Your Riding Lawn Mower Can Do Way More Than Cut Grass — Here's How

Riding lawn mowers may have been designed to make cutting your grass more convenient, but did you know they can also help with other tasks? There's a variety of tasks around your yard and garden that your riding lawn mower can make easier to handle, from snow blowing to hauling firewood for your backyard bonfire. Luckily, there are convenient attachments you can add to your riding lawn mower to help accomplish most of these things, and some that don't require any attachments at all!

Your riding lawn mower can be used to cut through snow and leaves just like grass. You can simply mow over the leaves to chop them into smaller pieces or add a mulching plug to your riding mower to make quick work of those leaf piles. Removing snow can be a bit harder, as you'll need to consider the traction of your tires and be wary of ice. However, you can remove snow from your yard with a riding lawn mower by adding a snowplow attachment to the front and swapping out your tires for ones with more traction. 

Beyond just removing things, your riding lawn mower can help you add things, too! You can hook a seed spreader or fertilizer disperser to your riding lawn mower and use it to seed and feed your lawn. Hauling is another popular use for riding lawn mowers. Hitching a trailer or cart to the back and pulling firewood, old junk, or even your garden furniture is much easier than carrying everything by hand. You can even attach a gravel grader to it and use your riding lawn mower to smooth a gravel driveway.

Before you start using your lawn mower for other purposes, however, you should take a second to flip through the owner's manual. If your mower is still under warranty, familiarize yourself with the policy. Attachments that aren't made specifically for your mower may or may not violate the warranty, but improper installation or misuse is likely to. Make sure to follow any installation instructions carefully to avoid accidentally damaging the mower. Your owner's manual or the product listing online should also include info about towing capability. The specifications can be confusing sometimes, but in general, you shouldn't try to haul anything heavier than the riding lawn mower itself, as heavier weights could damage the mower or cause an accident. 

Finally, be sure you have enough gas, that your lawn mower is well-maintained, and double-check whether it's from one of the best or worst lawn mower brands. It becomes much less convenient if your mower breaks down while you're hauling something to the far reaches of your yard and has to be towed back! Additionally, keep in mind that if you're hauling or smoothing and need to leave your property to complete the task, lawn mowers generally aren't street legal. There may be exceptions in your area, but overall, you should keep your riding lawn mower on your property. You can use it on other private properties as well, provided you have permission from the landowner.