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Out of the estimated 66 million mowers in the U.S., fewer than half are tuned up annually.
Homeowners may not realize the importance of tune-ups because they don't know that this easy maintenance can make a mower start more easily, run better and even preserve its life. And, as an added environmental bonus, a tune-up can cut mower emissions by up to 50 percent.
It's not time consuming. On a typical push mower, a tune-up takes about 30 minutes to do and includes just four steps: changing the oil, air filter and spark plug, and adding fuel preservative to the gas tank. Riding mowers may also require changing the oil and fuel filters.
In the past, the prospect of doing tune-ups and disposing of dirty oil may have discouraged some homeowners.
Fortunately, simple mower maintenance and oil disposal have become a lot easier. Tune-up kits are now available along with easy, free ways to recycle used oil. As one example, visit www.mowertuneup.com. The site also offers a "how to" video.
The tune-up kit for a typical walk-behind mower costs less than $10 and includes oil, a spark plug, an air filter and fuel preservative. Riding mower tune-up kits are also available.
