Love it or hate it, but old man, winter is knocking at our doorstep here in Montana, and before you know it, the flurries will begin to fly.

I'm sure your lawn, like ours, is starting to brown and quit growing for the year, so it's about that time of year to think about winterizing your lawnmower.

Over the years, I've developed a few tips and tricks for ensuring that your lawnmower is ready for winter.

Hopefully you find these helpful.

Clean the Mower Thoroughly

Do yourself a favor and clean your lawnmower well before you put it away this fall. There's nothing worse than starting the year off with a dirty mower! Make sure to scrape the bottom of the mower really well!

Drain or Stabilize the Fuel

I don't think I have ever drained the fuel out of my mower, but I definitely use fuel stabilizer. There are a ton of options out there. I'm not sure that one is better than the other.

  • Tip: Never store the mower with an empty tank unless it's drained completely, as condensation can form and cause rust.

Change the Oil

I've occasionally slacked on this over the years, and it generally catches up with me the following season. Change the oil in the fall so it doesn't thicken and cause damage over the winter.

Remove and Sharpen the Blades

When you're cleaning the bottom of your mower, remove the blade and make sure to re-sharpen it for the next season.

  • Tip: Buy a spare blade so you can easily swap them out. This is especially helpful if you don't have time to sharpen right that second.

Check and Replace Air Filters

You would be amazed how dirty your air filters get. They're relatively cheap to replace so put a fresh one in this fall. It's nothing else use an air compressor and blow out the one that is in there currently.

Inspect Spark Plugs

You would be amazed how much better a mower runs with a new spark plug. My lawnmower this last year was backfiring a bit, I changed out the spark plug and bam all fixed.

Lubricate Moving Parts

Generally, there's not a lot of moving parts on a mower, but if there are hit them with a little WD-40 or some sort of lubrication to keep them from rusting and seizing up.

Cover the Exhaust and Other Openings

Personally, I haven't had this problem, but bugs can crawl into your exhaust. Covering it up, will prevent this and prevent a need damage.

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