How to Use a Manual Sod Cutter

If burning calories while building your muscles and removing your burned lawn sod at the same time sounds like a good plan to you, manually removing that damaged sod with a manual sod cutter hand tool is the way to go. Be aware that the task is extremely labor intensive, and taking it slowly and deliberately may avoid sunstroke or worse.

It’ll also take much longer than if you were to remove the sod mechanically. A flat shovel and plenty of energy is all you need, according to the University of California Sonoma County. Just be sure you have plenty of water on hand.

Identifying Your Sod Type

Sod has roots that dive from 1 inch to several feet underground. Perennial Bermuda (‌Cynodon dactylon‌) grass with roots that go down several feet cannot be removed manually. St. Augustine (‌Stenotaphrum secundatum)‌ sod is also difficult to replace. Using herbicides and waiting for months for the results are the best methods for Bermuda and St. Augustine sod removal.

Shallow root sods include cool-season bluegrass (‌Poa‌ ‌pratensis‌), ryegrass (‌Lolium‌), centipede (‌Eremochloa ophiuroides‌) and tall or fine fescue (‌Festuca arundinacea‌). Identifying your sod type helps when planning its manual removal.

Sod-Cutting Hand Tools

Everything from sharp knives to specifically designed manual sod cutters are available for removing old sod. Just know that the goal is not only to remove the old sod but to prevent its regrowth. Sod removal is also environmentally friendly as no chemicals are needed.

A kick-type sod cutter, which has adjustable cutting depth settings, can cut up to 30 feet of sod into 12-inch strips in under a minute when handled by a strong person, as demonstrated in this kick-type sod cutter’s YouTube video. Just kick the cross bar to move the sod cutter along, suggests the California Native Plant Society.

Once the sod has been cut, roll the strip into a bale and remove it or place the rolls in a compost pile for environmentally friendly manual sod removal.

It is recommended to use a grub hoe with an 8-inch-wide blade when you only need to remove a small amount of sod. Use short swings to penetrate the root layer of the sod for several inches. Once severed from the soil, just lift it and remove it.

A square-edged sod cutter is useful for very small sod removal areas, but you’ll pay for it in sweat. It’s the least expensive method of manual sod removal.

Cutting Sod Manually

There is a method for using a manual sod cutter. Approaching your lawn with either a kick-type sod cutter, a grub hoe or a square-edged sod cutter isn’t the first step in manual sod removal.

Lawn Love recommends beginning the process several days before actually cutting the sod by removing the debris from your lawn, including rocks and twigs. Set your lawn mower to its lowest level and cut the lawn a few days before with the sod cutter.

• Three days before cutting the sod, water the lawn. Don’t drench it, but get it pretty wet. Over the following days, the water will penetrate the soil and loosen it. Mark the area you wish to remove, making sure no sprinkler heads are in the way.
• Test a small area with the manual sod cutter to ensure the blade is level to the ground.
• When finished cutting, use your knife to slice the ribbons of sod into smaller sections. The cut sod is useful as compost when it decomposes in a grass-free area.
• Sod cutting is labor intensive when done manually, but it leaves your soil grass free and level for your next landscaping project.