Author Topic: Reel-mowed 1/4ac  (Read 4730 times)

zephyr911

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Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« on: September 21, 2015, 10:03:46 AM »
Came home from two weeks away (side job, +$3k) and DW was on me about the lawn. And of course, the mower decided to take a shit (new electric one, defective battery).

So, I dusted off the reel mower and got going. Was even running for a good chunk of the time, and banged it all out in well under an hour. Felt GREAT. Now I'm wondering why I thought the new yard was too big for it (facepunch) and may just try to unload the powered gear.

RWD

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2015, 12:58:52 PM »
Nice work!

I've really enjoyed not having to mow a yard for the last decade. Our house in Arizona only had gravel. But now that we're in Mississippi I don't think we'll be able to find a house without a grass yard. When that time comes I'm hoping to get a reel mower as well.

codemonkey

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2015, 01:41:19 PM »
I moved into a .48 acre lot last August and bought a reel mower.  I love it!  I still keep my gas mower around for an occasional cut of the outer edge of the yard, but 95% of my cutting is with my own power.

It's quiet enough that I can talk to my kids as they run behind me while I cut and I don't smell of gasoline when I'm finished.

zephyr911

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2015, 07:32:57 PM »
I moved into a .48 acre lot last August and bought a reel mower.  I love it!  I still keep my gas mower around for an occasional cut of the outer edge of the yard, but 95% of my cutting is with my own power.

It's quiet enough that I can talk to my kids as they run behind me while I cut and I don't smell of gasoline when I'm finished.
That's awesome!
I've always loved that the reel is quiet enough to mow any time of day. At my last house (a center unit townhome) I had a postage stamp of a yard so it was all I needed. At this one, mature trees are constantly flinging sticks and pine cones down, so I took the easy route. *sigh* should have known better.

Rollin

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2015, 12:58:43 PM »
Reel baby!  I have one and used it often, but now that I have an EGO (battery operated) that is the go to.  Our summer has been very wet and the reel mower has a hard time when the lawn is unruly.

Thanks for the reminder though.  Now that it is getting cooler and the grass is growing slower I may get back to is.

TheInsuranceMan

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2015, 02:50:34 PM »
Any volunteers to come mow my 3.35 acres with one?  I'll watch, and provide the lemonade/beer when you are done!

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2015, 11:26:59 AM »
How are you guys removing weeds?

My reel mower did awesome on the grass, but didn't do a damn thing on the weeds. Kind of just bent some of them over, but didn't really cut most of them.

zephyr911

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2015, 12:26:26 PM »
How are you guys removing weeds?

My reel mower did awesome on the grass, but didn't do a damn thing on the weeds. Kind of just bent some of them over, but didn't really cut most of them.
I just knock 'em down with my electric weedeater first. I have this B&D set:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00646TJT2

There are newer versions now, still pretty affordable and with even better reviews.

Hank Sinatra

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2015, 12:39:57 PM »
How are you guys removing weeds?

My reel mower did awesome on the grass, but didn't do a damn thing on the weeds. Kind of just bent some of them over, but didn't really cut most of them.

Been using reel mowers for years.  Love them and love using them.  I used to run around the lawn  attacking each and every dandilion with the weed whacker. But that took almost as long as mowing the lawn did. Not good use of time.

The best solution was to treat the lawn in the Spring right after the weeds start showing up with Weed-b-Gone or similar weed killing product. Attach the bottle to your garden hose and just spray away. It should last all Summer. Minor spot treatments might be needed in some years  depending on what kind of Summer you're having.  A few bucks and maybe 20 mins time in April/May  saved lots of time and work May till October

zephyr911

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2015, 12:44:34 PM »
I have a near-pathological aversion to chemicals, but there's no denying their efficacy. I think the biggest thing with a reel mower is just to get out more often so it's easy and it goes fast.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2015, 09:46:42 AM »
Came home from two weeks away (side job, +$3k) and DW was on me about the lawn. And of course, the mower decided to take a shit (new electric one, defective battery).

So, I dusted off the reel mower and got going. Was even running for a good chunk of the time, and banged it all out in well under an hour. Felt GREAT. Now I'm wondering why I thought the new yard was too big for it (facepunch) and may just try to unload the powered gear.

Reel mowers actually tend to work much better at a running pace, blades are spinning way faster and cut with less resistance.  I picked up a reel mower at a garage sale for $10 and it works great, although i don't use it a lot as it takes me at least 4 hours to cut my place with a ride on lawn tractor.  (don't worry, renting the place and mowers and fuel (and even sometimes labor) are provided). 

zephyr911

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #11 on: September 27, 2015, 05:46:46 PM »
Makes complete sense. I need to get in better shape so I can do the whole thing that way.
Too bad the grass is about to stop growing. ;)

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #12 on: September 28, 2015, 01:03:07 PM »
Been using reel mowers for years.  Love them and love using them.  I used to run around the lawn  attacking each and every dandilion with the weed whacker. But that took almost as long as mowing the lawn did. Not good use of time.

The best solution was to treat the lawn in the Spring right after the weeds start showing up with Weed-b-Gone or similar weed killing product. Attach the bottle to your garden hose and just spray away. It should last all Summer. Minor spot treatments might be needed in some years  depending on what kind of Summer you're having.  A few bucks and maybe 20 mins time in April/May  saved lots of time and work May till October

Yeah, I did a good bit of research and it seems like the best thing is really to prep properly (just like most things in life) for the best results. I moved in this summer, already excited for next summer.


I have a near-pathological aversion to chemicals, but there's no denying their efficacy. I think the biggest thing with a reel mower is just to get out more often so it's easy and it goes fast.

Yeah, that was the main reason I didn't do anything about them this year. I didn't want to end up spraying tons of chemicals and I honestly don't care enough to spend the time to manually pull all of them.


HairyUpperLip

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #13 on: September 29, 2015, 07:17:57 AM »
Well, the jokes on me.

Got a letter from my HOA yesterday, haha. Looks like my weeds are out of control. (They honestly are not bad at all)

Ahh, honestly, I'm just bitter because when I moved into the house I manually pulled all the weeds from my yard. But the shitty yard care people hired by the community don't remove weeds from the neighbors yards. They cut the grass and it sprays the seeds everywhere.

Very annoyed currently.

zephyr911

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Re: Reel-mowed 1/4ac
« Reply #14 on: September 29, 2015, 07:53:43 AM »
HOAs: putting the "ho" in "homeowners" since... whenever.
Has anyone ever had a good experience with an HOA, anywhere?

 

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