Mower Safety while cleaning mower deck

[Pablo]

Heck I do blade changes with engine running, blades engaged and dummy weight in seat and hand brake off.

j/k

Ignition off and blades NOT engaged should be enough - but manual removal of ignition source should be 3 levels enough.

It is interesting, the engine won't start with hand brake ON, but of course work with brake ON. So if lifted at 4 points, then could release hand brake.

Gravely ZT

With cordless, yes 80V battery not near mower.

 

[97prizm]

I have two mowers -
1) Husqvarna AWD Self propelled walk behind mower with a Honda GCV160 Engine and
2) Cub Cadet Zero Turn Z Force SX 54 Riding Mower with Kawasaki FR730V 24 HP engine.

It is in my practice after every mow (roughly once a week) to clean the bottom of the deck of both the mowers with a self made plastic scrapping tool. I dont use the Garden hose attachment as I feel that water will increase rusting conditions. I do move the blades a little to get access around the blades to scrape the lumps of grass cake.

Lately , reading generically, I have come across about the practice of removing spark plugs wire that has been mentioned everywhere before working near the blades. This made me think that am I doing an unsafe practice.
For the walk behind mower, I have the ignition lever disengaged and fuel shut off and then I tilt the mower to its side and for the Riding mower, I absolutely make sure that the key is out.

What do you guys think? Should I absolutely pull he Spark plug wires every time? I read that chances of pull start engines ( like my walk behind mower) to start with a small turn of the blade is less likely whereas the electric start like the riding mower has small chance of starting due to ignition or electric fault.

On consequence part, seems like it is similar to flying in airplanes. Very less chance of accident but if it does happen, result can be devastating. I am sure to lose fingers and may be entire palm till the wrist.

The darn plug wires are so tight that even for maintenance, I tried to pull them a couple times, they dont come off easily. Perhaps that makes me lazy to do it after every mow. Will these wires become loose over time and come off easily. Another point is that the Riding mower engine is so hot after the mow, pulling the wires before cleaning the deck will require me to deal with the heat and because I do the cleaning outside garage, I will have to put the plug wire back to restart the mower to park in the garage.
Again, what do you guys practice and think about this ? Thanks in advance.

100% pull the spark plug wire. Second clean the mower deck once, then coat it with deck coating. Third get a gatorblade and never scrape the underside of your mower again.

 

[wavinwayne]

...Third get a gatorblade and never scrape the underside of your mower again.

Care to elaborate a little?

 

[asker123]

This is the article which really made me think yesterday.

https://www.islandssounder.com/news...he tank on,service, disconnect the spark plug.

It says in the article...

"Lastly, prior to performing any service, disconnect the spark plug. This prevents the engine from starting accidentally. Every year people are injured because mowers start unexpectedly when the blade is turned by hand."

So I just went to both my mowers. Because now my body mind was determined to remove the boot, the boots did come off . On the riding mower which is newish, with little struggle and on the Walk behind mower, with quite some struggle. I think , I will buy the specific plier for this purpose.

Lets also include my Ariens Deluxe 30 snow blower to the list - If anything is stuck in the Auger or even working on Auger to lube the sheer pins. That Boot is made of metal rather than the rubber of the mowers. It was really difficult to pull with hand but I managed that too.

So seems like on the forum, the consensus is that likelihood of engine starting is low but pulling the spark plug wire is an additonal safety measure.
Should I lube the rubber boot with Diaelectric grease or something for subsequent easy removal? What about the metal boot on the snow blower, can dielectric grease can go in there too?

 

[Pablo]

The article brought up something- I actually had a fire UNDER my deck the first dry summer

Surprised me!

What’s that smell?

Dry caught brush was burning wow

 

[asker123]

The article brought up something- I actually had a fire UNDER my deck the first dry summer

Surprised me!

What’s that smell?

Dry caught brush was burning wow

Indeed, this happened to me yesterday, not a fire but lots of sparks came from the mower as it hit a pile of small rocks ( stupid me not to remove those from the yard after doing some soil work). That made me search about spark and fire hazard. While I was reading this article , it talked about removing plug wires for doing work and here I am cleaning my mower deck every week with my hands under deck. I had heard of plug wire removal in the past so I thought it will be good to bring the matter here on Bitog for discussion.

 

[wavinwayne]

This is something I've never considered. Any time I've ever needed to access the blades, I've removed the mower deck.

 

[97prizm]

Care to elaborate a little?

Sure. Three years ago I got tired of the oem blade not holding a sharp edge. I went online and saw really good reviews for the The Gatorblade. It's a little heavier and made in the usa.There are some knockoffs but the trademarked one is the one ypu want. It's the only mower blade that I've ever used that thoroughly mulches grass and doesn't leave clumps. My mower guy was surprised that it held a sharp edge as long as it has. Other questions let me know. I don't work for them but it makes a huge difference mowing.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

FWIW, here is my take
On the walk behind yes for sure I would disconnect the spark plug wire. The blade is directly connected to the crankshaft so turning that could cause the engine to unexpectedly kick. I doubt it would start because of the handle safety mechanism, but better safe than sorry.

On the Zero Turn, not as significant, but still good practice. You are turning a belt system on the deck and likelihood of turning the crank pulley is slim, but it is still a good practice.

Now the reality, I seldom disconnect plug wires...

 

[Pablo]

FWIW, here is my take
On the walk behind yes for sure I would disconnect the spark plug wire. The blade is directly connected to the crankshaft so turning that could cause the engine to unexpectedly kick. I doubt it would start because of the handle safety mechanism, but better safe than sorry.

On the Zero Turn, not as significant, but still good practice. You are turning a belt system on the deck and likelihood of turning the crank pulley is slim, but it is still a good practice.

Now the reality, I seldom disconnect plug wires...

I was gonna say the last bit

 

[fdcg27]

If you cut the grass only when it's suitably dry, the underside of the deck stays clean.
If you do anything under the deck of a walk behind, like sharpen the blade with a Dremel, as I do, or drain the oil, you'd be wise to remove the plug wire.
Just good practice.

 

[slo town]

Every push style mower in the last 30-40 years have a safety bar that has to be pushed down to start the engine. The coil is deactivated. You could spin the blade and nothing will happen.

I just realized this isn’t true with my Honda mowers. The push bar on my Honda engages the drive wheels. The thumb button on the push bar engages the blade. In other words, I can walk away from my mower and the engine will remain running. Additionally, I can start the mower without pushing the push bar.

FWIW,

Scott

 

[football]

I just realized this isn’t true with my Honda mowers. The push bar on my Honda engages the drive wheels. The thumb button on the push bar engages the blade. In other words, I can walk away from my mower and the engine will remain running. Additionally, I can start the mower without pushing the push bar.

You have a Honda clutch. The engine can start and it wont spin the blades until you activate the clutch via the handle.