Keep Your Lawn Mower Running Right: Briggs & Stratton Offers Tips on Easy Annual Mower Maintenance

MILWAUKEE, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A trouble-free lawn care season begins with a lawn mower that starts easily and runs smoothly.  The key to making that happen may be as simple as doing a mower tune-up this year.  A tune-up is inexpensive, takes only about 30 minutes for a typical push mower and is now easier than ever with a new, easy-to-use oil change system.

Best of all, this annual maintenance can save hundreds of dollars in the long run because it helps avoid major, costly repairs and premature replacement of the mower.    

"It's like preventive medicine for your equipment," says Mike Barnett, Marketing Manager for Briggs & Stratton. "For a few dollars and few minutes once a year, you can make your lawn mower last longer and run better."

Benefits of a tune-up include:

• A lawn mower that starts quickly and runs smoothly at full power
• Extended mower life and the potential to avoid major repairs
• Reduced engine emissions because the engine runs cleaner
• A small savings in the amount of gasoline used

"Homeowners who have never attempted a mower tune-up can do it right the first time," says Barnett.  To help lead the way, Briggs & Stratton Corporation CEO Todd Teske tuned up his own mower and it took him less than 20 minutes.  Watch his how-to video on YouTube.    

The company has created tune-up kits that include everything needed to do a tune-up:  the right amount of oil, an air filter, spark plug and fuel preservative.  For the typical push mower, the kit costs about $12.  The tune-up kits are available at authorized dealers, home improvement stores or online.  Step-by-step instructions are available in the kits and a video tutorial is online at www.mowertuneup.com.

New this year are oil removal kits for push and riding mowers that make changing the oil easy.  The kits include a clear plastic hose, a collection container and siphon hand pump.  Simply connect one end of the hose to the oil container and place the other end in the mower's oil reservoir, then use the siphon pump to start the oil flow.  The entire process takes only a few minutes, and the kit can be reused again and again.  The kits retail for approximately $22 for push mowers and $29 for riding mowers and are available at Briggs & Stratton dealers, online at BriggsandStratton.com and at retailers. 

The old mower oil can then be disposed of for free at participating Briggs & Stratton dealers.  To find a dealer, visit recyclemoweroil.com.  The disposal program, now in its third year, has encouraged the recycling of more than 100,000 gallons of used mower engine oil.  Oil can be dropped off in any closed container.

As the largest maker of gas engines for outdoor power equipment, Brigg & Stratton encourages homeowners to maintain the estimated 65 million lawn mowers in the United States as both a cost saving and environmentally responsible initiative.

Briggs & Stratton Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the world's largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group LLC, is North America's number one manufacturer of portable generators and pressure washers, and is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of home standby generators, along with lawn and garden and turf care through its Simplicity®, Snapper®, Ferris® and Murray® brands.  Briggs & Stratton products are designed, manufactured, marketed and serviced in over 100 countries on six continents.

SOURCE Briggs & Stratton Corporation