How do you wash/care for your equip?

[Blake]

I went to a seminar about 10 years ago co-sponsered by eXmark. Their rep spent a few minutes on this subject and he repeatedly said never wash an eXmark. He said that the water did much more harm than good to the switches & other electrical connections, as well as the charging system. He did recommend using your back pack blower several times a day and compressed air daily, during dry times more often. I have NEVER had a switch go bad since then. Your op manual has a schedule for greasing but I grease every fittting everyday. I clean or replace air filters daily. Change oil & filter at or before 50 hrs. Check tire pressure daily.

Don't forget about filters on trimmers & edgers & blowers.

[turfman]

I grew up working at high-end country clubs with more equipment that most of us could imagine. Every piece of equipment was washed after every use at a wash pad near the shops. Larger clubs actually had wash stations that ran on recycled water that was cleaned by microbes that were dumped into the filtration center of the system weekly. We ALWAYS washed equipment daily. On rainy days is was common practice to pull EVERY piece of equipment out of the shop and give it a good washing: SPONGE, SOAP, PRESSURE WASH vs, the usual hose.

I firmly believe that everyone has experienced something different in terms of equipment washing therefore replies range from "An obsessive-compulsive scrub does because all they have is their overpriced new equipment vs. actual business and technical knowledge." to "He said that the water did much more harm than good to the switches & other electrical connections, as well as the charging system." to "Yeah, but you gotta look "Cool on your Stool"!!.

Having said this, coupled with past experiences with equipment washing, I like the idea of weekly washing.. After all, I've seen golf course equipmet get washed daily for years and later find out that single piece of equipment has been in the fleet for 10+ years and runs, starts, operates, and works fine without thosands of dollars to make costly reapirs.

To each his own!

[Elwood]

Dan, I feel honored, I was "quoted"! LOL

[steve-o]

i blow them off after each cut before they go back in the trl. unless it will make too big of a mess. the deck is scraped at the end of the day if not before depending on the build up in the mulch kit. other than rain mine has never been washed.

steve

[jgc8fan]

I usually load everything back up, and see what hasn't blown out on the road when I get to the next... Most of it's usually gone except for clumps that I have to dig out of the deck.