Why is my lawn mower spitting out grass?
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Are you facing difficulties while operating your lawn mower and want to know why is your lawn mower spitting out grass? You are not the only one with this question here. We will tell you all the possible reasons for that.
For lawn maintenance, it is necessary to level your grass by mowing your lawn every day. Especially in the summer season, the grass grows faster than in any other season. If not daily, then you would be at least mowing once every week. If any issue occurs in such weekly performing tasks, it will be a real problem that can stress you out. It is not a good sign when you see your lawn mower spitting the grass out.
We have done extensive research in this regard, and we have come up with the following points that might make you face that issue. Those few points are as follows:
Reason #1: Tall Grass
This usually happens when you stop mowing your lawn on a regular basis. When the grass grows very long, it can easily clog your lawn mower and as a result, your lawn mower will start spitting it out. There might be a time when you think to let the grass grow a little longer, but it will cause you a lot of trouble when you finally decide to mow the lawn. The lawn mower will get clogged and it happens because the long grass starts tangling with the blades and end up making clumps which the mower spits out after a little while.
What you can do to avoid clogging and spitting is to mow the lawn often, or you can also adjust and raise the height of your mower’s deck a little.
Reason #2: Wet Grass
We are starting with the pretty obvious ones that you might know already. It is a common practice not to cut your grass when your grass is wet, either after the rain or dew. The reason is that mowers are not designed to cut the wet grass. Secondly, when you try to cut the wet grass, it ends up cutting in an asymmetrical way. What happens is when you cut the wet grass, it sticks to the blades and forms the same clumps that the mower spits out. It might not be harmful to the mower, but it will certainly make the whole process daunting and difficult.
Therefore, what you should do is wait until the grass is dry, so you do not have to face any such issue of clumps.
Reason #3: Setting Wrong Blades
The blades of your lawn mowers tend to create suction which lifts the grass to the blades to give you an even and clean cut. But what you must know is that these blades come in different types based on the cutting properties and length. Similarly, they cut in different styles and design to cut different amounts of grass. All of them are for your ease and will enhance cutting, but the effectiveness depends upon how you pick the right one.
If your blade is for the high lift, but your engine is not supporting it enough, the results will be awful. It is because the engine becomes unable to give such fast spins to catch up with the cutting, and it will make your mower spit the grass out. In the end, you will get uneven grass, and the lawn will look even messier.
Reason #4: Chute Clogging
Whether your lawn mower runs on petrol or electric charging, it must have a chute attached to it. This chute is to direct your grass to the basket. The long or wet grass clogs the chute and results in spitting out the grass. It happens because when your chute gets clogged, the chopped grass finds no way or direction, and then your mower spits it in different directions. Another reason for this grass spitting is because you have not cleaned the chute properly in a long time.
When you do not clean your chute over a long period, it will create dry grass clippings inside.
Reason #5: Improper Cleaning of Deck
Does anyone of you think to flip your lawn mower and see how the deck is doing? This is what you should think about more. When you do not pay attention to it for a long time, you will be surprised to see a layer of grass clipping on the deck. In the end, when your blades see no more room to spin, they will stop working properly, and they will spit the grass.
Therefore, you should take care of deck cleaning more before your mower starts spitting out grass. In order to make your grass cutting even smoother, try spraying Teflon coating.
Also, if your lawn mower’s wheel is stuck, you can check our guide on how to remove a stuck lawnmower wheel.
Reason #6: Poor Collection Basket Fit
When you cut the grass, it stores in the collection bag. Most of the lawn mowers contain the lock and style basket that you can empty after every use and fit again for next time. When your bag is not in its right position, it will not get all the trimmed grass and make it drop here and there. It is not so complicated to fix that bag again to the right position. If it is not helping and still spitting grass out, it means that your basket is damaged somewhere.
When you are out there shopping for a new bag, make sure you get the same size, or it will not be able to fit and catch grass properly.
Conclusion
We have covered the main reasons in detail why is my lawn mower spitting out grass. Take good care of your lawn mower, and it will make your life and lawn mowing much easier. It is wise to find the solution before you feel the grass spitting is getting severe. Whether it is about finding the right blade or bag for your mower or it is about chute or deck cleaning, get it done. Most importantly, keep in mind to cut the grass timely when it is dry.
