FAQs for small riding lawn mowers
If you’re someone who is planning on buying a lawn mower or already has one, then you’re probably a hands-on person. You are fond of gardening and landscaping and look forward to maintaining it in all its glory. Now, as with most small riding mowers, the comfort you get is unmatched and the work they do is swift and specific. In fact, one can easily realize that small riding lawn mowers have changed the way in which people mow their lawns.

Of course, when you’ve had such riding mowers around for a while, they’re likely to give you some issues here and there. This is common with most household machinery. And it’s easy to be caught off-guard and not have solutions or understand how certain parts and repairs work. Here’s your guide for the same!

Can you get spare engine parts for small riding lawn mowers?

• If you’ve had a mower for longer than a few odd years or so, then you’ve probably had to replace a few parts here and there. This is fairly common—especially with the blades.
• The engine, however, is the tricky part when it comes to replacements. This is because the engine is generally listed separately and not under the extra parts section. If you’re looking for a separate engine part for your riding mowers then you first need to find the model number of your engine.
• You can check either the back or the side of the engine. Or, if you cannot—then simply look up the model number of the riding mower you own. There will be a list of all parts—including the engine—the number next to it will be the model number.

What should I do if the mower cuts grass unevenly?

• An uneven grass cut is most commonly caused by uneven air pressure in one or more of the tires. Check and adjust any air pressure imbalances.
• Make sure the mower deck is also level and finally, have a look at the blades.
• Any dull blades will make for an uneven cut—replace them as and when needed.

Why does my lawn tractor starts and stop sometimes?

• You’ll find that lawn tractors come with multiple switches all interlocked with one another. Seat switch and brake switch are two such interlocked switches that don’t allow the engine to activate.
• Besides this, loose wiring can also make it seem like your mower or tractor switches on and off randomly. And finally, don’t forget to check the side to side play in the brake arm which leads to intermittent starting. This side to side is found in loose break arms, so it requires some basic tightening, that’s all.

How do I fix bagging, discharging, or mulching problems?

• A huge part of a streamlined lawn mower is that it takes care of the cleaning up part of lawn mowing. Engine speed is the first thing you should look at. Most users aren’t aware that your engine needs to be on full throttle for the lawn mower to run the bagging, discharging, and mulching functions properly.
• The quality of the cut also impacts these functions, and that can be fixed by leveling the deck. Finally, simply make sure the blades are sharpened or replaced.

Is it normal for the engine to smoke?

• This is a common problem, and not all too serious if you fix it soon. The engine has a built-in safety feature, and the smoke usually indicates an excess amount of oil. Check the oil levels, and remove excess oil if any. Even if you don’t do that manually, the excess oil is likely to burn off.
• A rather serious issue would be if the crankcase vacuum of the engine gets damaged. Check the vacuum and it’s pressure and replaces any broken parts.

Can a ride lawn mower move backward?

• If you’re wondering whether there’s a flaw in your lawn mower such as its inability to go backward, then that’s not so much a flaw as it is a safety feature.
• Disengage the cutting deck, and only then can a lawnmower move in reverse. This is the same with zero turn mowers.
• However, there are some newer models allow for reverse mowing too. If this is important, simply pick models that allow for this feature. Lawn mowers are quite frequently on sale so you can pick a relatively newer model at a good price!