How to Install a Lawn Mower Mulcher Blade

The mulcher blade on a lawn mower is vastly important for the functioning of the machine and is not easy to install. I know this from personally being forced to mow the lawn by my parents for years. Having to clean the mulcher blade (also known as a cutting blade) often was never a fun job but without a properly functioning blade, the lawn mower is fairly useless. The mulching blade basically cuts the grass into small pieces, and then pushes the particles out of the mower, either into a clippings bag or out the side onto the lawn. Blades may need to be sharpened or even completely removed for best performance. Changing the blade on a lawn mower is not an easy job, but if you need to do it, consider these steps:

1. Make sure lawn mower is completely turned off. Wear eye protection and gloves. Disconnect the spark plugs.

2. Put lawn mower on its side, and, using a piece of wood, wedge it between the old, attached lawn mower blade and the housing deck of the lawn mower to prevent the blade from turning while it is removed.

3. Find an appropriate size socket wrench and remove the nut and washer holding in the old blade, carefully. Save the nut and washer.

4. Remove the old blade, then place the new blade on the post. Place washer on, then loosely tighten the nut over it with socket wrench. Again, wedge a piece of wood to hold the blade in place, then tighten the nut with the socket wrench to the suggested tightness in the lawn mower's user guide.

5. Remove block of wood, put lawn mower back up normally, re-attach spark plugs.

6. When mowing with new blade, notice if the mowing pattern is neat as it should be. If not, this may indicate that the blade was not installed properly, or that you have a defective blade.

For blade sharpening, try the American Lawn Mower Company SK-1 Reel Mower Sharpening Kit, available at Amazon.com. The kit is designed to allow people to sharpen their lawn mower blades at home and is designed for use with the "1705-16 and 1815-18 push mowers." If you need to completely buy a new replacement blade, try the Black & Decker lawn mower replacement blade, also highly recommended at Amazon. Try it for Black & Decker mowers #MM850, #MM875, and #CMM1000.

While cutting the grass is certainly not the most exciting activity in the summer, be sure to get it done or your lawn may look like a jungle. Happy mowing! (Note: These are not professional instructions, follow them at your own risk with no liability on my part)