Lawn mower spare parts

The article describes the essential spares that you need to have so that your lawn mower continues to function as a new one. Some of the parts are cheap and require them often, so keep them with you all the time.

Necessary Lawnmower Parts

You need some of the parts for continued availability of your lawn mower. These parts are cheap and easy to replace and you will be able to do it yourself at home without requiring any major tools. It is possible that you would get these spares at the at the neighborhood shops but it is frustrating experience to stop your work, go to the shopfor a part, and come back again to restart your work in your garden. Some times the spare part is not available at the shop as the model has changed and the part is no longer available.

You may curse yourself for not buying the part when it was available, just because you thought since it is available, you need not buy it. The part cost may be very little but your mind will continue to curse you until the part is available and your lawn mower starts working once again

Gasoline Engine Parts That You Should Have

For your gas engine lawn mower, it is advisable to have the following parts with you and you should be able to replace these parts yourself without help of a mechanic

Spark plugs: The spark plugs of lawn mowers are small compared to the spark plug of your car and it is never possible to get it in morning at seven O’clock on a Saturday morning when you have just started mowing work with a lot of zest and the spark plug fails. You know that the plug has failed and you cannot replace it, as you do not have a spare one with you.

Belts: Belts can and do break at the most inconvenient time. The belts and spark plugs seem to have a contagious disease. When one fails the other also follows suit. Belts are easy to change if you have them with you.

Cutting blades: Cutting blades may give you trouble when you in a hilly area. A stone may be lodged in the body and blade. If you have a spare blade you will be able to change it easily.

Various control cables: The throttle and the choke operate on cables. Keep the control cables with you. Control cables operate inside a sheath also called as outer cable. It may not be necessary to have the outer cable with you as stock, keep only the inner cable

Spare nuts and bolts : If the controls operate by levers, keep a spare set of connecting bolts, as the bolts go off due to vibrations and cannot be found if lost

Panel indications: it is not necessary to have panel indications and meters on the panel as stock as your lawn mower will continue to function without panel indication. You can always take the mower to a mechanic at a time of your choosing.

Spare tires are necessary for the lawn mower on wheels. Keep one ready and fully inflated for use during flat tire on the lawn mower. For the walk behind ones, you may need a solid rubber tire, but lawn mower can limp and work for some time.

Parts For Electric Lawnmowers

You do not need many spares for your electric lawn mowers. A set of fuse holders, cable and cable winder spares, switches, cable connectors and insulation tape will however be necessary for use in emergency

Parts For Battery Lawnmower

Such lawnmowers require least parts to be stocked. You may stock only the switches and battery leads etc.

Trouble shooting for lawn mowers:

Troubleshooting for gas engine:

Failure to start – look for fuel flow, switch malfunction, spark plug full of deposits, spark plug cable not connected, spark plug porcelain cracked

Starts but does not take load: Fuel flow not proper, plug cable loose, engine temperature too low, belts loose

Noise from engine: mechanical problem, fan loose, belts loose, stone lodged with the cutter,

Overheating and smoke from engine: cooling system malfunctioning, mechanical systems malfunction etc.

Troubleshooting for electric lawn mowers

Does not start: Problems with power supply, check power supply

Starts but speed slow: Check carbon brushes

Shocks: Check power supply, check supply cable. Kinks and cuts in power supply cable

Troubleshooting for battery operated lawn mowers.

Does not start: Dead batteries, charge them

Battery life to short: Charge after completely discharging, change batteries if performance does not improve.

Transplanting tips

Early spring is a great time for transplanting trees and shrubs, but you must do so before they wake up. Transplanting a plant is a very traumatic experience for the plant if it is awake. It’s like doing surgery on a person while they are awake. Dormancy starts in the fall as soon as you experience a good hard freeze, and the plants remain dormant until the weather warms up in the spring. This is when you should transplant, while the plants are dormant.

You can transplant in the spring up until the plants leaf out. When the buds are green and swollen you are usually safe to still transplant, but once the leaf develops, you should wait until fall. When transplanting you can dig the shrubs out bare root, just make sure they are out of the ground for as short a time as possible, and keep the roots damp while out of the ground.

Make sure there are no air pockets around the roots when you replant them. When possible, it is always better to dig a ball of earth with the plants when you transplant them. The rule of thumb is 12” of root ball for every 1” of stem caliper. If the diameter of the stem of a tree is 2”, then you should dig a root ball 24” in diameter.

Don’t be afraid of cutting a few roots when you transplant. Just try not to cut them any shorter than the above guidelines allow. Cutting the roots will actually help to reinvigorate the plant. It’s a process simply known as root pruning. When the roots are severed, the plant then develops lateral roots to make up for what is lost. These lateral roots are more fibrous in nature, and have more ability to pick up water and nutrients.

Some nurseries drive tractors over the plants in the field with a device that undercuts the roots of the plant just to force the plant to develop more fibrous roots. This makes transplanting the plant the following year much more successful, and makes for a stronger and healthier plant.

The old timers root pruned by hand by forcing a spade in the ground around their plants. If you have a plant in your landscape that is doing poorly, a little root pruning while the plant is dormant could bring it around. It’s worth the effort.

Control pests from breaking into your gardens and spoil your gardening spirit

Unwanted insects in your garden are just that: unwanted. Unwanted insects may eat and destroy your crops, something shared by any farmer or home gardener. Organic gardening is a means of controlling unwanted insects naturally, without the use of dangerous pesticides. There are many ways to control garden unwanted insects naturally that are also cheap, easy and good for the earth.

Protect your organic soil and beneficial insects

While pesticides may eliminate the pest, they most often cause more harm than good. Unfortunately, many home and commercial gardeners are unaware of alternatives to pesticides. That’s because s are a big part of our culture. Reaching for a quick fix—albeit a dangerous fix—is a deep seeded and detrimental habit.

Yet apart from damaging the soil and being a health hazard to people—including our children—pesticides present a major problem. They eradicate species indiscriminately, causing helpful garden co-habitants to disappear along with the harmful ones.

An organic garden with beneficial insects

Indeed, the fact remains that not all insects are unwanted insects. Any kindergartner can tell you that bees help flowers. He or she could also tell you that a ladybug is good luck. But more than just good luck, ladybugs are a highly helpful natural pesticide to have in your garden, feeding on a myriad of insect unwanted insects including aphids if you ever see little alligator like insects around your garden, leave them be! These are the larval stage of ladybugs. Obviously, s are not as intelligent as your average kindergartner—they kill bugs on a wholesale level while upsetting ecosystems and ruining your plants as well as your soil.

Are your garden pests resistant to pesticides?

Commercial farmers today have a strong reliance on pesticides. Large companies sell pesticides to farmers who use them on their crops. Over the years the unwanted insects become resistant to the pesticides and increasingly larger amounts must be used. So it is that the farmer pays more and more money and dumps more and more of them onto his/her crops-our food. The result is a coated crop and a pesticide resistant bug, a crop that is more susceptible to the insect pest.

Are you harming the local bird population?

Recent studies have been conducted concerning pesticides’ effect on local bird populations. Birds eat the insects, which have ingested the pesticides. Because the pesticide is an indiscriminate poison, the bird is targeted as well. Furthermore, if the birds do not immediately disappear, their eggshells become thinner and thinner and often break when parent birds sit on the eggs. This is a huge problem with bald eagles in North America. With no insects and no birds those predators which live off of the birds disappear too, causing a huge disruption in the local ecosystem which is never beneficial to growth of any kind.

Birds eat insects!

Encourage birds to come into your garden by placing a bird bath in the garden and by planting plants that will attract birds such as sunflowers. There are even perennial sunflowers that not only attract birds year round but, can also be planted like a hedge and repel deer and other animals. Helianthus maximillani.

Natural pest control is rooted in a vigorous, balanced ecosystem. Years of pesticide use may be so disruptive to a local ecosystem that the land may become unusable after only a few years. They remain in the soil and become more concentrated with each year of use, eventually rendering the soil unable to produce vigorous plants.

The soil can heal

However, there is hope. Some products like methyl bromide can be amended by simply adding organic matter to the infected soil. The result is addition of the organic portion of this pesticide to the organic matter that you already added and liberation of the bromide ion. At the very least, you can add organic matter to a laden soil to simply dilute the concentration. However, you can also look up the MSDS online for that to learn how to amend it.

Organic alternatives to pesticides

There are many natural, organic alternatives to pesticides that are more long lasting, safe, vigorous and generally effective.

One of the simplest pest control devices is a barrier. By covering a row of crop with a light netting (which allows the sunlight to come through) flying unwanted insects are effectively kept away from the plants. These are generally used for food crops. Cabbage can be protected from flea beetles and green beans from Mexican Bean Beetles.

Another simple method of pest control for a small garden is handpicking. Many slugs and Hornworms can be handpicked off of plants with great success. Drop unwanted insects into a dish of soapy water to kill them. Certain moths and bugs can be knocked out of trees with a stick; allow them to fall onto a large piece of cloth so that they can be gathered and, later, submerged in a soapy solution or incinerated.

Beneficial Insects Will Control the Bad Insects

Some insects like the Ladybug and the Green Lacewing are called beneficial because they are the good guys who are on the hunt for the bad guys that are feeding on your plants. Here is a list of beneficial insects, with links to where they are offered by an Earth friendly distributor.

Green Lacewings Chrysoperla carnea

Green Lacewings are an all purpose beneficial insect that feed on insects such as aphids and other insects that will come and feed on your plants. Green Lacewings are perfect for a backyard garden, larger garden, or a greenhouse.

Easy way to get rid of slugs and aphids!

Certain varieties of plants are more resistant to insects. Some research into the types of plants you grow and the unwanted insects common to your area could prevent a lot of pest problems. Also, some plants themselves are pesticides. For instance, planting tobacco around your vegetable garden is an excellent way to discourage slugs and aphids!

How native plants can revive your garden

Buy local transplants to avoid bringing non-native unwanted insects into your garden. Add mulch and other simple barriers around your crops, check your garden regularly. Healthy plants are naturally more resistant to predators; just like having a strong immune system. All of these methods are natural and easy preventative measures to help you obtain a pest free garden.

If your preventative measures did not work, there are many, natural and organic plant sprays that can control unwanted insects. A mixture of Petroleum oil and water sprayed onto a plant is a natural pesticide that has been used effectively for hundreds of years. Many oils, shells and plant extracts can also be used as safe, effective, natural pesticides.

Natural pest control is a safer and, ultimately, more effective means of keeping a vigorous organic garden. With a little more knowledge it becomes obvious that the use of non-organic pesticides is not only ineffective but dangerous and irresponsible. By understanding your native habitat ecosystem and working in partnership with establishing a balance of beneficial insect predators such as ladybugs, praying mantis, and birds, as well as planting species that naturally prohibit invasion by unwanted insects, you too can have a vigorous garden by working in partnership with your garden.

Ease bug bites with easy herbs

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Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch! Take a leaf from Susun S. Weed's storehouse of natural remedies: Soothe, heal, and prevent bites with safe herbal remedies that grow right where you live: north or south, east or west, city or country. The best natural remedies for insect bites are right underfoot.

Plantain, also called ribwort, pig's ear, and the band-aid plant, is a common weed of lawns, driveways, parks and playgrounds. Identify it by the five parallel veins running the length of each leaf. (Most leaves have a central vein with smaller ones branching out from it.) You may find broad leaf plantain (Plantago majus), with wide leaves and a tall seed head, or narrow leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata), with long thin leaves and a small flower head that looks like a flying saucer. Many Plantago species have seeds and leaves that can be used as food or medicine. A South American variety (Plantago psyllium) is used to make Metamucil.

How to use plantain? Make a fresh leaf poultice. Pick a leaf, chew it well and put it on the bite. "Like magic" the pain, heat, and swelling - even allergic reactions - disappear, fast! (Yes, you can dry plantain leaves and carry them in your first aid kit. Chew like you would fresh leaves.)

Poultices ease pain, reduce swelling, and help heal. No wonder they're the number one natural choice for treating insect bites, bee and wasp stings.

• Mud is the oldest and simplest poultice. Powdered white clay, which should be mixed with a little water or herb tea, can be applied directly to the sting as soon as possible. Clay can be kept on hand at all times and is less likely to contain fungal spores than the real thing. Finely ground grains such as rice or oatmeal, or bland starchy substances like mallow root, grated potato, or arrowroot powder are also used as soothing poultices to ease itching and pain from insect bites.
  
  
• Fresh-herb poultices are a little more complicated, but not by much. Just find a healing leaf, pluck it, chew it, and apply it directly to the sting/bite. If you wish, use a large leaf or an adhesive bandage to hold the poultice in place. Plantain, comfrey (Symphytum uplandica x), yellow dock (Rumex species), wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), wild mallow (Malva neglecta), chickweed (Stellaria media), and yarrow are only a few of the possibilities.

In the woods, you can take a leaf from a tree, chew it and apply that to the bite. Any tree will do in an emergency, but if you have a choice, the best leaves are those from witch hazel, willow, oak or maple. Play it safe: learn to recognize witch hazel (Hamamelis virginia) and willow (Salix species) leaves before you chew on them. Maple (Acer) or oak (Quercus) leaves are easier to recognize and safer to chew - unless you live where poison oak grows. If uncertain, avoid all shrubs and any trees with slick or shiny leaves. If the leaf you are chewing tastes extremely bitter or burns your mouth, spit it out at once.

To repel ticks, mosquitoes, and black flies, try a diluted tincture of yarrow (Alchellia millefolium) flowers directly on all exposed skin. A recent US Army study showed yarrow tincture to be more effective than DEET as an insect repellent.

If you’ve spent the day in an area where lyme disease is common, take a shower right away and scrub yourself with a bodybrush. Have a friend check you out for ticks. Also, it takes the tick some time to make up its mind where to bite, so most are unattached and will wash off.

"If the worst happens and I do get a bite, I help my immune system by taking a daily dose of 2-6 dropperfuls of Echinacea tincture. I avoid Goldenseal as I believe it could have adverse effects. If I have symptoms, I use a dropperful of St. Joan's wort (Hypericum) tincture three times a day to ensure the lyme's organism is inactive."

Susun Weed
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY 12498
Fax: 1-845-246-8081

Rose gardening tasks early spring

When should you start preparing your rose garden for the onset of spring and summer? Well, if you live in an area where you can start seeing the promise of spring in late March or early April, then you're an "early spring" rose gardener. However, if you live where March and April still brings icy rain and snow, then just keep waiting out old man winter until your turn at spring arrives and then follow the tips in this article.

Early spring is a time of great activity in the rose garden as you prepare for the beautiful buds that will be sprouting almost any day. Here's a summary of what needs to be done in order to prepare your roses for the tough growing season that lies ahead.

If you covered your roses with dirt or mulch, your first step is to gently remove the protective materials so you can introduce your dormant bushes to the warming spring sun and rains that lie ahead.

Before beginning your spring pruning activities, cut back any dead and damaged canes that did not survive the winter. Be sure to clear away any debris and residue from around the bushes as well.

Prepare the soil to nurture your plants by adding some organic compounds. You can either buy pre-packaged organics from your favorite garden supplier, or you can mix up your own recipe using composted manure or mushroom compost, or any of the usual meal blends which can include alfalfa, cottonseed, fish or blood meal. See below for some suggestions.

Work your soil with a spade or hoe if it has become too compacted during the winter or if you notice standing water after watering your plants. Roses require well-drained soil to thrive.

After soil preparation is done you can plant any new additions to your garden including container grown roses.

Next it is time to begin your fungicide spraying regiment either immediately or, if you prefer to wait, approximately 14 days after you complete your pruning. Opinions on the best time differ. The choice is yours.

Remember to rotate through different fungicides during the year to prevent any fungi from becoming immune to any one product.

Don't use any pesticides unless you see evidence of damage, but remember to keep a sharp eye out for aphids which are as much a sign of spring as April showers are. Hit them with a blast of water to remove them, or apply insecticide in a mister to the affected areas.

Imagine how hungry you'd be if you just woke up from a long winter hibernation! Well, your Roses are hungry too. The best way to coax them from dormancy to budding is to feed them now and every other week through the remainder of the growing season. Water well after feeding! Feed with a fertilizer balanced for Nitrogen (N), Phosphates (P2O5) and Potash (K2O). Nitrogen stimulates the growth of leaves and canes and increases the size of the bush. Phosphate stimulates the growth of roots, canes and

stems and speeds up flowering. Potash stimulates the production of top quality blooms and improves the drought and disease resistance of the plant. A good balanced fertilizer with these elements is 10-10-10.

Another popular spring fertilizer is Osmocote which is a controlled release fertilizer that releases nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium depending on soil temperature. The 18-6-12 (8 to 9 month term) formulation is recommended for this area. Osmocote is also available with trace elements added in a product with the name of Sierra 17-6-10 Plus Minors Controlled Release Fertilizer

There! Your rose garden is ready for spring, but remember your work is far from over. If spring is near then summer can't be far behind. Read our summer article at RoseGarden-How-To. com to learn how

to prepare your roses for the coming summer heat.