You’ve made your purchase and brought your brand new Poulan Pro Mower home. It looks great, it smells great, but you can’t seem to make it run. You sit down for a minute and think about what’s wrong, and when you get up, motivated more than ever to see your Poulan Pro lawn mower in action!

But, to avoid mower failure, you need to know how to prep your lawn mower’s engine to run for the first time. It needs fresh gas, fresh oil, and more to make sure it’s in the best running condition, even if it’s brand new. In this quick guide, we’ll get you set up to start a Poulan Pro riding mower for the first time.

What do I need?

You’ll need the following items before attempting to start your riding mower:

• A flat surface of some sort that will allow you to check under the hood easily
• A Poulan Pro user manual (Optional)
• Poulan Brand Engine Oil
• 1 Gallon of Gasoline
• Oil Changing Bucket

How do I prep my Proulan Pro riding mower?

1. Start by removing the lawn mower from its base if it is still attached.
2. Take off the Poulan Pro shield under the hood
3. Next take out the spark plug wire and remove your spark plug with a socket wrench.
4. Be sure to use a Poulan Pro manual as a reference for this step.

Inspecting your engine oil

Check to see what type of oil is in your tank, if any at all.

Most likely, there won’t be any since you just brought this home, and most dealerships don’t pre-fill machines before they are sold.

But if there is oil, you should check to make sure it isn’t black or very dark in color. It’s highly recommended you replace it with new motor oil. 

To change your oil:

1. Open up your engine hatch located on top of the mower deck under where the seat is located.
2. Take out any old oil by draining into an old pail; be sure not to get any on anything but grass or dirt as this can damage surfaces other than grassy areas. 
3. Add fresh oil next, as it is imperative to get the best performance from your lawn mower.

Filling up the gas tank

Once the oil is changed, you’ll need to fill up the gas tank. The gas tank on most mowers can hold about one gallon of gasoline; this should be good for most yards that are less than a 1/4 acre in size.

Check that there are no tears or any holes in the seat cushion. If the cushion is ripped, don’t use it because it could cause injury while riding your mower. To change the seat cushion, remove all four screws underneath the seat.

Double-check the fuel line and the fuel filter are in place and not damaged. The fuel filter should be clean and the fuel line clear.

Make sure the blade control lever is in the correct position, and remember your Poulan Pro lawn mower can’t back up.

Poulan Pro mowers don’t have a reverse gear, so they can’t go in the opposite direction. This requires the mower to be pushed backward while attempting to move it forward in order to back up.

Using a Poulan Pro riding lawn mower is fairly simple once you get used to using one and you know how each Poulan Pro lawn mower operates, but there are some steps on how to start a Poulan Pro brand riding lawn mower that you should follow before trying anything else.

In order for the engine of your mower to turn on, you need to pull the blade control lever towards yourself. The Poulan Pro will not turn on if this lever is set in any other position.

Check your air filter and intake.

Make sure to check your air filter and air intake before trying to start your Poulan Pro lawn mower.

You will need to open the air filter compartment located on the front right-hand side of your Poulan Pro riding lawn mower to look at your air intake.

If there is any dirt or debris in either one, take it out and clean off both sides thoroughly. 

You can use an air hose in order to clean it off if you like. Once everything looks OK, set your air intake back in place properly and close up the cover for the compartment again.

Make sure your brake pedal and parking brake are working.

Check over the braking system once you’ve checked the oil, gas, and air movement. The parking brake should be disengaged, and the brake pedal should be functional.

Check over the steering wheel and new battery while you’re doing your double checks under the mower housing. Once you’ve confirmed all the wiring is good, there’s no old fuel, the choke position is good, and the parking brake is in a neutral position, you can replace the mower deck and get ready to hop on your new riding lawn mower.

Now You’re Ready to Start Mowing

Thank you for reading this article. Hopefully, it will help you out with the Poulan Pro riding lawn mower you own. Riding mowers take some getting used to, but riding mowers will also make your chores and cleaning up your property so much easier.

Now that your yard will be maintained and ready, why not start to plan that vegetable garden you’ve been dreaming of?