What’s the secret to a great looking lawn? A sharp mower blade, if your blades should get worn or dull, it is easy enough to replace it.
A sharp blade will cut your grass cleanly so it does not get a brownish color every time you mow. The tools we’ll need to remove the blade in a walk-behind mower are a drop cloth, a cleaning brush and a putty knife for cleaning off grass clippings, work gloves, a piece of heavy duty plastic, a piece by 2x4 or a blade removal tool, a socket wrench and if necessary a new lawn mower belt and blade.
Now before performing any maintenance on your walk-behind mower, read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully and if you’re not comfortable working on your mower, contact a professional for help.
The first thing to do is find a well ventilated work area. If you’re working in a garage, open the door for maximum air circulation. Use a drop cloth to protect the ground from any spills. To get started, remove the grass catcher then brush off any grass clippings.
Disconnect the spark-plug wire from the spark-plug. Now the mower can’t accidentally start and it’s safe to work on and since we’ll need to tip our mower on its side to get to the blade, we should plug the gas tank. To do that, all you’ll need is a piece of heavy duty plastic. You can cut a piece from a plastic drop cloth. Place the plastic over the inlet then screw the cap back on the tank. This should keep the fuel in the tank when you tip the mower.
Tip the mower back on its side to remove the blade. Wearing work gloves, wedge a small 2x4 against the deck in the blade to prevent the blade from spinning. You can also use a special blade removal tool to make this step easier.
Then remove the blade with a socket wrench. You can take your blade to a lawn mower repair shop to have it sharpen or if you want to do the step yourself, purchase a blade sharpener and balancer at Lowe’s. If you need a replacement blade, we carry blades for most brands of mowers. Just give an associate the make, model and serial number of your mower.
With the blade removed, scrape off any harden grass clippings and dirt from under the deck. If your own mower has any belt or belt covers, brush off those as well. If the belts are cracked or worn, it’d need to be replaced? Now is a good time to do it. Once the deck has been brushed off, install the new blade and secure the knot.
And that’s all it takes to make sure your grass has a clean, crisp cut to make your lawn look sharp and stay green. To see other simple home improvement projects, visit us at Lowes.com/videos.
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