I have a 6 year old gas powered lawn mower. I pull a lever and the front wheels drive themselves. For the past 3 years (I know) the clippings are being left in chunks on the lawn instead of being finely chopped. The mower does not have a bag.
I have taken off the sheild over the front wheel drive and have looked underneath. I don’t see anything broken or wrong seeming. It happens whether I walk slow or fast. With front wheels engaged or not. I’ve taken to mowing more often just so I don’t have such obvious clumps on the lawn. This mower didn’t used to be like this.
Either I need to fix it or I have to buy new one. I have vacation coming up so I would rather fix. I feel very stupid right now.
This. I have an adjustable mulching/non-mulching mower, which I only use with mulching on. The only time I get clumps is when I let the grass get a little too long, and it’s wet.
You shouldn’t need to replace it after only 6 years.
So a tuneup could be the answer? Is it relatively easy to do? No, the grass is dry. It was clumping before blade change and is after. So no, I didn’t buy mulch blade. Thanks for the advice. Keep it coming.
I used to have to clean out the blade housing so the grass could swirl around properly and get mulched. Green grass is always wet. I had to clean mine out right in the middle of a mow sometimes more than oonce if the grass was a bit long.
The only three reasons a mower would clog and clump like this are (1) dull or badly bent blade; (2) clogged discharge path; (3) grass too long and/or wet for the cutting height.
Try setting your cutting height up an inch or so and see if that makes it mow better, especially if the grass is heavy. Depending on how “capable” the mower is, you might not be able to mow heavier grass except in two passes.
I don’t think the drive wheels have anything to do with it; if the engine is running fine, a tuneup won’t achieve much, either. Something is wrong with the cutting/grass/discharge interface and that’s where to look for fixes.
You don’t have a build up of dried grass under the underneath, do you? It can form a thick coating and you might not realize how thick it is, or even that it’s there. With less airspace, the mulching ability could be decreased.
Scrolling through the list of titles in GQ quickly, I saw something about “salvation for my jewish lawnmower” and had to click in. The reality is a bit of a letdown.
Set a watering schedule for 3 or less days a week and plan for your mowing to take place on the last day of the longest dry spell. Never mow wet grass. It’ll cut uneven and look bad, it’ll clump instead of mulch, and it exposes the lawn to disease.
Set your mower as high as it will go and mow once a week. Grass looks neat and tidy when it’s all the same height with sharp edging, not necessarily when it’s short. You should never cut off more than 1/3 of the height of your grass at one time. Cutting more is a shock to the plant, like cutting down a tree down to a stump and expecting it to thrive. Also, taller grass has more surface area to absorb sunlight for photosynthesis and it develops stronger and deeper roots for better water utilization and nutrient absorbtion and it shades the ground allowing the soil to retain water better.
For example, in the middle of summer with low humidity and effectively no rain and 115*f+ temperatures I’ll water 12-15 minutes Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and mow Saturday. In spring and fall I’ll water 8-11 minutes Sunday and Wednesday and mow Saturday. In the winter I’ll stop watering and mow whenever it looks shabby and I have time until the Bermuda grass dies. (I don’t do winter rye anymore.)
I find a nice, razor-sharp blade works wonders. I sharpen mine every couple of months. I have the right tools, and it only takes me 3 or 4 minutes start to finish. A new blade is passable, but you may have hit a few things that have dulled it. If it’s not something you know how to do, a lawnmower repair shop can do it for you for about 5 bucks.
Or, you may have some buildup or blockage under the deck. Remove the spark plug wire, and turn the mower on it’s side. by hand or pressure washer, clean it as much as you can.
As an extra step, you can use Mo-deck or even Pam to coat the bottom of the deck to prevent most grass from sticking. After mowing, a quick rinse from the hose, and you’re good to go.
Many newer mowers have a clean-out feature that lets you attach your garden hose and run water through it while the mower is running. Keep that in mind for your next mower purchase!
OP answered all questions, presumably with correct info. This *includes *the info that s/he did *not *procure a mulching blade.
A dull or bent original blade (causing clumps) replaced by a non-mulching blade would explain the present (clumps) problem.
Blades can be dulled quickly if they encounter sand or dirt. Running over slopes at certain angles will bring blades into contact with the ground. Ant hills, mole hills, and other bumps in the lawn also provide grit which can dull a blade. Whenever any of my mowers seem to be cutting poorly, a dull blade is my first suspicion. And usually the correct solution :).
Does this mean you don’t know whether or not the machine behaved the same way for the first three years?
Lawnmowers these days don’t work like they did years ago. New walk-behind mowers for home use are required to sit so low to the ground that you can’t stick your foot under the deck – and that means they can’t create the proper suction to throw the grass clipping like they are supposed to.
Since the regulation applies only to walk-behind rotary mowers for home use, possible solutions are to get a riding or a reel mower, or get a professional walk-behind mower.
Some do-it-yourselfer types have been known to trim off some of the bottom edge of the deck on the front and sides to give enough ground clearance to create good suction, while leaving the back of the deck low to ground for the safety factor.
Here are the basic items of maintenance that lawnmowers typically require to run reasonably well.
Change the oil about once a season.
Replace the air filter once a season, and knock any large crap off it a couple times during the season. Mine tends to suck up entire grass blades, so I can brush those off and the filter will keep on trucking.
Sharpen your mower blade at least once a season, preferably twice or 3 times. I’ve used several things, but the cheapest and easiest is to just use a bastard mill file to sharpen it. It doesn’t have to be cut-hairs-on-your-arm sharp, but reasonably sharp does help a lot.
My guess is a dull blade in your case. They don’t necessarily come all that sharp from the store, and get dull surprisingly fast.