Equipment for Cutting Grass

Grass is one of the most maintenance intensive plants in a yard and must be trimmed regularly to keep a yard looking well-groomed. There are a variety of tools available for cutting grass and other low lying plants, from large power tools to small manual cutting tools that fulfill different roles.

Lawn mowers are the gold standard in grass cutting equipment. A lawn mower is a device that is designed to cut grass to a certain height by pushing or driving it across the grass. A manual lawn mower consists of two wheels and several blades that rotate as the mower is pushed, shaving grass off to the height of the blades. Manual mowers use only the strength of the user to generate the power necessary to cut grass. Power lawn mowers use a power source such as a gasoline engine to drive blades that cut grass. Gas powered mowers can come in push varieties, where the user pushes the unit over grass using his own strength, or large riding versions where the mower itself is essentially a small motorized vehicle that drives over the top of grass and trims it down. Mowers that use an external power source may be able to be fixed with bags that collect grass trimmings and debris.

There are several types of hand tools that can be used to cut grass. Grass shears are essentially hand scissors designed to cut grass. Cycles or grass hooks are small curved blades that can be used with one hand to chop tall clumps of grass, while scythes are longer grass hook blades affixed to the end of a pole that can be used to make larger sweeping motions to cut large amounts of tall grass in one stroke.

Edgers are tools that cut into dirt and grass and create clean edges along sidewalks and other grass borders. Similar to mowers, edgers come in manual designs as well as gas and electric powered designs.

Leaves that fall from trees can cover grass and make it difficult to cut properly. Lawn mowers with bags may be able to effectively suck up leaves and cut grass simultaneously, but tools like leaf blowers and rakes can be used to help gather leaves and prepare grass for cutting.

Brush cutters, sometimes called weed whackers, are power tools that use a quickly rotating blade or hard piece of material like metal or plastic to chop through grass and other brush. Brush cutters can be used to remove grass from areas that are difficult to reach with lawnmowers, such as grass that grows along walls.