Tips on Removing a Lawn With a Sod Cutter

Types

• Various sizes and shapes of sod cutters are used for different aspects of lawn care. One type has a blade close in size and shape to a person's foot. One kind has a curved blade. It's the shape of the sod cutter that makes the difference in the ease of slicing through the sod. Even though this type of sod cutter looks very similar to a shovel, it does not work the same. There are also kick sod cutters and a sod cutter that is powered by gas. The kick sod cutter looks similar to a hand plow but has a cutting bar instead of a plow blade.

Cutting the Sod

• When cutting into sod, wet the ground, as this makes it easier to work with. Do not soak the ground; it just needs to be moist. To ease the task of cutting sod strips that have already been cut, cut it from the side with the dirt showing. Cutting the strip of sod into squares this way is not as difficult as cutting it from the sod side up. It also makes a neater cut. Sod should be cut in lengths of 6 to 8 inches along buildings or any existing landscaping. This makes the task of sliding the sod more manageable. Using a standard sod cutter, place your foot on the sod cutter as you would a shovel and rock it back and forth. This slices through to the grass roots, which yield better to a sod cutter than to a shovel. If using a kick sod cutter, kick the cross-bar while pushing downward. This gets the cutting blade into the soil. Once the sod is cut, just roll it in a ball and carry it away. This is much quicker and easier than picking up thousands of splotches of grass that have been dug up with a shovel.