When the grass-growing season is over, you can put your lawnmower away. But there are some steps you should take before you put your mower into hibernation to make sure that it starts up and is ready for use in the spring. Home-repair expert Brad Staggs shows what you need to do to winterize and maintain your lawnmower.

• When it comes to the gas left in the gas tank, there are two schools of thought. First, you could remove the gas, and store the mower with a drained tank. Use an old turkey baster (figure A) for removing the gas, and discard it responsibly. Just make sure you mark the baster for this purpose so that it doesn't inadvertently get returned to the kitchen for use in preparing food.
  
  
• Another alternative is to store the mower with a full tank, but add a fuel-stabilizer to the gas (figure B).
  
  
  
• Place a piece of aluminum foil over the fill port, and tighten down the gas-tank lid over the foil (figure C). This will prevent condensation from forming inside the fuel system.
  
  
  
• Change the oil before you put your lawnmower away for the winter. Drain the old oil completely, and refill the oil reservoir with fresh oil (figure D) according to instructions in your mower's manual.
  
  
  
• If you have a single-stage air filter (figure E), remove and discard it at the end of the year and replace it with a new one. If you have a 2-stage filter with a foam sleeve, wash out the foam, re-oil it and replace it.
  
  
  
• This is a good time to replace your mower's sparkplug with a new one (figure F). A new plug only costs about a dollar or two. You may want to add a couple of drops of oil into the cylinder to prevent rust.
  
  
  
• Remove and inspect the cutting blade (figure G). Chances are good that it's gotten dull and nicked from a summer of use. Your choices are to sharpen it yourself, have it professionally sharpened or replace it with a new blade. A replacement blade costs about $15 -- usually about the same thing it costs to have one sharpened.

Recap:

• Drain the fuel system (or use a fuel stabilizer).
• Change the oil and clean or replace the air filter.
• Sharpen or replace the cutting blade.