Is a Lawn Mower Worth Fixing?
It’s often worth it to fix your lawnmower, especially if you can do it yourself. An overwhelming majority of reasons that people throw old mowers out for could have been fixed with just a few simple tools.
Changing a spark plug or filter is relatively easy and it’s safe when done in a way consistent with your mower’s original design specs. Simply doing this could bring an old mower back to life.
Is it Cheaper to Fix a Mower or Buy a New One?
Unfortunately, it’s getting to the point where bigger repairs don’t make economic sense so you might find that it’s cheaper to buy a new mower if you’ve blown the engine or completely shed a wheel on one. This is sad because it’s encouraging the production of new machines to replace ones that could have been repaired.
How Many Years Should a Lawn Mower Last?
Lawnmowers are generally rated in numbers of hourly usage as opposed to the number of years they last. A machine that’s rated to run for 200-300 hours should last you around 3-5 years unless you’re using it commercially.
How Often Should You Replace Your Lawn Mower?
Homeowners don’t normally have to replace their lawnmowers unless they fail, so you don’t have any real schedule. Make sure to change out spark plugs and regularly sharpen the blades.
This can go a long way toward keeping your mower working longer.
Are Lawn Mowers Easy to Fix?
While it’s difficult to swap out an engine block by yourself, the good news is that most repairs that lawnmowers need are quite easy to do. You can change spark plugs and even tighten the wheels of push mowers with a few simple tools that you probably already have laying around your home or garage.
Does Lowe’s Repair Lawn Mowers?
Nearly all Lowe’s locations offer some sort of delivery and installation service, and this usually covers riding lawn mowers. They generally don’t repair existing lawnmowers unless you have a previous service plan with the store, which can be agreed to when you purchase a riding mower from them.
Service differ by store, however, so you might live near a Lowe’s location that has repair services right there. Call your specific store for details or see the customer service desk in person.
Though you can call their national hotline, the nationwide Lowe’s staff might not be able to help you find anything out about your local store.
How Much Does it Cost to Service a Lawn Mower?
According to the HomeGuide survey, the average cost of a lawn mower repair is around $90 or so. Low-end estimates scale closer to $40 while higher-end ones can scale upwards of $150 or even more.
You might be able to save some money by shopping around, but unfortunately, many independent lawnmower dealers will no longer perform any sort of service or repairs. Call around before you pull out your credit or debit card.
How Much Does it Cost to Replace a Lawn Mower Engine?
Replacing an engine on a riding lawnmower will usually cost anywhere from $800-1,000, which sounds really expensive but compare it to the cost of buying a whole new lawnmower. If a new riding mower would cost $2,000-3,000, then this price doesn’t sound that bad.
Some low-end $200-300 small engines might be suitable for use with push mowers, but admittedly there are push mowers that cost less than this.
Is 1000 Hours on a Mower a Lot?
Since most people don’t treat their lawnmowers very well, 1,000 could be a lot of usages. If you’re buying a somewhat used machine from someone who kept their mower in a garage and made sure to replace the fuel and air filters regularly, then this particular unit might actually have a lot of life left in it.
Some push lawnmowers are built especially well and could potentially last much longer than even this.
How Long Do Spark Plugs Last in a Lawn Mower?
Most spark plugs are rated for 25-50 hours of use, though they tend to last longer than this. You might still want to swap them out before they get to this age, however, because continued use of bad plugs can harm some types of small engines.
Keep an eye out for places that offer spark plug reconditioning services. While these used to be more common in the past, the fact that they make old spark plugs new again has recently helped to make them at least somewhat popular.
How Long Does a Lawn Mower Air Filter Last?
While the air filter is usually designed to last at least 100-200 hours, it may need to be changed far more frequently than this. If you’re mowing a dusty or dry area of the lawn, then there’s a good possibility that your air filters won’t last much longer than maybe 25 hours.
Some people have made it a habit to clean their filters out, but not all models of lawnmowers make this advisable or even possible.
How Often Do You Sharpen Lawnmower Blades?
Generally, you only need to sharpen the blades on your lawnmower once a season. You usually want to do this after you pull it out of storage or before putting it away for the year.
Running into rocks or soil that has gravel in it is an excellent way to dull your blades, which might force you to sharpen them more often.
How Often Should You Change Fuel Filter on Lawn Mower?
Change the fuel filter whenever you have to change the oil. Unless you’re using your lawnmower as part of a commercial landscaping operation, chances are that you won’t need to do it any more than maybe once a year.
You will want to change it out if it gets dirty for whatever reason. This may happen if you’ve used subpar fuel at any point in your lawnmower’s life.
