How to Troubleshoot a Walk-Behind John Deere Lawn Mower

John Deere makes a line of residential lawn mowers.

These mowers use a gas-powered engine and rotating blade to cut grass at an adjustable height, keeping your lawn well trimmed. While John Deere designs and constructs these lawn mowers to provide years of reliable service, problems may still arise. Some simple troubleshooting steps may help you resolve any problems with your John Deere mower before resorting to having the unit serviced.

1. Check the fuel tank for sufficient fuel and replace any stale or contaminated fuel, refit the spark plug wire on the spark plug, check the battery for proper charge, and replace the air filter, if saturated with oil, if the mower will not start.

2. Replace stale or contaminated fuel, clean or replace the air filter, and clean or replace the spark plug if the mower starts, but runs rough. If after correcting these issues, the mower still runs rough, have the unit serviced.

3. Start the engine and let it run without cutting the grass for several minutes, or adjust the cutting height of the mower if the unit runs, but stalls.

4. Tighten the blade bolt or straighten or replace the blade, if necessary, or replace the drive belt if frayed, if the mower vibrates badly.

5. Readjust the height adjuster, alter your mowing pattern between cuttings, sharpen or straighten the mower blade if the mower cuts grass unevenly.

6. Cut grass only during dry conditions, raise the cutting height, sharpen the blade or empty the grass bag, if the discharge chute clogs, the grass clumps or is cut roughly.