How to keep 40V mower clean?

[mcisar]

Have recently migrated from a gas mower to a new Ryobi 21" 40V Self Propelled mower. I'm just wondering if anyone on the forum might have some advice on how to keep it clean?

With the gas mower if it was dirty or dusty on top from spring cleanup I'd just wash the top off with the hose, if it was gunked up underneath after mowing the grass when it was a little wet I'd get out the hose and blast the goo off the bottom.

Obviously battery powered mower I get that they don't want you giving it a full hose-down (though I seem to recall the electric mowers of my childhood surviving the garden hose) but I've now used this new mower twice (once on super-dry spring cleanup grass and once the 2nd time on some really high damp/wet grass that just needed to get cut between rainy days) and honestly it looks like it's about 10 years old. The top is filthy and the bottom is caked on with the dried green slime that I wasn't able to scrape out with my hand when it was fresh. Not going to comment on what those two hidden rocks did to my nice new blade, but that's not a cleanup issue thats just a general profanity thing

Any suggestions as to what folks are doing to keep their battery mowers clean(er) are appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Charlie8d]

Have recently migrated from a gas mower to a new Ryobi 21" 40V Self Propelled mower. I'm just wondering if anyone on the forum might have some advice on how to keep it clean?

With the gas mower if it was dirty or dusty on top from spring cleanup I'd just wash the top off with the hose, if it was gunked up underneath after mowing the grass when it was a little wet I'd get out the hose and blast the goo off the bottom.

Obviously battery powered mower I get that they don't want you giving it a full hose-down (though I seem to recall the electric mowers of my childhood surviving the garden hose) but I've now used this new mower twice (once on super-dry spring cleanup grass and once the 2nd time on some really high damp/wet grass that just needed to get cut between rainy days) and honestly it looks like it's about 10 years old. The top is filthy and the bottom is caked on with the dried green slime that I wasn't able to scrape out with my hand when it was fresh. Not going to comment on what those two hidden rocks did to my nice new blade, but that's not a cleanup issue thats just a general profanity thing

Any suggestions as to what folks are doing to keep their battery mowers clean(er) are appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

NEVER cut wet grass , if you value this mower. You have an electric mower so water & electricity [ even a battery ] do not mix. You can burn up the motor. If you cut high grass, set the wheels to the top setting, & cut it again a couple of days later at a notch lower.
Now that you have caked grass under it ;
REMOVE batteries
I also suggest removing blade.
Tilt mower on its side & scrape out as much grass as possible. I use a plastic window scraper made for icy windshields.
Coat the underside of the deck with Dawn Platinum PowerWash , AVOIDING the motors vents.
Let it sock a minute & scrub the green gunk off with a Scotchbrite type scouring pad. May have to repeat this.
Use a power blower when finished to blow everything off, including motor vents. Spray the are, avoiding vents , with " Pam Baking Spray.
Sharpen blade, if needed, balance , & reinstall.
Don't do this again.
If my grass is too high/wet, I hire some one with a big rider to do it.

 

[StarTech]

Never use the mower is no way to keep it clean.

 

[sgkent]

Once the grass dries it is much harder to get it off. The procedure may be in the owner's manual. My Toro mower is gas but the manual says to run it on concrete and spray a steady stream of water to bounce off the concrete at the edge of the mower into the underside of the mower while it is running. That does an amazing job of cleaning it. We don't cut wet grass. If it is really bad then I do it when changing oil and sharpening the blade. Have to set it up on its side and scrape and clean with a putty knife, water, greenie etc.