Our lawn was making me feel like a terrible neighbor last week. Sure, I had good reason (i.e. the ol’ newborn excuse) but surely the people driving by our house everyday didn’t know my airtight excuse. So to put my guilt to rest I resumed my Friday evening mowing routine. That is until our mower started spewing white smoke and sputtered to a stop. I was left with a dead lawn mower and two buzzed stripes in our yard. Awesome.
To be honest, I was more annoyed at my incomplete mow job than my busted equipment. In fact, some of you on Twitter and Facebook probably saw us seeking recommendations for mower replacements mere moments after the incident.
Why so quick to ditch our current clipper? It was a super old hand-me-down from a friend and we frankly never grew that attached to it. They were moving and we happened to be closing on our house in the same week so it was easier for them to offload the mower on us for a few bucks than transport it to their new casa.
For the four years that we’ve owned our Troy-Bilt it’s been the “mower to tide us over until we buy our own.” We even have big dreams of upgrading to something greener when that time comes. In a way, we’ve kinda been hoping it would kick the bucket so we could get something newer and more planet-friendly. Maybe that’s why I inadvertently / subconsciously neglected any sort of care or maintenance on our hand-me-down (after all, in my mind it’s been “on its last mow” for a while). That means – prepare to gasp – no oil changes, no filter cleanings, no blade replacements, literally no more than simply dusting off grass clippings since 2006. I know, it’s not like us at all.
But even though I went to bed dreaming about what shiny new (electric? reel?) mower would be coming home with me on Saturday morning, somehow I woke up the next day with a Mr. Fix-It attitude and decided I’d put in one last ditch effort to repair ol’ smokey. You know, in the spirit of working with what we have and keeping a perfectly workable mower from the landfill. So I grabbed a bunch of tools (since I had no idea what the heck I would need- a hammer might come in handy for changing oil, right?) along with my computer and crossed my fingers that Google would somehow magically turn me into a lawnmower mechanic.
Well, it didn’t. But YouTube came close. Thanks to this video from Lowe’s I actually managed to change my mower’s oil. Sweet victory indeed. I didn’t end up needing my hammer, but I was able to use some old cardboard to substitute for a drop cloth and an empty paint can for a used oil receptacle.
My first ever oil change solved half of the problem. It breathed life back into the mower, but unfortunately that breath was still white and smoky. Boo!
That’s when I turned to another tactic suggested by our friendly and always helpful Facebook and Twitter folks: cleaning the air filter. First challenge: finding the air filter (yes, I really was that helpless). Luckily the Briggs & Stratton website came to my rescue (they’re actually the makers of our lawn mower’s engine). With this diagram I was able to figure out where my air filter was (eureka!), unscrew it, and do my darndest to clean it by hand (it desperately needs a new filter, but that’s obviously not something I had on hand).
Notice how I’m not showing you any pictures of this. Not just because I didn’t take any pictures of the process, but also because I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough without you seeing exactly how dirty my old oil-clogged air filter was. But my embarrassment ends here because (shockingly) my efforts paid off. Within a couple of minutes my mower was running smoke and sputter free. Victory!
I celebrated my new status as amateur lawn mower mechanic by completing my previous day’s mow job and shelving my dreams of a new mower (at least temporarily- we still have our eye on some non-gas options for the future). Plus now that I’ve learned a bit of lawn mower care by experimenting on this guy, I feel better equipped to maintain the next one that comes home with us.
Have any of you found yourselves in a similar lawn mower pinch? Any other lawn care equipment maintenance tips to pass along to hopefully help us and a slew of other readers avoid situations like this in the future? Here’s to all of us moving one small step closer to being mower mechanics!
LiveLikeYou says
Reading your article I feel a little guilty about the endless hours my dad spend at our yellow lawn mover i Sweden. If it wasn’t for him or another willing guy I would never “dare” to do it myself!!! But he loves it-find it relaxing…
Ol' Smokey's Former Owner says
John, I don’t know if I should duck my head for being the one to pass Ol’ Smokey on to you or proud at its usefulness in your experiments in lawn mower maintenance. ;-) Glad to see it’s still kickin’!
YoungHouseLove says
I vote the latter, “Ol’ Smokey’s Former Owner.” Sorry I haven’t been treating her better all these years!
-John
Laura J says
Thank you for posting this. I guess everyone I have ever known has always just ditched the old mower for a new one. I had no idea it needed basic engine care. (Of course, in hindsight, common sense says, “Duh, it’s a motor!”) Thanks for giving us a new little piece of knowledge. :)
lazysmurf says
We have an old fashioned push mower, it doesn’t make any noise or air pollution at all and will last forever. The only maintenance is sharpening the blades! I am so glad we got it.
EcoQueenNorthCarolina says
You can turn your lawn mower into a solar powered lawn mower if you wanted to continue with your handy man ways…save ol’ smokey from the land fill AND get a cool Eco-Friendly lawn mower, all while doin’ it yourself! That’s if you ever find the time from blogging, being a husband, and being a new daddy….
Here’s the link, the website has ALL KINDS of useful instructions:
http://www.instructables.com/id/solar-lawn-mower/
Love to read about all your adventures. Thanks you guys. :-)
Becky says
Congrats on saving the mower! I too have learned about caring for a mower the hard way. We now have an electric mower (Black and Decker)and really like it. I love that it always starts up without yanking on the darn pull cord 7 times. ;) Plus, it has a great safety feature. As soon as you let go of the handle it stops. Much safer around kids and pets…who aren’t suppose to be out during mowing sessions but always seem to show up. Someday I will upgrade to the cordless model.
Morgan says
Our home town recently held a lawn mower swap where you could turn in such oldies but goodies for a brand new ($300) version for a $100. You might see if a local city is offering something similar?
While I hail from San Diego, we’re headed to Richmond next weekend for a wedding and I think I might have to track down your fabric stores! (Can I check bolts??) ;)
CJ says
When you wrote on your facebook post, you guys never said you had a Briggs&Stratton engine!!
Maybe this may sound silly, but I work in a Just Ask Rental department at a True Value. Briggs & Stratton aren’t as great as a Honda (!), but they do the job. Next time, let your followers know and I’d be sure to make some recommendations on what to do! When we rent out our tillers, lawnmowers, bed edgers, etc. we do a routine checkup each time the piece of equipment comes back (and you should too, each week you use it!)
1. Check the filter. Blow it out. If using an air compressor, blow -inside- the filter instead of around it because you are actually just blowing the dirt and particles deeper into the filter if you do it the other way around.
2. Check the oil!
3. Clean the blades, make sure there isn’t a ton of dirt and grime surrounding them so they will stay sharper easier. if they are dull, you can either get them sharpened for cheap or even replace them.
You may be surprised, but doing these easy things (we pressure wash each piece of equipment as well as go through an entire test run as well) will make your equipment run longer. We’ve had tillers for over five summers and they work just as smoothly as the new ones we have. Heck, we have a plate compactor from 2000 that’s just as effective as our new ones because of our dedication to routine maintenance.
And also: if something does end up breaking, because you guys own a Briggs & Stratton engine it is MUCH easier to buy a replacement part at a cheaper cost. Just FYI.
So glad you posted about it!
Katelyn says
I enjoy helping my husband with the yard work, but gas mowers just don’t do it for me. The gas, the oil, the noise and smell – I just don’t want to have to deal with it. So, we got a reel mower and have been fabulously happy with it. I can actually have a conversation while mowing. However, we have a small yard (military housing) and I can’t imagine using a reel mower for a large yard, but it works for us. :)
Elaine says
Laugh my butt off! I read this post when you first posted it, but just now noticed the title. Your titles are ALWAYS great, but this one really takes the cake.
Well done. I’m happy to a more steady presence of John at the blog!(Not that I don’t love you dearly, Sherry!)
Cristina says
We had a similar dilemma … although the mower that pooped out on us was one of the old school push mowers. We tried to keep it going, but the man that sharpened our blades for us finally told us that he just didn’t think it was worth the effort, and it wasn’t doing a very good job. In an effort to continue being green, we bought an electric mower. Can’t speak from experience because my hubs is the one who does the lawn (and enjoys it, thank goodness), but he swears by the electric mower. One charge will do the front and back yard, less noisy than gas, and of course, no gas. Only problem is, everyone wants to borrow it! :-) Two thumbs up for the electric option.
Erin says
Cordless electric is awesome. No contest. We have a little over a half acre (minus trees and shrubs), which our mower cuts on a single charge. No more oil changes, filters, going to buy gas, walking through smoke. And it’s so quiet. Consumer Reports says the Black and Decker is best (affordable, easy to find, too). We have a Neuton because there’s no electricity in our detached garage, so we wanted one where you remove the battery and charge inside. It’s 2 years old and no problems. Seriously, you’ll never regret it. You know where to find the reviews (Youtube ;).