Sod knives are a must if you are looking for a permanent solution to the maintenance of your sod. Sod knives are specialized in keeping sod carpets – whether you want to use it to re-install sods, or cut it, or re-install it, you know which tool can have your back. Judging from how you’ve stumbled in this post, I take it you already know the answer.
Those who like to decorate their homes and workplaces, i.e. office with a bit of life with green, tend to lean towards sod carpets, also known as carpet grasses. A well-kept sod carpet is not only easy on the eyes but also brings sophistication to the environment. If you want to retrieve sods or re-edge it, there’s no tool better than it. Also, an incredibly handy item for gardening; to dig the soil, repotting plants, weeding, and processing your garden.
Below I have chosen several models of sod knife available in the present market considering several perspectives. So on your quest to select the best sod knife, don’t forget to check the knives below.
What are the Best Sod Knives for your Need?
- Radius Garden 16211 Root Slayer Soil Knife
If you are into landscaping and metal detecting, then you know how important it is to have a professional sod knife in your Pandora’s box. The Radius Garden soil knife is a great choice for professionals due to its practical design and features.
The 7.5 inches long blade is made of high carbon steel, which is enhanced through and through with a powder coating. The blade is designed with a double edge, features one serrated end with ripsaw teeth, and one with a plain edge. Sharpening the blade is a breeze due to its nature, and the coating serves as protective steel while sharpening and heavy using from damaging the blade.
The non-latex thermoplastic haft ensures a comfortable and strong grip with a polypropylene core. So, even though the knife isn’t full tang, rather a half, it will provide the stability as one. The used materials are very durable, and the V-shaped tip works marvelously while digging or severing the roots of weeds.
Pros:
- Durable high carbon blade.
- Non-latex handle featuring easy and non-slip grip.
- Versatile tool featuring a one-hand operation.
- Arthritis-friendly.
- Offers lifetime manufacturers guarantee.
Cons:
- Needs regular maintenance to last a long time.
- Keyfit Tools SOD Knife Stainless Steel
A fine-edged long blade can never hurt if you’re looking for an ideal sod knife. Not only the Keyfit will offer you a lightweight profile with a durable build, but you’ll also be pleasantly surprised with its agility while maneuvering.
The stainless steel blade measures about 8 inches. It’s designed with a double edge, one with small crowded serrated teeth and the other with bigger serrations and kinda blunt for using in moderate uses, and a sharp serrated edge for cutting and re-edging sod strips. It is also extremely recommended to trim overgrown grasses around lawn sprinklers.
The ergonomic handle is made of composite materials to ensure the utmost comfort and functionality to all types of users, whether you have small or big hands or if you’re left-handed or right. Designed to produce minimum strain on hand while lengthy use. The steel type ensures resistance against water, corrosion, and the environment. Overall it offers great value within the budget.
Pros:
- Moderately priced.
- Long and slim stainless steel blade.
- Built to last – resists rust and corrosion.
- Low-maintenance.
- Very sharp edge.
- Comfortable slip-proof handle.
Cons:
- Tricky to sharpen.
- Some mentioned it to be too lightweight.
- Linsen-Outdoor Stainless Steel Garden Knife
With Linsen, from its engineering to its features, it all screams perfection. Some tend to prefer longer blades in their garden knife, and Linsen proudly presents this 11 inches long stainless blade, longer than most other models in the market.
Like traditional sod knives, the Linsen also offers a dual-edge. A big serrated one for quick trim accompanied by a dense serrated one for a cleaner sweep over any type of grass. You’ll also notice a pointy tip for additional uses. Thanks to the stainless steel construction, you won’t have to worry much about the maintenance; such a blade doesn’t require regular oiling either. Just handwash it after use and wipe it dry with a cloth before sheathing it again for better performance.
The ABS plastic handle ensures that you experience a comfy grip that doesn’t put a toll on your hand and also provides you a strong slip-proof grip. The package also includes a nylon sheath for safe storage.
Pros:
- Made of quality materials.
- 11inch long dual-serrated blade.
- Lightweight and durable.
- Multipurpose and Sharp knife for gardening.
- Comes with a sheath.
Cons:
- Not dishwasher safe.
- Stanley Garden BDS7236 FATMAX
This knife is the epitome of convenience. It has a user-friendly design, unlike any other traditional sod knives. The outline of this unit is quite unique yet so functional that you won’t have an issue with it even if it’s your first time using a sod knife.
The knife is rich with a tampered steel that is built to take a beating. So you can rely on it for the heavy-duty task. The blade has a strong blunt spine with a hollow bevel. Due to the saw-like serration, cutting through a thick strip of sods will not be hard too. The tip of the blade is designed with an inward v-shaped channel extremely applicable for planting, digging, and weeding.
The offset handle of this item is the real game-changer – it provides a generous circumference as leverage, thus ensure stronger gripping than ever. The TPR grip offers decent abrasion and weather resistance and also feels nice in hand.
Pros:
- Sharp and strong serration.
- TPR handle is resistant to wears, weather, and electrical-properties.
- Reasonably priced.
- Features a large knife guard.
Cons:
- Small blade length.
- Quite heavy.
- Lesche Digging Tool & Sod Cutter
Lesche is an excellent example of efficiency in simplicity. While it may not be much to look at, but it certainly gets the job done with its 12 inches long build. The USA manufactured knife is guaranteed to high performance.
The chrome-moly steel blade measures about 7 inches in length and a generous width of 1-3/4 inches. The heavy-duty steel cut through dirt, different types of soil, clay, and grass-like a piece of cake. You won’t have to look back after using this one. The blade takes an amazing edge and comes pretty sharpened, so sharpening regularly is not a necessity with it.
Lesche features a textured plastic handle as the haft of the knife. The serration on the left edge is equally ideal for a lefty and right-handed one for clockwork digging. The coiled textures enable the handle to provide a strong grip that won’t slip in even the wettest situation. The handguard plate serves as protection if there were to be any absent-minded accidents.
Pros:
- Functional and long-lasting construction.
- Applicable in various areas.
- Retains edge well.
- A sharp blade with a guard-plate.
- Sturdy & slip-resistant handle.
Cons:
- Poor quality control.
Final Verdict
One might say finding the best sod knife is no difficult task, but an expert will beg to differ. Every garden has a personality, and you’ll have to choose a tool that complements that and not offend to the point where it will be deemed useless. There are plentiful models available in the market, each rich with different features too. With time, as everything, sod knives has also been modernized to perfection.
Along with sharpness, there are many factors that you should definitely check. Ensuring flawless engineering, relentless functionality accompanied by comfort, not to mention the longevity, you’d have nothing to complain about if you’re able to choose the right sod knife.
FAQ
Q: Can I use sod knives for weed removal?
A: Absolutely. The sod knives are designed in a way so not only you can cut and edge sods with it you can also do a decent shape of digging and weeding. The knife is made significantly in this manner to be allowed to clean weed. Sod knives come in many designs some in hoe-shape with a straight handle with about 80 degrees bent blade with a hollow edge. The edge makes it useful to pick and dig soil, and remove weeds. The one with a straight blade design has a hollow spine around the mid part of the blade, also enabling it to go uprooting weeds.
Q: Are serrations a must to look for in a sod knife?
A: Serration in blades is a get-go design for sod knives. As serrated blades not only help you cut deeper and effortlessly, they also help you sweep up dirt and rocks from the soil while combing. That is deemed a valued quality for a garden knife. So nowadays there aren’t many plain edged designs available in sods. However, you may find a few; they may be decent in the sharpness scale; but won’t certainly be as good serrated blades in sweeping and weeding, not to mention the wide range of friction that the small teeth of the edge allow. As the sod is in no way a smooth object to cut, frictions are useful.
Q: What are the alternative tool to cut sods effectively?
A: In absence of a sod knife, you’re going to need other effective tools to cut and edge sods manually yet effectively. You can find the use of a hand edger knife very handy in case of slicing up sods in strips. On the other hand, you can also use a spade or shovel to cut sods; remember to moisture the land earlier, so that the process becomes easier than before. You should prioritize using the edger of your lawnmower if you have one for a better and cleaner cut.
Q: High Carbon Steel vs. Stainless Steel for sod knives?
A: Sod knives don’t necessarily have to be super sharp. What’s more prioritized is if they can go through abrasion? Cutting through soil and dirt dulls the blade more than ever, so you may need to sharpen it from time to time; if you prioritize a smooth sharpening then I suggest you go for high carbon steel i.e. D2, 1095 steel, etc., as they are fast and easy to sharpen, and strong enough to take a beating when the work gets hard. You can say it is high maintenance compared to others.On the contrary, you may find stainless steel CPM154, S30V, S90V, etc. attractive. Even though they don’t take an edge as fast a high carbon, but their wear resistance is strong as heck; as long as you’re doing any task that requires excess brute force the knife will treat you for ages to come. So both are useful in their way, at the end of the day it all comes down to the choice of the customer.
