wat. Causing damage to the grass you're hitting with a (relatively) blunt object in the first place? All you did was waste three times the gas.

> hitting with a (relatively) blunt object in the first place

Well there's your problem right there.

Lawn mower blades are meant to be somewhat blunt. Like a butter knife. Too sharp and the blade will chip away on the harder materials.

They still work when blunted which is most of the time. But ideally they are sharp and slicing pure grass, grass tolerates slicing better than ripping. It's like a sword, ideally it is razor sharp, doesn't chip when blunted, and still works as a decent club even when blunted because it will be the second it hits something hard.

I have a battery electric lawnmower. I found I got noticably better battery life after sharpening the blade to a near razor edge. Yes the edge is more fragile but it cuts the grass with much less resistance.

For regular mowing sure. For reel mowing (e.g. golf) you will want to sharpen them.

That I did not know. I still wouldn't stick a finger near one of course.

I believe the point is the wheel lines and to vary where the wheels go by changing the pattern each time you mow so you don't, for example, always drive exactly down the fence and cause a rut or mulch buildup or missed area.

I dont think it was "don't hurt the grass while you cut it" or "mow it four times in one sitting".

How often are you people mowing your lawn that that's even a concern? It's like this is "surburbs: the problem: the comment section"

We people vary frequency with weather. Lawn tractors are heavy and, due to moisture, ground isn't always hard. On large properties some of the ground stays moist longer due to drainage issues. So yes, after years of indifferent mowing, one can detect where wheels have been moving topsoil.

"Worked as a landscaper during my youth"

>All you did was waste three times the gas.

They don't mean do all those cuts each time you mow. You mow the grass in one direction one day, and then a few days later when it needs cut again, you mow a different pattern.

When I used to mow neighbor's yards as a kid, I'd do a crosshatch pattern that I'd rotate 45deg each week, orthagonal vs diagonal. Just doing one direction looks fine but a crosshatch looks even better, especially if they have thick, healthy grass. I wouldn't be as meticulous on the side and backyards, those would just get a single, slightly overlapping pass in whatever direction was convenient unless they had a really nice backyard, then I'd do extra there.

People like that golf course look and I'd get nice tips for doing it.

I do this very thing in the fall when all of my neighbor's trees drop their leaves which blow into my yard. I don't bag leaves. I mulch them. To get them down to a respectable looking yard, it can easily take this many passes. I do it all over again in the early spring towards the end of February when the Live Oak trees in my yard finally drop their leaves for the year. According to my watch, I can cover more than 2 miles just taking my mower for a walk on those days.

You are mowing your lawn every few days?

Depends on how much rain you are getting that can be expected.