Lawn Mower Winter Storage Checklist

25 items · Home · Medium difficulty · 2 hours

Put a lawn mower away for winter: fuel, oil, blade, deck, air filter, spark plug, battery, and a safe place to store it until spring.

• Find the mower's manual, or download it using the model number

  The model number is usually on a sticker on the deck or near the engine.

• Do the last mow of the season
• Deal with the fuel the way your manual says
• Either run the engine until the tank is empty
• Or fill the tank with fresh fuel and stabilizer, then run it for a few minutes

  Follow the dose on the stabilizer bottle.

• Let the engine cool completely
• Disconnect the spark plug wire

  Do this before any work near the blade. A battery mower has no plug wire, so take its battery out instead.

• Remove a riding or electric-start mower's battery, or the battery pack on a cordless one
• Store the battery indoors, somewhere cool and dry that does not freeze

  Charge it to the level the battery maker recommends for storage.

• Check the manual for which side to tip the mower onto

  Tipping it the wrong way can let oil run into the air filter and carburetor, and fuel can leak from a full tank.

• Scrape packed grass off the underside of the deck

  Wet clippings left there all winter hold moisture against the metal.

• Inspect the blade for nicks, bends and cracks
• Sharpen and balance the blade, or replace it

  A bent or cracked blade gets replaced, not sharpened.

• Change the engine oil on a four-stroke mower

  Use the oil type and amount the manual gives, and take the old oil to a recycling drop-off.

• Clean or replace the air filter
• Check the spark plug and replace it if it is worn or fouled
• Check the drive belt and control cables on a self-propelled or riding mower
• Lubricate the points the manual lists
• Wipe down the outside and empty the grass bag

  Let the bag dry before storing it.

• Store the mower in a dry shed or garage
• Keep it away from furnaces, water heaters and anything with a pilot light

  Fuel vapor from the tank can ignite.

• Cover it with a breathable cover or an old sheet
• Use up or stabilize the fuel in your gas can, and date the can

  Keep gas cans in a shed or detached garage, never in the living space of the house.

• Write down any parts to order before spring
• Reconnect the spark plug wire and use fresh fuel at the first spring mow

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