Can You Over Tighten a Lawn Mower Blade?

When the time comes to tighten your lawn mower blade, you might be questioning just how tight a lawnmower blade needs to be, too loose can be dangerous, while too tight could also be damaging for your mower. 

You can in fact overtighten a lawnmower blade, an overtightened mower blade will be more susceptible to snapping when it has an impact from hard objects such as a rock, and it can eventually lead to damaging the blade bolt on the machine. 

To find out how tight your mower blade should be, reasons why your lawn mower blade keeps becoming loose and how to tighten it correctly, we have put together a small guide below with everything you need to know.

How Tight Should a Lawn Mower Blade Be? 

To prevent having an imbalanced blade on your lawn mower, you should make sure it is not too tight or too loose. 

How tight your lawn mowers blade should be all comes down to the model and type, most manufacturers will have it stated in their manual just how much torque you will need for tightening your specific blade in position, this will typically be stated in foot/lbs. 

If you don’t know how tight your mowers blade should be and don’t have any way of measuring then you should use a torque wrench that will act as a lawn mower blade balancer.

Why Does My Lawn Mower Blade Keep Becoming Loose? 

Sometimes you might feel forced to overtighten your mower blade bolt if it keeps coming loose, often this isn’t the right solution however so we have listed some other common reasons as to why your lawnmower’s blade might keep coming loose below. 

You Have An Unbalanced Mower Blade

Your original blade in your mower can become unbalanced due to uneven sharpening, for example, the left side of the blade might be thicker than the left. This in turn might mean the blade will become loose often so check the blade is balanced with a blade balancer. 

It Is In The Wrong Position

If you are using a different blade to the one that came with your mower then it might seem loose as it does not fit perfectly in your lawnmowers bolts how the original did. It would be wise to fit a blade adapter if this is the case or use a better blade that fits. 

The Blade Is Deformed 

Over time your blade might become slightly bent due to impact without you noticing, this can mean it might not tighten properly and will become loose often.

It Is Too Tight/Not Tight

Make sure you use a torque wrench to tighten your mower blade right, having it under tightened will cause it to become loose quickly while overtightening it will also make its position lose, always follow the suggestions in the manual for the correct requirements.

How To Tighten Your Blade In Position

Tightening your mower blades is easy to do if you have a torque adjustable wrench for the job, just make sure you are following the right foot/lbs for your specific blade and follow the steps below!

• Step one – First of all empty all of the gas from your mower and tilt it on its side with the oil chute facing up in the air. 
• Step two – Wedge a piece of wood between the bottom of the deck and the back of the mower blade to keep it steady while you adjust it. 
• Step three – Attach the right size socket wrench to the bolt and adjust to around 30 pounds or as your mowers manual states, steady one end of the blade while tightening the other with your snap-on wrench.
• Step four – Remove the wood and make sure the blade is tight, but not tight enough that you can see some movement when pressed (wear gloves!).

Final Words 

To conclude our small guide, it is very possible to overtighten your lawnmower blade without realising but to avoid this from happening you can use a torque wrench and follow the suggested foot/lbs tightening suggestion in the manual from your manufacture. 

Also, ensure that your blade is not bent or in bad condition, these can cause your mowers blades to become loose too often and result in you having to overtighten the blades.