The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: MVal on March 17, 2017, 10:39:58 AM
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I just rented a house where I am responsible for the lawn care. What are some thoughts on Mustachian lawnmower choices? Are reel mowers practical and usable, or do you wind up wasting more time cutting the grass and breaking your back than is justifiable?
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You have to keep it sharp using a lapping compound (get some at an auto parts store), and keep it well adjusted.
You need to mow frequently... twice a week maybe. If the grass or weeds get too tall, it won't cut them, it'll just run them over.
Works fine on a small lawn.
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Growing up, my family used a reel mower. They are a giant pain in the butt UNLESS you have a very small yard and also mow frequently.
I share a corded electric mower with my friends, and I'm very pleased with it. It gets the job done and I don't have to mess around with gasoline or oil.
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We use one. It's self sharpening (although, how well that sharpens we'll see). We've had it for about a year and a half though and have no complaints.
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We have one, but more often than not, just end up using the electric weed-whacker :)
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We use a pushmower (not sure what reel means?). It is fast and QUIET. Noise pollution is real, too. I'm a relatively petite female and mow our backyard just fine with it. It's a bit hard on the hills in the front. But we have pretty limited green space. Not sure I would want to push it around a huge suburban yard, but for our urban house, it does the trick.
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We use a pushmower (not sure what reel means?). It is fast and QUIET. Noise pollution is real, too. I'm a relatively petite female and mow our backyard just fine with it. It's a bit hard on the hills in the front. But we have pretty limited green space. Not sure I would want to push it around a huge suburban yard, but for our urban house, it does the trick.
A reel mower and push are the same. The reel refers the to cylindrical blade structure that spins.
We use one. Works fine, but as others have said you have to maintain it. I suppose that's true for gas mowers too, but the way their made means they can power through dull blades vs what a reel mower can do. Keep em sharp and lubed, and it's almost a joy to cut grass. Very quiet and it's fun watching the mechanics do their thing.
As others have said, if the grass is too tall you might need to manually trim some patches.
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I used one for a couple of seasons--still have it. Mine is self-sharpening. The cut width is pretty narrow and the blades miss quite a bit, so I often had to go back over everything twice at a different angle. I really hated it, and my property is only 1/4 acre with a 2300 sq.ft. house. (My giant English Mastiff thought the whole thing was a game and loved to chase me around while mowing).
Three or four years ago I bought a used Black & Decker 36v (cordless) from a neighbor. I LOVE IT! No gas and no maintenance other than sharpening the blade. It has enough power to get through some pretty tall stuff as long as the blade is sharp, and does a decent job of mulching, so I don't use the catcher bag that came with it. As a bonus, I can fold up the handle and store the unit vertically against the wall of my garage, which is a huge space saver. Keep it plugged in to charge while not in use. And very quiet compared to gas. I was concerned about battery life, but it seems to hold a charge without any problems, even though it's probably 6 or 8 years old. And mind you, I live in Houston which means mowing from March through October, and in the summer you need to mow every 4-5 days. I'll definitely buy another (someday).
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My partner insisted we get one (less maintenance/cords/gas etc) when we got our house... it's definitely a bit of a workout with the amount of lawn we have right now. But it works pretty good, it's quiet, and the exercise isn't such a bad thing! We're also planning on converting most of the lawn into something non-lawn, ie: mixed borders, raised garden beds, paved etc, within the next few years so eventually the lawn maintenance will be pretty minimal.
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No, but I would like to acquire one. We currently have a gas-fueled mower but as a small petite person, it's really hard for me to push and turn, and the noise bothers me. I'd like a reel mower so I can actually do that particular house chore more frequently, with less noise.
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We have one, with a larger suburban lot and a little hill to mow. Works awesome. I'm a petite woman, and it takes me about 20 minutes to mow. My 12 year old kid mows too. I prefer it for a kid, not as many moving parts, no fast blades... if he stops moving, it stops. No gas or oil to store, no hassle because the ladt person didn't charge it, no cords... Mine mulches as I mow, so no raking up either.
And I can mow early in the morning without bugging any neighbors with engine noise. It's kinda zen like. No stinky exhaust either.
On the other hand, it doesn't work if it's raining (yea Seattle weather) and in the spring, I have to mow 2 or 3 times a week so the grass stays low. Tall grass is a pain with it.
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I did use a reel pushmower for one season. It's OK if you have a small flat yard and mow frequently. The main reasons I quit are (1) I don't want to mow more than once a week during the summer and (2) I have trees that drop lots of twigs and needles that jam the blades. I splurged on an cordless electric lawnmower and it's one purchase I have not regretted.
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We use a pushmower (not sure what reel means?). It is fast and QUIET. Noise pollution is real, too. I'm a relatively petite female and mow our backyard just fine with it. It's a bit hard on the hills in the front. But we have pretty limited green space. Not sure I would want to push it around a huge suburban yard, but for our urban house, it does the trick.
A reel mower and push are the same. The reel refers the to cylindrical blade structure that spins.
We use one. Works fine, but as others have said you have to maintain it. I suppose that's true for gas mowers too, but the way their made means they can power through dull blades vs what a reel mower can do. Keep em sharp and lubed, and it's almost a joy to cut grass. Very quiet and it's fun watching the mechanics do their thing.
As others have said, if the grass is too tall you might need to manually trim some patches.
I don't think reel and push are exactly the same. A reel mower is a type of push mower, as opposed to a riding mower.
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We bought one and almost immediately returned it -- the grassy part of our lawn (which is small) is closely ringed by trees, and within about 3 feet of starting to push the thing (and mow) it would get one or more sticks caught in its reel, and stop, necessitating turning it over/on its side to extract the stick and then starting again. As we're never going to have a stick-free grassy space, we decided it wasn't right for us and bought an inexpensive gasoline mower. It handles the job just fine.
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We have one. Tip: don't buy new, they're super easy to find used (or at least, even in my relatively small local CL, they were easy). Like other have said: fine if you maintain it, stay on top of mowing, and have a small yard without sticks. Under our tree in our backyard, I just rake first to get any sticks up.
If life gets out of hand and the weeds get tall, we borrow a neighbor's gas mower for a once-over. Otherwise, the reel mower won't get them.
Maybe we'll upgrade to an electric sometime, but I never want a gas mower again.
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Reel mower wouldn't work for me for a variety of reasons, but I'd be interested in a (cordless) electric once my 10y/o gas mower bites it.
One question though, I store my mower (and other yard equipment) in an unheated shed in Chicagoland; would sitting in freezing or below temps all winter affect the battery in the mower? Is it easy and convenient to remove the battery and store it in a warmer space (say in my basement crawl space)?
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I have one with adjustable height. If the grass is tall I set it to the highest level, then I cut again at a shorter level. My gas mower use to cut with more precision, the reel mower tends to be less even but inconsequentially. If you're super into your lawn, this might bother you, my neighbor is one of those who has to have the lines from his gas mower all perfect, he can't handle any imperfections.
I also have mown the grass at 6 AM and 11 PM; it was dark, I was home for a few hours before leaving again for a week. I can mow at any time, gas mowers have noise bylaws to follow. In addition, they're safer, my reel mower doesn't throw rocks at kids and cant chop your hand if you stick it in the blades (kids are crazy, I've seen numerous children with mower amputations). From an environmental view the VOC's from gas mowers are horrendous, you're stuck breathing that in with gas.
Overall my favorite part is the tranquility of mowing. Get a drink holder attached and its very peaceful walking around. I like listening to the birds sing while I mow. Big bonus, it doesn't stir up dust/grass pollen, way easier for people with allergies.
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I've used one for the last 4 years or so. I got a pretty fancy one (Fiskars Staysharp Max) that's supposed to keep its blades sharp and is easier to push than others. I have a pretty flat quarter acre lot and it works well for that. Takes me about an hour to do. It doesn't do a perfect job, but it's good enough for me.
I do also have a gas mower that I bought used, which I mostly got to mulch up leaves in the fall so I don't have to rake. The reel mower is definitely more of a workout and takes maybe 20 minutes longer than the gas mower. Most of the time, it's worth it though. No real maintenance (check the blade alignment maybe once a year) and I love how quiet it is. Mine shoots the grass out front and it's kind of fun to watch and more pleasant to be walking around without the roaring noise and pollution of the gas mower. It's also lighter and easier to maneuver and store. Some days I'm lazy or the grass gets too long, so it is nice to have the gas mower as a backup.
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We use a pushmower (not sure what reel means?). It is fast and QUIET. Noise pollution is real, too. I'm a relatively petite female and mow our backyard just fine with it. It's a bit hard on the hills in the front. But we have pretty limited green space. Not sure I would want to push it around a huge suburban yard, but for our urban house, it does the trick.
A reel mower and push are the same. The reel refers the to cylindrical blade structure that spins.
We use one. Works fine, but as others have said you have to maintain it. I suppose that's true for gas mowers too, but the way their made means they can power through dull blades vs what a reel mower can do. Keep em sharp and lubed, and it's almost a joy to cut grass. Very quiet and it's fun watching the mechanics do their thing.
As others have said, if the grass is too tall you might need to manually trim some patches.
I don't think reel and push are exactly the same. A reel mower is a type of push mower, as opposed to a riding mower.
I should have clarified. A push mower is generally considered a non-self driving motorized mower to most people. I was just trying to explain it in the context of honeybbq's post.
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I had one for a couple of years and ended up really disliking it. My yard is not at all level and the wheels stuck often. I had the same issues as other posters with tall grass/weeds getting run over rather than cut. I finally switched to a cordless electric mower which I love.
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I have used one for years on a small grassy area and it does an adequate job. It is satisfying to mow with human power and very little noise. It is light enough to carry with one hand and compact enough to hang up in the garage.
However I would not recommend buying a reel mower if you have:
1) Many trees - the small twigs, bark, leaves, etc jam up the cutter and more quickly dull the blades. I have a lot of oak trees and usually have to rake before mowing. So the job takes more than twice as long.
2) Large yard - I find the effort to push it is not that much more than using a gasoline push mower, but the width of most are narrower than your generic Briggs and Stratton push mower. So it will take more passes to mow the whole yard.
3) Tall grass - If you are growing Fescue or other tall grasses it is not recommended. Most reel mowers only work well for shorter creeping grasses like Zoysia or Bermuda. Even then if you let the grass get too tall a reel mower will not cut it all, as the mower will push longer blades over such that the grass blade tip does not enter reel opening for the slicing action to take place. A vacation or long rainy period can easily put you behind schedule making it difficult to get the grass back under control.
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I bought a late-1970s Scotts model (metal instead of plastic bearings) 15 years ago. I get it sharpened every other year by a local guy. Love it. Quiet, decent workout, no gas, few moving parts. Yes, you have to stay on top of your grass, but if it's a small-ish lawn, it's perfect.
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We've used push mowers and are on our 11th season.
First one was a Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton mower. Cared for that thing, repaired it multiple times. Bought a Honda this year.
Wish I would have paid the little extra for the Honda the first time in hindsight. Many mowers out there are made pretty crappy now.
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We've used push mowers and are on our 11th season.
First one was a Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton mower. Cared for that thing, repaired it multiple times. Bought a Honda this year.
Wish I would have paid the little extra for the Honda the first time in hindsight. Many mowers out there are made pretty crappy now.
FWIW: the OP is talking about one of these:
(http://www.reelmowerreviews.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_17b3/custom/rotator/grassy-reel-mower.jpg)
Side comment: I once bought a VERY expensive, high end Honda. I loved it.... until it only lasted 3 years. I went back to the cheapo mowers. The Honda was well built, but poorly engineered.
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We've used push mowers and are on our 11th season.
First one was a Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton mower. Cared for that thing, repaired it multiple times. Bought a Honda this year.
Wish I would have paid the little extra for the Honda the first time in hindsight. Many mowers out there are made pretty crappy now.
FWIW: the OP is talking about one of these:
(http://www.reelmowerreviews.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_17b3/custom/rotator/grassy-reel-mower.jpg)
Side comment: I once bought a VERY expensive, high end Honda. I loved it.... until it only lasted 3 years. I went back to the cheapo mowers. The Honda was well built, but poorly engineered.
Interesting, I've always heard the Hondas were great but pricey. My plan for when my Craftsman craps out, and it's showing some signs, is either a cordless electric or the absolute bottom line Honda (I don't need any features, just a mulching blade).
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We've used push mowers and are on our 11th season.
First one was a Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton mower. Cared for that thing, repaired it multiple times. Bought a Honda this year.
Wish I would have paid the little extra for the Honda the first time in hindsight. Many mowers out there are made pretty crappy now.
FWIW: the OP is talking about one of these:
(http://www.reelmowerreviews.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_17b3/custom/rotator/grassy-reel-mower.jpg)
Side comment: I once bought a VERY expensive, high end Honda. I loved it.... until it only lasted 3 years. I went back to the cheapo mowers. The Honda was well built, but poorly engineered.
Interesting, I've always heard the Hondas were great but pricey. My plan for when my Craftsman craps out, and it's showing some signs, is either a cordless electric or the absolute bottom line Honda (I don't need any features, just a mulching blade).
There are a ton of low end mowers with Honda engines. The high end Hondas have (or at least had... maybe they fixed it) problems in that the mulching blade was 2 extremely hardened steel, unbendable blades -- as was the shear pin. The crackshaft and connecting rod to the piston are not. If you hit a stump or a rock, you're doomed.
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I just mowed my lawn with a reel mower. I have the Scott's 20". A reel mower is more work, but it is rewarding. When the grass is high, I will mow it at the highest level, and then mow at a low level to help prevent needing to re-mowing. Especially in spring. I enjoy it but I have a smaller yard. If your grass is like mine, I will mow a line, and then mow over it in the opposite direction. There seems to be a technique to being efficient with a reel mower. Or maybe I just need to get mine sharpened haha. Small sticks are the bane to a reel mower's existence.
Whatever you do, do not wait too long to mow, especially in spring. Or you will feel like a guy in an overgrown jungle with a very dull machete.
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We have one, with a larger suburban lot and a little hill to mow. Works awesome. I'm a petite woman, and it takes me about 20 minutes to mow.
What I'd your definition of larger? I have a self propelled mower and it takes me more than an hour to mow my mid (about a quarter acre grass, though it is hilly. It's one of the smallest lots in the division) size suburban lot... 20 minutes sounds tiny!
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I've been keeping my eye out for a used pushmower, to do the areas of my yard that are hard to get to with our riding mower. We have several fruit trees that hang low and are close together so hard to manuever the rider through it.
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We bought the cheapest reel mower available when we rented a home with a postage stamp yard for a couple of years. (the size of two patios, total) I agree with others about the sticks/twigs fallen from trees. It stops the blades (and wheels) very suddenly, and was a bit too jarring.
In the new home, I have started to replace our grass with a clover lawn, that also needs mowing. I must say that the reel mower does an easy and lovely job. Clover is a lot finer and easier to mow than grass, and I can just fly over it, compared to the loud noisy pushmower. I actually prefer the reel mower on the clover, and dry flat grass areas without sticks.
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We have a reel mower and love it. One benefit not mentioned is that the reel doesn't stir up dust or pollen while mowing. When we use our gas mower there is a cloud of dust over the yard that riles our allegeries. We like to have the house open during warm weather and this forces us to close up the house.
I see the reel as a maintenance mower but the gas mower gets the real chopping and grinding done. I might mow once or twice at the beginning of the season with the gas mower and then switch to the reel until the yard gets out of hand. Tiny sticks and debris stops the reel cold as already mentioned here.
I looked into the battery mowers when I bought my current gas mower. The batteries last just a few years so you'll need to do a little research about the cost of replacement and sources for the batteries. If you are lucky the mower will use some sort of commodity battery that you can source from the cheapest retailer online rather than buying a proprietary battery for more $ but same utility.
Back when our kids were young we had a used ride on toy that used these ~$75 batteries. A little homework and I discovered it was a standard sealed lead acid battery that could be had for $35 locally with a plastic top and bottom frame that disguised the battery's true origin. They had even put a sticker over the original manufacturer's label. I popped the frames off and used hot glue to attach them to the new battery.
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I use a 40v Greenworks Electric Mower. I have (3) batteries which I share between the mower, weedwhacker, and a blower.
Its a bit pricey to get into the electric game, but I'll admit that I don't mind doing yardwork now. Its neat using equipment that sound like small vacuum cleaners when running.
Granted, we have a pretty small lot.
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In response to the, gas mowers are crap now comments... you are right.
I managed 5 home improvement stores and sold at least 10,000 lawnmowers in the 1990s and 2000s.
Part of it is cost savings on the deck frame, etc but on the engines, it is mostly emissions standards.
CARB came out with small engine emissions standards (back in the late 90s I believe) and all of a sudden all mowers were built to meet that spec.
overnight, they became very lean, and consequently, very intolerant of old fuel, dirty plugs, or a dirty carb.
I have a 1994 craftsman with a brigs and stratton engine that starts on the first pull every time. I haven't done any maintenance besides sharpening the blade or changing the oil in 10 years.
I dont even drain the gas out of it over the winter.
Try that with a modern mower and you'll be taking it for repair for sure.
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In response to the, gas mowers are crap now comments... you are right.
I managed 5 home improvement stores and sold at least 10,000 lawnmowers in the 1990s and 2000s.
Part of it is cost savings on the deck frame, etc but on the engines, it is mostly emissions standards.
CARB came out with small engine emissions standards (back in the late 90s I believe) and all of a sudden all mowers were built to meet that spec.
overnight, they became very lean, and consequently, very intolerant of old fuel, dirty plugs, or a dirty carb.
I have a 1994 craftsman with a brigs and stratton engine that starts on the first pull every time. I haven't done any maintenance besides sharpening the blade or changing the oil in 10 years.
I dont even drain the gas out of it over the winter.
Try that with a modern mower and you'll be taking it for repair for sure.
I don't know how modern "modern" is, but my 2008 Honda-engined Craftsman gets (ab)used the same way and I've never had a problem. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever even changed the oil. The engine is great, it's everything else that's falling apart.
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Reel mower wouldn't work for me for a variety of reasons, but I'd be interested in a (cordless) electric once my 10y/o gas mower bites it.
One question though, I store my mower (and other yard equipment) in an unheated shed in Chicagoland; would sitting in freezing or below temps all winter affect the battery in the mower? Is it easy and convenient to remove the battery and store it in a warmer space (say in my basement crawl space)?
The battery for our electric mower is removable. We also live at your latitude and keep the battery in the house charging year round. Grab the battery on the way out to mow - its tiny and light, so no big deal.
Regarding the OP, we had a Fiskars reel mower for about 3 years. The sparse grass in one part of our yard never really got shorter with the reel mower. And we have a huge tree that drops so many sticks that we basically had to rake every time before we mowed, even if it had only been three days. It just wasn't a satisfying experience to mow with that thing. The electric one is great.
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I don't know how modern "modern" is, but my 2008 Honda-engined Craftsman gets (ab)used the same way and I've never had a problem. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever even changed the oil. The engine is great, it's everything else that's falling apart.
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Honda does make good engines.
Still, fuel degrades over time. Every year I would have a few dozen people come in to the store at the time of the first mowing because "their mower woudn't start"
in almost every case, we drained it put fresh fuel in it and it started right up. Some engines are more tolerant than others. It also depends what fuel you use, and how old the fuel is when it goes into storage. If you have small yard and buy 2 gallons and that lasts a whole summer then your fuel is already 6 months old when it goes into storage!
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I don't know how modern "modern" is, but my 2008 Honda-engined Craftsman gets (ab)used the same way and I've never had a problem. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever even changed the oil. The engine is great, it's everything else that's falling apart.
Honda does make good engines.
Still, fuel degrades over time. Every year I would have a few dozen people come in to the store at the time of the first mowing because "their mower woudn't start"
in almost every case, we drained it put fresh fuel in it and it started right up. Some engines are more tolerant than others. It also depends what fuel you use, and how old the fuel is when it goes into storage. If you have small yard and buy 2 gallons and that lasts a whole summer then your fuel is already 6 months old when it goes into storage!
I usually run the mower as low as I can in the fall and then it has a fuel petcock that I'll turn off (on?) and run it to empty. Then I can refill with fresh fuel in the spring and it will be at least a mix of good/bad fuel. I also share fueling duties with the snowblower in the winter, so the fuel gets cycled. Finally, I run Shell premium in my small engines, figure the extra detergents, etc can't hurt, plus then I can fill my premium-requiring cars in a pinch with the mower can if I ever had to (emergency, etc). The extra $.80 or so 2-3x a year doesn't sting too badly.
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Buy a corded electric off CL for super cheap. Important, use a 12g extension cord. I burnt my first mower out after ~3 years because I was using a cheap 16g cord. Bought 2x 50 ft cords from Harbor Freight for cheap many years ago and a used B&D corded electric mower for $50, been working fine since.
I did have a reel mower (push mower) and it was a PITA. Sold it. Got it for free so made a few bucks so not bad but still not worth the effort.
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Buy a corded electric off CL for super cheap. Important, use a 12g extension cord. I burnt my first mower out after ~3 years because I was using a cheap 16g cord. Bought 2x 50 ft cords from Harbor Freight for cheap many years ago and a used B&D corded electric mower for $50, been working fine since.
I did have a reel mower (push mower) and it was a PITA. Sold it. Got it for free so made a few bucks so not bad but still not worth the effort.
This^^^^
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I have a neighbor that uses one and he said he sort of regrets it. You have to cut your lawn more often, but it appears to be great exercise. I wouldn't do it.
If your lawn is small enough, buy an electric one instead. If it's larger, I would go with a gas powered mower. Modern ones use very little gas (mine is a Toro and is incredibly reliable). Unlike a car, the oil is extremely easy to change, and I do so once per year. You simply tip the mower to it's side, and the oil pours right out. Put in some new, fresh oil, and you are good to go for another season. I hope this helps.
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Buy a corded electric off CL for super cheap. Important, use a 12g extension cord. I burnt my first mower out after ~3 years because I was using a cheap 16g cord. Bought 2x 50 ft cords from Harbor Freight for cheap many years ago and a used B&D corded electric mower for $50, been working fine since.
I did have a reel mower (push mower) and it was a PITA. Sold it. Got it for free so made a few bucks so not bad but still not worth the effort.
This^^^^
I'd be even more careful than what this says. Remember: voltage drops over distance. Make damn sure your mower can handle a 100ft of 12ga cord. I suspect it may want 10ga wire at 100ft (or might not allow any gauge longer than 50 ft.) In other words: read the manual.
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I'd be even more careful than what this says. Remember: voltage drops over distance. Make damn sure your mower can handle a 100ft of 12ga cord. I suspect it may want 10ga wire at 100ft (or might not allow any gauge longer than 50 ft.) In other words: read the manual.
12g is absolutely fine on a 15 amp load <100'.
No one is out there purchasing 10g power cords to run electric lawn mowers. I assure you. Voltage drop is minimal on a 12g. Remember, 12g is designed to carry ~20 amps throughout a home where runs could easily exceed 100 ft of wire.
If you need >100 ft of extension cord to run a lawn mower, buy a cordless battery or cheapo gas.
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No, for the same reason I don't chisel my documents onto tablets of stone.
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Yup, I have a Scotts 20" and it works great. Needs to be sharpened, though. Should be sharpened at the beginning of every season. There's a guy at the Farmer's Market who can apparently take care of it.
I have a flat 5,000 sq ft plot, though. Might not work for you....
My Dad has a Toro from I think the mid or late 80s that still does a bang-up job.
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I have a 20" we got at walmart for maybe $100, we couldn't find used. I used it when our grass was sparse and sad, but now that we're seeding and have more of it, it's not enough. Texas grass is hearty, thick, and mad. if you wait 20 minutes too long the grass gets smashed by the mower, not cut. you have to go over most spots more than once and from like 90* angles to each other.
Even still it was a fun adventure. We pick up our small gas mower this weekend. (free anniversary present yay!). we cut the whole yard with a gas mower a few times and it cut the time in half, especially with the sticks or debris jamming the reel mower.
I don't regret the experiment, but I don't enjoy yard work. getting it done in 20 minutes instead of an hour will be nice.
you're welcome to come try the reel mower if you're local, or buy it from us cheap!
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Voltage drop at 100' with a 15amp load on 12ga is 5.7volts (acceptable) 14ga 9.1 volts (borderline, depending on source voltage) 16ga 12.8 volts (do not use) Electic motors need 110 volts. Anything less will burn them up. Check the outlet in hour house with a voltmeter, its typically 115v-122v.
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I do. They are not perfect, but then neither is having a tangly power cord or smelly empty can of gas. They are best supplemented with a battery powered weed eater. I was watching the Clint Eastwood movie where he plays a crotchety old man who is continuously pushing one of those things over his scrappy front lawn. I was like "yeah, someday I want to have a lawn just like" and now I do :-).
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I bought a cheap Remington reel mower last year. It is okay, not great. If you like a pristine yard, don't use a reel mower, as it will leave patches. However, using it is fun, and quiet. Lots more work than a gas push mower, since you end up re-mowing a lot.
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Self-sharpening Sears Craftsman reel mower I got 7 years ago. I have to adjust the blade gap every 2-3 years. Not any more back breaking than pushing a regular gas mower, but the cutting width on mine is a little narrower so it takes more passes. Cuts best when set down low. Set up high it's a little ragged. Also, if you let the grass get way too high it'll bend instead of cutting (but cutting it way low helps resolve that).
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Lots of comments about "doesn't work if you let the grass get too high, etc"; do any of you travel? We spend several weekends and often a week away from home in summer (grass cutting season) so it doesn't always work out that I can just mow whenever. Sometimes 5-6 days or many more go by without the opportunity to mow due to travel, weather, and other commitments. The gas mower has enough problems with 10 days' worth of late spring grass; I certainly don't want to lock myself into something that can't cope with that.
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If you have a Bermuda (Tif 419 or similar) lawn reel mowers do a great job on keeping them short and trimmed. You do have to mow every few days if you want a nice looking lawn (and feed it as much nitrogen as you can throw at it).
For others mow as high as you can.
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No, for the same reason I don't chisel my documents onto tablets of stone.
lol.
I looked into reel mowers a couple of years ago, but never could get a good handle on how big "smallish" was. I've got a Craftsman push mower that is now 13 years old. Change the spark plug, oil, and filter each year. Starts up like a champ. The reel mower would be cool, but my yard would not be conducive to having one and never regretting it.
Buy a corded electric off CL for super cheap. Important, use a 12g extension cord. I burnt my first mower out after ~3 years because I was using a cheap 16g cord. Bought 2x 50 ft cords from Harbor Freight for cheap many years ago and a used B&D corded electric mower for $50, been working fine since.
I did have a reel mower (push mower) and it was a PITA. Sold it. Got it for free so made a few bucks so not bad but still not worth the effort.
you know why the corded mower was super cheap on CL? because it's a corded lawnmower.
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Lots of comments about "doesn't work if you let the grass get too high, etc"; do any of you travel? We spend several weekends and often a week away from home in summer (grass cutting season) so it doesn't always work out that I can just mow whenever. Sometimes 5-6 days or many more go by without the opportunity to mow due to travel, weather, and other commitments. The gas mower has enough problems with 10 days' worth of late spring grass; I certainly don't want to lock myself into something that can't cope with that.
Weekends are fine, even in prime growing season you can go that long.
Going away for a week in the Spring, that's when you pay the neighbor kid $20 to mow your lawn with his gas mower once. Around here there's only really about a month where that's the case that it grows that fast. I haven't had to do it once yet as never has travel fallen in that range of time. Even if it happened twice a year (at the current cheap gas prices) I'd still be ahead vs. owning and using my own gas mower.
I inherited a gas mower and kept it for 3-4 years due to your concern, but did not use it ever, so ended up giving it away to free up the space.
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I've mowed with the reel after about 10 days in late spring and not had a problem. I also mow high, so it's not like I'm chopping it down to a quarter inch and it only grows back to a reasonable height.
Tougher, but manageable. If you get some momentum, you can plow right through most things.
I do have a weed whacker, which is also an option: haircut the grass, finish with the reel.
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Had one when we were kids, that dad made us use. No way in hell I will ever push one of those miserable things again.
Get one with a motor, they're not all that expensive.
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Had one when we were kids, that dad made us use. No way in hell I will ever push one of those miserable things again.
Get one with a motor, they're not all that expensive.
It's not always the cost that's the issue. For us, a couple factors include space and smell (in the case of gas mowers). We have a home gym in our garage, and no shed or similar to store gas in. I don't want to breathe gas fumes as I work out. So no go on a gas mower. The electric are much larger than a reel mower which leans nearly totally flat against the wall. (We store it between the car and the wall).
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It's not always the cost that's the issue. For us, a couple factors include space and smell (in the case of gas mowers). We have a home gym in our garage, and no shed or similar to store gas in. I don't want to breathe gas fumes as I work out.
I store/have stored several gas powered appliances (mower, weedwacker, backpack blower, snow blower, power washer) and several cans of gas (pure and various types of premix) in garages and sheds and never have a gas smell unless I'm actively fueling something.
Space is a PITA, I'll give you that one.
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It's not always the cost that's the issue. For us, a couple factors include space and smell (in the case of gas mowers). We have a home gym in our garage, and no shed or similar to store gas in. I don't want to breathe gas fumes as I work out.
I store/have stored several gas powered appliances (mower, weedwacker, backpack blower, snow blower, power washer) and several cans of gas (pure and various types of premix) in garages and sheds and never have a gas smell unless I'm actively fueling something.
Space is a PITA, I'll give you that one.
I find that odd. I can DEFINITELY tell when I walk in someone's garage if they have gas/gas powered stuff in there. (Except cars, they usually do not smell like gas to me). I do have a good sense of smell though, so maybe thats it.
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It's not always the cost that's the issue. For us, a couple factors include space and smell (in the case of gas mowers). We have a home gym in our garage, and no shed or similar to store gas in. I don't want to breathe gas fumes as I work out.
I store/have stored several gas powered appliances (mower, weedwacker, backpack blower, snow blower, power washer) and several cans of gas (pure and various types of premix) in garages and sheds and never have a gas smell unless I'm actively fueling something.
Space is a PITA, I'll give you that one.
I find that odd. I can DEFINITELY tell when I walk in someone's garage if they have gas/gas powered stuff in there. (Except cars, they usually do not smell like gas to me). I do have a good sense of smell though, so maybe thats it.
Unless something is really old or malfunctioning, it should not be releasing any gas fumes.
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Reel Lawn-Mower is beautifully light. Mounts right up on the rafters, makes it totally vertical and takes up like 5 sq ft of space.
I still only have (probably) 2.2 sq ft of actual green, though...much bigger than that and I probably wouldn't use the damn reel. Couldn't imagine mowing my Dad's lawn with a reel!
Just let get it real big and cut it with a scythe :P
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I love the scissoring effect of the reel. Its like baking something that turns out just right or waxing the car (the shine). Also like that the reel doesn't stir up every bit of dust and pollen and throw it into the air in a little cloud that I have to breathe.
I use the gas mower when I have to. Its already paid for, but I love to use the reel mower when I can.
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A friend uses a scythe. There are some interesting videos/websites promoting them:
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/245108/scythe-lawnmowing-competition/
https://scythesupply.com/notes-on-mowing-a-lawn.html
Scythes could be useful/fun for grass too tall/wet for reel mowers.
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Hey, good news...I just got a lawn mower. It's electric, with a cord. Thank you all for your advice and discussion. I found a great deal on Craigslist for a mower with an electric trimmer included for $75. They're several years old and well used, but it should work for now.
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We have had one for years and love it. Mind you my husband does the lawns but he prefers the reel mover. So much more peaceful and saves the gas. We do have a gas powdered that is needed if the lawn gets too long so you do need to stay on top of it if you intend to use the reel mover.
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So, now that growing season has hit in earnest here, our reel mower wasn't doing the trick anymore. Stuff just grew way too fast to keep up with. We ended up buying a battery-based electric. We're very happy with it so far. Went the ryobi route.
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If you can get your hands on an old reel mower that's the way to go. They're heavy but once they're moving the weight makes it harder for thick grass stop the rotation of the reel. My dad found one for me almost 10 years ago and cleaned it up. I've touched it with a screwdriver just twice all these years later and that was to make hair adjustments to the bar the reel touches so the blades keep touching it. The grass shoots out of the back of the mower like a snow blower. It's magical. I'd probably mow up to a half acre with my mower before I considered something else.
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We've used push mowers and are on our 11th season.
First one was a Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton mower. Cared for that thing, repaired it multiple times. Bought a Honda this year.
Wish I would have paid the little extra for the Honda the first time in hindsight. Many mowers out there are made pretty crappy now.
FWIW: the OP is talking about one of these:
(http://www.reelmowerreviews.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_17b3/custom/rotator/grassy-reel-mower.jpg)
Side comment: I once bought a VERY expensive, high end Honda. I loved it.... until it only lasted 3 years. I went back to the cheapo mowers. The Honda was well built, but poorly engineered.
Interesting, I've always heard the Hondas were great but pricey. My plan for when my Craftsman craps out, and it's showing some signs, is either a cordless electric or the absolute bottom line Honda (I don't need any features, just a mulching blade).
FWIW I've used a ~$500 Honda mower for 7 years now, and done nothing but put gas in it. I expect it to last many more. My dad has a honda I think is older than me.
1/4 acre lot. Couple gallon of gas last a whole season. I tried a reel mower and it wasn't much more physically taxing, but it left tons of patches with longer grass, even on 2nd, 3rd try. And the mulching feature of the honda is worth it alone. With the reel mower you really need to rake the whole thing; not gonna happen. If you have a tiny lawn I'd say maybe.
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We've used push mowers and are on our 11th season.
First one was a Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton mower. Cared for that thing, repaired it multiple times. Bought a Honda this year.
Wish I would have paid the little extra for the Honda the first time in hindsight. Many mowers out there are made pretty crappy now.
FWIW: the OP is talking about one of these:
(http://www.reelmowerreviews.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_17b3/custom/rotator/grassy-reel-mower.jpg)
Side comment: I once bought a VERY expensive, high end Honda. I loved it.... until it only lasted 3 years. I went back to the cheapo mowers. The Honda was well built, but poorly engineered.
Interesting, I've always heard the Hondas were great but pricey. My plan for when my Craftsman craps out, and it's showing some signs, is either a cordless electric or the absolute bottom line Honda (I don't need any features, just a mulching blade).
FWIW I've used a ~$500 Honda mower for 7 years now, and done nothing but put gas in it. I expect it to last many more. My dad has a honda I think is older than me.
1/4 acre lot. Couple gallon of gas last a whole season. I tried a reel mower and it wasn't much more physically taxing, but it left tons of patches with longer grass, even on 2nd, 3rd try. And the mulching feature of the honda is worth it alone. With the reel mower you really need to rake the whole thing; not gonna happen. If you have a tiny lawn I'd say maybe.
Okay, if you have a Honda mulching blade in there TAKE IT OUT RIGHT NOW. I'm serious. If you hit something -- anything -- that stops that blade cold, you've just scrapped your mower. The Honda mulching blade is two blades that are extremely hardened steel. When you hit a stump (for example) they'll hold up really well. So will the shear pin. The crankshaft... well, that's made of something less sturdy than the other parts.
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We use a pushmower, but we have a very small lot 4,000 square foot. We also have an electric one...both we got at a garage sale for $35 for both. Works for us.
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I still only have (probably) 2.2 sq ft of actual green, though...much bigger than that and I probably wouldn't use the damn reel. Couldn't imagine mowing my Dad's lawn with a reel!
With a lawn that size you could just use nail clippers
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I highly recommend this mower. I've only cut the grass 4 or 5 times with it, but it does a great job even with tall grass.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GX9WNP2
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Walking with my dog and kid last night, and walked past a neighbor using a reel mower. My daughter (4) looked at his lawn and said "daddy, it doesn't even look like he's cutting it." And, uhh, she was right.
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I have one, I hope to one day get my lawn in order so I can use it. I have some big dogs that make grass difficult.
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Had one when we were kids, that dad made us use. No way in hell I will ever push one of those miserable things again.
Get one with a motor, they're not all that expensive.
Yep. Bad memories of youth are coming back. Say no to reel push mowers!
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We've had one for 5 years and use it to mow our small lawn, about once a week, sometimes a little less frequently even. We love it. We travel too so sometimes it goes a couple weeks without a mow, but we haven't had problems yet. I especially love that it's quiet--all our neighbors seem to use very loud mowers, blowers, and lawn services, and the ensuing noise is a real negative, IMO.
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No. Because a lawn is not mustachian or environmentally friendly
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We had (have) one for a year or two, but it grew progressively worse at cutting (even after sharpening). We switched to an electric and have been thoroughly satisfied.
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In my second year with mine. I like it Okay, but it takes two passes a day or two apart to make a fairly even lawn. Plus if the grass is really thick (not just tall, but even short grass that is really healthy and dense) it is hard to cut it. I broke down just yesterday and ordered a new gas mower.
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We tried a push mower and it just did not do the job though we have a good size lawn. We bought a Green Works, battery operated lawn mower from AMZN, the 2 battery kind and we love it. It is save, not too loud, easy to push, the 2 batteries last about an hour for mowing and are interchangeable across all other green works products which we kept adding because we liked them so much. We have the blower, chainsaw (super easy to use and effective if you have a small farm or average to deal with fallen trees), trimmer/edger. My wife is 5'4, I am 6' and we both trade off on using the tools.
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Lots of comments about "doesn't work if you let the grass get too high, etc"; do any of you travel? We spend several weekends and often a week away from home in summer (grass cutting season) so it doesn't always work out that I can just mow whenever. Sometimes 5-6 days or many more go by without the opportunity to mow due to travel, weather, and other commitments. The gas mower has enough problems with 10 days' worth of late spring grass; I certainly don't want to lock myself into something that can't cope with that.
Sounds like a reel mower might not be for you, unless you can give your lawn a once over with the gas mower before going back to the reel. Or borrow a neighbors gas mower for those instances?
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Lots of comments about "doesn't work if you let the grass get too high, etc"; do any of you travel? We spend several weekends and often a week away from home in summer (grass cutting season) so it doesn't always work out that I can just mow whenever. Sometimes 5-6 days or many more go by without the opportunity to mow due to travel, weather, and other commitments. The gas mower has enough problems with 10 days' worth of late spring grass; I certainly don't want to lock myself into something that can't cope with that.
Sounds like a reel mower might not be for you, unless you can give your lawn a once over with the gas mower before going back to the reel. Or borrow a neighbors gas mower for those instances?
I wound up getting an electric mower since it sounded like a reel mower is going to be way too frequent mowings for me. The cord is a pain, but it was only $75 on Craigslist and they threw in the electric trimmer to boot.
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Hubs bought this (https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Inch-Staysharp-Reel-Mower/dp/B0045VL1OO) this reel mower off craigslist. It had only been used a handful of times and he got it for around $50. It works much better than our old reel mower (which Hubs accidently ran over...) and it only takes ~2 passes to get an even cut. We like to keep our grass a little longer to help fill in some bald spots so its a little bit of a workout but that's a good thing. We also love that its quiet and peaceful so the pets can be hanging out in the backyard while we mow and one of us is usually relaxing back there (me) while the other is working (Hubs). Most of our neighbors have lawn crews with loud blowers and mowers so I like that we are not adding any more noise or pollution in our neighborhood.
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I just got one the other week. We have a new place and a nice backyard with about 500sqft of grass. Takes about 5-10m of easy work. It didn't make sense to get a gas mower given that our back yard is so small.
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Quiet is a big advantage of the reel mowers -- I was able to mow at 9pm this week (still daylight), and not make noise to irritate neighbors.
BUT -- the longer grass is just pushed over in places, so we need a different mower for a while.
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^good point. On my bike ride into work this morning I saw someone mowing their yard with a reel mower. It was ~6:30am.
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BUT -- the longer grass is just pushed over in places, so we need a different mower for a while.
A small battery powered weedwhacker will do those sections that get too long and just push over. I've got one for edging anyways, so not a big deal to hit the occasional sections that grow faster than I expected...
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If I ever live somewhere with a lawn, or I add a small lawn space to my yard, I would definitely want a reel mower. Won't have to deal with the cord, or gasoline, adding pollution. Won't have to deal with expensive mechanical issues. I would appreciate the extra exercise. And most importantly I tend to do yardwork early in the morning, even before the sun comes out. I live in Florida so pretty much we are relegated to early morning and evening yardwork. I doubt my neighbors, as lovely as they are, would appreciate me mowing the lawn at five and six in the morning, with a motorized mower.
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BUT -- the longer grass is just pushed over in places, so we need a different mower for a while.
A small battery powered weedwhacker will do those sections that get too long and just push over. I've got one for edging anyways, so not a big deal to hit the occasional sections that grow faster than I expected...
Argh. the battery is starting to slowly expand on my 12 year old weed wacker, so I had to stop using it. And I can't find a replacement. And it was part of a 4 tool kit that I really liked...
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Argh. the battery is starting to slowly expand on my 12 year old weed wacker, so I had to stop using it. And I can't find a replacement. And it was part of a 4 tool kit that I really liked...
Internally pretty much all those batteries are the same. There's standard cell sizes. Just need the right amount arranged the right way. You don't need to buy a whole replacement unit. Just cycle on over to your nearest "Batteries+" (or similar) shop and they'll rebuild yours for you. If they have to order cells it may take a week, otherwise it could be an hour or less. They've never failed me.
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Argh. the battery is starting to slowly expand on my 12 year old weed wacker, so I had to stop using it. And I can't find a replacement. And it was part of a 4 tool kit that I really liked...
Internally pretty much all those batteries are the same. There's standard cell sizes. Just need the right amount arranged the right way. You don't need to buy a whole replacement unit. Just cycle on over to your nearest "Batteries+" (or similar) shop and they'll rebuild yours for you. If they have to order cells it may take a week, otherwise it could be an hour or less. They've never failed me.
The expanding cells shattered the case. the case has a special mounting / slide connection to affix to the tools and make the electrical circuit work. I don't have a new case and need one to make it attach to the tool.