Which blades work best on your Honda mower? OEM blades, obviously, since they have shape and metallurgy Honda intended for the deck, giving them the longest life and best-cutting performance. Which type of blade should you get, and when should you replace them? That’s a little more complex since there are several blade options and several reasons you’d need to fit a new one.
When Do I Need to Change My Blade, and When Can I Just Sharpen It?
The blade on your mower is designed to cut the grass, but if the edge becomes dull, it will stop cutting and start tearing the grass apart. This makes the finish uneven, and can leave the tips of the grass bruised, opening them up to infection. If the tips of the grass are brown after mowing, it’s well past time for your mower’s blade to be sharpened. For residential users, the blades usually need to be sharpened twice per season. For commercial users, blades may need to be sharpened as often as once per week!
Of course, sharpening only works if the blade is in good shape. The blade in your mower should be replaced when it’s bent, chipped, shows signs of cracking, or is heavily worn, either across the edge or along the blade. Since conditions and situations can vary so much between lawn conditions and mowers, there’s no set time when the blade will need to be replaced. A new blade could strike an object the first time it’s used, sandy soil can quickly erode the blade even under ideal conditions, or the blade may slowly wear down from repeated sharpening. That’s why the blade should always be thoroughly inspected whenever cutting performance begins to falter.
Blade Lift and its Effect on Lawn Mowing
The shape of the blade determines the amount of lift it has, which determines where the grass goes when it’s cut. Honda offers two or three options for each mower; how much lift you need depends on how you mow.
Mulching works by having the blade knock large pieces of grass back into the mowing chamber to be recut. Once the piece is small enough, it can fall through the blade area and onto the ground. A medium lift blade will keep the grass in the chamber long enough to get the best mulch.
For bagging, the grass clippings need to be forced into the bag, and nothing works better for this than a high lift blade. However, mulched grass will be more compact, which means a medium lift blade is sometimes the better choice if you want to empty the bag less frequently.
Confused?
Fortunately, when you use Honda blades, you don’t have to choose between the two: Honda’s bagging blades are designed to straddle the middle ground, working with the mowing chamber to give the right amount of lift to both mulch and bag.
A low lift blade slices through the grass with little upward force. This works great when using the mower’s side discharge chute. Less lift also means the blade will draw in less dirt, decreasing dust.
Twin Blade Mowers
When it comes to mowing, two blades are better than one. The Honda Microcut Twin Blade system uses the upper blade for the initial cut, then the lower blade makes a finishing cut for a smooth surface. When mulching, each blade of grass gets cut twice as often each time it spins through the mowing chamber.
Sharpening works the same with these blades as they do with any other mower. When getting new blades, both the upper and lower blade should be replaced at the same time. If you bend one of the blades, it may be tempting to just remove it and mow with the remaining blade. However, the bolt used to keep the blade on will be too loose, and the blade could fly off causing major damage and possible injury.
Where to Buy New Blades for your Honda Mower
When it’s time to replace the blades, order them from www.HondaLawnParts.com. We’re a certified Honda power products dealer, so we carry everything you need for your mower, whether it’s a residential walk behind or a commercial lawn tractor. Finding what you need is easy: start with our mower blade page where you can narrow down the selection based on your mower model and needs. We ship anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.
