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Anyone use reel lawnmowers?

D

desura

Diamond Member
The unpowered type which spin blades from the energy of you pushing it.

How are they? What are the best ones?
 
I have in the past. I bought a cheap one from walmart when I had a basement apartment in the city.

It was a small area of grass, but I was really impressed with the mower. I didn't expect it to work so well. It didn't need to be pushed really hard, and the grass actually looked good when I was done.
 
Had one and got rid if it for an electric mower. Worked great if the grass was already short but with me as lazy as I am with the grass, I had to make several passes to get it cut. No thanks.
 
nickbits said:
Had one and got rid if it for an electric mower. Worked great if the grass was already short but with me as lazy as I am with the grass, I had to make several passes to get it cut. No thanks.
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Yeah, using the gas mower is annoying but I'm afraid something like this might happen if I got a reel mower to replace it.
 
I used one in the past, had to put alot of power into it + grass was wet doesn't help the experience. I did like the idea of it though.
 
They work well, but punish laziness. Let the grass get too high, and it's a miserable experience. They also don't handle spiky plants like timothy, and crabgrass well. It'll fold them over without cutting. They're easy to push, easy to care for, and you never have to go out for fuel. I used to mow my 1ac lot with one, but it got to be too much. I wouldn't consider anything else for .5ac or less.
 
purbeast0 said:
how is using a gas mower annoying? 😕
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if it's not self-propelled 🙁 I'm fine with all the other negatives above.

are the majority of you guys with gas mowers using self-propelled? I didn't know to look for them when I bought.
 
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lxskllr said:
They work well, but punish laziness. Let the grass get too high, and it's a miserable experience. They also don't handle spiky plants like timothy, and crabgrass well. It'll fold them over without cutting. They're easy to push, easy to care for, and you never have to go out for fuel. I used to mow my 1ac lot with one, but it got to be too much. I wouldn't consider anything else for .5ac or less.
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This.... if you have a push mower you definitely make it an important priority to mow that lawn on time and often.

My neighbor was giving one away after cleaning out her basement and I curiously grabbed it. Its a nice workout using it but I still find myself using my gas mower which can mow my half acre in less than an hour.
 
We have one, I have mixed feelings about it
- they work fine if the blades are sharp
- as a corollary you need to make sure your lawn is free of any tree branches which can be a pain if you live on a wooded lot
- mowing big lawns is kind of a pain
- your lawn should be flat, i.e. no dips or holes in the ground, otherwise you lose momentum and spinning energy
- you need to mow every week because reel mowers do not deal very well with tall grass
- they do not get the weeds, the weeds just get bent under the mower
- the blades need to be periodically adjusted

On the plus side no need to worry about gas, oil, grease, or the engine/carburetor dying...
 
I used one of these on my lawn for a couple years. We had a storm that knocked down much of our shade, and I had to stop using the reel mower. It cuts to short, and the grass was burning. I had to trade it in for a gas mower and set the deck to the highest level.
 
images

used to run behind one of these. Needed an degree in engineering to maintain.
 
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desura said:
fumes+ vibrations+noise + grease
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never heard anyone say any of that is annoying who would rather use a non-powered mower.

my mower i can hardly smell any fumes. doesn't really vibrate at all, and i have no clue what you mean about "grease". the noise also doesn't bother me and sometimes i have headphones on listening to music while mowing.

my mower is awesome and does a great job. got a honda from home depot last year that is self propelled.
 
purbeast0 said:
never heard anyone say any of that is annoying who would rather use a non-powered mower.

my mower i can hardly smell any fumes. doesn't really vibrate at all, and i have no clue what you mean about "grease". the noise also doesn't bother me and sometimes i have headphones on listening to music while mowing.

my mower is awesome and does a great job. got a honda from home depot last year that is self propelled.
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I don't care for all the exhaust and dust associated with a gas powered mower. Plus I hate noise and have no outlets on the front of my house. Reel mowers are tits.
 
I've got one of those neuton electric mowers. It works so long as I'm on top of the grass. If the grass gets too tall, it'll choke and kill the battery in 20 mins. The catcher doesn't work so well if the grass is long/wet. Otherwise, I can mow 1x/wk and won't have to charge the battery.
 
purbeast0 said:
never heard anyone say any of that is annoying who would rather use a non-powered mower.

my mower i can hardly smell any fumes. doesn't really vibrate at all, and i have no clue what you mean about "grease". the noise also doesn't bother me and sometimes i have headphones on listening to music while mowing.

my mower is awesome and does a great job. got a honda from home depot last year that is self propelled.
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I haven't used a reel mower for over ten years, so I'm probably idealizing them.

Did I also mention heat? The heat is annoying. Not just the fumes, but I just don't like the pollution put out by gas mowers. Heck, I personally prefer to let my grass grow long and soak up pollution rather than constantly cutting it.
 
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