Mower Service, What It Is and Why It Is Important

See current end of 21 to spring of 22 service special base pricing at bottom of blog. :)

In this blog, M&D Enterprises & Lawnmower Shops professionals will cover the basics of servicing a lawnmower. We will discuss industry standards as well as M&D processes and procedures and the various services we offer at our stores. We feel education is key in understanding the importance of servicing and maintaining your lawn equipment. While routine maintenance and service may seem costly, it’s always cheaper than the alternative of replacing engines, hydraulics, and other expensive parts that will result if a consistent maintenance plan is not followed.

The average expense of a complete engine service on your riding mower is $160 to $180 depending on the model of your machine. Larger commercial mowers that can require more expensive air filters and more engine oil are a bit more costly to service. ​

What We Do

​When you bring your lawnmower in for our Service Special, we strive to make sure that your equipment is ready to last you through the entire mowing season. Not only do we service the engine, but we will inspect the mower to make sure you have good blades, spindles, belts, and pulleys. No one enjoys taking their equipment to the shop more than once a year. So we examine the machine thoroughly to try our best to locate any future, potential problems. If belts are worn or spindle bearings are noisy, we will reach out to you and see if you wish to have these items replaced so they don’t leave you stranded during the mowing season when they fail. If your blades can be sharpened we ask if you prefer we do that, and if they are past the point of sharpening we offer to replace them if you prefer that.

We like to cover these items and spend the needed time to get your machine ready for the season during our service special period held in the winter and early spring while our mechanics have ample time to fix them. It’s best we do this rather than waiting until summer when we may be as much as 2-4 weeks out on getting a mower in the shop due to all the work we pick up once the mowing season starts. This wait time happens due to those who failed to get their machines in during the service special time period and waited until the busy time of the mowing season for us to work on them, or due to impromptu break downs.

How Often Should You Service Your Mower?

Industry professionals recommend that you service the engine on your mower every year due to our harsh, dry, dusty, mowing environment. They also recommend servicing your hydraulic system every other year or every 200 hours if you are a commercial mower or mowing more than that per year. ​

What Is Included In The Service Special?

 When your mower comes to M&D for the service special we will service the engine. This includes changing the air filter, oil filter and fuel filter, new spark plugs and fresh oil.  Once again as mentioned above we will give your mower a full examination to make sure no other parts are needed to maintain your equipment.

The price of servicing your engine is much cheaper than replacing it due to a lack of maintenance. Just the cost of an engine can run you $800-$3000, and that does not include the shop hours of labor that it can take to remove and replace the bad engine.

Hydraulic System Service

Just as you should maintain the engine on your mower the hydros, (hydraulic drive/steering system on zero turn mowers) If serviceable, the hydraulic system should be maintained as well. It is recommended to service the hydros on your mower the first time at 75 hours and then every 200 hours or two years after that. A Hydro service consists of changing the hydraulic oil filters and hydraulic oil. Some smaller residential mowers may not have this option such as the Hustler Raptor, Bigdog Alpha, or Snapper Tractor style mowers. These smaller mowers have a sealed hydro and fluid cannot be changed. Failure to maintain your hydros can be very costly to replace and will void any warranty you have. One Hydro can cost $1300- $2500 depending on the model of your mower. 
Depending on the model of mower you have a hydraulic service that can range in price from $150 to $200 from residential to commercial machines. More expensive filters and larger quantities of fluids are the key factors in the increased pricing on large commercial machines. ​

Pickup And Delivery

Now that you have some idea about what we do when your equipment is in the shop, let’s talk about getting the mower to us. Equipment can be dropped off by you the customer at any of the four locations, Canton, Weatherford, Seiling, or the Main Street store in Woodward. 
Not able to drop the equipment off? 
Maybe you don’t have a trailer or you work during the day and it’s not easy for you to get it to us. We offer pickup and delivery. We charge $25 in town (city limits proper) and out of town is $1 per mile more than the $25 from our store to the mower’s location. This fee helps us pay for the fuel, maintenance, and wear and tear on the truck, and the driver needed to get us your equipment. This charge is a one time fee per service and gets your equipment picked up and brought back to you.  If you drop your mower off at one of our satellite stores then there is no charge to get it to our service centers and back to the store you delivered it to. 
(We can only make this pricing work if we have multiple mowers from the same area, please be patient with us as we schedule your pickup and delivery) ​

Are You A DIY Type of Person?

That’s great as well, it just needs to be done. At M&D Enterprises & Lawnmower Shops we offer all the parts you need to do the job. We sell them individually or in extremely convenient service kits. These kits from the various engine manufacturers such as Kohler and Kawasaki include Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, and Pre Filter, Spark Plugs and Fuel Filter, And vary in costs from $45 to $90.

Learn more about our service special by following the link below!
​​https://www.mowersok.com/service-special