Can You Use A Car Jack To Lift A Lawn Mower?

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Not only is car jack not ideal for lifting a lawn mower, but it could put you harms way during routine maintenance tasks. Your typical scissor jack (the one that likely came with your vehicle) is really only useful for lifting your car a few inches into the air to enable a tire change. If you're attempting to work on the underside of your lawn mower, you'll reach the automotive scissor jacks maximum lifting height long before it would provide any meaningful access.

You might also run into a scenario where the auto jack at its lowest doesn't fit under the mower at ideal locations. If your lawn equipment is heavy enough to necessitate the aid of a lift, failing to have adequate ground clearance to even get started poses a challenge. Of course there are 6 types of automotive jacks that can be employed in different situations.

Even with a more robust floor jack, like the units sometimes employed by mechanics, there are other problems preventing this tool from being a good choice. A lawn mower and an automobile feature very different designs underneath. A vehicle for instance has dedicated points where it's recommended to use a jack. Conversely, your mower may lack a safe and stable location for lifting. 

There are a wide variety of residential mower types that include walk-behind, lawn tractors (riding mowers), and zero-turns. Lifting up a push mower is vastly different than raising a much heavier zero-turn machine. Take the Murray 20-inch 125cc Walk Behind Mower for example, which weighs just under 44 pounds. Gaining access to the underside of the cutting deck doesn't require a lift at all. You just roll the machine onto its side ensuring the air filter is pointed up. Although, be warned, this particular model rank among the worst lawn mowers Consumer Reports says you can buy.

You can also find specialty walk-behind mower jacks like the MoJack Push Mower Lift for $34.99 from themojack.com, which grabs under the front and elevates up to 22-inches, while providing enhanced stability. In addition to cleaning, you'll want to replace your lawn mower blades around once a year in most cases, making this a useful investment.

Conversely, if you're utilizing something like a 60-inch Toro TimeCutter Zero Turn Mower weighing over 650 pounds, you're going to need a beefier jack. Those looking for budget options might be tempted to employ a variety of improvised techniques. However, you could be putting yourself a greater risk of serious injury if the machine becomes unbalanced. Instead, consider a product like the Pro-Lift Lawn Mower Lift Jack for $212.49 at Amazon.com.

Some mower lift jacks can adjust to accommodate either a riding or zero-turn mower. However, if you're looking at jacks you may have noticed the manufacturer includes a weight capacity. This figure may be significantly less than that of your lawn mower which may make it seem like you need a much more expensive jack to meet the demand.

Since these tools are only tilting the front of your mower, they don't need to be able to handle the entire weight of the unit to work safely. According to MoJack (a manufacturer of several mower jack products, only around 30% of your zero-turn's weight and near 50% of a riding mower (lawn tractor) is being hoisted by the jack. So, a zero-turn weighing 657 pounds would only be placing roughly 197 pounds on the jack, which is well within the safe parameters of many larger mower jacks on the market.