Sharpening Your Lawn Mower’s Blades

In order to cut grass smoothly, your lawn mower’s blade needs to be sharp. Mowing your lawn with a dull blade can result in jagged, uneven edges or even bald patches where the grass is ripped out by the root. Fortunately, it’s not hard to sharpen the blade yourself before your next mow. Here’s what to do.

Park Mower & Remove Blade

Carefully park your mower on a flat surface and remove the spark plug to make sure it doesn’t turn on while you’re working with it. Tilt the mower so that you can access the undercarriage and mark the underside of the blade with a piece of masking tape or a Sharpie. Use your wrench or breaker bar to unscrew the blade.

Inspect the Blade

Examine the blade on both sides in the sunlight or under a bright indoor light to make sure that it isn’t warped or full of nicks. The blade’s trailing edge also has to be sufficiently thick to be sharpened. You should probably keep a spare blade in your garage just in case you do suddenly need to change it, so you aren’t left without a functional mower. Once you’ve decided that your blade is in good condition and can be sharpened, it’s time to grab your file or rasp!

Sharpen & Balance Your Blade

A 10” rasp or file can be used to hone your blade using smooth, downward strokes on the top side of the cutting edge. Try not to oversharpen the blade, since this will take away too much of the metal: twenty to thirty strokes should be sufficient.

Place the blade’s bolt hole through a nail that you’ve hammered into a block of wood. If either side of the blade tips significantly, file that side down until the blade balances. You can now reinstall the blade and tighten the bolts. Tip the mower upright and reinsert your spark plug so you can get back to caring for your yard.

If you ever need professional assistance with maintaining your lawn mower, including blade sharpening, get in touch with the Eastman Equipment Company service department to schedule your appointment.

When you want to check out our great selection of new and used lawn mowers for sale, come see us at our dealership in Eastman, GA. Eastman Equipment Company is proud to serve our Georgia customers in Warner Robins and Dublin.