If you own a lawn, you probably know not all mowers are suitable for your lawn type. Each lawn mower has different types of blades. Keeping your lawn grass healthy requires regular mowing as part of regular maintenance. The performance of your mower will depend on the sharpness of the mower blades. And not every mower blade has the same sharpness. So, you must know about the different types of mower blades.
Regular blades and mulching blades are the most common types of blades. There are many differences between these two types of grass cutters, despite the fact that they both are used for grass cutting. In order to help you determine which type of mower blade will work best for your lawn care, we will talk about the main two types of blades, which are- Mulching Blades and Regular Blades, in this article.
However, The main difference between a mulching blade and a regular blade is that mulching blades have more curves with an increased cutting edge while the regular blade is straight and aerodynamic.
Mulching Blades
When you use a lawn mower that has mulching blades, they can make all the grass clipping disappear. Lawn mowers with mulching blades do not spew grass clipping on the ground leaving you with more to clean up. Mulching blades are known as 3 in one blades. This type of blade can perform three different tasks which are- mulching, discharging and bagging.
Regular Blades
The standard blade is used on most horizontally rotating lawn mowers. Standard lawn mower blades are known as 2-in-1 blades since they can toss grass clippings into a bag or discharge them via the mower’s side-discharge chute.
On the other hand, mulching blades are commonly referred to as 3-in-1 blades to stress their higher versatility since they can accomplish three tasks instead of simply two. Clippings can be discharged or bagged, and they can be chopped into a fine mulch and left on the grass. A high-lift blade is another name for this sort of blade.
Difference Between Mulching Blades And Regular Blades:
| Mulching Blades | Regular Blades |
| Curved design | Large wind wings |
| Natural fertilizer | Angular Design |
| Divided airflow | Stong airflow |
| 3 in 1 function (bag, discharge, and even mulch grass clippings) | Good for cutting tall grass |
| Needs lower power capacity | Needs higher power capacity |
In terms of discharge, mulching blades are very efficient, but in terms of bagging, they are not so effective. It is because mulching blades instead of sending clippings straight out of the mower keep them under the deck.
On the other hand, regular mower blades cannot cut clippings into little pieces the same way that mulching blades can, so they won’t work well on mowers with mulching kits or on mowers that have mulching blades. Clogs tend to form under the mower deck and on the regular blades as a result of insufficiently chopped clippings.
Sharpness
The blade shape of the lawnmower is the easiest way to discern the main difference between the two types. A mulching blade sharpening can be challenging at times. You might need different types of files to sharpen mulching blades if they have long or curved cutting edges.
On the other hand, regular blades are straight and not curved. Usually flat and designed to work with lower mower settings, these blades are the ones you would find. You can use regular blades to cut your lawn and remove the clippings.
You can use regular blades to cut your lawn, and remove clippings but not bagging. The purpose of a regular blade is to remove the clippings much more quickly, so a longer cutting edge would be unnecessary.
Shape
There are several cutting edges on the mulching blade, and it is curved. As a result of the curved design, grass clippings tumble into the mower deck in a circle as they move across the curved surface.
On the other hand, regular blades or standard blades are flat in form and work best on lower mower settings. They have fewer cutting edges and a straight shape. Unlike regular blades, mulching blades tend to have a more curved profile, and they have cutting edges along a greater portion of their surfaces than regular blades do.
As a result of these differences, mulching blades can keep cuttings circulating beneath the mower deck so they can be cut repeatedly into ever-tinier sizes.
Usage
In grass cutting, mulching blades are intended to minimize fine grass trimmings that could fall back into the soil to rot. In addition to offering a number of advantages for the mower user, mulching also benefits the area being mowed. Most users only have to wait a few seconds to adjust, which is convenient and improves the look of your lawn.
With mulching blades, grass clippings are cut into smaller pieces by the edges of mulching blades a couple of times, until they are incorporated into the deck. So that no grass piece gets wasted, the grass pieces are pushed down onto the lawn. In addition to making your garden look cleaner and healthier, this will make your grass absorb additional nutrients as well.
Eco-Friendly
Mulching blades are more eco-friendly than regular blades. Mulching blades can work as natural fertilizers. The mulching blades are made specially to recut grass clippings as the baffle blocks the discharge chute.
When grass mulch decomposes, nitrogen and water are returned to the soil as fertilizer resulting from the breakdown of grass mulch. Another benefit of mulching grass is retaining soil moisture. However, this is not possible with regular blades. It does not contribute much to nature, but it does not harm nature in any way either.
Final Words
The difference between mulching blades and regular blades is quite significant. Both have some advantages and disadvantages. If you ask which one is better, there is no straight answer. Nevertheless, they have different uses and are effective for different purposes, so they might be more effective for a certain job than the other. You just need to use them the right way to get the best results from them.
