Manual Sod Cutter: When to Use One and How

What a manual sod cutter is

A manual sod cutter is the hand-powered version of the machine rental yards keep for lawn removal. A wide, flat steel blade sits at the bottom of a frame, with two long handles angling up toward you. You hold the handles, push forward and kick the back of the frame, and the blade slides horizontally through the root zone. The grass above the blade comes loose as a strip you can roll or flip.

Designs vary, so read the listing for the one you’re looking at. As an example, the Tractor Supply product listing for the Maxim Sod Kicker describes a 12-inch blade that needs no gas or oil and is driven by kicking and pushing. The retailer’s answers in the listing’s Q&A section add that the blade slides up or down the frame to set the base depth, and that raising or lowering your grip on the wooden handles changes the blade angle. Those are the seller’s descriptions, not test results.

There are two other ways to lift sod, and the right choice mostly comes down to how much ground you need to clear:

Oregon State University Extension says a hand- or gas-powered cutter will do the job. The real difference is effort: a kick cutter handles a strip along a walk, and a full front yard is a machine job.

When a manual sod cutter makes sense

A kick cutter is worth owning or borrowing when the job is narrow, short or awkward to reach with a machine:

• A new or wider bed edge. You need one or two blade-widths along a curve, and a hand tool turns tighter than a machine.
• A patio, path or shed pad footprint small enough to clear in an afternoon.
• One damaged or weedy patch you want to re-sod or reseed.
• Healthy sod to reuse elsewhere. A set depth gives even strips that lie flat when replanted.
• Tight side yards and gated backyards where a heavy machine won’t fit.

It is the wrong tool for a whole-lawn renovation by hand, for rocky or root-filled ground, and for soil that has baked hard. Near trees, go shallow or skip it. The University of Arizona’s turf conversion guide warns that sod cutting also takes out shallow tree and shrub feeder roots, which stresses those plants.

How to use a manual sod cutter

1. Mark the area and the utilities. Outline the cut with paint or a garden hose. Contact 811 first (see the stop panel below), and flag sprinkler heads and any lines you know about.
2. Get the moisture right. Billy Goat tells users of its powered cutter to soak the turf first, then press a thumb into the sod: if it sinks to the first knuckle, the ground is soft enough. The company also warns that hard, dry ground can damage the machine. The same logic applies to a kick cutter: soft soil lets the blade glide. Don’t soak it to mud, though, because waterlogged strips are heavy and fall apart when rolled.
3. Mow short. Shorter grass makes the strips easier to see, roll and carry. Oregon State advises mowing low before removal when the grass has been killed first.
4. Set the depth shallow. Oregon State Extension sets the cutter blade at ¼ to ½ inch for lawn removal. Any deeper is topsoil you haul away and a dip you’ll have to fill.
5. Cut the long edges first, then kick under. Score the sides of each strip with a spade or edger if your cutter doesn’t have side cutting edges. Then set the blade at the start of the row and kick the frame to drive it under the turf, in short, steady pushes.
6. Cut strips to a length you can lift. Chop across the strip with a spade every few feet.
7. Roll or flip as you go. Roll each strip grass-side in, starting from the cut end. UC ANR describes cutting sod into strips, rolling it and then hauling it off or turning it over to compost in place.
8. Clean up the edges. Pick out root fragments, especially if the grass spreads by rhizomes, and rake the exposed soil smooth.

Expect the cleared area to sit lower than the lawn around it. UConn’s lawn renovation guide notes that soil may need to be added where removal leaves too deep a gap for an even join with the surrounding turf. Our guide on how to level a lawn covers filling low spots without burying grass.

Kill first, or cut it out alive?

For a renovation, you have three broad choices, depending on the grass you’re removing and what goes in next.

• Cut live sod and remove it. This is the fastest option, and the only one that gives you sod you can replant. It works best where the old grass doesn’t spread by underground runners, and where you’ll lay new sod or plant a bed right away.
• Kill first, then cut. Oregon State Extension describes two routes: spray a non-selective herbicide such as glyphosate while the grass is green and actively growing, with a second application about two weeks later for new weeds, or cover the lawn with plastic sheeting, which kills it in about two to three weeks in summer heat. Once the grass is dead, mow it low, aerate, set the cutter at ¼ to ½ inch and remove all the sod, since living root pieces can survive underground. Follow the herbicide label for rates and protective gear.
• Kill it and leave it in place. UMD’s no-dig method smothers turf under cardboard or newspaper topped with 2 to 4 inches of compost, and expects 6 to 8 weeks for the grass to die. Tarps or black plastic stay down two to three months. You never lift sod, but you lose the lawn for longer.

Bermuda grass is the case where cutting alone fails. UC ANR warns that sod removal won’t get rid of bermuda, because even an inch of leftover root can regrow. It recommends solarizing under black plastic for about 4 to 8 weeks and then waiting months to confirm the grass is gone. Arizona’s guide recommends glyphosate while bermuda is actively growing, which it puts at June through September, when days are above 80°F and nights above 55°F, and says more than one application may be needed. If that’s your lawn, start with our guide on how to kill bermuda grass and cut the sod only after it’s dead.

For the full start-over sequence, see how to renovate your lawn. If the soil under the old turf is compacted, Oregon State’s aerate-after-killing step can be done on a small area with a manual lawn aeration tool.

What to do with the sod you remove

Cut sod is mostly topsoil and organic matter. UMD’s guidance is to reuse it rather than throw it out. Your options:

• Patch other parts of the lawn. Lay live strips into bare spots the same day and water them in like new sod.
• Flip it in place. UMD suggests turning sliced sod upside down beside a new bed to dry out and kill the roots, then mixing it back into the soil once it’s completely brown. It adds that strips lifted with a sod cutter can likewise be flipped over and left where they are.
• Fill a low spot or build a berm. UC ANR lists both as uses for cut sod. Lay it grass-side down and cover it so it doesn’t regrow.
• Compost it. Stack strips grass-side down in a pile and let them break down. If the sod was treated with an herbicide, check that product’s label before composting it.
• Haul it away. Oregon State lists the garbage as an option. Check your local yard-waste rules before you bag it, since sod is mostly soil and heavy.

Don’t reuse sod from a lawn you’re removing because of an aggressive spreading grass or a weed problem. Flipping or composting it keeps the problem in one place, while patching with it spreads the problem around.

If you’re replacing the area with new sod, our sod installation cost guide breaks down material, labor and the prep work that removal is part of.

If the job has grown past a kick cutter and an afternoon, our lawn care page connects you with a lawn care company serving your area.

Manual sod cutter FAQs

Related guides

Sources: Oregon State University Extension: Removing lawns for new landscapes · University of Maryland Extension: Lawn turfgrass removal methods · UC ANR: Removing a grass lawn for replanting · University of Arizona AZ2115: Conversion of Turf Areas in Arizona (2025) · UConn Home and Garden Education Center: Lawn Renovation and Repair · Billy Goat: SC121H sod cutter specifications · Tractor Supply: Maxim Sod Kicker product listing · 811 Before You Dig