Mowing your lawn is a regular part of lawn maintenance. During summer, when the grass is in its fastest-growing phase, you can find yourself mowing weekly. When you start to experience lawn mower issues, it can be a real pain in the grass! If your lawn mower starts spitting out grass, it's a sign that something's not right. We've done our research and put together this list of reasons why your lawn mower might be spitting out grass. By process of elimination, you should be able to find the cause, rectify it and get back on with your lawn care routine in no time...
1. Your grass is too long
If you've not cut the grass for a while, there's a chance it's getting very long and unruly. While you may think this is the perfect time to give the grass a trim, using your lawn mower on grass that's too long can cause problems. The long blades of grass can become tangled in the blades, this forms clumps of grass which are often spat out the front or back of the lawn mower. While this shouldn't cause any harm to the lawn mower itself, it can make your job pretty difficult. Pushing a lawn mower through thick grass is not easy!
Your best bet is to set the mower to a longer setting so it can take off some (but not all) of the grass during the first pass. Once you've got some of the length off, you can switch to a shorter setting and finish the job off.
2. Your grass is wet
Lawn mowers are not designed to cut through wet grass, which explains why you see so few people mowing their lawns after a big downpour. When the grass is too wet, it sticks to the mower blades and (similar to the long grass) forms clumps which are then spat out of the mower. Again, this won't cause harm to your machine, but it will make things much more difficult - especially when it comes to cleaning up.
Ideally, you should wait until your grass is completely dry before cutting. If there's been a big downpour, it's best to give the grass 1 or 2 days to dry out in the sun before you start trying to mow it. This should be plenty of time for the water to evaporate or run off into the soil.
3. The grass chute is clogged
Every lawn mower (whether it's electric or petrol) is fitted with a grass chute that directs the cut grass into a basket. From time to time, this grass chute becomes clogged up, preventing the grass from passing into the collection basket properly. When this happens, the cut grass has nowhere to go, so ends up shooting out in all directions.
It's not just wet or long grass that can cause the chute to be clogged up. If you're cutting the grass too short, mud and other debris can be forced into the mechanism. Similarly, if you've cut the lawn previously and not emptied the basket/chute properly, there's a chance the grass has caked itself on and caused a blockage.
If you discover you've got a mower chute blockage, make sure your machine is switched off and try to remove the obstruction. Once it's cleared, your lawn mower should no longer be spitting out grass.
4. The collection basket isn't sat properly
One of the most common reasons a lawn mower is spitting out grass is because the grass collection basket is poorly fitted. Most mowers have a fit and lock style basket that can be removed, emptied and 'clicked' back on. However, if you fail to attach the grass collection basket properly, it's likely that the grass will end up everywhere!
If your grass basket just needs adjusting this should be a pretty simple fix. In some cases, the grass collection basket is damaged during the mowing process (for one reason or another) with prevents it from fitting to the mower properly. In this scenario, you may need to replace the grass collection basket or buy a new lawn mower altogether.
If you're having trouble with your lawn mower, it's important to find a solution quickly to keep your lawn looking its best. If you need a hand with your lawn maintenance, Lawn and Weed Expert offer a range of services. Get in touch to find out more.
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Read More: How to Mow a Lawn
