Just bought a new electric mower? You’ll want to know how to maintain it to enjoy year after year of quality operation.
Here, we’ve shared the ultimate maintenance checklist with everything you need to know to maintain an electric lawn mower in the UK.
Table of Contents
⚡️ Electric Lawn Mower Maintenance Checklist:
We’ve split these electric lawn mower maintenance tasks into categories based on when they need to be carried out.
🌱 At The Start Of The Season
These maintenance tasks should be followed when you get your mower out of your shed for the first mow of the year.
🔌 Check The Power Cord For Damage
If you’ve stored your electric lawn mower in a shed or outhouse all winter, there’s a possibility that at some point, the local wildlife (we’re talking mice and rats) has sampled the mower’s power cord to determine its edibility.
Unfortunately for you, that means there’s a risk that your power cord could be frayed or damaged when you bring the mower out for use in early spring. That’s why it’s important to check the power cord before you plug it in and start mowing.
Examine the length of the cord, looking for kinks, holes, or frayed edges that could affect its ability to deliver power to the mower or make it unsafe for use.
Pay extra attention to the point where the cable meets the mower deck and the section of cable that attaches to the mains plug, as both of these are particularly susceptible to wear.
If you notice any signs of damage, don’t use your mower until you’ve had it seen (and, if possible, mended) by a professional. Prefer the DIY approach? Check your owner’s manual to read the manufacturer’s instructions on how to repair a damaged power cord. This isn’t always possible – it depends on the mower’s design.
🧰 Sharpen The Blade
The start of the mowing season is also a great time to sharpen your lawn mower blades.
Most lawn mowers for domestic use have a single horizontally rotating rotary blade. This blade should be sharpened at least once per season to continue to provide a clean, sharp cut and produce a quality end result.
There are a few different tools that you can use to sharpen lawn mower blades, including an all-in-one garden tool sharpener or a sharpening stone.
We recommend the SHARPAL 103N All-in-1 Knife and Garden Tool Blade Sharpener for sharpening lawn mower blades. We’ve used this tool ourselves and find it to be the safest and the most comfortable for the job.
Never sharpened a lawn mower blade before? Check out our step-by-step guide for lawn mower blade sharpening.
🛢 Lubricate The Wheels
An electric lawn mower maintenance task that might slip your mind is lubricating the wheels.
We recommend taking the time to do this at the start of every mowing season.
Lubricating the wheels of your mower will keep them rolling freely, so the mower can move smoothly over your lawn.
You don’t need any kind of special oil for the job – just use WD-40 or whatever you have in your shed. The extra benefit of lubrication is that it’ll also protect the mower’s metal parts from rusting. Plus, it’ll prevent grass clippings from sticking to the mower’s wheels.
✅ Check/Tighten All Screws & Fasteners
Over the previous mowing season, the vibration of your lawn mower in operation may have caused several of the nuts, screens, and fastenings to loosen.
This issue is easy to resolve: just use a screwdriver or a spanner/socket to tighten your mower’s hardware at the start of the next season.
Also check the handles and the wheels, which may become loose during operation or in storage. The last thing you want is for a wheel to fall off while you’re mid-mow, and a quick pre-season check should prevent this.
🧐 Before Every Mow
Complete these maintenance tasks before you mow your lawn.
✂️ Check For Blade Sharpness
You should have sharpened your lawn mower’s blades at the start of the season, but, depending on your lawn mowing frequency and use time, you might need to sharpen the blades several additional times throughout the season.
Before every mow, check the blades for sharpness and damage. If the blade is rounded off and doesn’t have a sharp edge, it’ll benefit from a re-sharpen.
Stones, sticks, and other debris will lead to dull blades faster, so make sure to clear your lawn of anything but grass before you get started.
❌ Check The Power Cord For Damage
Again, you will have checked the mower’s power cord when getting the lawn mower ready at the start of the season.
However, just because the cord has no damage at the start of the season, that doesn’t mean it won’t become damaged during or between uses.
Give the cord a quick once-over before ever mow, paying special attention to the section of the cord at each end.
💨 Clean The Air Vent
Electric mowers have an air vent to keep the motor from overheating while they’re in operation. You need to clean the air vent occasionally to prevent it from becoming blocked with grass clippings, dust from storage, dirt, and other debris from your lawn.
A good practice is to check the air vent before every mow, and use an air compressor to blow the debris out of the vent if you notice that it looks clogged.
This will help to extend the lifespan of your mower by enabling the motor to run cool.
🔩 Check/Tighten All Screws & Fasteners
Every time you use your mower, the screws, bolts, and fasteners may become loose.
Just as you checked and tightened these at the start of the season, you should do the same before every mow.
This will prevent the mower from falling apart while you’re using it (which could put you uncomfortably close to the rapidly spinning blade).
⏰ After Every Mow
Follow these maintenance tasks after every mowing session.
🚿 Clean The Mower Deck
After mowing your lawn, your mower’s undercarriage will probably have accumulated grass clippings, dirt, and other lawn debris.
This debris may corrode your mower and become caked-on if you leave it over time, affecting the mower’s performance and clogging the blades.
To keep your mower in good working operation, clean the caked-on grass off the mower blades and scrape away the dead grass and soil from the underside of the mower deck.
You should do this after every mow to prevent the debris from solidifying, which will be a nightmare to remove.
What’s the easiest way to clean the undercarriage of your lawn mower? Switch your garden hose on full blast and spray the mower deck from a distance (being careful not to get water in the motor).
Use a cleaning scraper tool to remove any stubborn debris from the blades. Be very careful – the blades are sharp.
You can make this job easier for your future self by spraying cooking oil or silicone spray onto the undercarriage, which will prevent grass from sticking to the machine.
📦 Empty & Clean Out The Grass Box
You’ve probably been emptying your grass box periodically throughout your mowing, but now is the time to thoroughly empty and clean the box, ready for the next use.
Leaving dead grass in the box will stink out your shed or outhouse – and if your lawn mower has a cloth or fiber grass bag, the dead grass may cause the bag to degrade (especially if the grass is wet).
After you’ve finished mowing, remove the grass box or bag and empty out all the clippings. If you’ve got a grass bag, turn it inside out and shake it to remove the cut grass. If you use a grass box, wash out the inside of the box with your garden hose to get rid of the debris.
❄️ At The End Of The Season
These maintenance tasks should be completed before you put your mower away after the final mow of the year.
🧼 Thoroughly Clean The Mower
If you’ve only been giving your mower a quick, light clean after every mow, now’s your chance to give it the deep clean it needs.
Unplug the mower, remove the grass box or bag, move the blade to the lowest setting, and put the mower on its side. Use a hose to wash away all the grass clippings that come away easily, then use a scraper to remove the tougher debris.
Clean the mower body, including the top of the mower, with a cloth. Be careful not to get water anywhere near the motor.
Cleaning your mower is easiest if it has a built-in hose attachment. You might find this feature on some of the more expensive electric mowers.
🔧 Check The Machine & Perform Repairs
Finally, the end of the season is a good time to check the mower for any damage or wear from a few months of use, and perform any repairs that are necessary.
You might need to clear clogged vents, repair the electric cord, tighten the fittings, or do a bigger job, like replacing the motor.
You could also sharpen the blade now if you want to avoid a chore at the beginning of the next mowing season.
🏁 Final Word
Proper maintenance for an electric lawn mower will ensure that your mower runs as healthily as possible for as long as possible.
Failing to carry out the essential electric mower maintenance may result in poor cutting performance and significantly shorten your mower’s lifespan.
Along with these basic maintenance tasks, make sure to check your owner’s manual for specific tasks that may be unique to your mower.