How To Sharpen Lawn Mower Blades

Knowing how to sharpen mower blades is a valuable DIY skill. In a number of ways, knowing how to do this can protect your lawn from disease and damage. Mowing with blunt blades causes the mower to tear at the grass, rather than cutting it cleanly. This can result in uneven growth, and the damage can leave a lawn susceptible to disease. With a little bit of know-how and a couple of hours’ spare time, you can sharpen the blades of your rotary or motor mower.

Rotary Mower:

*Remove the handle of the mower (if at all possible) and put it up on a worktable. To restrict away-movement, try and have something heavy up against the back of the mower.
*If possible, secure a crowbar in the blades so they will not turn
*Using a file and working at a 45 degree angle, file the edges of the first blade so it looks sharp. Alternatively, a rotary blade grinder does a sterling job.
*When you finish sharpening the first blade, move the crowbar and turn the rotor until you reach the next blade.
*Repeat the above process until all the mower blades have been sharpened.

Motor Mower:

*Make sure that all power sources have been removed, to prevent accidental starting of the engine – this includes the battery in battery-operated mowers.
*Remove the blades completely from the mower. If possible, seek out help, as it’s very easy to slip and cut yourself when removing the blades.
*Number the blades, or else keep them separated and remember where each came from, to assist with putting them back later.
*Hold the first blade steady using a vice, or another means of stabilizing it from both sides. Using a file or a dedicated grinder, grind the blade’s contour until it reaches your desired degree of sharpness. Repeat with the other blades, making sure they are all sharpened equally to maximize effectiveness.
*It is also possible to sharpen the blades without removing them, but it is usually cumbersome and difficult unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
*Before using your mower again, you need to check that the blades are correctly re-fitted. If the mower vibrates more than usual when turned on , chances are the blades are not re-fitted properly.

Once you know how to sharpen mower blades effectively, you can save yourself lots of time and money – and end up with blades that are almost as good as new.
Soil testing, in Arizona as much as anywhere else, is the first step towards growing a lush and healthy garden. It involves a few steps: collecting a soil sample, getting it tested, interpreting the results and knowing how to act upon them.

Collecting a soil sample
The quickest way to get an idea of the soil quality in your garden as a whole is to collect an “average” sample. This involves digging a small hole in each area of your garden that will be used for planting, taking a small amount of soil from each hole and mixing them together – hence, “averaging” the quality.

Getting it tested
The next step involves getting your soil tested. You can do this at home with a home soil test kit (readily available at garden centers) and decipher the results yourself, or you can take your soil to a garden centre to have it analyzed (A list of garden centers in Arizona is available at http://www.desert-tropicals.com/nurseries/nurseries.html).

Interpreting the results
The results of your soil test may uncover any of several problems, with each one requiring a different plan of attack. These problems include high or low levels of potassium, nitrogen or phosphorous; high or low pH (causing acidity or alkalinity); and the issue of too much or too little drainage.

How to treat soil problems

*Acidity problems can be corrected by liming the soil or adding calcium carbonate, which has a neutralizing effect.

*Adding elemental sulfur to soil will acidify it, correcting alkalinity

*Breaking up waterlogged soil and adding organic matter to entice earthworms will help improve drainage in finely-textured soil, helping resolve insufficient drainage

*Adding organic matter deep down in sandy or over-drained soil will help increase its moisture-holding capacity.

Soil testing in Arizona, and fixing any problems, can be made fairly simple if you have the right resources and knowledge – and your garden will certainly be better off for it.