# Grass Sod Cutter

How a walk\-behind sod cutter slices a living lawn into strips that roll up, roots and all

By willow liebenberg

Topic: Machines

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/vRUcd9O9Zdgm)

## Guide

### 1. Grass Sod Cutter

This machine lifts a living lawn off the ground in neat strips, roots and all\. Gardeners use it to clear grass for a new flower bed or path, or to move a lawn somewhere else\. Drag anywhere to look around\.

Scroll or pinch to move closer\.

### 2. Meet the machine

A small petrol engine sits over the front wheels and drives them, so the cutter pulls itself along at walking pace\. The operator walks behind and steers with the handle\. Underneath hangs the part that does the real work: a flat steel blade\.

An 18\-inch cutter like this weighs around 180 kg \(about 395 lb\), as much as two or three adults\.

### 3. Under the lawn

A lawn is more than grass\. Below the leaves is a dense mat of roots that holds the soil together\. The blade slides through the soil just under that mat, so each strip stays in one piece\. Move the slider to see where the blade would slice\.

This cutter can slice as deep as 6\.4 cm \(2\.5 inches\)\. Here 4 cm keeps the whole root mat\.

### 4. A blade that shakes

The blade does not spin like a mower\. The engine rocks it quickly back and forth, a little like a saw, so it slices through roots instead of tearing them\. Short knives on each side cut the edges of the strip at the same time\.

The machine does not mow: the grass leaves stay on top of the strip, untouched\.

### 5. Cut a strip

The operator lowers the blade into the soil and lets the wheels pull the machine forward\. Behind it, a strip of lawn as wide as the blade is now loose from the ground\. Press the button to cut one\.

Operators wear sturdy boots and ear protection, and keep their feet well away from the blade\.

### 6. Roll it up

The cut strip lies loose, like a carpet that is no longer stuck down\. Rolled up with the soil on the outside, it holds together for the journey\. Underneath is bare soil, ready for a path or a flower bed\.

Sod cuts most cleanly when the soil is damp but not soaking wet\.

### 7. A lawn on the move

Rolls of sod can be laid somewhere else to patch a worn lawn or start a new one\. Kept damp, the roots soon grow down into their new soil\. Next time a lawn appears overnight, you will know how it travelled\.