Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [tool-maintenance]

Keeping your gardening tools in their best condition

Use this tag for questions about keeping your gardening tools in their best condition. Good tools are worth looking after so that they will give you many years, if not decades of service.

Maintenance questions could include anti-rust and wood preservation for spades & forks; sharpening for pruners, lawn mowers, etc.

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What is the proper way to winterize a lawnmower?

I've heard a lot of anecdotes and shortcuts, but I am still unclear at to how to properly winterize a power push lawnmower. What steps or maintenance tasks should I take in order to keep it in good condition the following year?
Josh
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What is the best way to sharpen a lawn mower blade?

One of those "I really must get around to..." questions, but what is the best way to sharpen a lawn mower? My own lawn mower is a fan blade (i.e. flat blade on a vertical axis), but for maximum usefulness an answer should also include the…
winwaed
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Should I paint old garden tools?

I've got some old tools (shovels and pitchforks) that were my grandparents. The metal parts look like they were painted (a lot has worn off), I want to sharpen them and fix them up following the advice in Rodales Garden Encyclopedia - sand and…
Peter Turner
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How long should a garden tractor battery last?

It seems like every year I'm needing to buy a new battery for my lawn tractor. A battery that worked perfectly well never seems to make it through the off-season in-tact. Is this normal? Is there something I could do to make them last more than one…
JohnFx
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Non mechanical plant watering systems?

I travel too much, and, honestly I don't really have a green thumb plants. Still, I like them and would be happy to keep some resilient plants if could get geeky about it :) I was trying to figure how to automatically irrigate plants with simple…
filippo
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What maintenance does a lawnmower need?

What basic maintenance should be performed on a lawnmower regularly to ensure it stays in good repair?
kzh
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What sort of hose nozzle should I look for such that it won't spring a leak after just one frosty night?

I bought a hose nozzle that looked robust (though made mainly of plastic) last year and let it sit out over the winter (temperatures get down to -30 ºC). This spring, naturally, the nozzle was leaking from all its seams. I bought another one of…
Om Patange
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How do I use linseed oil to maintain my tools?

So, it's nearly cleanup time in Wisconsin and I finally got around to refinishing my tools. I bought a can of boiled linseed oil and coated the tools with it (helps prevent rust). Now, everything is covered in boiled linseed oil. What on earth am…
Peter Turner
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Identify a doughnut-shaped free-spinning mower part

I serviced my mower this morning and gave it a clean with a hose with a moderate level of water pressure. It appears that I have blown a part off the lawn mower though I am not sure how. I can't figure out where the part came from and am hoping…
radman
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What is the typical "mileage" for a gasoline chainsaw?

I want to roughly compare a gasoline-powered chainsaw to a battery-powered one. I can't find any quotes on how many cuts (and of what specific material) a gasoline chainsaw can do on some specific amount of gasoline. What I'm looking for looks like…
sharptooth
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How should a reel mower be cleaned after mowing?

So I finally said screw it to my old gas mower, and decided I wanted to skip gas altogether (I hate small engines with a passion, my mower was the only gas yard tool I had left), so I picked up a discounted-end-of-season reel mower. I suppose I…
Sidney
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How to replace my gas hedge trimmer rope starter

The rope starter for my Craftsman Gas Hedge Trimmer disconnected from the engine while pulling to start. Please explain how to reattach this rope starter. I am a DIY individual. Thanks for your help.
George
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What is the risk of using 4% 2T mixture in a chainsaw that needs 2% 2T?

I accidentally ran a Stihl MS 261 chainsaw on a 4% mixture for 3 tanks instead of the 2% oil to gas mixture it should have had. Would this have done any damage to the machine should I do anything special to deal with this situation?
user1933
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What could be wrong with this leaf blower?

A little over a year ago, after complaining about the amount of cord I had to use with our electric leaf blower I was gifted an inexpensive gas blower. A Ryobi 150 mph 400 CFM Gas Blower Vac from home depot to be precise. It probably wouldn't have…
matchew
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How can I tell if a lawn mower blade is the wrong size?

We loaned our lawn mower to a friend, since at the time we had somebody doing our lawn for us, due to us not being home during the day for the most part. He recently returned it, and noted that he wanted to be helpful, and had replaced the blade. I…
Sean Duggan
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