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How To Use a Turf Cutter
Follow our DIY guide on how to use a turf cutter, so you can remove or rejuvenate your lawn at home or at work.

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Follow our DIY guide on how to use a turf cutter, so you can remove or rejuvenate your lawn at home or at work.
A turf cutter removes the surface of a lawn by cutting into the sides of the top layer and sliding a thin blade underneath, severing grass cleanly towards the base of the roots. This action creates removable strips that you can lift to reveal the ground beneath. These strips of sod are made up of grass and a layer of soil, held together by the remaining roots. As these strips of turf are consistent in width, depth and can be cut to any length, you can easily roll them up and carry them away. Therefore, you can relocate, relay, or dispose of the turf as garden waste quickly and easily, without much mess.
Sod cutters are self-propelled machines, and they are easy to use. They are reasonably compact and lightweight, with simple controls and adjustable components that allow you to alter them for your comfort and specific application. For example, you can usually change the handle height, the cutting depth, and sometimes the cutting width.
Due to their ease of use, these machines are suitable for removing turf from any grassy area. You can use them for DIY gardening projects and rejuvenating your outdoor areas at home. You can also use them for professional landscaping, construction, installing underground utilities, laying sports pitches, and much more.
Turf cutters are robust and straightforward machines. Therefore, you are not usually restricted or limited to a time of year or certain weather conditions to use one. However, they do work better when the ground isn’t particularly hard. If the ground is frozen, or there has been a long period without rainfall, we recommend delaying your project.
Spring and autumn are the ideal seasons for using gardening equipment, as the weather isn’t too warm or too dry, and the ground isn’t too soft or too hard. Similarly, it is better to work in the garden when there’s a lot of bright, natural light.
Preparation.
Start your equipment (based on our petrol turf cutter).
Cutting your turf.
Are you tackling more jobs in the garden this year? Check out some more of our popular blogs and guides - Lawn Aerators: Hollow Tines v Solid Tines; How To Use A Lawn Scarifier; How To Use a Rotavator; How To Aerate a Lawn.