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Large lawns near the house require maintenance. A lawnmower can quickly mow the grass, giving the area a neat appearance. However, buying a tool is only half the battle. You need to know how to work with a lawn mower, be able to start it correctly, adjust the blades and maintain it.
Reasons why the lawnmower may not start
Any technique requires careful handling and adherence to operating rules. A tool that seemed to work when checked in a store stopped starting up after being delivered to your home or several days of operation. Before contacting the service center, you can try to solve the problem yourself. The reasons for the malfunction are different for gasoline and electric lawn mowers.
The petrol lawn mower may not start for the following reasons:
- First of all, before starting the engine, you need to check the fuel in the tank. A small amount of it will create airiness in the system, but it is also impossible to fill the tank full to the brim. When refueling, you must adhere to the maximum fuel level mark. If the mower is sent for winter storage, the fuel must be drained as gasoline tends to evaporate. Refueling is carried out using a funnel. Until accidentally spilled gasoline dries on the mower parts, the engine must not be started, in order to avoid the ignition of flammable liquid.
- Often, the engine of a lawn mower will not start because the user is unable to start it correctly. Before starting, the lever is set to maximum speed, and then gasoline is pumped into the carburetor with a primer. The starter cord is gently pulled slightly towards itself, and then pulled sharply.
- After unsuccessful attempts to start the engine, you can try changing the spark plug. Often the reason lies precisely in it. If there is no spare candle at hand, and the old one is covered with heavy carbon, it must be cleaned with fine-grained emery paper.
- A clogged air filter leads to the preparation of a poor-quality fuel mixture, and the engine starts to stall or does not start at all. Correct the problem by easily washing the removed filter in clean gasoline and then air-drying it. The air filters should be flushed every 25 hours of operation, even if the mower does not stall.
- Immediately after starting, the engine can stall due to a seized piston or crankshaft. Having unscrewed the spark plug with the starter cord, it is necessary to bleed the engine several times. It is possible that moving parts will develop and the problem will be repaired.
- A low crankcase oil level can prevent the engine from starting.
Electric lawn mowers also have their own easy-to-solve problems:
- The commonplace reason that the electric motor of the lawn mower does not work may be a lack of electricity or low voltage. You can find out if there is current in the network using a screwdriver indicator, but you need a multimeter to measure the voltage.
- The electric mower is equipped with a thermal motor protection. Grass-clogged ventilation holes will cause the protection to operate continuously, preventing the motor from running. Solve the problem easily by cleaning the ventilation holes.
- A broken switch can be the reason for the mower motor to not work. Here you will have to contact the service center or replace the broken part yourself.
If none of the above tips helped to start the unit, you do not need to touch anything else, but it is better to contact a specialist.
The video tells about the preparation of the lawn mower for launch:
How to choose oil and how to fill it in a lawn mower
To figure out what kind of oil a lawn mower needs to work, you need to know the type of engine of the unit. For two-stroke engines, there is a special oil diluted with gasoline in a certain proportion. That is, a fuel mixture is being prepared. For lawnmowers with a four-stroke engine, the oil used is completely different, and it is filled separately from gasoline.
The design of two- and four-stroke engines is different. Each working unit requires grease of a certain consistency. Which of the oils can be poured into the engine is reflected in the operating instructions for the lawn mower.
You cannot give preference to oil only for its cost. The price depends on the ingredients used. Oils are mineral, semi-synthetic and synthetic. From 5 to 15% in each of them a place is reserved for additives. They are responsible for the lubricating properties of the oil and the ability to maintain fluidity at low temperatures. For each type of engine, an oil of a certain viscosity and with the necessary additives is produced. In four-stroke engines, the oil is contaminated by the work of rubbing parts, therefore, it is replaced every 50 hours.
Mixing and refueling a two-stroke engine
Two-stroke engines do not run on pure gasoline. They will have to prepare the fuel mixture on their own. Gasoline should only be used with the octane rating recommended by the manufacturer. It is not necessary to use oil only from the manufacturer of the lawn mower. Any brand will do, as long as it is a product for two-stroke engines.
Any lawn mower manual contains information about the ratio of the components of the fuel mixture, that is, oil with gasoline. For example, for mineral oil this figure is 1:35, but it is now rarely produced for two-stroke engines. Most often, a synthetic product is found on sale. To prepare the fuel mixture, a ratio of 1:50 is adhered to.
It is quite simple to prepare the fuel mixture. Pure gasoline is poured into a measuring canister and a certain amount of oil is added using a dispenser. Next, it remains to tightly close the canister lid, shake up the liquid and the fuel will be ready. It remains with the help of a funnel to pour the prepared mixture into the gas tank and you can start the lawn mower.
For the convenience of fuel preparation, it is convenient to use the table.
Refueling a four-stroke lawn mower
Many wheeled lawn mowers are equipped with a four-stroke engine. For such a unit, the fuel mixture does not need to be prepared. The oil is filled into a separate filler hole and is located in the engine crankcase. Only pure gasoline is poured into the tank, after which the mower is ready for work.
The mower's four-stroke engine does not have an oil filter. Due to the lack of a cleaning mechanism, the oil becomes dirty quickly and requires replacement after 50 operating hours. The entire replacement process is straightforward. The engine is allowed to idle for about 15 minutes to warm up. The drain hole is located on the crankcase. It is closed with a screw cap.The mower is installed at an angle towards the drain hole, a container is placed to collect the used oil, and then the plug is unscrewed. When all the dirty oil has drained, the plug is tightly closed, the mower is placed on a level place and new oil is poured through the upper filler hole. For four-stroke engines, the 10W40 grade is usually used. Check the level with a dipstick. When the desired mark is reached, the filler hole is tightly closed with a stopper.
The video shows the process of changing the oil in a lawn mower:
Rules for working with a lawn mower from A to Z
Working with any technique requires certain skills and getting used to it. If you have not had to deal with the operation of a lawn mower before, then it is better to first familiarize yourself with the instructions attached to the machine. It will help you understand the purpose of each lever, then everything learned can be consolidated with practice.
The lawn must be chosen even without pits and bumps. Once you feel good about the lawnmower, you can start trying to cut grass of different heights and learn to avoid obstacles.
Work begins with starting the motor
So, the mower is filled with oil and gasoline, nothing flows anywhere, we proceed to the first test run of the engine:
- The first thing to do before starting the mower engine is to check the position of the speed knob. If the transmission is on, it must be turned off, otherwise, as soon as the engine starts, the mower will start moving on its own.
- With the ignition off with a starter or a winding cord (it all depends on the design of the lawn mower), the motor shaft is rotated. In this case, the air damper is in the open position.
- The next steps consist of turning on the ignition and closing the air damper. The lawn mower starter is started by pressing the button. If the engine has a winding cord, it must be pulled sharply towards you.
- If, after several unsuccessful attempts, the engine does not start, the ignition is turned off, the air damper is opened and several idle bleeds are made to purge the combustion chamber.
- When finished with purging, repeat the same steps as they did the last time when starting the motor.
When the engine of the lawn mower has successfully started, it works monotonously without jerking, the high-speed lever is set to the position with the required revolutions, and the movement begins.
Adjusting the cutting height of the grass
To achieve the desired cutting height on the lawnmower there is a special lever that allows you to raise and lower the blades. Depending on the model, there may be two levers, and the number of steps is different. For example, the 7-step adjustment allows you to adjust the cutting height from 20 to 70 mm.
It should be noted that it is easier to mow soft grass with a low knife position. For tough grass, the blades must be lifted and the mower body must be adjusted forward. Changing the angle of inclination of the body compensates for the deflection of the mower when you apply strong pressure to the handle. On front-wheel-drive lawn mowers, do not tilt the body forward, otherwise the machine will leave uncut grass gaps.
We set the mower handle according to its height
To make mowing less tiring, the height of the mower handle must be correctly adjusted. The optimal position of the handle is 3 cm above the center of gravity of the body. Although each person selects the location of the handle of the lawn mower individually according to his height and physique. There are special screws on the handle for adjustment.
Conclusion
It is necessary to mow the grass without much effort. The mower has to move on the lawn by itself, it only needs to be steered.On difficult sections, it is better to switch to lower rpm, change the direction of movement by smoothly moving the handle to the left or right. Excessive efforts on the part of a person during operation will lead to rapid wear of the transmission and deformation of the knife on the ground.
