Your mower has been working hard all season, and with three to four months still ahead, now’s the perfect time to show it some care. Cameron Belt from Ty’s Outdoor Power has spent five years helping customers across the Omaha metro keep their lawn equipment running strong. His advice? “It’s very important to keep that machine maintained in top performance.”
Whether you’re a homeowner looking to finish the season strong or managing a commercial fleet, these midsummer maintenance musts will help you avoid costly breakdowns and keep your equipment productive through fall.
Residential Maintenance Musts
For homeowners in Gretna, Omaha, and surrounding communities, staying on top of maintenance means less time in the heat and more time enjoying your yard. Here are the five essential tasks Cameron recommends:
1. Keep Your Blades Sharp
“Making sure you have sharp blades on there” is Cameron’s top priority. Dull blades tear grass instead of cutting it cleanly, creating stress on your lawn and your engine. Sharp blades also reduce the time you spend mowing, helping you get out of the summer heat faster.
2. Scrape Your Deck Clean
“Making sure you’re scraping the underside of the deck, make sure you don’t have too much grass compacted up under there” is crucial for performance. Built-up grass clippings restrict airflow, making your mower work harder and reducing cut quality. Clean decks also help prevent rust and corrosion.
3. Grease All Moving Parts
Keeping “all the joints and everything that has grease greased” will keep your mower running smoothly. Check your owner’s manual for grease points—neglecting this simple step can lead to expensive repairs down the road.
4. Check and Clean Air Filters
“Checking air filters, making sure they’re not getting clogged halfway through the season” protects your engine. A clogged filter restricts airflow, reducing power and potentially causing engine damage. Clean or replace filters as needed to keep your engine breathing properly.
5. Schedule a Professional Tune-Up
“You’re halfway there. You’ve got another three maybe four months left,” Cameron explains. “Making sure you’re still in that top performance on that mower, keeping it going, making sure you’re going to have that productivity there still” is why midsummer is ideal for professional service.
Commercial and Municipal Maintenance Musts
For landscaping crews and municipal teams, equipment downtime during peak season can be costly. Cameron emphasizes that commercial operators need to be even more vigilant about maintenance schedules.
1. Monitor Equipment Hours Closely
“They should be checking hours,” states Cameron. High-hour machines need more frequent attention than residential equipment. Keeping track of equipment use is the best way to stay on top of its maintenance needs.
2. Maintain Consistent Service Schedules
“Just keeping up with the maintenance” is Cameron’s biggest advice for extending equipment life. “Making sure you’re doing your oil changes, your hydro services, checking the belts, the air filters, making sure everything’s in top performance all the time” prevents major breakdowns.
3. Implement Preventive Maintenance Programs
“Having a maintenance schedule in place is going to be a huge thing just to make sure that they don’t have long, extended breakdowns, that’s going to cause them to not be productive.” Regular schedules will keep your crews operational and profitable.
4. Utilize Professional Service Support
At Ty’s, “we’ve got a giant shop that’s outfitted with a lot of different mechanics that can keep those machines on track with their maintenance.” Professional service ensures thorough inspections and proper repairs that busy crews might miss.
But service support is not just for fixing things when they go wrong. Schedule regular maintenance appointments to keep your equipment in top shape and avoid costly breakdowns during critical projects.
5. Take Advantage of Loaner Programs
For busy contractors or landscapers, a breakdown in equipment can mean lost time and money. “If that machine’s still under warranty with Hustler, and/or you’ve gotten a service with us from the last year, we have loaners in place to make sure we’re keeping those commercial guys up and running.”
To keep your projects moving forward, take advantage of loaner programs offered by manufacturers or service providers. These programs provide temporary replacement equipment while yours is being repaired, ensuring that you can continue working without any major interruptions.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late for Your Equipment
Cameron warns that neglecting midsummer maintenance leads to bigger problems: “If you don’t keep up on that maintenance and you’re not checking over the machine, that’s when you’re going to start getting into having breakdowns and you’re going to have more major things go wrong.”
At Ty’s, we understand the importance of keeping your equipment running smoothly. “We have a guy here who specifically just does our triage. So when it comes in, it’s going to go to triage. We’re going to go through the whole machine, kind of pick it through with a fine-tooth comb, figure out what’s going on with it, diagnose it.”
Keep Your Equipment Running Strong With Ty’s Outdoor Power
Whether you’re maintaining a single home mower or managing a commercial fleet, these midsummer maintenance musts will help you finish the season strong. Our team at Ty’s is here to support you with professional service, genuine parts, and expert advice.
Ready to give your equipment the care it deserves? Schedule a service or stop in today at our Gretna location. We’ll walk you through your maintenance options and help keep your lawn equipment running like new through the remainder of the season.
