• Blog
    • General Gardening
    • Gardening for Children
    • Gardening Videos
    • Insect Pests
    • Landscape Design
    • Trees
    • Vegetables & Fruits
    • Weeds
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Event Announcements
  • Gardening Videos
  • Resources
    • Western North Carolina Gardening Guide
    • Online Resources
      • Soil Testing Information for Home Gardeners
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Garden Helpline
    • Collecting Samples of Plants and Insects
  • The Learning Garden
  • About Us
    • About Us
      • How to Become an Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer
    • The Association
    • Contact Us
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Sponsors
      • Sponsors: 2019 WNC Gardening Symposium
    • Donate
Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County
Blog / General Gardening / Seasonal Chores / Fall Tool Maintenance

Fall Tool Maintenance

November 14, 2015

imageAs you’re finishing up the fall garden chores it’s a good idea to get your tools repaired or maintained before you put them away. Don’t wait until you need them next spring to discover a missing bolt or broken handle on the machine or tool that you need to use. As a reminder here are some of the common tool maintenance tasks:

Hoses: Don’t leave them connected to a faucet! Freezing temps can burst the pipes as well as the hose. Take off the nozzle and drain the hose. Coil them flat or on a reel; make sure there are no kinks that may lead to a leak next time pressure is applied.

Gasoline engines: Drain or run off all the fuel in the tank. Change the oil while it’s warm, right after you shut the engine off. Check the service manual to make sure it’s the correct type or weight of oil. If the engine has gotten hard to start change the plug or haul it in for a tune up.

Electrically driven tools: Check cords for wear or cuts, particularly on hedge shears! Look the manual to see if there are other maintenance points.

Lawn mower, tiller: Clean clippings from under the mower deck and tingled stems and roots from the tiller tines. Apply a rust preventative to surfaces where the paint has worn off, perhaps using the oil drained from the engine.

imageCutting tools– pruners, clippers saws: Clean off hardened sap with mineral spirits or paint thinner. Remove rust with steel wool, then sharpen the blade or have it done professionally.

Digging tools – hoes, rakes shovels, spades, forks: remove mud and rust with a wire brush, touch up the edges with a file and then oil the blade.

Wooden handles: run over the wood lightly with fine sandpaper of steel wool and then apply a conservative, like one part linseed oil to two part mineral spirits or paint thinner. Paint a brightly colored weather resistant, band around the handle so the tool is easier to find if it’s laid in the garden.

Finally, as you complete each job put that tool back in its regular storage place and make a resolution to do likewise every time you use it next year.

By Glenn Palmer

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Seasonal Chores Tags fall garden chores, hoses, mower, pruners, tools

NC Cooperative Extension; Empowering People, Providing Solutions

Blog posts written and published by Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers in Buncombe County.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,716 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Saturday Seminar: Pruning Tools Workshop—Tool Selection and Sharpening, February 18
  • Online Seminar: Fruit Trees for Home Gardens February 16
  • Dramatic Winter Damage? What Should I Do?
  • What’s THAT Evergreen? Can I grow it?
  • A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains: The Perfect Holiday Stocking Stuffer

Categories

  • Events
    • Extension in Buncombe County
    • Extension Master Gardener Plant Clinic
    • Lectures & Seminars
    • Plant Sales
    • School Garden Grants
  • Flowers
    • Bulbs
    • Perennials & Biennials
    • Roses
    • Wildflowers
  • Gardening for Children
  • Gardening Videos
  • General Gardening
    • Installation & Planting
    • Mulch
    • Native Plants
    • Propagation
    • Seasonal Chores
    • Soils & Fertilizers
  • Houseplants
  • Landscaping
    • Firewise Landscaping
    • Landscape Design
    • Site Conditions
    • Water Management
  • Lawns
  • Pest Management
    • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    • Invasive Plants
    • Pesticides
    • Weeds
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Insects
    • Beneficial Insects
    • Insect Pests
    • Invasive Insects
  • Shrubs
  • Special Gardens
    • Container Gardens
    • Herb Gardens
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • Rain Gardens
    • Shade Gardens
  • Trees
  • Vegetables & Fruits
  • Wildlife

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top

Copyright © 2023 Extension Master Gardeners of Buncombe County. Privacy Policy.