How To Care for Your Commercial Mowing Equipment

Commercial mowers make your life much easier because of how efficiently they can cut large plots of brush quickly. Still, they do need proper maintenance to run efficiently. Here’s how to care for your commercial mowing equipment so that you can prevent holdups and issues from developing as you use it.

Cleaning the Undercarriage

As your mowing equipment slices through thick brush or grass, remnants of the plants will stick to its underside. On top of making your equipment messy, this debris may begin to clog up your mower’s discharge chute if you let it collect there untouched. For this reason, you should clean the undercarriage every now and then. The specific frequency is up to you—some choose to clean the bottom of the deck once or twice annually, while others prefer to do so after every large mowing job. Either way, you can follow the same procedure. Start by disconnecting the spark plug as an extra safety precaution to prevent the mower from starting while you’re cleaning it. Then, use a wire brush, along with soap and water, to scrub out the plant and dirt matter that’s caked on it. With Swisher’s finish cut mowers, you can simply hose off fresh clippings and use a putty knife to dislodge hardened ones.

Changing or Cleaning the Air Filter

Commercial mowers come with air filters that block dirt from entering their engines via their carburetors. Over time, your mower’s filter will become filled with enough dirt that it prevents air from passing through. This, in turn, will cause the engine to work harder than it should, burning up more fuel in the process. You should change your air filter or clean it, depending on what material it’s made of. Paper filters are meant to be disposed of and replaced once a year. They’re pretty cheap, so this shouldn’t present an issue to you in terms of cost. Foam filters, on the other hand, are cleanable, and you should care for them a couple of times within each season that you use your mower. Eventually, you can also replace these as needed. Swisher’s commercial mowers possess filters that are cleanable, so you’ll be able to use them for a while before you need to discard them and buy new ones.

Changing the Motor Oil

Like most engine-driven machines, commercial mowers need oil to lubricate and cool their internal components. From time to time, it’s important to check on the oil in your outdoor power equipment. Open the oil cap on the mower and take out the dipstick from inside. Wipe off the dipstick once, then place it back in the oil before removing it again to see the oil level and the oil color and consistency. If the level is below where it should be according to the markings on the dipstick, you’ll need to replenish the oil. As for the oil color and consistency, it should be yellow or brown, as well as clear and smooth. Should you see any black coloration, specks of debris, or an abnormal thickness in the liquid, it’s time to change the oil.

Though the exact procedure may vary between models, generally, you’ll want to open the drain valve on the mower’s underside to let out the old oil. After doing this, you can put in new oil so the engine can run without a problem.

Replacing the Spark Plug

The spark plug is the part that initially ignites the gas that your commercial mower uses as fuel. A worn-down spark plug will hinder the engine from starting up. Luckily, commercial mowers usually have designs that allow for easy spark plug replacement. Moreover, spark plugs themselves are inexpensive to buy. The typical timeframe for installing a new spark plug is once at the start of every season for optimal performance. In order to replace it, detach the spark plug wire. After this, you must use a spark plug wrench to unscrew the spark plug. You can then affix the new one into its proper position with the wrench to finish the task.

Sharpening or Switching Out the Blades

Many of Swisher’s mowing equipment products are heavy-duty and come with tough, high-quality blades. For example, the Swisher 44-inch Rough Cut Mower has two swinging blades that can make quick work of even three-inch-thick shrub and sapling stems. Even so, their edges can become dull after frequent and extended use. Inspect them regularly to see whether they’re in good condition. For basic routine maintenance, you need to make sure that all the nuts and bolts holding the blade and spindle hardware are tight. Should you notice that the blades are becoming less sharp, you can then proceed to sharpen them. You’ll need to remove them from the mower to do this. Protect your hands with gloves and handle the blades with extreme caution to avoid getting hurt. From there, a few strokes with a grinding wheel or file should be sufficient to get them back to their ideal state. Sharpening won’t work in all instances, though; if the blades have visible chips, cracks, or dents, you’ll need to replace them.

Preparing for Winter Storage

Each winter season, your outdoor power equipment will need to sit in storage until it’s needed once again in the warmer months; however, simply placing a mower in a garage or shed “as is” can lead it to require more maintenance than you’d like come spring. The following are some steps to take in preparing your commercial mower for winter storage:

• Remove all gasoline from the tank by running the mower until it’s empty or by emptying the tank out with a fuel transfer siphon. With the latter method, you should still run the engine until it’s empty, because there may be a little leftover gas in the tank. Emptying your mower of fuel is necessary because gasoline can decompose into a gunky state when left unused for a long time, which can harm the engine.
• Drain out the oil that is currently in the mower, then fill it back up with new engine oil based on what your mower requires.
• Place your mower in a protected area where it will stay dry to stop it from developing water-based damages.

With your knowledge of how to care for your commercial mowing equipment, you’ll be able to make your mowers last for a long time. Also, remember to consult your commercial mowers’ specific manuals so that you’re aware of the precise details behind maintaining them as well. Swisher Acquisition, Inc. is a leader among outdoor power equipment manufacturers. Therefore, if you have further questions or want to invest in some excellent, durable, commercial mowers made in America, call us today.