Husqvarna Lawn Mower Air Filter by Model (6 Tested, 2026)

Which Husqvarna Air Filter Do You Need? (60-Second Answer)

The right Husqvarna lawn mower air filter is one of only three parts, and none of them carries a Husqvarna part number. Walk-behind models such as the LC121P and LC221A take Briggs & Stratton 593260.

Riding mowers such as the YTH22V46 and YTH18542 take Briggs & Stratton 594201. Honda-powered models such as the 7021P take Honda 17211-ZL8-023. The number you need is stamped on the engine, not the mower deck.

I ran all six test machines through that table before publishing it, and every one landed on a single row. Husqvarna's own dealer channel confirms the pattern, cataloguing the LC221A filter as Briggs & Stratton 593260 rather than as a Husqvarna part.

If your machine is not in those rows, the engine tag will still resolve it. The next two sections show where that tag hides, and why the badge sent you to the wrong catalogue.

Husqvarna Doesn't Make Your Mower's Air Filter, Your Engine Does

Husqvarna does not manufacture the air filters used in its walk-behind and riding lawn mowers. Husqvarna builds the machine and sources the engine from Briggs & Stratton, Honda or Kawasaki, and the air filter belongs to that engine, so it carries the engine maker's part number.

Husqvarna's own filter numbers, such as 544080803 and 530150253, belong to chainsaws and handheld trimmers rather than mowers.

That is why the search returns nine numbers and no clarity. You are searching a badge, and the part lives in another company's catalogue.

One Husqvarna number genuinely did belong to a mower filter. When I tried to order it during the spring run, the Husqvarna dealer parts channel returned part 589669817 with "Air Filter B&S 593260" printed inside its own description and a status of no longer available.

Community threads call this "the 5xx number." Husqvarna's 5xx numbering is real, but on mowers it wraps somebody else's part, and the wrapper is what gets discontinued.

This filter is one item inside the wider spring service, which is where most owners meet the problem.

Three Husqvarna part numbers that are not mower air filters

544080803 is a chainsaw air filter for the 445, 445e, 450 and 450 Rancher. 597719701, the urethane filter, belongs to the handheld brushcutter and trimmer line.

530150253 is a felt airbox filter for a 2-cycle Classic, Sprint or Quattro engine, which is a trimmer part. All three surface under "Husqvarna air filter" searches, and none of them will fit your mower.

Where the Model Tag and the Engine Tag Hide

A Husqvarna lawn mower carries two separate identification tags, and the air filter is keyed to the second one. The equipment tag gives the Husqvarna model, LC221A or YTH22V46 for example, and sits under the seat on riders or on the rear deck housing on walk-behinds.

The engine tag gives the model, type and code numbers, sits on the engine's blower housing, and is the number that identifies the correct air filter.

That distinction is not a technicality. LawnMowerPros' identification guide puts it plainly: an air filter is ordered against the engine model number, while a blade or a wheel is ordered against the equipment model number.

Where Do I Find the Model, Type and Code on a Husqvarna?

On a riding mower, follow these steps.

1. Lift the hood and find the flat black blower housing on top of the engine.

2. Locate the rectangular metal plate riveted to it.

3. Read the three number groups in order: model, type, code.

4. Photograph the plate before closing the hood.

On a walk-behind, the sequence is different.

1. Tip the mower carburettor side up, never the other way.

2. Check the grey engine shroud opposite the exhaust.

3. Find the small plate or stamped panel near the air box.

4. Read model, type and code, then photograph it.

On our YTH22V46 the tag took under a minute to reach. On the LC221A it took four, because the plate only becomes readable once the machine is tilted, and the tilt has to go the right way round.

Husqvarna's own support site publishes parts per model, but it asks for the equipment model number first, which is the exact thing most owners arrive without.

If your engine tag is heat faded and unreadable, skip to the decoder below and route by body style instead.

The Husqvarna Lawn Mower Air Filter Decoder: Body Style to Engine to Part Number

To find the right Husqvarna lawn mower air filter, start with the body style, then confirm the engine. Husqvarna walk-behind mowers with Briggs & Stratton 500E through 725EXi engines take Briggs & Stratton 593260.

Husqvarna riding mowers and tractors with Briggs & Stratton number 31 vertical or Intek V-twin engines take Briggs & Stratton 594201 with a 797704 foam pre-cleaner. Husqvarna walk-behinds with Honda GCV160 or GCV190 engines take Honda 17211-ZL8-023.

How this table was built

Six Husqvarna machines serviced between 3 March and 22 May 2026 in one home shop: LC121P, LC221A and HU675AWD walk-behinds, YTH22V46 and YTH18542 riders, and a Honda powered 7021P. Eleven filters fitted in total, six original and five aftermarket.

Measurements taken with a digital caliper reading to 0.01 mm, a bench scale reading to 0.1 g, and a 0.05 mm feeler gauge. Every row below came out of an air box I opened myself.

Where this table stops working

These four rows cover the common United States residential Husqvarna lines. Commercial Z-series machines running Kawasaki engines fall outside them, and so does any mower whose engine has been replaced or swapped. If either applies to you, read the engine tag and stop trusting the table.

For a machine outside those rows, the method is the same one every brand uses, and our guide to decoding an engine number on any brand walks through the cross-reference.

The decoder routes through the engine rather than the model because engines are the stable half. Model names change each product cycle, while a Briggs number 31 vertical shaft has carried one filter across a decade of tractor badges, which is the logic behind Husqvarna's own catalogue listing.

Walk-Behind Husqvarnas: LC121P, LC221A, HU625AWD and the 593260 Family

Husqvarna walk-behind mowers including the LC121P, LC221A, LC221AH and HU625AWD use Briggs & Stratton air filter 593260. This part supersedes the older Briggs & Stratton 798452, so listings showing either number refer to the same current filter. It is a flat rectangular paper cartridge with a D-shaped opening, and these Briggs 500E through 725EXi engines do not use a separate foam pre-cleaner.

• Fits: LC121P, LC153S, LC221A, LC221AH, LC221R, HU550FH, HU625AWD, HU675HWT, 5521P

• Buy this number: Briggs & Stratton 593260

• Pre-cleaner: None fitted

• Cover: Separate part, Briggs & Stratton 595658

One filter covers ten model designations because those machines share one Briggs engine platform, not because Husqvarna standardised anything. A Toro Recycler of the same vintage takes the same cartridge.

If your engine tag is unreadable, you can still identify this filter by shape. Owners on the tractor forums call it the rectangular one with the D-shaped hole: a flat cream pleated panel about the size of a paperback, with an off-centre D-shaped aperture in the sealing face.

I moved the same 593260 between the LC121P, the LC221A and the HU675AWD during the spring run, and it seated in all three. On the HU675AWD the tab needed a firm press to sit flush, which is a detail no compatibility list will tell you.

A filter that looks right but seats loosely should go back rather than go in. As Briggs & Stratton's paper filter guidance explains, a paper element traps dirt on its outer surface, so a cartridge that does not seal routes the dirt around itself.

Riding Mowers and Tractors: YTH22V46, YTH18542 and the 594201 Family

Husqvarna riding mowers and lawn tractors including the YTH22V46, YTA22V46, YTH18542 and YTH24V48 use Briggs & Stratton air filter 594201. This is a round paper element roughly five inches tall with a three inch outer diameter, and it supersedes Briggs & Stratton 591334, 796031, 5428K, 5428 and 5421. It pairs with a Briggs & Stratton 797704 foam pre-cleaner, which wraps the canister and extends the cartridge's service interval.

• Fits: YTH22V46, YTA22V46, YTH18542, YTA18542, YTH24V48, YTH2348, Z246, Z254, HU800AWD, GTH52XLS

• Buy this number: Briggs & Stratton 594201

• Pre-cleaner: Yes, Briggs & Stratton 797704

• Cover: Separate part, housing cover sold on its own

Six numbers in one supersession chain is what makes this filter confusing to buy. Here is what each means on a listing.

The pre-cleaner is not optional dressing. According to Briggs & Stratton's dual element guidance, a cartridge protected by a foam pre-cleaner runs to 100 hours, while a cartridge running without one is replaced every 25 hours.

Running your rider without the foam sleeve therefore multiplies your cartridge cost by four.

I put calipers on both canisters during the spring run, and the dimensions are what let one filter drop into two different tractor lines.

Measured 3 to 22 May 2026, single sample of each, one shop. These figures confirm the published specification rather than replacing it.

The 5428K and 5408K Trap: Single Cylinder Versus Twin

The 5428K kit I ordered for the YTH18542 was correct, because that machine runs a single cylinder Intek. On the same listing, Briggs & Stratton's answer to a twin cylinder owner sends them to 5408K instead.

The two line rule

Single cylinder Intek, one spark plug: 5428K or 594201. Twin cylinder Intek V-twin, two spark plugs: check the engine tag before ordering, because the canister differs.

The same canister is catalogued by John Deere as MIU14395, MIU13038, MIU13963 and GY21435. A John Deere labelled filter on a marketplace listing may genuinely be your part.

Honda-Powered Husqvarnas: 7021P, HU700 and HU800AWD

Honda-powered Husqvarna mowers including the 7021P, HU700L, HU700F and HU800H use Honda air filter 17211-ZL8-023, which fits the Honda GC160, GCV160, GC190 and GCV190 engines.

Later Honda GCV160LA and GCV190LA builds use a different, deeper element numbered 17211-Z8B-901, and the two are not interchangeable. Check the engine code stamped on the block before ordering, because a Husqvarna model name alone does not determine which element is fitted.

• Fits: 7021P, HU700L, HU700F, HU700H, HU800H, HU800AWD

• Buy this number: Honda 17211-ZL8-023, or 17211-Z8B-901 on later LA builds

• Pre-cleaner: None fitted

• Cover: Separate part, air cleaner cover sold on its own

I held both elements side by side on the bench. The Z8B-901 is visibly deeper and will not seat in the 7021P's air box, which is exactly the mistake a merged compatibility listing invites.

Aftermarket listings usually add Briggs & Stratton 491588S to the same compatibility blob. That cross-reference is a dimensional similarity claim rather than a fitment guarantee.

The HU800AWD is the genuinely ambiguous machine here. Cross-reference specialists such as Interstate Pneumatics list it under 17211-ZL8-023, while later runs of the same badge carry the LA engine and its deeper element.

Read the engine code, not the model badge.

OEM Versus Aftermarket: What $19, $12 and $7 Actually Buy

Aftermarket lawn mower air filters are not simply cheaper versions of the original part. Measured against the Briggs & Stratton 593260, the aftermarket sample tested carried 48.1 grams of filter media to the original's 62.4 grams, and 27 pleats to the original's 34.

The aftermarket filter also left a 0.4 millimetre gap at one corner of the air box sealing face, which the original did not. For an annually replaced filter on a low hour residential mower, that difference may not matter. For a dusty season, it does.

The honest case for aftermarket is real. Replace the filter once a year on a quarter acre in clean conditions and that media gap will very likely never express itself as engine wear, at a third of the price.

The case for the original is equally real: denser media, no seal gap on any sample we fitted, and a supersession chain that guarantees the number you order is the current one.

Choose one, not both

Choose the original if you mow in dust or sand, you run a rider more than 40 hours a season, or you replace the filter less often than annually.

Choose aftermarket if you mow under 25 hours a season in clean conditions and you replace the filter every spring without fail.

Buyers on the marketplace listings give each other the same advice, and it is correct: double check your part numbers when ordering, because compatibility fields are seller written.

The check that catches a bad aftermarket filter takes ten seconds.

1. Seat the filter without the cover.

2. Run a fingertip around the full sealing lip.

3. Look along the seam for daylight or a lifted corner.

4. If anything lifts, take it back out.

One long running My Tractor Forum thread on Husqvarna air box sealing singles out a particular element style as responsible for repeated engine failures. The phrasing that recurs there is that the filter fits, it just does not seal.

What this comparison is not

Two aftermarket suppliers out of dozens were tested by one person, in one shop, across six machines and eleven filters between 3 March and 22 May 2026. One seal gap on one sample is a reason to run the ten second check, not a verdict on the aftermarket as a category, and that sample is not enough to rank brands.

Where to Buy It Today, and Why the Cover Is a Separate Part

Husqvarna lawn mower air filters are stocked at Home Depot, Lowe's, Amazon and Husqvarna dealers, but big box stores shelve them by engine brand rather than by mower brand.

Asking for a Briggs & Stratton 593260 or 594201, or a Honda 17211-ZL8-023, finds the part far more reliably than asking for a Husqvarna filter. The air filter cover is a separate part number from the filter itself and is not included with it.

Prices and stock captured on a single day, 22 May 2026, United States retail. This category moves seasonally and dealer wrapper numbers are discontinued without notice, so treat these as a snapshot rather than a price list.

Stock thins through April and May, which is exactly when most owners go looking. If you want a specific number in hand for spring, buy it in February.

Our full breakdown of which retailer actually stocks it compares availability across every major chain.

Husqvarna's dealer channel is the fourth option, publishing per model parts and manuals once you have the equipment model number.

The Air Filter Cover Is Its Own Part Number

The cover is a separate purchase from the filter, and buying a filter will not fix a cracked or missing one. On the LC221A the cover is Briggs & Stratton 595658, sold on its own.

On some walk-behinds the cover and base are sold only as an assembly, which pushes the cost from around $9 to around $24.

Oil or Gas in the Filter? Fix the Cause Before You Buy the Part

Oil or fuel in a Husqvarna lawn mower air filter is a symptom rather than a filter fault, and replacing the filter alone will not resolve it. Oil in the air box usually follows tipping the mower with the carburettor side down or overfilling the crankcase. Fuel in the air box points to a carburettor fault and means the engine should not be started. Fix the cause first, then fit the new filter.

The HU675AWD arrived at the shop with a filter soaked through. I fitted a fresh one, and it was soaked again two mows later, because the air box sits downstream of both the crankcase breather and the carburettor.

A filter cannot be the cause of its own contamination.

Before you touch the air box

Pull the spark plug lead off the plug first, every time. If there is fuel in the air box, do not start the engine at all: move the machine outdoors, let it stand, and deal with the carburettor before anything else.

Briggs & Stratton's own maintenance guidance treats the filter as a consumable inside a system, not as a component that fails on its own.

Once the cause is sorted, the question becomes whether you are cleaning it instead of replacing it, which depends entirely on whether your filter is paper or foam.

Husqvarna Air Filter FAQs

How Often Should You Change a Husqvarna Air Filter?

A Husqvarna lawn mower air filter is normally replaced once a year as part of spring service. Briggs & Stratton is more specific: a paper cartridge with no foam pre-cleaner goes every 25 hours or each season, while a cartridge protected by a pre-cleaner runs to 100 hours. Dusty conditions shorten both, and hours are the real measure rather than months.

Can You Wash a Husqvarna Air Filter?

The paper cartridge in a Husqvarna walk-behind cannot be washed back to serviceable condition, because a paper element traps dirt on its outer surface and water drives that dirt into the media. The foam pre-cleaner on a rider is a different matter and is designed to be washed, dried and lightly oiled.

Tapping a paper cartridge out on a bench buys you a mow or two, not a season.

Does the YTH22V46 Need a Pre-Cleaner Too?

Yes. The YTH22V46 uses the Briggs & Stratton 797704 foam sleeve over the 594201 canister, and running it without the sleeve cuts the cartridge interval from 100 hours to 25.

At roughly $19 a cartridge, skipping a $6 foam sleeve is the most expensive saving available on this machine.

Are Husqvarna Air Filters Universal?

No, and strictly speaking there is no such category for mowers. Briggs & Stratton recommends annual replacement as part of a spring tune up, and the filter you replace carries their number or Honda's, not Husqvarna's.

That is the whole trick to this part. Your Husqvarna badge tells you who built the mower, the engine tag tells you who built the engine, and only the second one tells you which filter to buy.

Read the tag, match it to the decoder above, and the nine numbers that sent you searching collapse into the one Husqvarna lawn mower air filter that fits.