How To Start A Riding Lawn Mower

By Philip Yiga | December 12, 2016

In case you have large and wide yard, then using a riding lawn-mower is much better choice than using any conventional lawn-mower. This is because it’s much easier to mow a wide surface-area while using a riding lawn-mower and you won’t even get worked-up since you will be enjoying the ride as your mow. However, to achieve the most out of your ridding-lawn-mower you will have to choose a mower that best suits your mowing needs and even try to maintain it properly. On the other hand, starting and operating a riding-lawn-mower is not an easy task and it may actually require you some practice and even reading through the user-manual before beginning to operate this mowing-machine. So, in this article I’m going to list for you some of the basic steps that will help you start-up a riding lawn-mower whether it’s a zero-turning mower or tractor-mower:

Steps on How to start a riding lawn mower:

1. Prepare the riding lawn-mower: before you start doing anything, you will need to move your riding-lawn-mower to an open place that is free and clear of any rocks, sticks and other types of debris. In fact, clearing your yard before mowing is very crucial because it will help to prevent your lawn-mower from crushing into unexpected objects while mowing causing severe mechanical-problems.

 

2. Trouble an electric-start lawn-mower: if you have electric-powered riding-lawn-mower, then consider checking its battery to ensure that it’s fully charged and under good-conditions.

 

3. Check the starter and solenoid-switch: the lawn-mowers ignition system highly depends on the starter and solenoid-switch. In fact, if your lawn-mower electric riding-lawn-mower fails to start yet the battery is not the problem, then it’s probably a solenoid-switch or starter problem and this may require some advanced repairs.

 

4. Check the gas and oil levels: it’s very important to check the oil and gasoline levels before starting-up your riding-lawn-mower. In fact, operating a riding-lawn-mower with low oil-levels can easily lead to engine damages and this means that you should always check the oil-levels with a dipstick before starting the machine. On the other hand, if you’re riding-lawn-mower is not filled with enough fuel then it may to start or work for short period of time after startup.

 

5. Consider checking if the safety-features are on: riding-lawn-mowers are equipped with safety-switches that help to protect the user when mowing. in fact, some lawn-mowers come with safety-switch that turns-off the engine incase the user is not sitting properly or firmly onto the seat thus ensuring optimum-safety of the driver incase he/she falls-off the machine while mowing. All in all, you should make sure that all these safety-features are functioning properly before starting your riding lawn-mower.

 

6. Take a look at all the control on the lawn-mower: you will actually need to take a close look at all the controls on the lawn-mower inorder to understand the purpose for each of these controls when the lawn-mower is under operation.

 

7. Climb and take a seat onto your lawn-mower: after making sure that all components of the lawn-mower are in good-shape, climb and take a seat then press the clutch/brake lever that is usually located on the left-side of the mower using your left-foot.

 

8. Set the parking-brake: after, carefully set the lawn-mowers parking-brake using a lever or knob on the right-side of the riding-lawn-mower.

 

9. Move the lawn-mower’s gear into a neutral-position (“N”): you now have to move the lawn-mower’s gear shift-lever into “N”(neutral-position).

 

10. Set the riding-lawn-mowers throttle-lever: afterwards, you will need to position the lawn-mowers throttle-lever between a slow and fast position inorder to ensure moderate movement of the lawn-mower at start-up. In fact, most lawn-mowers feature a rabbit-icon for fast and turtle-icon for slow so take note of these icons when setting the throttle-lever.

 

11. Insert the key into the ignition-switch: you will then grab the lawn-mower’s ignition-key and then gently insert it into the ignition-switch. After, turn the ignition-key to the right inorder power-up the engine. However, you need to make sure that the starter cranks the engine for about 15-seconds before fully powering-on the lawn-mower’s engine. Additionally, if the lawn-mower fails to start right-away then consider to continue cracking the starter until engine powers-on.

 

12. Push the choke-knob back after starting the engine: you will have to gradually push the lawn-mowers choke-knob back immediately after the engine has been powered-on.

 

13. Raise the throttle to a fast-position: afterwards, grab the throttle-lever and raise it to a fast-position then leave the engine to warm-up for about 3-to-5 minutes before installing any mowing-attachments or driving the lawn-mower around the yard/lawn.

 

14. Consider reading the user-manual if the lawn-mower fails to start-up: most lawn-mowers come with a quickstart-guide that helps get more information on how to start a riding-lawn-mower but guide may not include all the information you need. However, this guide will help you get the basic steps to follow when starting a lawn-mower and this can actually be a great thing in case you had been missing-out some steps start-up steps before.

 

15. Practice driving the lawn-mower: before you begin the actual mowing-process, you need to find a nice and free location with a lot of space and then start practicing how to drive a lawn inorder to achieve optimum mowing results. In fact, the steering, acceleration and overall feel of driving a riding-lawn-mower will tend to be a new experience for most people so this implies that having a lot of room to practice the driving is always a great idea.

Tips to consider if you have a riding-lawn-mower:

• Never let inexperienced individuals like kids and novice-users operate a riding lawn-mower. In fact, riding a lawn-mower with less or no driving-experience may lead to severe accidents while mowing.
• Consider buying a ZTR lawn-mower with solid rubber front-tires because the components that support the front-wheels axles tend to trap debris that may cause pneumatic tire valve-stems to get ripped thus deflating weak-tires.
• Always lubricate all the moving parts of the riding-lawn-mower inorder to keep it operating optimum levels. Additionally, make sure that lawn-mower has enough gasoline and oil for best performance results.
• Try to keep the cutting-deck clean in order to maximize the service-life of the lawn-mower. In fact, it’s even recommended to clean the cutting-deck immediately after using the lawn-mower.