What are High Lift Lawn Mower Blades
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Are you finding that your lawn mower delivers an inconsistent cut quality? Your lawn mower may benefit from using high-lift lawn mower blades, which create a strong airflow that lifts grass blades before they are cut. Modern lawn mowers, including Mowrator's own S1 Remote Control Lawn Mower 4WD, offer several unique high-lift blade options to ensure that your grass is cut evenly every time.
Before committing to a medium- or high-lift mowing blade, we recommend reading up on how these blades work and how they may make a difference to your lawn care needs. We've crafted this article to help you understand just that, as well as offer alternatives to high-lift mower blades.
Key Takeaways
- High-lift lawn mower blades spin and create an upward flow of air that makes grass blades easier to cut and debris easier to transfer to your collection bag.
- Although high-lift mower blades are extremely effective in wet conditions and tall grass, they tend to suffer in dry, sandy, and dusty climates.
- Before outfitting your lawn mower with high-lift blades, ensure your mower's battery or engine can deliver enough power to the blades.
- Before you replace your lawn mower blades, ensure the replacements have the same length, width, and center hole.
How do High Lift Lawn Mower Blades Work?
High-lift mower blades are uniquely designed to generate airflow upward, which makes grass blades that are tall or wet stand up so they can be evenly cut. This is achieved by manufacturing the blades with a pronounced angle at the edges, which creates enough suction force to pull grass upward as well as bag and discharge clippings. The end result is a superior cut even during wet conditions.
High-lift blades aren't the only type of replacement blade you can purchase for your lawn mower. There are combination high-lift mulching blades, low-lift blades, medium-lift blades, as well as standard blades (2-in-1 blades) that allow for both discharging and bagging.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of High-Lift Blades?
Advantages
- Cut Quality: The lift generated by high-lift cutting blades ensures that your lawn's grass is cut smoothly and uniformly.
- Versatile: High-lift blades are ideal for mowing your lawn in wet conditions. They are also excellent at cutting taller grass that is tangled or slumped.
- Bagging Compatibility: The suction force is not only great for cutting grass, but also for transferring clippings from your deck to the collection bag.
- Aesthetic: In addition to versatility, high-lift lawn mower blades can also blow leaves and other debris up for collection. This helps create a cleaner and more aesthetic look for your garden.
Disadvantages
- Engine Power Usage: Using a high-lift mower blade often requires higher fuel or energy consumption from the engine or battery, which can lead to wear and tear if the power source isn't large enough.
- More Noise: Lawn mowers are already fairly noisy, and high-lift mower blades add around 1.2 to 7.9 decibels to the overall sound level of your mower.
- Compatibility Issues: If your engine or battery is not outfitted to handle the additional power demanded by high-lift blades, it can struggle and ultimately reduce the effectiveness of your cutting performance.
- Reduced Performance in Sand and Dust: While high-lift blades excel in wet conditions, they can deteriorate quickly in sandy and dusty environments.
What are the Different Types of High-Lift Blades?
There are three main types of high-lift blades: high-lift blades, extra high-lift mower blades, and OEM high-lift blades.
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Standard High-Lift Blades: Your typical high-lift blade with a slight upward curve of 1 to 1 and 3/16 inches.
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Extra High-Lift Blades: Extra high-lift blades offer greater lift compared to their standard counterparts. They usually have an upward curve of at least 1 and 1/4 inches to offer more suction for grass clippings and leaves.
- OEM High-Lift Blades: OEM high-lift blades are specially manufactured for commercial lawn mowers. Their curvature aligns with most standard high-lift blades, but they have unique properties that help commercial lawn tractors create a precise cut whenever they are used.
Some companies may brand their mower blades as super high lift mower blades or ultra-high lift mower blades, but they generally follow the same curved angle as standard or extra high-lift blades. Before you equip the mower deck with a set of high-lift mower blades, ensure you find out if your engine or battery can handle the output required to power the replacement lawn mower blades.
High-Lift vs. Low-Lift Blades: What Should You Choose?
Making the right choice between high-lift vs. low-lift mower blades will vary depending on your lawn mower's capabilities, environment, and needs. In most cases, low- or medium-lift mower blades will offer a seamless performance if you live in a sandy or dusty region of the USA. Additionally, purchasing regular blades will be significantly cheaper than high-lift blades (which can be priced anywhere from $22 to $45 or more).
You should choose high-lift blades if you live in a particularly wet region or frequently water your lawn. Many high-end or commercial lawn mower machines still opt for high-lift blades to ensure a quality cut, even if they have to trade out the mower blades more often.
Mowrator | Remote Control Lawn Mowers With High Lift Mower Blades
Mowrator offers one of the most unique lawn mowing solutions on the US market — remote control lawn mowers. The S1 Remote Control Lawn Mower 4WD is our premier model with all the bells and whistles that a modern homeowner needs, including a 135-minute battery capacity and fully adjustable blade height. Outfit your very own remote control lawn mower with either a normal blade, high-lift blade, or high-lift mulching blade and enjoy premium lawn care at your fingertips.
Stand with the future of lawn care equipment and shop our range of remote control lawn mowers and accessories today.
FAQs on What are High-Lift Lawn Mower Blades?
What blade height should I cut my grass?
Your blade height should be between 2 and 4 inches to cut grass and maintain a healthy lawn environment. There are factors like the type of grass and season that may affect your blade height. Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, and other cool-season grasses should be cut from 3 to 4 inches, while warm-season grasses need to be cut between 2 and 2.5 inches.
When in doubt, follow the rule of thirds: never cut grass more than one-third of its height at a time.
Are you supposed to sharpen lawn mower blades?
Yes, you are supposed to sharpen your lawn mower blades so they stay sharp and effective. A good rule of thumb is to sharpen your mower's blades every 25 hours of use or twice per mowing season, whichever comes first. At the start of spring and late summer are the most efficient times to do so.
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