Riding lawn mowers can set you back a few hundred dollars. If you don’t know how to take proper care of it and store it correctly, it might cost you more than you want. In this post, we want to provide you with some tips for storing your riding lawn mower.
A few tips to keep in mind for general maintenance
1. Take care of your gas
Although the theory that fuel never goes bad no matter how long you store it may be true, leaving it stagnant for long periods may cause damage to the carburetor and fuel tank. Unless you can find time to run the engine a few times a week, you can either drain the tank of its fuel or add a reliable stabilizer.
Estimate how much fuel you’ll need in the last few days of the mowing season and simply let the mower run until it stops and refuses to start again. You can also siphon the fuel out manually using a tube or a turkey baster.
Fuel stabilizers provide protective layers that fuse with gasoline to forestall evaporation. It prevents fuel from degrading and producing a sticky tar that can badly damage a mower’s carburetor.
2. Flush it
Even though you clean your machine after every mow, clingy bits of dried grass might still be hanging onto the metal. A wire brush, a putty knife, or a flat-head screwdriver might do the trick in scraping them off, while a garden hose would be suitable for cleaning the lawn mower’s deck.
3. Remove The Blade
Pulling the most lethal weapon in your arsenal out not only gives you the chance to clean it thoroughly but allows you to properly store it for future battles. Doing so permits your mower’s blades to stay sharp, spotless, and stainless. Wear thick protective gloves to ensure safety and use the proper tools to avoid causing unwarranted damage.
Should you store your mower indoors or outdoors
If you’ve been living in your current home for a while, chances are your garage is so full that your car doesn’t even fit anymore. What more a riding lawn mower?
Ideally, you would want your mower tucked away safely inside to protect it from too much exposure from elements. The growth of molds and mildew is just one of the potential issues that may arise in leaving the mower outdoors. However, a small space with less circulation may pose a few problems as well.
Try to find a space in your garage where you can easily drive it out if you tend to the lawn regularly. But if you’re tired of tripping over it or hitting it every time the car door swings open, then maybe it’s time to consider building a shed for your lawn storage items. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of storing indoors vs outdoors.
Storing indoors
Pros
- Keeps your mower safe from the sun, rain, or snow.
- These elements may appear harmless, but they can wreak havoc not just on your lawn mower’s body, but its engine as well.
- Keeps your mower safe from prying eyes.
- Riding lawn mowers, though equipped with safety and security features, can be easily pushed or pulled from your yard. Avert this by storing your mower inside.
- Keeps it safe from dirt and grime.
- Drape a lawn mower cover over your equipment as dust and small particles may accumulate with prolonged storage.
CONS
- Failing to remove excess fuel from your lawn mower can be a fire hazard.
- It may eat up most of your garage space resulting in a couple of stubbed toes.
- Building a shed or a separate garage will set you back an extra few hundred dollars.
Storing outdoors
Most lawn mower owners would recommend that you keep your equipment indoors. However, if you lack the space don’t fret, there’s no need to let go of your beloved mower. There are alternative options.
Pros
- It saves you the trouble of squeezing it out through your vehicles from the garage.
- It gives you an extra garage space.
- It saves you from the costs of building a shed.
- It allays a home fire hazard.
Cons
- Exposes your mower to elements such as snow, rain, extreme heat, and dirt.
- Over-exposure may lead to a corroded battery, spoiled gasoline, gummy engine oil, and a stolen mower. All of which may be alleviated, except maybe from having it stolen, by a durable and tough riding lawn mower cover.
Storing your mower safely is the best way to ensure that you get your money’s worth. It is a bummer dealing with a faulty or missing lawn mower especially if you know that you could have avoided it.