Winterising your lawn mower: prepare your lawn mower for winter storage.

Before storing your lawn mower, you first need to give it an especially thorough clean after the last cut of the year. Any old grass residue adhering to the mower housing can be removed using a wooden or plastic spatula; you should also avoid leaving any grass residue in the cooling fins or the exhaust area. The best way to clean your machine when winterising it, is simply with water and a brush. If it is very dirty you could use a garden hose, but be careful – after all, you want your lawn mower ready for storage, not damaged. With that in mind, avoid aiming strong jets of water at the bearings, seals or engine parts. Remember that when you are clearing the dirt from the underside of a petrol mower’s housing – during winterising or any other time – it’s important to tip the mower back in such a way that the spark plug points upwards. If you tip the mower to the side, oil can get into the air filter or exhaust, which risks seriously damaging your machine. 

Thoroughly grease and lubricate all moving parts – this is key maintenance that your lawn mower will thank you for when winter's over!

When you prep your lawn mower for winter you should take a close look at the cutting blade. After all, you want to know it will be in good shape before you take it out of /content/stihl/language-masters/en/experience/arbeitstechnik-und-geraetepflege/rasenmaeher-tipps/rasenmaeher-messer-schaerfen.html storage to tackle the first cut. It isn’t fully winterised and ready to put away if you can see any cracks or notches: you should first have the blade replaced at your preferred STIHL dealer. In any case, it is generally advisable to entirely remove the blade and sharpen it, or to have it professionally sharpened and balanced – in fact, we recommend this not only when winterising, as it should preferably be done regularly after around 25 hours of use. This ensures that you can always enjoy the best possible mowing performance. 

An important process in winterising is checking the spark plug. Remove it and see if it needs cleaning or changing – it should be replaced after 100 hours of use, as spark plug faults can cause the mower to run poorly. Once you’ve done that, the next maintenance step is to pour approximately 3 cubic centimetres of engine oil into the spark plug opening, then run it through the engine without the spark plug installed by pulling the starter cord a few times. Doing this keeps the engine well protected while it’s in storage. 

With the winterising maintenance work completed, your lawn mower is fit to get through the winter months in good condition. Now you need a suitable place to store it for the cold season: this should be a dry, dust-free space, and the lawn mower shouldpreferably be covered up and then stored in its normal position.