Try This Bungee Cord Hack To Mow Your Overgrown Lawn Effortlessly

Most people mow regularly to keep their grass neat and tidy, but occasionally, there's an overgrown lawn you need to deal with. Maybe you just moved house, and the yard has been neglected. Maybe you are helping out a friend or relative. Getting an untidy lawn back into shape can be hard work, so anything that makes life easier is welcome. Some people prefer to attack long grass with a string trimmer. And there's another interesting hack with a hedge trimmer. But if you can get a lawn mower in there, it can usually get the job done faster. A recent YouTube video offers a simple trick that claims to make tackling an overgrown lawn effortlessly. So we had to take a closer look.

What YouTuber @electriccuts does is use a bungee cord to lift up the side discharge chute cover. If the cover is closed, long grass can quickly bind around the cutting deck and blade, clogging it up. So you have to keep stopping to clear it. With the chute open, most of the clippings should be thrown clear instead. To open and close the chute so as not to throw cut grass into flower beds, for example, he simply switches the upper end of the bungee cord from one side of the mower handle to the other. It's simple, cheap, and effective, but should you actually do it?

First off, it's important to realize that the hack only works if the side discharge chute is not fitted; hence, the cover keeps closing and needs to be lifted. In the video, the commentator suggests it may have been lost. That's perfectly feasible, so we checked at Amazon and found replacements for popular mowers, similar to the DECKMAN Lawn Mower Side Discharge Chute, for less than $20. At that price, fixing the problem permanently might be a better option.

Second, there's a safety issue. The video shows the end of the bungee hooked over the lip of the side chute cover. It looks like nothing is keeping it in place except the fact that it is under tension. The danger is that if it should be jolted off by hitting a hidden hole or a rock, the metal hook on the end could fly back toward the operator. There are enough things to consider to use a lawn mower safely without adding more risks.

However you do decide to approach an overgrown lawn, getting it manageable again is never a one-and-done task. To ensure healthy grass, experts recommend the one-thirds approach: with the first cut, remove one-third of the height, another third for the second cut, and another third for the final cut. It's recommended that each cut be spaced out by a week. 

Long grass can be difficult for the lawn mower to mulch, so discharging it to the side is probably the best option until you have the lawn under control. You'll want to clear up the waste as soon as possible because, while leaving short grass clippings can be good for the lawn, clumps of long clippings can lead to problems with the grass underneath. Fortunately, there's a neat hack for clearing up the clippings quickly using your feet and a bin bag. Don't forget that the cut grass is a valuable resource. Lawn clippings can be repurposed in many practical ways, like adding them to compost or as a weed-suppressing layer in other parts of the garden.