Oil for under your mower deck

Last Updated on November 21, 2018 by Dave Farquhar

Someone asked me to recommend oil for under your mower deck. If you’re not familiar with this trick, it’s a good idea to oil the underside of your lawnmower deck to keep grass from sticking to it. This helps keep your blade from bogging down and your deck from rusting.

What oil do I like? The person brought up Marvel Mystery Oil. I do like Marvel Mystery Oil inside the mower. But I think it’s too expensive for the deck.

oil for under your lawn mower deck
You don’t need anything fancy or expensive to keep grass clippings from sticking to your mower deck.

There’s no reason to get that fancy. What I recommend is cooking spray. It’s cheaper than Marvel Mystery Oil. And the nice spray can makes it really easy to apply. Just flip your mower on its side, spray down the deck, then flip it back. Done. And it’s super safe too. You never come in contact with the blade.

The oil under your mower deck isn’t lubricating a high-performance machine. Its job is just to make it harder for grass clippings to stick to the deck, and provide a bit of a barrier if any does.

Typically, a lawn mower deck rusts out before the mower’s engine goes. A mower can develop starting problems after as little as one season, but that’s due to gummed-up carburetors. Put some Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank and use 93 octane gas, and it takes years for the carburetor to gum up. If you forget to winterize your mower, here’s what I try before calling the mechanic.

If you spray down the underside of your mower every once in a while with a garden hose to wash off the grass clippings, the deck doesn’t get much exposure to moisture. Spray some cooking oil there, and then even less grass can stick.

A can of cooking spray makes a great oil for under your mower deck. It’s convenient, cost effective, and renewable. You can’t ask for much more than that.

And speaking of convenience, if you need to change or sharpen your mower blade and you’ve been putting that off, here’s how to safely and easily remove a mower blade.

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