Is your lawn not as good-looking as it used to be after cutting? It could be time to Change your lawn mower blades! Although replacing the mower blades might seem a bit nerve-wracking, it’s quite easy! Dull blades on your lawn care equipment not only give a less tasty finish to your lawn but also expose it to diseases and fungal infections.
Besides, while working with dull blades, the engine struggles a lot which can result in overheating, using more fuel, or damage. As such, every lawn owner needs to ensure that the mower blades are in good condition during all mowing seasons.
A Husqvarna mower is one of the best riding lawn mowers suitable for residential as well as commercial lawns. They have dual cutting blades making it easy to work on medium and long lawns in the shortest time possible. Besides, the mowers have an amazing quality thus you can be sure that they are highly durable to serve you over the lawn seasons.
However, even the best lawn equipment requires regular care and maintenance and the Husqvarna mower is no exception.
Like any other component of the mower, the blades must be kept clean, sharp, and healthy. A new Husqvarna mower comes with the blades in the best conditions for optimal mowing results but with time, they become dull. This can potentially damage your lawn making it ugly and unhealthy.
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How to Change Blades on Husqvarna Riding Lawn Mower?
To avoid damaging your lawn, you should regularly check on your mower blades. Even then, after regular sharpening over long periods or hitting a rock and other hard debris, the blades are prone to wear and tear. In this case, it becomes imminent to change the blades. In this section, we detail the step-by-step process of changing the blades on a Husqvarna Lawn Mower.
The Husqvarna Mower blade replacement criteria consist of simple steps:
1. Check The Blade Condition
The first thing to do is to determine whether your mower blades need changing. You can easily judge this by inspecting the blades or the grass after cutting. Better still, you can do both.
When the blades are sharp and healthy, they cut your lawn evenly. Therefore, the same length of the grass is cut each time the mower passes over your lawn – provided that the mower deck is kept at the same height. If on checking you notice that some lawn patches have shorter grass than others, it means that the grass is not being cut evenly and the mower blades are dull.
Moreover, you should also do a visual inspection of your mower blades. Some of the factors to inspect include blade sharpness, blade surface quality, cutting edge thickness, and any form of twist or dent.
2. Get The Right Blade Replacement Tools
To replace the blades of a Husqvarna riding lawn mower, you will need:
- A socket wrench
- Protective gloves
- Tools to lift the mower e.g. wooden blocks
3. Park The Mower In A flat Area
To replace the blades on your Husqvarna riding mower, engage the parking brakes on a flat area, but keep it in gear. Next, elevate the mower deck to the highest settings to ease up the process.
4. Disconnect The Spark Plugs
When working on the lawn mower you should take precautions to ensure that the blades do not start rotating when you are still operating. Thus, disconnect the spark plug by gripping the lead where it connects to the plug and try twisting it on either side until it moves freely. This way, you can easily pull it backward, but gently.
5. Drain The Fuel
You should siphon out all the excess gas. This ensures that fuel will not spill when you tilt your mower.
6. Raise The Mower Deck
To lift your Husqvarna lawn mower, you can use a lawnmower lift. There are other different methods you can use to lift or tilt your lawnmowers such as plastic ramps, and wooden blocks. Most importantly, ensure that you provide your mower with adequate support to prevent it from falling back when you are working on it.
7. Loosen The Blade Bolts
When removing the bolt, put a block of wood under the deck to prevent it from moving once the bolts are loosened. On the contrary, you can hold the blade with your protective hand gloves. In this step, you’ll need to remove the bold connecting the blade and the spindle as well as the washers at the spindle, if any.
8. Remove The Old Blade
Without the bolt and the washer, the old blade is free. Remove the worn-out blade and prepare your new blade for installation.
9. Install The New Mower Blade
Finally, you can install the new blades on your mower. You need to make sure that you lock the blade to the spindle correctly. Unlike in step 8, this time you’ll need to turn the wrench counterclockwise. Notably, the curved side of your new mower blades should be pointing upwards.
In case you get confused over which side of the blade should point down and which one should point up, it’s always advisable to consult the manufacturer’s manual guide.
Signs You Need To Change a Lawn Mower Blade
Lawn owners often ask “What signs will make me know I need to change my lawn mower blade?”
- Dents, Gouges or Pieces Missing
Dents, missing pieces, and scratches are major warning signs that your mower blades need changing. Besides, a mower with such a blade will not only hurt grass but will be a major safety hazard – pebbles and other hard debris may be propelled at high speeds which may lead to fatal accidents.
- The Blade Is Dull Even After Sharpening
As we’ve already mentioned, a sharp mower blade is essential for a healthy lawn. If your mower has dull blades, it will tear the grass. This can potentially increase the spread of diseases on your lawn since torn grass provides an easy pathway for entry of infections. As such, if your blade is still dull even after sharpening it twice, you should change it.
- The Blade is Bent
If you frequently mow over rocks, it’s expected that the mower blades will bend with time. A bent, off-balance blade will not only mow your lawn unevenly but can also reduce the lifespan of a mower by destroying the bearings.
- Your Blades Are Too Old – More Than Two Years
For safety and performance services, the blade should be replaced at the start of each mowing year. Besides, you can check the manufacturer’s manual for more information on this.
- It Cuts Grass Unevenly
If you notice uneven cutting on your lawn after mowing, it is probably time to change your mower blades. A sharp and healthy blade cuts all the grass at the same height provided you don’t adjust the deck height.
- Torn Grass
Always inspect your grass after mowing. If the tips of the grass look torn, then you need to get a new mower blade. This is very vital since torn grass will affect the overall health of your lawn – you don’t want all the lawn energy going to replace the torn grass rather than thriving.
How Often To Change Lawn Mower Blade?
For the average lawn owner, a good rule of thumb is to replace the mower blades on an annual basis. However, if they become damaged between the seasons, you can also change them. Besides, if your lawn has a lot of stones and sticks, you might need to change your mower blade more regularly. In other words, stones, sticks or any other hard obstacles on your lawn cause the blade to wear and tear at a quicker rate.
You should always clean and sharpen your mower blades severally before changing them. Nevertheless, if the blades become worn out and damaged before the end of the season, you should replace them. Note that using a dull blade may cause a lot of damage to your grass.
How to Install Mulching Blades on Husqvarna Riding Mower?
Most Lawn mowers will come with a regular mower blade fitted as standard and the Husqvarna mower is no exception. Therefore, to install mulching blades on Husqvarna Riding Mower, you’ll need to purchase mulching blades.
Mulching blades are called “3-in-1” or “All Purpose” blades since you can use them to mulch your lawn, side discharge, or even bag. Just like a regular blade, the mulching blade has two sides. In most cases, the blades come with an inscription “bottom” indicating that this side must face the lawn after mulching. Besides, some come with the word “Mulch” on them.
To install Mulching Blades on Husqvarna Riding Mower, start by purchasing the mulching blade of your preference. Then, proceed by changing your mower blade and replacing it with the new mulching blade. Make sure that you do not put the mower blades upside down. More on how to change the mower blade is detailed in the section above.
Conclusion:
Like every other lawn equipment, your Husqvarna riding Mower blades are subject to wear and tear after long periods of use. Dull blades should be replaced to avoid damaging the lawn. Besides, changing the blades is a hassle-free process, but always ensure to prioritize your safety when replacing your mower blades.
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