How to cut mowing time on an acreage block
On a suburban block mowing is a job you knock over before lunch, and on acreage it is an event, and the difference is big enough that people just accept losing most of a day to it. You do not have to. Most of the time that goes into a big mow is lost to a blunt blade, a bad pattern and a machine that is working harder than it needs to, and all three of those are fixable without buying anything with an engine in it.
Sharp blades do more than a bigger machine
This is the one that gets ignored and it is the one that matters most. A blunt blade tears the grass instead of cutting it, which drags the engine down, chews through fuel and leaves a ragged finish that browns off at the tips a couple of days later. A blade that is actually sharp lets the machine run at its own pace and you notice it within the first ten metres.
Swing back blades wear at the tip and the cutting edge, so check them every few mows and swap the set out when they are past sharpening. Blades come as a set with the bolts for a reason, because the bolts stretch and the old ones are not worth reusing on something spinning that fast.
Set the cut height higher than you think
Cutting low to buy yourself an extra week between mows does the opposite of what you want. It stresses the grass, it lets weeds in where the turf thins out, and on uneven ground you end up scalping the high spots and putting extra load through the deck and the blades. Lift the deck a notch, and the lawn holds moisture better, stays thicker and gives the weeds less room.
Plan the pattern before you start
Most people mow the way they always have, which is usually a lot of short runs and a lot of turning, and turning is where the time goes. Long overlapping straight runs down the longest side of the paddock will beat a zigzag every time, and working a spiral from the outside in cuts the number of turns down again. Overlap by about a third of the deck so you are not leaving strips to come back for.
Deal with the weeds before they thicken up
Thick weed patches bog the machine down, wrap around the spindle and force you to slow to a crawl through the worst of it. Spot spraying them while they are small is 20 minutes with a knapsack, and leaving them until they are established turns them into a permanent obstacle in your mow.
Service it before the season, not during it
Nothing ruins a mow like pushing a dead machine back to the shed with half the block still standing. Clean the built up grass off the underside of the deck, check and change the air filter, put a fresh spark plug in it, and change the oil on the schedule in the manual rather than when it looks dirty. Use fresh fuel too, because old fuel makes the engine work harder and you feel it as a mower that will not hold revs under load.
Take the obstacles out
Every tree ring, garden edge and fence post you have to go around is a stop, a turn and a trim job afterwards. Trimming low branches back above deck height, straightening out a wandering garden edge and running a mowing strip along a fence line are all a one off job that pays you back on every mow from then on.
That is the honest maths of it. An hour spent on blades and edges buys back far more than an hour, spread over a season, and your Saturday is already spoken for.
Shop related products
- Jak Max Blade and Bolt Set, Masport 21 inch cut. Blades and bolts together, which is how they should be changed.
- Jak Max Victa Swing Back Blades. The same set for a Victa deck.
- Jak Max 10W30 4 Stroke Oil 1L. For the oil change before the season starts.
- Champion Spark Plug RC12YCMP. Cheap, and it fixes more hard starting than anything else.
- Brunnings Glyphosate 360 Concentrate 1L. For the weed patches before they get established.
Did you know we also stock swing back blade and bolt sets to suit Honda, Rover, Makita, Ryobi and Sanli decks, along with air filters, 2 stroke oil and the Katana 18V cordless mower and line trimmer, all in the shop. Not all of it is on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf, and it helps if you have the model number off the deck when you call.
The rest of the gear is in our outdoor power equipment collection, and if you are out on the block, we deliver for $10 on the regional run, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I set the cut height too low more often than I should, and the grass lets me know about it for a fortnight afterwards.
Cheers,
Candeece
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