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Cleaning a Lawn Mower Deck – The Why and How

For those of us who are lucky to have our own garden, then the lawn mower is one of the most fantastic tools to do this work during the season in which the grass grows and grows.

And of course, it is maintenance-intensive equipment that will prolong its useful life and keep its performance as good as when we first bought and used it. It is undoubtedly one of the best inventions of the art of gardening.
Cleaning a Lawn Mower Deck

The importance of the lawn mower deck


The cover is practically one of the main organs of the lawn mower. This is where most of the grass, that can’t be filtered out, is stored. This is where the small residues of the plants and the herbs that are cut in small dimensions remain.

In this way, the mission of the deck, apart from protecting the blade that takes charge of devours the grass and cut it to the same level.

Why is it necessary to clean the lawn mower deck?


The main problem of not cleaning the lawn mower deck is that there can develop fungi and diseases that can affect the health of your garden. Every time you shave the garden, the leaves of grass are exposed, as if it were a cut made on the tip of your fingers. Thus, in addition to the humidity that exists in the place where you store your lawn mower, you can develop pests that can propagate very easily during the next time you use this machine.

In addition to this, proper cleaning of the lawn mower will allow you to obtain a longer life and allow the cutting blade not to wear and to work without elements that prevent its natural movement.

Finally, cleaning the cover can help your machine lose a few extra pounds. Yes, a few extra kilos that are accumulating even though the waste for each harvest is few. Releasing the machine from this weight will make it easier for you to push it through the garden.

How is the lawn mower deck cleaned?

Cleaning the deck is not something that you have to do every time you decide to maintain the garden. The frequency with which you can do it is at least twice a season, before the arrival of autumn. The important thing is to avoid that during a whole temperature, the grass residues accumulate for a long time.

In despite of, if you are a fan of order and cleanliness, there is nothing wrong with doing it more often.

Here is a summary of the steps you must follow to achieve optimum and totally clean cleaning:

  • The first step will be to empty the gas tank, at the same time as disconnecting the spark plug wire.
  • It is necessary to position the mower to one side or down, so that gravity will allow you to remove waste more easily.
  • It is possible to use a garden hose and spray the inside of the cover, which will help provide sufficient moisture to eliminate the grass that has been agglutinated inside.
  • To remove all that compact mass of small fragments of grass, you can use an object like a small wooden stick.
  • Next you can add hot water and soap to remove accumulated fats.
  • Rinse and dry.

Once this process is completed, you can reconnect the spark plug and charge the fuel tank, in case you are going to use it soon. In periods like winter it is suggested to keep the tank empty, because the permanence of the same deteriorates the life of your lawnmower.

A final tip

In order to prevent further accumulation and sedimentation of grass in future mowing, you can smear the inside of the cover by adding vegetable oil. In this way, the grass will avoid clinging to the inside layer of your lawn mower.