Your Mower Is Halfway Through the Season. Here's How to Get It to the Finish Line.

Falcon Equipment & Supply — Ogden, IL

August in Central Illinois is when mowers start throwing tantrums. The heat is up, the dust is thick, and that machine of yours has already put in a couple hundred hours since spring. If you want it cutting clean through October — and starting on the first pull next April — the next twenty minutes of work matter more than anything you'll do all year.

Here's what we tell folks who walk through our doors on West Broadway.

1. Sharpen the blade. Then sharpen it again.

A dull blade doesn't cut grass. It tears it, leaving ragged white tips that brown out within two days and invite disease. If your lawn looks scorched a day after mowing, don't blame the weather — check the blade.

Rule of thumb: sharpen every 20–25 hours of mowing. For most homeowners that's twice a season. If you're mowing sandy ground or hitting the occasional stick, make it three times.

2. Blow out the deck and the air filter

Grass clippings pack under the deck and hold moisture against the metal. That's how decks rust out years before they should. Scrape it. And that air filter you haven't looked at since March? Pull it, tap it out, hold it up to the light. If you can't see through it, your engine is breathing through a straw — which costs you power and fuel.

3. Raise your cutting height

This is the free one. In August heat, taller grass shades its own roots and holds soil moisture. Drop your deck a notch up, not down. Cut no more than a third of the blade height at a time. Your lawn will stay greener with zero extra effort and zero extra water.

4. Check the tire pressure

Uneven tire pressure means an uneven cut, and people spend a lot of money chasing a "scalping problem" that was four PSI all along. Takes ninety seconds. Do it.

5. Listen for the things that don't sound right

New vibration, a squeal on startup, a belt that chirps when you engage the deck — these don't fix themselves. They get expensive. Bring it in while it's a small problem.

Not sure? Bring it to us.

Our service department works on Bad Boy, Grasshopper, and just about anything else with an engine and a deck. Sharpening, belts, blades, full tune-ups — we'll tell you straight whether it needs work or whether you're fine to keep mowing.

Call us at 217-582-2299 or stop by 102 West Broadway in Ogden.

And mark your calendar: Open House, August 22nd

We're opening the doors on Saturday, August 22nd. Come see the new Bad Boy Mowers, Tractors, and implements, the Grasshopper lineup, and the 80V electric tools that have been flying off the shelf. Bring your questions, kick some tires, and talk to people who actually use this equipment.

Financing is available, and if you've been eyeing an upgrade before fall, this is the day to do it.

See you on the 22nd.