetor.
Reconnect the lower portion of the carburetor and turn on the fuel line again.
Try restarting the lawnmower. If it still does not work after performing all of these procedures, then take it to a repair shop. However, from personal experience these procedures usually solve the problem.
Sharpen the Blade
Finally, make sure you sharpen the blade. This will ensure you minimize the torque on the engine while cutting the grass. Not to mention, your lawn will get a more even cut.
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About The Author Over the past 20+ years Mark Donovan has been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. For more home improvement information visit http://www.homeadditionplus.com and http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com. |
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How to Remove Thatch
From a Lawn
by: Kevin Whiteside You know that brown patchy debris in a lawn that accumulates on top of the soil but below the grass line? That's thatch. Thatch consist of grass clippings, grass stems, roots, and other debris that either decomposes or accumulates on a lawn over time. A few reasons thatch can occur are 1) A lawn has never been aerated 2) Cutting high grass frequently and leaving the clippings on a lawn. Thatch is not always a bad thing as it can hold moisture to protect the lawn from extreme heat and lack of water. Questions to be asked before removing thatch(dethatching) 1) Is there enough thatch on the lawn to justify dethatching? 2) If so, what process should I use to dethatch the lawn? Lawn business owners and homeowners need to measure the amount of thatch in a lawn to determine if dethatching needs to be done. I prefer to take a pencil and stick it in the thatch until it touches the ground.Mark the pencil with your fingernail where the thatch comes up to. After doing this a few times you will be able to eye it and know whether or not to dethatch. The first couple of times you can measure with a ruler. As a guide, anything over 1/2 inch should be dethatched as this prevents adequete nutrients, air, and water from reaching the soil. Excessive thatch can also encourage pests and lawn diseases. Dethatching can be done in 3 ways depending on the size of the lawn and the amount of thatch accumulated. 1) Aeration- For lawns that have less than an inch of thatch. This is done with an aerator. Always use an aerator that pulls plugs from the ground as opposed to the ones that poke holes. 2) Rake the lawn manually- using a leaf rake, garden rake, or thatching rake. Raking is fine for small to medium size lawns with thatch less than 1 inch. Raking does take some time, but less stressful on the lawn than a Power Rake. 3) Power Rake- Also called a Power Dethatcher. Use this when there is more than 1 inch of thatch on the lawn. Power Rakes are a stout piece of equipment that uses an engine like a lawn mower to drive vertical blades or tines to cut the surface of the soil. These blades or tines can be adjusted to certain depths. You can rent either a power rake or an aerator from Home Depot or another equipment rental store in your area. If you decide to dethatch using a power rake mow the lawn to about half of its regular mowing height. The blades of the power rake should be adjusted to cut about 1/2 inch into the soil to remove thatch. Always go over the yard twice and change direction of your paths. For example, (long ways and short ways) or (diagonal one way and diagonal the other way). After dethatching, rake up all the debris and thatch. If you would like to fertilize or reseed the lawn, this is a good time as roots are exposed. Water when you are finished dethatching. Since some power dethatching can make a yard look bad, remember to dethatch when a lawn can recover the best such as right before the prime growing seasons. Different types of grasses have best and worst times to dethatch because the growing seasons vary. Having a healthy lawn can can definitely improve the look of the landscape and the curb appeal.
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