When you’re using any lawnmower, but especially when you’re using a petrol lawnmower, it’s really important to follow safety guidelines.  Trust me, lawnmower accidents do happen – don’t lose a toe or get burned due to negligence!

Read the instructions that came with the lawnmower.  The advice in this post is important to follow, but there will be guidance specific to your model of lawnmower in the handbook.

Here are a few basic points:

• When you’re using the lawnmower, make sure not to injure your feet by wearing shoes. This seems so obvious, but unbelievably, people do injure their feet by mowing the lawn without wearing shoes.
• This isn’t as important as with some gardening tools (such as strimmers and brushcutters), but wearing thick pants can protect you in case a stone or sharp piece of debris is kicked up by the mower.  It’s not terribly likely, but does happen, and by wearing suitable clothing you can protect your legs from potential cuts or injuries.  In view of this, kick stones and sticks out of the way, and don’t mow over them.  The stones can fly up and hit you, and the sticks can splinter into sharp pieces, fly up and hit you; this can be even worse.
• Ensure you fill the petrol lawnmower with the correct type of fuel and follow the mixing instructions included with the tool.  Check that there are no leaks, which could cause a burn hazard.  Having said this, ensure the lawnmower is properly cared for and maintained.  As well as making sure you’re kept safe when using it, this will help the device last a long time.
• Never turn the lawnmower over when it’s in use and always ensure it’s completely stopped before performing any kind of maintenance.
• If you have pets or know that there are wild animals near by, get them out of the way beforehand.  It’s unlikely they’ll run toward a mower that’s in use, but it can happen.

In general, just use the lawnmower as it was intended to be used – follow the instructions and  make sure you pay attention when using it.

If you’ve invested in a petrol lawnmower, following a few pieces of basic mowing advice can help you to keep your lawn in good condition.

• Firstly, don’t forget to follow safety precautions when mowing.  If you’ve opted for a petrol lawnmower instead of an electric, you won’t have the worry of running over and breaking the power cord.  However, there are a few addition precautions you should use. Check out our article on safety when using a petrol lawnmower.
• If you follow basic lawn care guidelines, you should be mowing the lawn regularly.  If you’ve left the lawn to grow for too long, mowing it all to its normal hight in one go can actually damage the turf.  Instead you should cut just a couple of inches from the top of the grass.  Leave it to repair itself slightly (for a few day to a week) and then mow a couple more inches.  Clearly this means that it won’t be at its optimum height for a few weeks, but it also means that by the time it is, it’ll be in a better condition.
• Only mow the lawn when it’s dry.  Mowing when wet causes a few problems: (1) It’s a harder job for you to push the lawnmower through the wet grass; (2) If it’s very wet, parts of the grass will be flatter than others under the weight of the moisture. Mowing it in this condition can cause it to look uneven when it’s finished; and (3) mowing when wet can actually spread fungus and moss around the lawn, causing problems to the health of the grass.
• Speaking of fungus and moss – a lot of it will grow in just one direction.  This means that if you always cut the grass in just one direction you may miss some of the weeds when mowing.  So it’s always good practise to mow in different directions to ensure you hit as many weeds as possible.
• Grass clippings are full of nutrients (see our article on lawn health).  When you’re investing in a mower (petrol lawnmower or electric), consider choosing a model that leaves the clippings on the lawn.  This lets the nutrients get reabsorbed, and means that the grass won’t need to be fertilised as often, which can help to to keep it a great shade of green.  If you’d prefer a nice tidy lawn, however, lawn sweepers are always an option (they can also really help in the Autumn for clearing dead leaves).  If you do decide to use one, make sure you have a thorough fertilisation programme for the grass.

There are two main types of lawnmower: The cylinder (or reel) lawnmower, and the rotary lawnmower.  Rotary lawnmowers use a blade that rapidly rotates on a vertical axis.  The vast majority of rotary lawnmowers are powered by petrol.

The petrol lawnmower can be a great investment if you’re a keen gardener, and is an absolute necessity if you’re a professional landscaper.  Most use either two or four stroke engines and usually have just one cylinder.  The majority also need to be manually “crank” started; however, on the more expensive models there can be an electric starter motor.

Advantages Of The Petrol Lawnmower

The petrol lawnmower is usually much more powerful than its electric counterpart, and has the benefit of having no limit to the distance that it can be used (with an electric model, the power cord sets a limit to how far it can travel from a power source).  If you’re looking to buy a petrol lawnmower for home use, you’re likely to want to buy a mower that you can push around the lawn yourself.  You can buy full “ride-on” lawnmowers, but only do this if you’re a professional landscaper or have acres of your own land; otherwise it’s likely to be too much of an investment.

Disadvantages Of Petrol Lawnmowers

Like most things, petrol lawnmowers of course have their disadvantages.  They will require maintenance, which can include cleaning or changing the spark plug, changing the air filter and refueling with a specific mixture of petrol & oil.  In fact any maintenance that may need to be done to any internal combustion engine will eventually need to be done to your petrol lawnmower.

Don’t let this put you off, however.  In my opinion, the benefits of choosing the petrol variety far outweigh the relatively small amount of maintenance you’ll have to perform.  It’s worth it for the time you’ll save each week when mowing the lawn more quickly and efficiently.