Ah, spring time; time for wake up maintenance!

So now is the time (at least up here in snow country) that we start thinking about dusting off the summer maintenance equipment and waking it up from a long winter's nap.

A few random brain droppings on what to be thinking about:

• Mice: This is always #1 for me as I very carefully inspect anything that has been parked for the winter and search for those rotten little rodents' nests and damage or work that they might have done over the winter. It never ceases to amaze me at how many nooks and crannies they will wiggle into and drag everything from seeds to fiberglass insulation with them. Hopefully, the wire harness on your equipment was not of their nesting things. So remove engine covers and air cleaners and give a good close inspection for any rodent nests BEFORE your start your equipment up for the first time since napping over the winter.
• Gasoline: With the advent of gasohol, the chemistry of gasoline changed. Alcohol will evaporate faster than gasoline, it will eat gaskets that were previously impervious to "gasoline", and, often the additives that are now put in will gunk up fuel in ways we never imagined or experienced before. As an antique vehicle enthusiast, we are seeing beau coup problems with ethanol modified fuels eating away gasket systems and plugging up needles and floats in carburetors.
  Here's a good article on this topic: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/automobiles/20GASOHOL.html?_r=2&hp
  Many of the problems we face in antique vehicles stemming from ethanol fuels also are prevalent in small engines so be aware of one of the causes as to why your mower runs like crap after sleeping for the winter.
• Diesel: Diesel is, for the most part, still a very stable fuel. I run winter additives and I used my Kubota in the winter too so it doesn't get much time to sit.
• Battery: Here's an area that is often misunderstood. Batteries will work fine for years and then suddenly just up and die. The reason is that the lead plates that are separated by a space filled with 1.400 Sp. Gr. sulphuric acid will develop come plating of minerals that become free. Often this is caused by using tap water and introducing calcium and other minerals into your battery make-up water which then precipitate out on plates and build a bridge. When that bridge reaches the next plate, the battery is toast. This is also why sometime you can take a wood handle and rap on a battery and it will suddenly work again as the chunk of mineral falls away from the plates, or it can also die as that loose chunk of calcium falls between the plates and creates a short. Sodium EDTA is a great additive for batteries that nobody talks about because it extends battery life exponentially. A very small amount of EDTA added to each cell can take a 3 year battery and give it 10 years of life. Battery manufacturers won't tell you this for all the obvious reasons. When replacing a battery, evaluate the cost/benefit of a gel battery which are far less prone to short out like lead plate batteries do.
• Grease: You never have too many vise grip pliers and you can never over-grease. In most places where you have a zerx fitting, it is applying grease to some rotating or move part. If it's the front king pins, then jack up the front end and take the weight off the king pins and turn the wheels lock to lock as you apply grease so that you are putting the grease around the entire cylinder and not just on the side facing the zerx fitting. It is important to understand that greasing items in a static position and not moving them around WHILE INJECTING GREASE accomplishes dramatically less than a proper application of grease. Use your maintenance manual and make sure you hit every lube point indicated.
• Belts: Take the time to inspect all your belts; look for cracking and signs of embrittlement in the bottom of the belt and make sure that you have spare belts for everything ON HAND now before you start your season. If you are getting ready for the big party and are half done with mowing when you break and spit a belt, having the replacement belt in a closed store will do you no good and you will kick yourself that you didn't go and shop the internet for affordable belts in spring and put them in stock instead of being trapped and paying a fortune for a belt at the local source if they are open and even have what you need.
• Fluids: Check all the fluid levels. Understand that gear oils are supposed to stink like sulphur and the level is supposed to be as indicated full on the dip stick. Overfilling oil is NEVER a plus; it's always a detriment so keep oils at the proper level and change them now if you didn't change them in the fall. Check coolants (if applicable) and check for leaks by wiping all the oily surfaces down cleanly and then keep a watchful eye on anyplace that accumulates oil as it's coming outside from somewhere and that's not normal.
• Hoses: Check all your hoses carefully. Fuel hoses look for signs of mooshyness and softness as these ethanol fuels really tear up certain types of rubber. You don't want to drop a fuel line on a hot muffler and watch your investment go up in a blaze, and fuel lines are cheap to replace but expensive if they fail and burn up your equipment.
• Patience is a virtue: Being patient and allocating the necessary time to do a proper inspection of everything BEFORE you ever start up the mower for the first time is important. If you don't have time, then accept the consequences.

A few words of advice from the voice of experience. Remember this: EXPERIENCE IS THE COMB THAT MOTHER NATURE GIVES TO US WHEN WE ARE BALD

Great post! Thanks for that... lots of good tips. :thumbsup:

Great tips, glad I found this. I wondered where to get started and I think this may be the place to get my summer gear ready to go.