After a long, hot summer taking care of your lawn, it’s very tempting to just hide your lawn mower in your shed or garage and walk away from it until you need it again. However, winterizing your mower before you put it away during the colder months is a crucial step to ensuring your mower will be ready to run again come springtime. Neglecting these steps can lead to lost time and costly repairs down the road and might even damage your mower to a point where it needs to be replaced. Luckily, preparing your equipment for storage is easy with these few steps.

Empty the Fuel or Remove the Battery

Restarting your mower in the spring with old, leftover fuel from the fall is a recipe for disaster. Not only can that stagnant gas corrode your engine parts over time, but it can also separate, which will lead to a gunky mower once that fuel starts flowing through it again. Drain the gas and promptly use it in your other equipment, or dispose of it properly. Likewise, battery-powered motors should have the batteries removed and stored in a safe spot during the winter. Give them a fresh charge before their first use the next year, and you’ll be ready to go.

Replace Any Necessary Parts and Change the Oil

Check the air and fuel filters in your mower and replace them if needed. This is also a good time to check the spark plug and install a fresh one to ensure you don’t have any issues when it’s time to start your mower again in a few months. Changing the oil in your lawn mower is quick and easy as well, and can help to greatly extend the life of your equipment.

Clean and Sharpen the Blades

Lastly, take the time to make sure your blades are in tiptop shape. Remove them from the mower, and clean away any grass or mud that has been caked on the blades or the mower deck during the summer. Once everything is spotless, give your mower blades a good sharpening to ensure they’ll cut your lawn evenly and efficiently once the warmer weather hits. Make sure you put your blades back on tightly, and give the entire mower one last check to ensure that everything looks as it should.

Although it can seem like a hassle to prep your mower for winter storage year after year, it should be seen as an integral part of your maintenance routine. Spend a few hours in the fall to make it ready for stowing away, and you should be able to start it right up again once your grass starts to grow in the spring.

Mowing the grass is part of having a healthy lawn that looks great, but it is also one of the most fatiguing jobs. If you suffer from sore legs, stiff muscles, and aching joints after you mow, it may be time to get a sulky for your mower.

What Is a Lawn Mower Sulky?

A sulky is a piece of landscape equipment that attaches to your walk-behind self-propelled mower. The device is designed with a platform and wheel system. You stand on the platform, and the mower pulls you along. You can easily control the mower with the handles as you would without the sulky. Mower sulkies have some type of suspension and shock absorption to provide you with a comfortable ride as you mow the lawn. Mower sulkies are available with one wheel or two wheels.

What You Should Consider When Choosing a Sulky

There are several factors to consider when choosing between a one-wheel or two-wheel sulky for your lawnmower:

• Comfort
• Ease of maintenance
• Maneuverability around hardscaping features and other landscape elements
• Terrain features, such as hills
• Mowing patterns that may be created with your lawn mower
• Any physical limitations that you may have when standing for prolonged periods
• Experience with various types of landscape equipment

What Is a One-Wheel Sulky?

A one-wheel sulky has a single wheel and a platform on either side of the wheel. You stand with the wheel between your feet. The advantages of a one-wheel sulky is that it is very maneuverable and easy to maintain. If you have trees, shrubs, or other hardscape features in your yard, this may be the best option. One-wheel sulkies work very well for lawns that are relatively flat.

What Is a Two-Wheel Sulky?

Two-wheel sulkies for walk-behind mowers offer the same shock absorption as one-wheel designs. The two-wheel sulky has a center platform that is flanked by the wheels. A two-wheel sulky may be the right option if you have larger feet or need to stand with your feet apart slightly. This design is also good for landscaping with stripes and other patterns in your lawn because the wheels follow the same path as your lawn mower wheels. Two-wheel sulkies are not as maneuverable as one-wheel sulkies, but they are more stable on hilly and uneven terrain. Lawn mower sulkies with two wheels require a bit more maintenance compared to single-wheel designs.