1.The authorities forbade entering the park because of a bush fire.
2.In many countries, they don't allow smoking in public places.
3.The plumber recommended buying a new water heater.
4.The help desk advised checking the "Advanced Settings" option.
I know it is odd to use infinitive as an object of such verbs, but I have never been taught the reason about it. However, I think the reason is from that it could be read in a different way. For example, if the 4 sentence is rewritten as The help desk advised to check the "Advanced Settings" option, we would think that to check is not the object of advise, and advise is used as an intransitive verb which is only modifying The help desk, so that I think it must be avoided to use infinitive with such verbs.
Might my thinking be correct?