How to Make a Lawn Mower Faster. 25 Things You Should Know

It can be tedious work to cut a vast lawn. Spending several hours of your time to make your garden look presentable is not everybody’s favorite job. Wouldn’t it be great if your lawnmower became a touch faster and save both your energy and time? This article provides a complete set of instructions to either make your lawnmower go fast or increase its cutting speed. Hence, cutting your working hours short.

Powered lawnmowers can be of the type push behind or tractor lawnmowers. Making your tractor lawnmower run fast means that you increase its top speed by making modifications. For push behind lawnmowers, the speed of the machine is controlled by the observer’s movement. So, one way of making it go faster is to increase its cutting speed. Following are the adjustment to make that happen:

How to make a lawnmower faster:

1. Increase the size of both the pullies in belt-driven lawnmowers
2. Shorten the length of the governor spring or remove it to increase the maximum speed
3. Service the air filter to remove any dust or debris
4. Service the carburetor to clean any deposits

Some additional tips to keep your mower speed as high as possible:

1. Changing the engine oil timely
2. Use good quality fuel, 92-octane or higher
3. Keeping the mower in good shape by sharpening its blade and keeping the tires clean and inflated

Suppose this is the first time you are performing these operations on a lawnmower. In that case, we recommend that you should stay tuned to this article as we unwrap this information for you in a simplistic and user-friendly tone.

Ways to Make a lawnmower go fast:

Listed below are steps that can help increase the speed of your lawnmower and thereby shorten the duration of your mowing sessions:

● 1. Increase the size of the pulley-belt system:

Some lawnmowers consist of a pulley belt system with two pulleys. One of the pulleys is connected to the engine crankshaft, while the other is situated underneath the lawnmower body.

– Solution:

 If you increase the size of both the pulleys, then this increases the speed of the lawnmower. However, this case is limited to belt-driven lawnmowers only.

● 2. Adjust your governor:

A governor is an engine component that controls its speed by regulating the fuel entering the engine. It also ensures that the engine doesn’t go beyond a certain speed as it does not allow fuel to enter beyond that level. Thus, it sets a limit for maximum speed achievable.

– Solution:

A. One way of controlling it is to remove the governor altogether. To do that, you need a wrench to remove the flywheel casing and then dislodge the governor. It then produces a significant speed boost for your mower.

B. The other way is to shorten the length of the spring attached to the governor. If that still doesn’t produce any improvement, try removing the spring and notice the change. 

● 3. Service the air filter:

The air filter is situated at the exterior of the mower body on the side. Its purpose is to supply clean air to the carburetor so that proper air and fuel mixing occurs for maximum power generation within the engine. The air filter often gets clogged with dirt over time. As a result, it is highly likely that the engine might slow down or sputter due to the lack of air reaching it.

– Solution:

In this case, you should probably check your air filter for debris settlements. You should clean it thoroughly using soap water if it appears serviceable. Otherwise, changing the air filter altogether is a good idea.

● 4. Clean your carburetor:

A carburetor supplies a fresh air-fuel mixture to the engine for combustion. Clogging in the carburetor jets often occurs due to fuel deposits and sometimes due to the dust build-up intake. These blockages can hamper the engine performance leading to a reduced speed, engine stalls, and sputters in some cases.

– Solution:

The solution is to perform the service of the air and fuel handling components. For the carburetor, you need to remove the air filter and the fuel tank to become visible. Afterward, you might need to use a carburetor cleaner spray or compressed air gun to unclog the blocked jets.

Some additional tips to keep your mower speed as high as possible:

Although technological advancements regarding lawn mowers have reached their limits as far as the maximum speed is concerned. Some simple techniques that can help you to boost its speed have been described above. If you want to know about some other tips and tricks that can quicken up your mowing sessions, then we have laid down those for you below:

● 1. Changing the engine oil:

Pay special attention to replenish your engine oil timely, just like you change that of your car. Consult your user’s manual to find the recommended oil for your model. Alternatively, you can also use the one that your car uses. Changing the oil maintains the engine performance by leading to reduced wear and tear of the components.

● 2. Use good quality fuel:

Please fill your tank with 92 octane fuel or higher. This fuel makes your engine run smoothly and increases its efficiency as compared to low octane fuel.

● 3.  Keep the mower in good shape:

To increase your lawnmower’s cutting speed, you must keep the machine in a suitable shape, such as sharpening its blades regularly. Sharpened blades lessen the cutting time and produce subtle cutting patterns and make it easier to move the machine around. Also, it is recommended to keep your tires clean and well inflated.

Related Questions:

● 1. How to adjust RPM on a lawnmower?

The RPM of a lawnmower refers to the rotational speed of the crankshaft. The rotational speed depends on the amount of air-fuel mixture entering the engine. It is governed by your engine’s governor, which is a spring connected to a linkage. If you want to increase the RPM, you tighten the spring by giving it a preset with nose pliers’ help. Or you can use a spring with a shorter length. Both ways satisfy the same purpose. As a result, you allow a higher amount of fuel to enter the engine and get a higher speed. Conversely, if you are looking to decrease the speed, then you should adjust the spring accordingly. i.e., increase its length or loosen it.

● 2. Is there a trick to starting a lawnmower?

You should follow the steps below, especially if you’re starting your lawnmower after a long time.

– Step 1: Fuel Check

If you’re using your lawnmower after a long time, then the first thing to be check is the gasoline level in the tank. Make sure you fill it in if it’s empty.

– Step 2: Prime the engine by pulling the cord

Then, you should start the engine by pulling the cord three times at least. Turn the choke on and start it again.

– Step 3: Tug the spark plug wire

Gently tap the spark plug wire to see if it’s loose or not. If it appears to lose, then tighten it up.  Afterward, you should inspect your spark plug and check if it’s worn out or not. If it has been damaged, then you should replace it.

– Step 4: Replenish the fuel

Empty your fuel tank from the gasoline whose quality has deteriorated over time. It would help if you disposed of this as hazardous waste. After adding fresh fuel to the tank, restart the lawnmower again. If you notice the gasoline smell is becoming intense, stop pulling the cord for some time. This smell shows that the fuel has flooded the carburetor at the moment.

 ● 3. How to fix a lawnmower that runs rough?

You can try doing the following steps:

– Step 1: Spark Plug Gap:

To ensure that the gap is set to the distance defined in the manual for your lawnmower, check the spark plug with a spark plug gap gauge. A spark plug with the wrong gap setting will quickly become filled with carbon by not firing correctly.

– Step 2: Air Filter:

Check that the air filter on your lawnmower is clean, and if necessary, replace or clean it (based on the type of filter). One of the most common causes of a bad running lawnmower is a dirty air filter because it prevents the oxygen needed from entering the engine.

– Step 3: Fuel Filter:

To ensure it’s safe, check the fuel filter on the mower and repair it if necessary. The flow of gasoline to the engine is hampered by a clogged fuel filter, starving it of fuel.

– Step 4: Fuel stabilizer:

By clogging the carburetor, gas with 10 % ethanol can cause problems in small engines such as lawnmowers. In two-cycle engines, such as string trimmers, blowers, and chainsaws, this is certainly relevant. Also, just a few months is known to be the shelf life of ethanol-blended petrol. In lawnmowers and other small engines, the best option is to use ethanol-free gasoline. Add fuel stabilizer to the gas to increase the shelf life, empty your gas tank and run the mower until it stops before putting it up for the winter.

Final Remarks:

Although you can save much time by modifying your lawnmower to run fast, the safety hazards that come with increased speed should also be considered. Note that lawnmowers aren’t racing vehicles designed to run fast. They don’t have a breaking or traction control. Hence, if you’ve maximized their speed by switching pulleys or removing the governor, you have zero control over the vehicle. This process is highly risky, and therefore we always advise that you shouldn’t go gaga over speed. The most critical governing parameter is how well your machine is maintained. The blades are sharp or not, or the filters aren’t clogged. The fuel quality is excellent or stale. These steps can increase your mowing speed without losing control.