How Good A Lawn Mower With
One of the best ways to provide your lawn with organic fertilizer is through mulching and that will be effective if you use a lawn mower with mulching blade. Mulching is one way of using plant materials that you take away from the soil or from the plants and use it to cover the soil from drying while improving its condition. Once these plant materials decompose, this will provide the necessary nutrients to the plants or in this case, the grass.
Grasses are rich with nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other micro-minerals that the plants need. And aside from providing the essential elements your lawn grass needs, mulching can also reduce the growth of weeds, block too much sunlight which can heat up and dry the soil and it makes the soil cooler. And if we look at the economic benefits of mulching, this can save you some money in buying chemical fertilizers to fertilize your grass as well as saving you time and effort in applying these toxic chemicals into your property.
So if you are not familiar on the benefits of mulching using your grass clippings, we advise you to read this article and learn more about how your yard or lawn grass can benefit from your yard wastes as well as knowing which best lawn mowers for mulching can help you achieve a more enhanced lawn grass.
Best Lawn Mowers for Mulching
If you already own a lawn mower, you have already heard of the word “mulching power”. Well, all lawn mowers can cut grass efficiently be it the regular gas push mower, the electric type, or the self propelled lawn mowers. All of these can also be installed with mulching blades depending on the length of the blade and the size of your mowing deck. All you need to do is have a mulching kit which includes deflectors to keep the grass underneath the mowing deck and that would do you a good mulching process.
However, certain types of lawn mowers are designed not only for bagging and side-discharge but also for mulching. These best lawn mowers for mulching are made to provide an additional advantage over the regular lawn mower types. The regular lawn mowers which are also called 2-in-1 mowers can only do bagging and side discharge so you will be obliged to gather your grass clippings and dump it somewhere which is a hassle.
But with a lawn mower with mulching blade, there is no need to do these tasks because the shredded grass clippings will be spread out along the lawn which after 4 to 5 days will begin to decompose and the nutrients will be coming back to the soil for the grass to use. So can you imagine all the extra things that you need do with the regular lawn mowers? But with the best lawn mowers for mulching, you just mow your lawn and also fertilize at the same time. Here are the lawn mowers for mulching with 3-in-1 capabilities.
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The blades for mulching are more curved with more raised flaps at the back of the blades. There are two kinds of mulching blades and these are the regular and the gator (toothed) mulching blades. Each of these blades offers the same benefit and that is to mulch the grass clippings into shreds for quick decomposition. The standard mulching blades can give you a neater look with your lawn and you can see the stripes left by the lawn mower with these blades.
Moreover, the gator mulching blades are known to be the better shredders because they do not only shred the grass completely but can scatter it around uniformly on the grass. These blades can be installed on regular lawn mowers as long as they meet the requirements for installation. On the other hand, their lawn mowers are specifically made to be the best lawn mowers for mulching. These mowers have higher deck designs compared to the ordinary lawn mowers or with the lower deck but have cut height options which is necessary for allowing more airflow underneath the mowing deck.
So if you intend to search for the best lawn mower for mulching, check all the qualities first of the units before settling for one. Below are the tips to help you choose quicker.
Types of the Best Lawn
Different kinds of mowers come with mulching options so you can conveniently choose which of these can fit your needs and budget. These mowers with mulching settings include the following:
Push Mowers.
These lawn mowers can either be powered by gasoline or electricity. Choose one that has the 3-in-1 capabilities – bagging, side-discharge and mulching. You can find a lot of these that are a bit cheaper compared to the self-propelled types.
Self-propelled lawn mowers.
These are what they call the walk-behind mowers that are equipped with motors and so they turn their wheels to move forward. Some of these types can also have mulching capabilities and also available in gas and electric powered.
Riding mowers or lawn tractors.
Most of these large lawn mowers have two or 3 blades because they can accommodate more blades with their large cutting decks. For large lawns like parks, golf courses, and resorts, these are the best for mulching grass clippings as they generally have deeper and adjustable decks.
Zero-turn mowers.
These are the other versions of the riding mowers which are best for corners and edges. Those with multiple blades, wider cutting decks and adjustable cutting heights are best for mulching.
So how do you choose among these types with the best mulching capability? Below are tips to find these mowers quickly.
Qualities of the Best Lawn
Design of the deck.
The best lawn mowers for mulching have a deeper mowing deck because this is necessary for the grass to get vacuumed, swirl around underneath the cutting deck, and be cut several times by the spinning blades. This feature is what we call the “recirculation and high-lift” feature. The higher the deck and wider, the better the grass clippings can be cut in small pieces.
Deck cutting width.
The cutting widths of the lawn mowers for mulching are wider to fit any type of blades. The wider the deck, the more air can circulate and for the grass clippings to go around the mulching blades. Mulching blades come in different lengths and width. Usually, they range from 18 inches to 23 inches long and up to 2 3/4-inch wide.
Power of the Motor.
Check the motor of the lawn mower. Lawn mowers for mulching have higher amps to help the motor spin faster. The faster the blades can spin, the better it can mulch grass in shreds. Take note that your mulching mower should have no less than 6 horsepower for the gas-powered and 10 amps for the electric type while the rechargeable should be no less than 40 volts with their batteries.
Curve of the blade.
As we mentioned, mulching blades are curvier than the regular mower blades for increased cutting capability. Basically, all mulching blades are curvy but you can find more effective mulching blades that are thicker, more aerodynamically designed, and feel tougher just by the feel of it. These blades can also be efficient in 3 ways (bagging, side- discharging and mulching). We have an article about the best mulching blades for your convenience.
To help you find the best lawn mowers for mulching, we have 3 of them that we have summarized features. These were some of the most tested units in terms of doing their jobs as mulchers and we have diversified them to give you a wider option.
Best Lawn Mowers for Mulching with
Unfortunately, the use of mulching blades may not always be necessary on certain conditions and we have identified them below so you know when not to use them.
If the lawn has lots of fallen leaves and sticks from trees, these may not decompose as quickly as the grass clippings leaving your garden looked messed up. But if you are not very particular with the appearance of your lawn, this may not be a problem.
Mowing wet grass even using the best mulching lawn mower blades may not be advisable because of the potential for the wet shredded grass to stick under the mowing deck and also onto the blades while leaving grass clumps around the lawn. Another problem is cleaning stuck up grass clumps from under the deck which can take a lot of time and effort.
If your grass and soil are not healthy and have lots of scalped spots, experts don’t recommend the use of mulching blades because it takes time for the mulched grass to decompose while leaving your lawn with a messier appearance. Let your grass be sustained first with other forms of organic fertilizer like liquid organic fertilizer and do proper irrigation to provide grass the fastest way of recovering. Once the grass spreads its roots and branched out all over the lawn, lawn mower mulching can now be considered.
Avoid using mulching blades on tall grasses because these can only clog up your blade and mess up your mowing deck while leaving clumps of unshredded grass clippings along the way.
If you think you have the best mulching blade types but your grass is full of long unwanted weeds with lots of seeds already, do not attempt to use mulching blades because you will only be recycling the growth of these weeds. So better to bag the grass clippings and throw it away then mow the lawn every 3 to 4 days using mulching blades.
Greenworks 20-Inch 3-in-1 12 Amp Electric Corded Lawn Mower 25022
This is an electric-type lawn mower equipped with a powerful 12 Amp motor that can go for hours and finish your small yard with ease. Why we choose this as one of the best lawn mowers for mulching is because of its tough 20-inch steel deck and 3-in-1 grass mowing capability. This may not look so high that we want to see on ordinary lawn mowers for mulching but you will like its 7-position height cutting adjustment options to let you cut grass from 1.5-inches to 3.75 inches long.
It also has a push-button start with a manual drive system and a foldable handle that makes it easy to store in your garage. So if you don’t like the gasoline-type lawn mowers because of the smoke emission, you could go for this unit. What more this very silent lawn mower can offer is its detachable bag so you can switch from mulching to bagging. Very versatile, eco-friendly and very easy to use even women can use it without the strain.
The only issue we see in this unit is it does not come with a long cable so you will need a long extension cord to cover a large yard. Not recommended for a large lawn though because you may find the inconvenience of having to tug the extension cord from time to time.
However, it offers a 4-year warranty which many consumers love.
WORX WG779 40V Power Share 4.0 Ah 14″ Lawn Mower w/ Mulching & Intellicut (2x20V Batteries)
We are trying to vary our presentation for the best lawn mowers for mulching so this time we want you to check on this rechargeable, 40V lawn mowing machine that can provide you maximum performance both for finer cut and also for mulching. It uses an intellicut technology that can deliver power on demand which helps in saving its power only whenever it needs to.
The handles are padded for a more relaxed grip and its single lever adjustments will enable you to choose your cutting heights quickly. According to the manufacturer, it can mow a lawn with up to 5,500 square feet with a single charge only but that is considering the grass is not too tall. For easy and ensured complete charging its batteries have also power level indicators.
If you don’t like the idea of mowing and mulching your grass with petrol because of the odorous and toxic emission as much as you hate towing the extension cord of an electric lawn mower, you should take a look at this unit. Even with its compact size, this eco-friendly rechargeable lawn mower is a breeze to use, no noise, no fumes, no cords and so perfect for small lawns and yards.
Hyundai HYM430SP 4-stroke Petrol Lawn Mower Self Propelled 139 Cc 42cm Cutting Width
We chose this 4-stroke lawn mower because it is loaded with a Hyundai 139cc engine so we are confident that it will also do its 3-in-1 job. With a 42cm cutting width, this is also an ideal petrol-based lawn mower that can ease up your mowing job. We also think of it as one of the best lawn mowers for mulching because of its many features.
Being self-propelled, which are best for lawns with slopes and inclines, it has a single lever cutting height adjustment for 6 settings (25mm to 70mm). This machine has proven its mulching capability and it can deal with any tough grass that some mowers may not work well with. Low maintenance with very low emission, it offers an easy recoil start ignition system so expect that this will be easy to prime.
No need to push this lawn mower and it can climb even steep hills that cannot be mowed by riding lawn mowers. Assembly is fast and easy and there are no tools required. For safety features, it also has an operating presence control (OPC) so it won’t move accidentally unless you have to grab the OPC.
OUR
Lawn mowers are made mainly to trim the grass. But aside from the simplicity of their jobs, most of them are now designed with added features that will help the lawn owners improve their grass and soil, save them money from buying chemical fertilizers while saving them the time that requires watering and fertilizing.
So what we mean by added features are lawn mowers with mulching capabilities. Lawn mower blades are a great addition to improving our lawns for the benefits of not only to the property owners but also directly to the grass and to the soil where it grows. Lawn grasses have almost 85% water, 5% nitrogen and the rest are other minerals that can hasten the growth of grass and improve the condition of soils.
So the next time you mow your lawn, think about how much nutrients you are taking away from your grass which if you ask us should go back to where you get it from.
If you are interested to know the best lawn mower blades to help you fertilize your grass organically, we have a separate article for this.