Manufactured by MTD, Yard-Man lawn mowers are high-quality machines designed to withstand many seasons of heavy use. During that time, you'll most likely need to replace the starter rope on your Yard-Man push mower, which is the cord you pull to engage the motor and start the engine. Thankfully, the fix is pretty easy, and you should be able to complete pull cord replacement yourself to maintain your beautiful green lawn.
Remove the Pull Cord for a Lawn Mower
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Before beginning, disconnect the mower's spark plug to prevent the machine from accidentally powering on during the repair. Empty the fuel tank to avoid spills and wear protective gloves. You may need to refer to your owner's manual to identify various parts throughout this repair. If you no longer have that manual, you can find most of them online. Be attentive as you take the mower apart, as you'll perform some of the same steps in reverse to reassemble the mower.
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Pull cord replacement for your Yard-Man requires some disassembly of the machine. Locate the blower housing on the outside of the mower and remove it using an adjustable wrench to unscrew the bolts.
Locate the pulley and wind it to tighten the auto-retract spring. Maneuver the pulley so that the hole in it lines up with the hole in the blower housing. Then, lock the pulley in place by clamping it with a vice grip or C-clamp. You should be able to access and remove the old starter rope, though you may need to remove a stabilizer if there is one on the rope.
Replace the Lawn Mower Starter Rope
To replace your Yard-Man rope, feed it through the same path as the old one. Begin by threading it through the blower housing and into the pulley. These should still be in line with each other. To secure the rope in the pulley, tie a knot in it.
Slowly and carefully remove the vice grip or C-clamp that you used to hold the pulley back. As you do, the spring should wrap the cord around the pulley. If it does not, reset the pulley with the clamp and inspect the rope to ensure you threaded it correctly.
Finally, you need to reassemble the rest of the mower. Replace the blower housing, tighten the bolts with your wrench, reconnect the spark plug and fill the fuel tank. Take the mower outdoors to test it and make sure it starts and runs properly. You should never use a gas-powered appliance inside, even in a garage.
Basic Yard-Man Lawn Mower Care
Replacing the starter rope is a fairly routine repair, and you may have to do it multiple times in your mower's life span. In addition, there are things you can do to prolong the life of your mower. First, you will want to keep it clean by clearing all parts of debris during and after each use.
Annually, you will need to change the oil and add a fuel stabilizer. You should replace or clean the air filter on this same timetable, and it can help the mower if you also sharpen and balance the lawn mower blades. You should replace spark plugs every two or three years as well.
If you live in a climate where you won't need the mower for more than a month, you should empty the fuel tank and store it somewhere out of the elements, such as your garage or a backyard shed. In this case, you will want to remove the spark plug as well.