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Lawn Mower Blade Sharpening Frequency

How’s that yard looking after all the rain we’ve been getting? If you’re like many of our customers who have bermuda lawns, the bermuda is thriving and loving the water and the sun. If you sodded or seeded at the right time this year, you did well.

That probably means that you’ve been cutting your lawn more. That being said, I have a simple question for you then:

Have you taken a look at your lawn mower blades recently to make sure that they are actually cutting your grass instead of ripping or tearing it?

Sharp blades are essential both for the health of your lawn, but also for your mower. Did you know that? Grass that is torn because of a blade that is not sharp can be more vulnerable to disease. But also, a blade that is not cutting at optimal efficiency could cause your mower to work harder than it is designed.

Commercial landscapers know this. If they are doing their job right, they probably sharpen their blades every few hours of service. Depending on how large the lawn is and how frequently cutting occurs, a homeowner may go 4-6 weeks before considering the need to resharpen the lawn mower blades. Unfortunately, this is a VERY conservative number. You’d be surprised the condition of blades we see sometimes when a mower comes in for a repair. The blades are often never sharpened.

You probably think that I’m exaggerating, but think about it. We’ve had hot weather mixed in with good amounts of rain. This equals good growth of grasses. Frequent Cutting with thicker grass can accelerate the dulling of a blade. We’ve also had some windy weather in Atlanta recently. This means your lawn probably has more debris scattered out on the lawn. Small limbs if not removed can dull or damage a blade even faster.

Tree limbs, rocks, roots… all these are items that can cause damage to your blade and ensure that you need to sharpen them even more frequently. If the blade has too much damage, it may need to be replaced rather than sharpened. Perhaps you should have a second set of blades on hand so that you always have a blade that is sharpened. When you replace the blade, you can bring the other one in to be sharpened professionally.

No matter how you sharpen the blades (there are many ways to do this if you are a commercial landscaper or a homeowner) you need to be aware that a sharp blade is better for your mower.

 

 

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