How to balance lawn mower blades is important to know if you want to maintain the quality of your lawn mower longer and give your lawn an even cut. A blade balancer is your best option.
This is another significant thing you should pay attention to aside from keeping it sharp and running smoothly if you want to save your lawn mower from easy wear and tear and keep your lawn evenly trimmed and tidy. Read on to discover the step-by-step process.
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How Do You Balance Your Lawn Mower Blades?
To balance your lawn mower blades, using a blade balancer is the best option. You can also identify if your lawn mower blades have the proper balance by using a balancer. An unbalanced blade commonly occurs when you shave or grind more metal off than the opposite side while sharpening.
Doing this procedure also saves your lawn mower from any other side effects brought about by the unbalanced blades. Refer to the following steps below to discover how to identify if your blades are unbalanced, what materials to prepare, and how to do it. So let’s start!
Identify if Your Lawn Mower Blades Need To Be Balanced
It is important that you identify the problem with your lawn mower first because there are other factors that may cause this symptom to appear on your mower. So to ensure that your lawn mower blades need balancing, look for unbalanced lawn mower blade symptoms like your lawn mower is not giving your grass a quality and even cut, as well as vibrating and making odd noises while running.
You can also use the socket extension method to make sure. This method uses a ½ inch socket extension. To start with you need an extension longer than the width of your lawn mower blade.
The extension must be placed on a flat surface and the blade placed on it perpendicularly. Roll it one way and the other to balance the blade on it. You’ll know the blade is balanced if you see the extension in the dead center of the mounting hole. If it is not, you will have to balance accordingly.
Choose the Best Mower Blade Balancer
There is no mower blade balancer that is better than the others. Almost all mower blade balancers are actually quite similar, with very little difference between each type. For instance, some mower blade sharpeners are manual balancers that use sharp carbide parts to sharpen blades without it getting dull quickly .
If you’re looking for something smaller, you can get that, too. They are highly adjustable and is able to sharpen high lift blades and mulching blades with ease.
Yet others have high-speed blade sharpeners and static blade balancers. If performance is your priority, you can try this type because it works incredibly well with different mower blades, including zero-turn riding mowers.
Another type that is a crowd favorite are the ones that feature unlimited sharpening depth. Most homeowners find these models very easy to use, even if they are still new to balancing mower blades. This type of balancer is ideal for standard and reverse blades in most lawn mowers.
There are no set brands or types that can claim to be the only one that can do the job. However, you should always shop around with a reliable buyer’s guide if you are intent on looking for a good and high-quality blade balancer. Better yet, check with the manufacturer of your lawn mower for their opinions and recommendations.
Prepare the Tools You Will Need
After making sure that the mower blade is problematic and is wasting your time by not helping you mow your lawn efficiently, you should probably be doing this next step: gathering all the materials. To carry out the actual balancing of the lawn mower blades, here are the tools and equipment you will need:
- Safety eye goggles – It is recommended to use safety eye goggles with side protection while doing the repair to avoid mishaps, especially eye hazards.
- Cut-resistant gloves – You need this to maintain the safety of your hands from cut accidents.
- Steel wire brush – You will need this for cleaning your blades.
- Sharpening tool – Prepare this to sharpen the mower blade. You can use either a flat file or a grinder.
- Socket wrench – This is used for loosening or tightening nuts.
- Lawn mower blade balancer – A lawn mower blade balancer looks like a cone-shaped object made out of metal material that can accommodate different sizes of blade axis hole openings. However, if you don’t have one, you can either use a DIY lawn mower blade balancer, which we have covered below, or a magnetic lawn mower blade balancer.
- Lawn mower blade holder
Remove the Blades
The first thing you should do is detach the current blade of your lawn mower. Ensure safety by disconnecting the battery and spark plug first. This will prevent your mower from starting by accident while you are doing the work. Tip-off your lawn mower on a flat surface. It is best if the carburetor is on the high side.
Try to rotate the blade using your hands, and observe whether the blade has flat and straight ends. If the mower blades are already bent, then you will need to buy a new one, if they are still straight, you can continue with the procedure. Hold the blade in place, and remove the bolt and the blade using a socket wrench.
Clean the Blades
Next, grab your steel wire brush, and clean off all the debris and rust that have accumulated on the mower blades. Having this dirt also affect the weight or balance of your blades, so it is essential to remove those thoroughly.
However, if you think your mower blades are already rusted, extremely bent, and beyond saving, it might be time to replace them with new ones.
Hang and Assess the Balance of the Blades
Now, set the newly cleaned blade on the lawn mower blade balancer using its center hole. Assess carefully to determine which side is heavier. If it sits on the balancer equally, then your blades are balanced. Meanwhile, the heavier side or the side that dips is the side you have to alter.
Sharpen the Blades
Using either an angle grinder or a flat file, sharpen the lawn mower blade to reduce the material on the heavier side. After sharpening, try to recheck the balance again using the lawn mower blade balancer, and continue to sharpen until it sits perfectly.
Reattach to the Mower
Before reattaching, make sure to clean off the blades again.
Bolt the blades back to the lawn mower, reconnect the battery and spark plug, and it’s ready to perform and help you with some of your lawn care and maintenance activities.
How Do You Balance a Lawn Mower Blade Without a Balancer?
To balance a lawn mower blade without a balancer, you can use the nail in the wall method, the pliers method or the screwdriver method. Remember that you can always be creative and use the tools that you have at hand around you.
Nail in the Wall Method
This method is simple and easy to perform. You will just need a nail, and a hammer to pound the nail into the wall. Once done, set your mower blade using its center hole on the nail, and voila! You have a DIY blade balancer.
Now, you need to observe which side of the blade dips, meaning that is the heavier side that needs grinding.
Pliers Method
In this method, you will need needle nose pliers. Hold it upright just like benchtop balancers. Place it through the center hole of the blade and see which side of the blade dips.
Screwdriver Method
This method could be the easiest for you. Simply hold a screwdriver, set the mower blade’s center hole on it, and assess if your blade needs balancing or not.
If you are hesitant, you can fix it in a vice to see if your blade is balanced.
How Do You Balance Lawn Mower Blades With Star Holes?
To balance a lawn mower with star holes in it, you can use a blade hole adapter. This is specifically made for mower blades that have no circular holes. You can use it to mount your mower blades on a lawn mower blade balancer.
What’s best about it is that it can fit with different brands of blade balancers. Just make sure that you have the right dimension of your blade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Is it Important to Make Your Lawn Mower Blades Balanced?
It is important to make your lawn mower blades balanced for safety, because your lawn mower blades spin thousands of rotations per minute, ranging from 2,700 rpm to 3,000 rpm. So if that rotation happens and you have an unbalanced blade, this might cause accidents.
It ends up releasing more energy on one side than the other, which creates stress on the blade shaft, spindle, and the engine that soon leads to the degraded performance quality of your lawn mower.
You will also notice that after you mow your yard with unbalanced blades, the grass will turn brown for a day or two because the blades did not cut them neatly but instead tore them apart.
Does Each Brand Have a Different Way of Balancing Lawn Mower Blades?
Each brand does not necessarily have a different way of balancing lawn mower blades. Balancing the mower blades is the same throughout most brands. You should consult your owner’s manual on how to balance the mower blades, especially if they are different from most mower blades.
One of the most popular would be the John Deere mower blades. If you are one of those concerned about this brand having special requirements, you need not worry.
Conclusion
Keeping the balance of your blade as a part of your lawn mower maintenance is as important as keeping the blades sharp. Here are some key points you should not forget:
- An unbalanced blade occurs because of grinding off too much metal on one side.
- You can check whether your blade is balanced using a lawn mower blade balancer, which you can DIY or buy online.
- Follow the particular steps we have mentioned above, and keep in mind to be careful in doing the procedure.
- Your unbalanced blades can cause premature destruction to your lawn mower, so fix the balance immediately as soon as you observe the symptoms.
- Lawn mower blades with star holes can be balanced using a blade hole adapter.
As a lawn mower owner, you usually think that having sharp blades is the only thing that is important, but now that you have learned the importance of having your blade balanced as well and how to do it, it will save you and your lawn mower from future difficulties and troubles.
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