How/how often do you clean your ride-on mower?

alchemist33

I've just about finished my first year of ride-on mowing, and found cleaning the deck after every cut was a pain in the neck. But it just occurred to me that maybe I'm not meant to clean after every cut. So, how often do people clean the underside of the deck (i.e. get rid of sticky grass), and how do you get underneath? I've needed the help of someone else to prop one side up on blocks, which was probably not the most efficient or safest way to do it.

I should add it has the capacity to attach a hose to a nipple to clean it, but the salesman didn't recommend that because of rusting.

wexie

alchemist33 wrote: »

I've just about finished my first year of ride-on mowing, and found cleaning the deck after every cut was a pain in the neck. But it just occurred to me that maybe I'm not meant to clean after every cut. So, how often do people clean the underside of the deck (i.e. get rid of sticky grass), and how do you get underneath? I've needed the help of someone else to prop one side up on blocks, which was probably not the most efficient or safest way to do it.

Does it not have a hose connection? Stick the hose on the deck, open the tap, run the blades a bit and it's clean!

Ah just saw your edit.....so the salesman recommended against using clean water, on a device that's intended for outside use, possibly in humid conditions?
Hmmm.....

Anyways, I try to do it when the weather is good, dries up pretty quickly. The blades are going to rust one way or another, anything else should really be able to get wet.

Oh, and to answer your question, maybe once a month during the summer? , certainly not after every use and then a good clean before it goes into the garage for the winter.

monkeynuz

Clean water is less corrosive than grass!

A good tip is to run the hose through the nipple with the blades running then remove the hose and run the blades again for another minute or so to dry them.

alchemist33

Hose it is then. Thanks folks!