Craftsman Lawn Mower Maintenance
At some point during the winter, my lawn mower quit working. I would yank on the pull cord but to no avail. And so I began my Saturday determined to try everything I could before taking it to a repair center. Todd has a great post on maintaining a John Deere X300 over at Home Construction Improvement. His post reminded me of all the things I should have been doing anyway.
Lawn Mower Maintenance
FYI: I have a Craftsman rotary lawn mower with a 6.75Hp Briggs & Stratton engine. Mower model number 917.370721.
1. Inspect the air filter. Some mower filters are little foam squares. I’ve heard you can simply wash these and pop them back in. My mower had a paper filter. It was really dirty and in need of replacement. The correct filter for my mower was Craftsman item #33644.
2. Check out the spark plug. The spark plug on my mower is in front and has a spark plug wire connected that simply unsnaps. Unscrew the plug and have a look. A burnt out spark plug is easily spotted by the scorch marks. My plug was recently replaced and looked like it was still in good shape. It was manufactured by Champion item #J19LM.
3. Remove the old gas. The gas in the tank was from last season. I had added stabilizer but wanted to eliminate all potential problems. Over time gas will degrade and lose combustion. Stabilizer works to slow the oxidation process and keep gas fresh. All it takes is adding a little stabilizer
4. Change the oil. It’s important to have an empty gas tank so you don’t flood the engine. All I had to do was tip my mower on its side and let the old oil pour out. Then, I added new oil till I reached the full level on the dip-stick. I used SAE30. Colder climates should use 10W-5. Also, my mower doesn’t have an oil filter to change.
5. Clean up the mower. I removed some grass and leaves from the underside and some more from the mower deck. I also removed the blade to sharpen it. I used a simple file but would recommend a grinder. Using a file is time consuming. Make sure you sharpen evenly to keep the blade balanced. Unbalanced blades become problematic down the road.
After all this I decided to give it a try. I was a little shocked when it started right up. Next, I happily mowed my front yard.
What do you think? What maintenance does your mower need?
Image courtesy of Sa’ d Khorsid.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Nothing like maintenance to keep things working! I’m determined to keep our new mower working great… I’m going to have to learn how to sharpen blades, I think!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Ethan,
Thanks for the link. It’s amazing what a little regular maintenance will do for engines. We live in a time now where people don’t service small engines, I’ve heard many people say it’s just easier to buy a new mower or string trimmer than bring them in for service. When all it really takes is some basic skills and you can keep it running like new.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
@Jennifer - I just got a nice grinder. It makes sharpening the blade really easy. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it.
@Todd - Your right. It’s rather common to simply get a new mower. Hopefully regular maintenance will keep me out of the repair shops!
May 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I decided a while back that I didn’t need the maintenance hassle or pollution of a power mower, so I bought a Brill Luxus 38 rotary push mower. It is super quiet, (I can mow first thing on a Saturday morning and not wake the neighbors!) easy to push, light weight (great for my terraced lawn) and virtually maintenance-free. The blades have a non-contact design, so they only need sharpening every 5-7 years. My only regular maintenance is to wash it with a hose periodically.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Josh, That sounds like a nice setup. My yard has one major hill and I don’t know how well a manual mower would work. Is your yard mostly flat?
May 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Ethan, my yard has a lot of elevation change, but all the sloped areas have been terraced or have gardens planted. The area I mow is flat. However, my neighbor, who has the same mower as I and has grass on his severely sloped front yard seems to do just fine. Because the blades don’t actually touch (a micrometer is included for adjustments) it takes very little physical effort to use the mower. Brill makes a battery-powered self-propelled version as well, though they say the non-motorized version is easier to push than a standard power mower.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
@Josh, Thanks for the information. Maybe one day I’ll make the switch (if my mower breaks down that will speed things along).
May 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I have a lawn mower that is about 2 years old the spark plug was bad I replaced it. before that I tought it was something else I open the top and miss arround with it now it is working fine but the engine is to loud. does anyone knows how to adjust the engine.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
@Jean - Lawnmower engine too loud — that’s a tough one. There are a few things that can cause this (1) The throttle is all the way on high (you want that, the blade moves faster and gives you a better cut w/ less chance of stall… you could turn it down if you wanted to. (2) The shaft could be bent, which would cause the engine to vibrate MUCH more than usual. (3) An Oil change could be due. New oil would help lubricate the internals and quiet it down a bit.
Other than this, if you want quieter, you’re going to need to get a new mower. Jennifer recommends a non-motorized version earlier in this thread that might be a good option for you
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I have a craftsman 917388861. I changed the sparkplug, added oil to get to the full line, changed the air filter, and changed the gas. I even put on a new handle because the old one broke when I pulled on it last time. After all of these things I still can’t get the mower to start. Do you know what my next option would be?
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Wayne - make sure that your throttle is set to high speed (rabbit), that your spark plug is properly gapped, and that you’re priming the engine. Was changing the gas motivated by not using the mower for some time, or something else/worse?
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Fred- I was using the mower, turned it off for a second, then when I went to turn it back on there was some smoke from the silver section. When I did all of the steps mentioned before it didn’t smoke but it didn’t start either. How do you make sure a spark plug is gapped and find the throttle? Sorry, lost my manual so I’m trying to find this all out online.
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Wayne - Throttle location is usually pretty easy to spot - its a lever connected to the engine that allows you to change the speed of the engine. Sometimes its located up on the handle. White smoke from the exhaust sounds like it was burning oil. Before you had this problem, were you going up or down steep hills? Gapping the spark plug is only necessary if the spark plug requires gapping. Some newer plugs are pre-gapped. Essentially, you need a gapping tool that can be inserted between the two spark end-points.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Hi Fred, I was cutting tall grass. The spark plug has a space betweeen the metal parts. Does that mean its gapped?