Seasonal lawn mower maintenance can be a hassle, but it's important to take care of it at the start of spring so that you can make sure your most vital lawn-care tool stays in top form. Changing or sharpening the blades, adding fresh gas, and cleaning out the air filter are all important tasks, but one of the most imperative steps in lawn mower maintenance is replacing the oil.

Those who've replaced the oil in vehicles and other large, engine-powered devices know that this often also means replacing the oil filter. These canister-like appendages keep the oil lubricating the moving parts in your engine cleaner for longer, and so you usually want to replace the filter just about any time you replace the oil in order to remove the dirt and debris that it's collected from the system. That said, not all machines that require oil also have a filter. Several small gas engines often skip this added feature and therefore don't require you to replace it when you replace the oil.

With that in mind, you might be surprised to learn that while many mowers do not require an oil filter, there are others that do. So it's important to consider which types need them and which don't if you want to be able to provide proper engine care. It's also worth knowing how often you should replace them.