Mowing the lawn is just one of the many chores that comes with the territory of owning your own home. Whether you have a pusher mower or a Murray riding mower, you’ll want to follow safety precautions when using lawn mower.
Safe Handling and Care When Using Lawn Mower
User Manual
- ·Most people get a user manual with a product and file it away or throw it out. However, the user manual can have vital information about safety precautions when using lawn mower from a particular manufacturer. The most vital information contained in a lawn mower user manual addresses what misusing the mower entails. Without reading the manual, you may not even realize if you’re using the mower incorrectly or pushing it beyond its capacity.
Safety Features
- Your lawn mower will come with certain safety features already on it, such as deflectors, shields, warning decals and guards. Never remove any of these safety components from the mower, including the decals. If someone other than you uses the mower, the decals may be necessary for the user. Even if a safety feature seems like an inconvenience, such as one of the guards, it’s absolutely still necessary for safe use of the lawn mower. You should never operate a lawn mower if the deflector, guard, or shield is not in the proper place.
Servicing the Lawn Mower
One of the most important safety precautions when using lawn mower is to never service it unless you’re completely sure it’s turned off. Every lawn mower needs some kind of maintenance, such as sharpening the blade or changing the oil. If you’re going to service the mower immediately following using it, turn it off and make sure that it’s stopped running completely. On a riding mower, you’ll want to remove the wire from the spark plug so that the engine doesn’t start while you’re working on it.
Stopping the Blade
Every lawn mower should have an emergency blade stopping feature. Never use the lawn mower until you know exactly how to stop the blade immediately. When you’ve discovered where this feature is and how to use it, test it out when nobody else is around. If the blade stopper doesn’t work correctly, do not use the lawn mower. Contact the manufacturer and have them fix the problem or replace the mower.
It’s of high importance to adhere to safety precautions when using lawn mower. It just takes a split second for an accident to happen.