How to balance lawnmower blades – experts explain a simple process that can transform your lawn

Lawncare is one of those tasks that gets more and more complicated the more you know. What seems like a simple task - pushing a mower over grass - has surprising complexity and depth.

One of the little things that can make a huge difference is a balanced lawn mower blade. Blades can become imbalanced over the years, and this can make for a poor cut. If your lawn is looking patchy despite all your best efforts, you might need to balance the blades.

Thankfully, balancing mower blades is fairly simple. I spoke to mowing experts about the best ways to balance lawnmower blades.

Why should you balance a lawnmower blade?

Unbalanced blades mean uncomfortable mowing, a patchy lawn, and eventually, a broken lawn mower.

Lawn mower expert Michael Clarke explains that: 'A lawnmower with an imbalanced blade will vibrate excessively during use, which can cause discomfort when you're mowing.' If you've ever wrestled with a rattling mower that struggled to turn, the blades likely needed to be balanced.

An unbalanced mower can also ruin your lawn. 'Additionally, a balanced blade ensures an even and clean cut,' says Michael. 'When a blade is unbalanced, it may cause uneven cutting, leading to patches of grass that are cut unevenly or left uncut.'

On top of that, imbalanced blades can even break your mower. Michael warns that: 'Imbalanced blades can also lead to excessive wear on the motor, bearings, and other parts of the lawnmower. Proper balance helps reduce unnecessary strain on these components, ultimately increasing the lifespan of the mower.'

Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke is the founder of Yardwork and Pulled, the online platforms for everything home and garden. He has a degree in landscape architecture and horticulture from the University of California, Davis. He was previously the founder of a landscape development and maintenance company, where he provided complete landscape services to homeowners and commercial property owners.

How can you tell if a lawn mower blade needs balancing?

The good news is that this imbalance is easy to spot. A rattling mower indicates that the blades need to be balanced. If you're nailing the rest of your lawncare but your grass looks patchy and uneven, you may need to balance the blades.

Sometimes, you can even tell it by sight. When you get your mower out of storage for the first time in the spring, take a look at the blade. Michael Clarke explains: 'If you notice that one side of the blade is noticeably duller or has a different shape than the other, this could also indicate an imbalance.'

How do you use a lawn mower blade balancer?

All you need is a lawnmower blade balancer. It's an incredibly simple tool, a notched cone that fits a lawn mower blade. If the blade tilts, it needs to be balanced.

It's a very simple process. Michael Clarke explains: 'Before balancing, you'll want to clean the blade thoroughly to remove any grass, dirt, or debris, then set the blade horizontally on the blade balancer. The balancer will typically have a small rod or groove in the middle where you place the center hole of the blade. If the blade tips to one side, it indicates that side is heavier.'

If the blade tilts, you need to file down the heavier side. This should remove enough weight that the blade sits evenly. Michael explains 'To balance the blade, you can grind or file down the heavier side slightly until the blade rests level. It might take a few adjustments, but once balanced, the blade should stay level on the balancer.'

You don't need anything fancy to sharpen a lawn mower blade. You can use a power drill attachment like this from Amazon (which also includes a blade balancer), a file like this from Walmart, or even a pocket sharpener like this from Amazon, though you may find it trickier than the other methods.

Just clamp the blade into a workbench vise and run your sharpening tool along the cutting edge. After a few attempts, take the blade out of the vice and replace it on the balancer. Once balanced, the blade should sit straight on the balancer without tilting.

Do you need a lawn mower lade balancer or can you just use a nail or a screw?

You don't even need to use a lawn mower balancer. In a pinch, you can just use a nail. Mowing expert Steve Corcoran says 'You can use a blade balancer, but you don’t have to. It’s just as effective to utilize the simple trick of hammering a nail into the wall and then hanging the blade on it – if it leans to the side, then it needs balancing.'

However, while this works, it's much trickier than just using a balancer, and balancers are so cheap that you might not be saving any money. Michael Clarke warns: 'While it is possible to use a nail or screw to balance a blade, it's not the ideal method. A lawn mower blade balancer is designed to be more precise, allowing you to easily see which side of the blade is heavier.

Additionally, placing a blade on a screw or nail could cause it to become scratched or damaged, especially if the surface is uneven, whereas a blade balancer provides a stable and safe resting point to adjust the blade.'

Steve Corcoran

Steve is a lawn expert and CEO of Lawn Love, a lawncare company.

A rattling mower is a sign of an imbalanced blade, but there's a lot of other potential problems with a lawn mower. Thankfully, there are surprisingly easy fixes to a stuck mower pull cord, and even a smoking lawnmower can be fixed without too much hassle.