Just pressure washing, thats it.

 

Originally posted by BCSteel
Just pressure washing, thats it.

For one, presure washing doesn't seem to be removing the stains,,,
and two, I was told you shouldn't presure wash mowers.

 

We wash off every day and we spray the underside with WD40 daily.

 

I wash mine off every day and once a week with a pressure washer

 

I use Dawn for my cleaning agent and then my pressure washer.

 

I wash mine twice a year and carefully at that.
I have a 26 EFI on the Walker and you have to be careful with the electronics.
The thing gets pressure washed in the safe areas only twice a year, no soap. Once in early summer and once before I store it for the winter.
I mostly use compressed air or just air from the backpack blower to clean it up. Water causes problems in certain places.

 

Wow? Every day? After workng 10,11,12 hours in the spring, I highly doubt my husband would even so much as think about washing a mower.
All mowers are carefully cleaned and washed when put away in the fall. That's it.

 

greased lightning will break up grass stains instantly

 

I use warm soapy water (dish washing detergent) and an old car washing mitt or scrub brush to thoroughly clean exposed painted surfaces on my equipment, the stains are stubborn but if you persist with scrubbing they can be removed. Schedule for this cleaning varies but is done usually on a monthly basis (rainy day) other cleanings are done daily with either the backpack (Echo 650) or compressed air. I do have a pressure washer (crapsman 3000 psi w/6.5 hp BnS) and it will remove the equipment decals but will only lighten the grass stains (not remove them) so it is setting in a corner of the shop. I do not like grungy a bit dirty is OK but I really like to see my equipments paint.

BobR

 

Coincidentally, I took my mowers to the car wash yesterday after it rained to get the wet grass off. Normally, I don't bother. After about 10 minutes and getting sopping wet, they looked a little cleaner and I was out about $5. IMO, it's not necessary. Every so often I'll take the hose to mine, blow off the grass, etc but I don't usually worry about it. They are lawn mowers, they are going to get dirty.

 

You shouldn't pressure wash mowers? Gee, I do my walker once per week in the spring and twice per month in the summer. Its all stained up though never used soap on it except to store it for the winter. I do my little 21" mowers every week too.

 

Some of you lot are going to jump on me for this but I use watered down degreaser on my deck and scrub it with a dust pan brush. Works well for me and I always top up the grease in the spindals in case any degreaser gets in there, some how. Obviously its rinsed well. I also spray the whole deck (top and bottom) with WD40 and blow dry with the blower. It seens to make it easier to clean the next time! I do this maybe once a month but blow clippings off when necessary, usually often.

My JD dealler put me onto that method about a year ago and it comes up a treat!

 

When i put my mowers away in the winter, I use this stuff called grease lightning, you can get it at WalMart. Works well for removing the grass stain on the front of the deck. I pressure wash mine throughout the season, just make sure you grease them afterwards, it foces out any water.

 

if you want it to look like you just bought it yesterday use brillo pads. nothing at works like brillo on the mowers. you don't have to spray it on and let soak in you just scrub that black nasty crud right off.

 

Something I've found that works pretty well is simple green. I blow all of the grass off, spray everything off with a garden hose, spray it down with simple green and let is set for 15 minutes. After that scrub it with a good brush, then rinse.

 

Bottoms of mowers are getting sprayed off every day during the spring, less often during the summer. Tops of mowers once a year, water, operator presence control wiring, and switches don't mix...Chuck

 

Zap Greez off gets rid of the nasty grass juice and dirt with no problems and leaves a nice clean machine.

 

I've gone to just pressure washing the deck and an occasional hosing of the rest of the mower.

Kaboom works pretty good, just stay away from the grease points

 

After reading this thread the other day I got a wild hair to clean my mower. Much to my surprise it still looks good under neath all the dirt and grass stain. All I used was a brillo pad and soapy water and a lot of elbow grease and a lot of cursing . In the pic the Shorcut is the older unit. The Hog is only a week old, well for me anyway. The Hog has 33 hours on it and was a demo. Just got it in straight from Hustler and it will be converted into a Shorcut when the other finally dies. So far the older unit is still holding strong. If she makes it through this season it will have lasted 6 seasons. Bought the Shortcut in '99.

 

Preasure wash as needed and to store for the fall. Just be smart when washing them and you should not have any mechanical issues. At least we don't.

 

I also decided to give my walker a good scrubbing after reading this thread and wow, it looks good under all that grime! I just used car wash and a scrub pad.

 

I wash it with purple stuff degreaser and a hose. use an old sponge if it needs it. Comes pretty darn clean for the minimal effort. Wash them maybe 3x/year unless they get muddy for some reason.
But I keep pretty new gear, so I'm not worried someone will think I use junk mowers.

Remember, if you spend 30 minutes a week washing mowers, you're foregoing around $1000 in lost revenue you could have been making mowing lawns. By the time your mower is worn out, that's enough to buy a whole new mower with.

I notice a lot of part time guys have sparkling mowers. More free time, I guess.

I have also heard that power washing , you'd better be careful. The chemicals remove the gunk, not water pressure.