The Complete Handbook of Lawn Mower Accessories

Chapter 1: Understanding Lawn Mower Accessories

You are holding a handbook about lawn mower accessories, but the first thing to understand is that an accessory is not a decoration and it is not an option. It is a working component of an already working system. When you install a high-lift blade, you are not just changing a piece of metal; you are changing how much air moves under the deck, which changes how the grass stands up before the cut and how the clippings are ejected out the chute. When you put on a mulching kit, you are altering the internal aerodynamics of the deck. When you attach a bagging system, you are creating a vacuum that the engine must now work against. Every single accessory on this machine changes the mechanical and thermal load on the engine, the transmission, and the belt drive system. Ignoring that fact is how you end up with a stalling engine, a snapped belt, a burned-out pulley bearing, or in the worst case, a cracked deck.

The Accessory as a System Component

Consider the most common accessory in the world: the mower blade. It looks simple. It is a piece of hardened steel with two cutting edges, and a hole in the middle. But a blade is engineered for a specific purpose. A standard single-edge blade lifts the grass up slightly, cuts it, and pushes clippings toward the discharge chute. A mulching blade, however, has a different geometry. It has a sharper angle on