The push reel mower: Fun for the whole family!
I recently became a homeowner and along with my first house came another first: my very own little piece of land to tend. And since Kate and I had been living in apartments for all our married life, I needed to buy a mower to take care of our lawn. Like most Americans, I grew up using and being surrounded by gas-powered mowers. The sound of two-stroke engines firing up around the neighborhood was the unofficial soundtrack of my boyhood summers.
But despite my immersion in the cult of Lawn Boy, I’ve always been intrigued by old-fashioned manual/push reel mowers. Maybe my curiosity about them came from flipping through old magazines depicting a happy 1950s suburban dad mowing his small patch of green heaven. Or maybe it was from watching groundskeepers use giant reel mowers to mow the infield at baseball stadiums.
Whatever the reason for my lifelong pull towards the manual reel mower, when I was in the market for my own mower, I decided to look into whether the old-fashioned push reel mower was a viable option for my lawn mowing needs. To my great surprise, I discovered that the reel mower isn’t just a viable option, but is in some instances superior to its gas-powered cousins.
How a Push Reel Mower Works
Your typical power rotary mower has a spinning blade that chops off the top of the grass as it rotates like a helicopter, resulting in torn and shredded turf. Instead of tearing and chopping your grass, a reel mower cuts your grass just like a pair of scissors. It’s easier to understand how this works when you can see the mower, rather than just describing it, so check out the video below for a full explanation:
Oh, and it goes without saying, but unlike a power mower that requires gas or electricity to work, you provide the power to your manual reel mower.
Choosing a Push Reel Mower
Mowing with my Fiskars Push Reel
The basic construction of a reel mower is pretty much the same across brands. They mainly vary in characteristics like:
- Weight. How heavy will it be when you’re pushing it?
- Cutting width. The longer and bigger the mower is, the heavier it will be, but the less passes you’ll have to make back and forth on your lawn, and thus the faster you’ll get the job done.
- Cutting heights. What’s the range of heights you can adjust the blades up and down?
- Direction of grass spray. Does the grass spray behind the mower or out in front? Obviously the latter has an advantage in not covering your feet with clippings.
When I was looking for a reel mower, I did a lot of research and finally brought home the Fiskars Staysharp Max Push Reel Lawn Mower. This thing isn’t your grandpa’s heavy old contraption. The folks at Fiskars have taken the old manual reel mower design and updated it for the 21st century: it’s 60% easier to push than other manual mowers, boasts twice the cutting power of competitors, sprays the grass out in front of you, and the blades only need sharpening every 5-10 years (that’s the “StaySharp” bit). It’s fast, powerful, and maneuverable. Not to mention kind of fun to use. After mowing with my Fiskars for nearly two months, I can confidently say that it’s given me the best mowing experience I’ve ever had. Kate and I even fight over who gets to mow the lawn now (the compromise: I mow the front; she mows the back). I can’t sing the mower’s praises highly enough (and I don’t have any affiliation with the company whatsoever, by the way–just a very happy customer).
Look at that beautiful cascade of grass.
If your only experience with a push reel mower was using a heavy clunker in your youth, I highly recommend giving the Fiskars a try. It will change your mind about manual mowers.
The Benefits of a Push Reel Mower
Push reel mowers are better for your grass’ health. This was my biggest motivating factor for purchasing a push reel mower as opposed to a power rotary mower. As mentioned above, power rotary mowers cut the grass by chopping and tearing your grass, while reel mowers cut the grass by snipping it cleanly like a pair of scissors. Torn and shredded grass leaves your lawn vulnerable to disease and insect attacks; grass that is cleanly cut with a reel mower heals faster and is less vulnerable to those maladies.
Push reel mowers make your lawn look nicer. Not only are reel mowers better for your grass’ health, they leave your lawn looking professionally manicured. Again, it all goes back to the scissor-like way the reel mower cuts the grass. Clean and even cuts make for a clean and even-looking lawn. The reel mower’s superior cut is the reason why groundskeepers at professional baseball stadiums and golf courses use large reel mowers pulled by tractors. The reel cut makes the grass look purty.
Push reel mowers are quiet. One of the things I hated the most about the old gas-powered Lawn Boy of my youth was the noise. First, it’s just grating to have to listen to a loud and obnoxious two-stroke engine for extended periods of time. Second, because the thing was so stinking loud, I couldn’t mow the grass too early or too late in the evening, lest I disturb the neighbors. That’s not a problem if you live in, say, Vermont, where summer days are pleasantly warm and idyllic (if it’s not raining). When you live in hot and humid Oklahoma, however, mowing your yard during the day with the sun beating down on you is downright miserable.
The push reel mower solves both of those noise-related problems. The only sound it makes is a satisfyingly quiet “snip-snip-snip” as the mower cuts the grass. I love hearing that sound. It’s actually rather soothing. And because my manual reel mower is so darn quiet, I can mow my lawn early in the morning without waking up the neighbors. Goodbye 107-degrees-with-a-heat-index-of-a-115 lawn mowing sessions!
Push reel mowers don’t emit pollution. Don’t let the smallness of your power lawn mower engine deceive you. That sucker spits out a crap load of air pollution. If you let a typical gas-powered lawn mower run for an hour, it will produce as much air pollution as a sedan running for two hundred miles. Jeez-um!
The amount of pollution a push reel mower produces? Zilch. Unless of course you count the relaxing farts you rip as you cut the grass.
If you’re an environmentally-conscious guy, the choice is clear between power and manual. You gotta go manual.
Push reel mowers are hassle-free. Push reel mowers are simple machines. You push it and blades spin around and cut your grass. That’s it. No pulling starter cords or priming the engine before you can mow. Just start walking and–bam!–you’re cutting the grass. Also, you’ll never have to buy gas, oil, or spark plugs ever again. About the only maintenance you’ll have with your manual reel mower is blade sharpening, and some folks think that’s more of an enjoyable, mind-settling task than a chore. And again, with the Fiskars, you’ll only have to sharpen the blades every half decade or so.
Push reel mowers are cheaper. Even a “top-of-the-line” reel mower like the Fiskars costs less than most power mowers. And if you get one of the smaller, classic models, they can run you less than $100. Plus, there are no maintenance costs. With gas prices as high as they are, why waste a single drop tooling around your backyard?
Push reel mowers exercise your body. There’s no autodrive on a push reel mower. These bad boys are man-powered. The Fiskars is particularly heavy for a reel mower (52 lbs), but is designed in a way that makes it easier to push, and it gives me a nice bout of exercise; hard enough to work up a satisfying sweat, but not so hard it leaves me feeling exhausted. It’s kind of like pushing a Prowler Sled around your yard, except for that when you’re done, you’re in better shape and your lawn has been mowed.
Push reel mowers are safer than power mowers. In a careless moment a power mower can turn into a rolling death trap, or at least an appendage mauler. More than 75,000 Americans, 10,000 of which are children, are injured in lawn mowing accidents annually, and, get this, 75 people die from lawn mowing accidents every year. Mowing over a grass-hidden rock can turn it into a projectile capable of traveling 200 mph and taking out someone’s eye, and the power mower’s fast-whirling blades have eaten up children’s toes and hands. And even if your power mower isn’t running, you’re still at risk for an accident. I burnt my hand on a hot lawn mower engine as a boy and still have the scar to prove it.
While some dangers still exist when using a reel mower, they’re much, much safer than power mowers. Unless I ran the thing right over someone Tom and Jerry-style, there’s little risk of it chewing up a limb. If you run over a rock, instead of shooting it out like a bullet, your mower just jams. Also, no hot engines to burn yourself on.
Push reel mowers make mowing a pleasure. As a young man, I saw lawn mowing as a chore that you had to do every week. I didn’t look forward to it. I just did it because I had to. Since I’ve started mowing with my Fiskars push reel mower, mowing the grass has turned from a chore into a pleasure. I actually look forward to lawn mowing day. Really! I love pushing it in the cool of the early morning as birds chirp at the day’s start. I love listening to the quiet “snip-snip-snip” of grass cutting. I love the physicality of it–how it feels a little like pushing a plow. I love watching tiny blades of cut grass spit out in front of my mower in a green cascade. Most of all, I love the satisfying feeling I get as I look over my cleanly cut lawn.
Is a Push Reel Mower Right For You?
In Gran Torino, Korean War vet Walt Kowalski calms his mind before confronting a violent gang by mowing his yard with a manual reel mower. Manly.
Now before you head to the home improvement store to pick up a push reel mower, you need to know that it’s not for everybody. Sometimes power or riding mowers are actually better, depending on a variety of factors. Below I highlight a few of these factors you should consider before switching to a push reel mower.
Your yard is a half-acre or smaller. Manual reel mowers are suited for small to medium-sized yards. Most experts agree that if you have to mow more than 8,000 square feet, you’re better off using a power push or riding mower. Although I will say that my yard is on the large end of a medium-sized yard, and it only takes me 45 minutes to mow with my manual mower. And if your yard is the size of most yards in suburban developments, there really isn’t any reason you shouldn’t use a push reel mower.
You can’t bag clippings. If you’re one of those folks who prefer to bag your clippings, then a push reel mower probably isn’t for you. While some push reel mowers have a basket that will catch your clippings, they don’t work very well, and many don’t offer any clipping catcher at all.
However, if you’re a devoted-bagger, you might reconsider your stance. Most lawn care experts agree that you shouldn’t bag your clippings and should just leave them in your grass. Grass clippings are fertilizer for your lawn. They provide the same beneficial nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium nutrients that are in commercial fertilizers, except they’re free.
Not great for excessively bumpy and overgrown yards. I’ve noticed that on areas of my lawn that have a lot of bumps, the reel mower doesn’t do a good job of cutting, mainly because the wheels can’t get good traction to move the blade. I’ll usually have to come back and trim that with my weed-wacker. It’s not a problem because there’s only one part in my lawn that gives me trouble.
Also, push reel mowers work best on yards that are already well-maintained. They don’t cut really long grass too well, so if you always let your grass get pretty long before you cut it, you’re better off using a power mower.
What sort of grass do you have? Manual reel mowers work better on some types of grass than others. Most reel mowers have a hard time handling extra thick grasses like Zoysia, St. Augustine, and Bermuda. Never fear. If you have a lawn that’s made completely of one of these grasses, you’re not necessarily relegated to just gas-powered mowers. Heavier, more powerful manual reel mowers like the Fiskars don’t have a problem with these types of grasses. Adjusting the height of the reel mower’s blades can also prevent the mower from getting bogged down in thick grass.
Shave Like Your Grandpa, Mow Like Your Grandpa
After a couple of months of using my push reel mower, I really don’t know why the manual mower isn’t more popular or why most folks get the gas-powered variety. It seems quite analogous to shaving. There are a few things where the classic turns out to do just as good a job (sometimes an even better one), and provides a more enjoyable and satisfying experience to boot. The safety razor is one of those things. And so is the push reel mower. Give it a try!
Any other push reel mower users out there? Share your experience with us in the comments!
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I love my push reel! The only way to mow the lawn.
We used to have one of these when I was young because we couldn’t afford a petrol-powered mower. It was brilliant at making the grass lie down flat…
I use a push mower myself. Living in a townhouse, it just didn’t make sense to spend money on anything fancier.
I still have the push reel in the garage for emergency situations (i.e. the electric runs out of juice), but my yard is way too bumpy and the grass too thick. It seemed like a good idea when I snagged it from my parents, but, as you said, it’s not for everyone.
I use a push reel for my fenced in backyard (the rest is too large), and I couldn’t be happier.
For the size lawn I have in Denver, this is the only way to go. That said when I was a kid and mowing big yards in Texas (where everything is bigger), no way this would work. Looks like that Fiskars one is the way to go, too bad I’ll probably be a grandpa before my reel mower breaks down and I can upgrade.
As a first time home owner I used a push reel mower. It was virtually an antique, I had it sharpened at an old time mower shop run by a Japanese family which offered to my my mower every time it was sharpened. When sharp that mower was unstoppable. It had hard rubber tires, i used it so much the rubber wore off, I used epoxies to build the wheels back up but ,alas, the mower became inoperable. I still have the mower, it is too cool to let go. Nothing is more soothing in the yard than the sound of the push reel mower.
I got one due to price and dislike for yanking on a cord and have to say that I do enjoy mowing much more. It takes a little while to get the lawn even but it is always satisfying. My only regret is getting a narrow one – Scott’s 14 incher due to price. A 16″ or 18″ would work better.
My father-in-law, a greens superintendent at a golf course, gave me one. He gave me advice on my lawn. My front yard looked like a golf green, my back yard like the fairway.
We love our reel mower, however we do have an electric mower that we use if the grass gets too high. I will never own another gas powered, they are too noisy and expensive to maintain. I also love the fact that my neighbors want to try my reel mower and will sometimes cut most of my grass for me.
Looks like a solid choice for urban grass. How long does it take?
My current landlord uses a push-reel. At first I laughed at him. Then I became intrigued. I’m attracted to the simplicity and size (gas mowers are big machines, and usually can’t be hung on a wall), so now that we’re moving into our own place I’ll be looking for a push-reel myself.
I’ve got a reel made by McLane and love it. It has a grass catcher behind it that I think works pretty well. I also have Bermuda and don’t have any issues using a manual reel. I got a reel because that’s what turf companies recommended for grasses like St. Augustine, zoysia, and Bermuda. But I also shave with a safety razor, so maybe it’s just fate.
+1 on the Fiskars StaySharp Max.
I used to sell those when they were called the Momentum. The only reel mower in the store where the blades were actually sharp right out of the box. Pushes really easily. Quieter than ANY reel mower I’ve ever encountered. More and easier height adjustment than the majority of reel mowers (up to 4″). You can get closer to fences and edging because the wheels aren’t on the outside of the blades. No, it doesn’t cost under $100 like many reel mowers but it’s WELL worth the investment. Don’t let the “Made in China” label scare you either because it’s really well made. The factory setup was supervised by the designer of the mower who is from Madison, WI. I know that because his father shopped at the hardware store I used to work.
Yeah, I’ve got a push mower. Price was the big deciding factor for us – we couldn’t afford a petrol mower, and couldn’t really afford to keep paying people to come and mow our lawns.
The real benefit now is the safety side of it.. I’ve got a toddler who likes to run around pushing his plastic toy mower while I do the yard, so I need to be able to stop in a second and not have the blades continue to spin. It’s a bit annoying because we do have a bumpy yard and it doesn’t knock the heads off the taller weeds but it does enough to keep the yard looking presentable.
I do find mowing, like climbing on the roof and cleaning the gutters, to be a particularly manly and meditative practice. But then I feel the same about doing the dishes or hanging out washing – anything that makes my home a better place for my family.
I had a reel mower for a while last year. I picked it up on craigslist, greased it, sharpened it and sanded the rust off.
It worked really well on our front yard which was smooth and didn’t have many trees.
In the back yard though, it wasn’t worth it. Our maple and cottonwood trees (or maybe it’s my boys) are constantly dropping small twigs and sticks, there are occasional small rocks and the ground is somewhat lumpy.
Every time I mowed I had to carefully pick through the yard to clean up the small debris. It was like picking small bones from a fish.
I used it for about 3 months then sold it to a very happy buyer on craigslist.
I currently have 2 reel mowers: a push and a gas-powered. The gas-powered was a gift from someone who now pays a gardener, and it doesn’t work. Until I can fix it, I’m still using my push-reel mower.
A few tips for using one:
Do not, under any circumstances, fall behind on your mowing schedule. The next mow could be extremely difficult if your grass grows thick seed-stalks.
Look for one with a grass-catch. Mine does not have one, and raking up afterwards is the part I hate the most.
Huh. That’s really cool. I hated mowing the lawn as a kid, partly because of using those heavy, hard-to-maneuver, gas-guzzling contraptions. Now the only time I mow is when my parents call me over to help, and their yard is huge, so a push reel wouldn’t be practical.
If I ever get my own place with a yard, I’m definitely getting a push reel mower.
I have used one of these. As a kid if the gas mower failed we used the reel cutters. It was brutal, hard work.
I love love love my Fiskars reel mower. I highly recommend it. I previously had a B&D corded electric mower. It took forever because it was constantly clogging up. Now I’m quickly done with the Fiskars. I got the clippings basket for it. It attaches to the front and does a good job.
And now for the economic benefit of not using a gas mower. A push mower doesn’t have a carburetor that needs to be replaced every year or two. That’s right. The ethanol fuel blend around these days will pretty much destroy the inside of the carburetor on a lawn mower…unless you regularly and completely drain the fuel system and completely flush the carburetor, it’s a nice chunk of change to the mower shop every Spring.
The funny thing is that I grew up using a reel mower. It was an old green monster from the 1950s, it worked wonderfully though. I actually love the sound of these little gems working. I am surprised how little it ever bogged down, even in tall wet grass. The gas mower that my friends had always bogged down at least once when mowing.
I have a bad habit of letting my lawn grow out of control in between cuttings. Specially the back yard. A push reel mower can’t cut giant tree like blades of grass. You have to start with a lawn that’s already fairly managed.
I love my push mower! When I moved into my house everyone made fun of me for getting one, but they all mostly either don’t have yards or pay someone. The lawncare guys who take care of my neighbors’ grass used to always come over asking if I wanted to hire them instead. After 4 years they finally learned not to ask. Takes me maybe 20 mins and I have some thick grass. It gets hard if you let it go too long but for me that just means more of a workout. And I love that I can still cut it if its damp out since summers in Nola usually mean daily showers.
read once that reel mowers are better for you if you have allergies they stir up less pollen.
Who are you trying to fool? Just because you can write whatever you want, doesn’t mean the people reading it are stupid.
–Coming from a PE
“Push reel mowers don’t emit pollution. Don’t let the smallness of your power lawn mower engine deceive you. That sucker spits out a crap load of air pollution. If you let a typical gas-powered lawn mower run for an hour, it will produce as much air pollution as a sedan running for two hundred hours. Jeez-um!?
I LOVE my push mower! It’s the smartest investment I ever made. I take some kidding, but I have more enjoyment and satisfaction.(And fun and fitness, as well!)
Any good old-fashioned alternatives to the weedeater?
I have a Husquavarna reel mower with a bag attachment. I think the bag works pretty well and is much easier to empty. It also never clogs up. It won’t cut the high weeds but that makes them easier to spot, then I spray with some weed killer. Eventually no more weeds.
I’ve been commercial mowing for 15 year and remember when my wife and I had two small children and me tossing a push reel mower off my deck in frustration…they just don’t cut grass taller than an inch. Later when my dad was visiting we were driving through a small town I purchased a vintage gas powered reel mower thinking it was the cats ass and it ended up being nothing but a pain in the ass…reel mowers suck unless you have the special sharpener and know how to adjust them just right or you have a lawn that is bent grass.
I’ve used my Great States manual reel mower since 1994, when I paid maybe $80 tops for it. All we’ve done to it is one recent sharpening for $25. Especially with our small “city-style” lawn, we look forward to pushing it for many years to come.
I got one b/c my gas powered mower stopped working for the 2nd time in two summers. I figured the money I spent on the reel mower would equal the cost of getting it fixed (again). I have found if I get behind on my zoysia that I just have to adjust the blade to the maximum height and then lower it as I go along. It’s more work, but I look at it like more of a workout. It works beautifully on my centipede. I use the weedwacker on the stray tall pieces that stick up.
I found my reel mower at our town dump. I learned how to sharpen the blades (easier than you might think), took apart the pawls in the wheels that make the blades turn and was back in business. Of course I have a postage stamp for a lawn that only takes 15 minutes.
The only way to mow a normal sized yard. Still, at a condo has its benefits too.
I think the important thing to have for a push mower to work is the right kind of grass. Like the author, I bought my house and bought a rotary mower because I didn’t want to deal with gasoline storage. It was not a cheap model and it was honed to within an inch of its life, but it never worked particularly well, It would push the grass over rather than cut it. The grass never got properly “presented” to the blades to be cut. I ended up selling it and buying an electric.
@Eddie
I wouldn’t be surprised if that number is fairly accurate. Lawn mower engines aren’t regulated for emissions and therefore lack a catalytic converter. The number probably comes from the levels of the more harmful substances (namely CO), which are emitted in very small levels from a car.
I started using one of these this month for the first time…the lawn was just re-seeded and we had 2 weeks of rain. If you ever want a workout, try cutting in these conditions! The lawn looks terrible at the moment, but another pass this weekend should fix that up :)
I’ll correct a bit you on one of your “reasons not to buy”: uneven yards. That’s actually *why* I got a reel mower a while back. For things like tree roots or other short disruptions you’re right. But for yards with mild little hills it is better than a power mower.
The people who owned the house before us took out a tree, but left the rise in the yard around it. The result was a hill around 10-12 feet around that probably rose about 8-10 inches. Every time I would mow with my old gas mower, the space between the front wheels and back wheels would cause the mower to bottom-out and scalp the top of that little hill in several places. I couldn’t work out a good approach. There were a few other hills and inclines with the same problem. It would scalp some places and leave other parts too tall.
The reel mower cuts all of them perfectly. Exactly the same height no matter what the terrain does under it. Which is one of the many reasons (along with what you mentioned above plus low cutting height) that they are also the only way to cut a rolling golf putting green.
Andy, it is called a scythe, it takes some practice, but it is very efficient once you get the hang of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe
I’m 16 and get this… I love mowing the lawn! With my push mower I can listen to my music (Sinatra) without cranking the volume and effectively killing my ears. Not so much when I had a gas powered one. Also the push mower is so much easier to maneuver. Long live Push Mowers!
i live in tanzania, east africa, and use a push reel mower. though i have to confess it’s not because i love it; it’s because mowers are so expensive here that i could only afford a push reel mower (starting at about $100 — versus a gas-powered mower at $300).
it works fine, but it just seems to take so very long. but, then again, everything in tanzania does….
While I agree that the push mower has the best action, and cut, I have been more of the opinion that mowing the lawn is a masochistic endeavor. Though I agree that a nicely mowed lawn is pretty, there are better ways to spend your time now.
check out:
http://www.lawnbott.com/
it is like a Roomba for your lawn.
@Andy, I second Daniel. The Skythe is the viable alternative to a whipper snipper/weed wacker. I own neither the reel mower nor a skythe, but both are on my list when it comes time to upgrade. I was talked out of both by salesmen when I was in the market for my lawn care equipment, and there isn’t a mowing day goes by, that I don’t regret allowing them to do that to me.
My first house had a very small yard (lot size was only 50 X 100), so I bought a reel mower. Admittedly, it was probably one of the cheaper models, but once the grass got too long, it was completely impossible to cut. And I’m talking just missing cutting by a couple of rainy days.
Now I have 3/4 of an acre, and use a self-propelled power mower. I wish I could go back to the reel, but I’m glad to see that lots of men are still successfully using them!
I went through this same process after buying my house. I decided to give a reel mower a try and landed on the Husqvarna model with a bag attachment. Works great and has ended up being a worthwhile investment. Some family has joked about it but who cares, I love my mower!!
I had a reel mower for a couple years. In addition to all the points made in this post, I also liked that it took up a lot less space–and smelled better–in my garage than the gas-powered mower. The problem I had was that it was a pretty cheap (a Walmart special that I picked up secondhand at a garage sale) reel mower and I always ended up mowing the yard twice once in each direction. I’m currently using a poorly running gas mower from a friend. It’s not ideal.
Are the nicer, pricier reel mowers significantly better than the bargain ones?
I have been using the same Fiskars model as you, Brett. And I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I do actually have a rather bumpy yard at present, but we’ve just moved in and are giving the yard some therapy. Incidentally, it’s quite therapeutic for me as well!
Thanks for the great article!
I bought a Scotts push reel a year ago, and I enjoy using it. The cons I’ve found are it takes longer, I tend to always find some long blades that stand back up after mowing. I’m not trying to create a putting green, so I don’t bother bagging or obsessing over uniformity – if that’s you, get a gas or electric mower. I enjoy the time it takes with the reel mower, when I’m done mowing I still have enough energy to do the edging that I used to just skip and ignore after dragging my old Toro so overall it looks better. Also, while I’m mowing, the mower’s quiet enough to talk over or listen to my ipod at a normal volume. Essentially, you can enjoy your mowing time instead of trying to get it over with as fast as possible.
Brett,
Out of curiousity, what kind of trimmer do you use for edging, etc? I “had” a gas-powered string trimmer that bit the dust, and I am debating between using an old fashioned lawn scissors or an electric trimmer, since I have a lot of extension cords.
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/they-wrecked-our-mowers/#hl-lawn%20mower
I just read another thing about mowers ON MY OTHER FAVORITE BLOG!!! very different message coming across though. wait. actually i read about it last 4/20. it struck a chord with me and kinda made me want a push reel mower. then you wrote this. very cool.
Slight onomatopoetic correction: reel mowers do not go “snip-snip-snip.”
They go “snicketysnicketysnicketysnickety,” starting slowly then speeding up with your efforts, then end with “snicketysnicketybzzzzzz….”
I found mine on the curb. All it needed was sharpening and a blade adjustment.
Had to use one of these as the lesser of two evils growing up. It was either the rusty, in-need-of-some-major-adjustment reel mower, or an old gas-powered push mower with holes strategically located in the deck. The nicks and bruises gained in one afternoon with the gas mower were enough for me to convert. I used the reel mower for about 4 years until my parents could afford a new walk-behind mower when I was about 12 (oh, happy day). But as you mentioned, the quietness is special. Even if it was hard to push, mowing instantly became a task I appreciated and took pride in. If I ever move somewhere with a smaller lawn, I’ll definitely consider using the modern version. Thanks for the article!
I have a small townhouse yard and put in all Bermuda grass. During the summer if i didnt cut it every 3 days the cheaper reel mowers couldnt handle how thick it got. I eventually gave up and bought a 4 stroke honda lawn mower used for 80 bucks at a pawn shop. I would have loved to try a fisker to see if it could handle my yard, but the price tag just scared me away. My little reel mower does great at my parents house where their grass is a lot thinner……. in the honda i use 2 gallons of gas for a whole season of cutting (i said it was a small yard) so I figure its not so bad….. If i could find a used fisker i would give it a shot.
One of the most amusing things I saw while living in rural Tennessee was watching two small Amish boys mow the grass using one of these. They had a length of rope tied to both sides to form traces. The larger boy would put the rope over his shoulders, like a halter, and pull the mower, while the smaller boy guided it from behind. It reminded me of the horsedrawn ploughs they use to till the soil.
I love my reel mower! When my eighty year old Craftsman mower finally gave up the ghost, I invested in the Fiskars. It was so much lighter than the cast iron Craftsman, but it gives that same gratifying whirring of tiny pieces of grass flying up as I push it back and forth across the lawn. Best of all, I can mow the grass any time of day or night, without waking up the kids! Smelling only freshly cut grass and not gas and oil is a big bonus.
Perhaps because I grew up around bigger lawns, but I still like the sound of a gas mower. Always used a four-stroke, which may make a difference. In a lawn mostly of fecues and KY Blue, I’m mowing high enough that airflow to the deck isn’t a problem, so I get a nice, even cut…
Coincidentally, I just bought a reel mower last month for the small lawn of my daughter’s first house. She loves the mower so much that she mowed MY lawn just to practice. I bought it for the simplicity and safety. After a great deal of research, I bought the Helix Eco-mower. This one also has stay-sharp blades, a wide range of height adjustments and is only about 21 pounds.
Hey, I’m a girl! I use one of these, though not as fancy as the Fiskars, which I would love. I’m scared of powered mowers. Not scared of much, but those things always looked dangerous. Great exercise too. Wouldn’t use anything else.
I inherited a 1950s era craftsman reel mower and I love it for my smallish backyard. A little time with a file and some WD40 and that thing runs like a top. It’s decidedly better than a gas mower – I’m so excited to see so much support for them from others!
You really shouldn’t use a file to sharpen the blades on a reel mower.
I read an article like this 20 or so years ago, and got all excited and bought a push reel mower. It did an abysmal job of cutting the grass. It did give me a great work out because I had to pul back and forth, back and forth, several times over each push to get the grass even close to being cut. It was a great disappointment.
Would having a back yard that slopes uphill and rises 30 feet over a 50 foot distance be a problem?
I had a reel mower at our first house (small yard). In the second place it didn’t work so I bought an electric. Took that to our third house and used it until it broke. Last summer I bought a NaturCut reel mower, and have enjoyed it since. I tell people that I’m not trying to save the environment… just myself!
i love our push reel mower, but it’s gotten terribly dull – any references for sharpening it? i mean, i’ve got the basic concept of sharpening, say, knives, but the bizarre shape complicates matters.
robert – i think push mowers are great for slopes ’cause they’re so much lighter weight than gas mowers. and the faster it spins the better it cuts, so downhill is far easier than flat or up.
Leave it to the art of manliness to buy the exact lawnmower I’ve been debating over since spring hit. I have a gas mower, but it breaks down sometimes and finding a professional for a one time job is almost impossible. a manual mower would be a great back-up for those long grass days that my power mower decides to take the day off. Fiskar makes good stuff, and it might replace my power mower.
Look what I stumbled upon…posted a day later.
http://remodelista.com/posts/clean-mowing-reel-mower-roundup
I’m not accusing them of stealing/copying/plagarizing…whichever word is more appropriate…but it is incredibly weird such a random subject was posted on another site so close to this AoM article.
agreed. the place i used to live at, the guy left his push mower there. never claimed it back, so i would use it to cut up the backyard. that thing was fun to use! our backyard was no bigger than anyones living room of course, but it was still pretty neat. We switched to a weed whacker eventually. Don’t ask.
I’ve used one for the past 2 years on my small city lawn. I love it. I mow the lawn barefoot.
That’s it… I’m sold. When I eventually buy a home I’ll get a reel mower. I dig it.
Slight correction from the EPA website regarding the emissions of a gas-powered mower: “Operating a typical gasoline-powered lawn mower for one hour produces the same amount of smog-forming hydrocarbons as driving an average car almost 200 miles under typical driving conditions.” Source: http://www.epa.gov/air/community/details/yardequip_addl_info.html
200 miles not 200 hours.
Great article.
just bought my 1st home and 1st push mower. well timed article.
@George-
I bought a Ryobi cordless battery powered string weed wacker. I haven’t used it enough to render a final verdict, but it’s worked well so far.
@Eddie-
I meant to write 200 miles, not hours! I apologize for the mistake–just a brain burp. I do not expect that readers are stupid, but that they are hopefully forgiving, as we’re just regular folks trying to do our best.
The stat can be found here:
http://www.epa.gov/air/community/details/yardequip_addl_info.html
@Lady Brett-
Maybe Darren who’s written about sharpening other edged tools for us before can write about sharpening the blades on a reel mower. How about it Darren?
You went top dollar with the Fiskars. I purchased a Scotts 21″ reel mower earlier this year and I love it. The light weight of the mower makes it quick to mow the entire yard, even in cross-hatch pattern.
We live in the city and the push reel mower is a far better sound for the ears than the buzz of a weed eater or the roar of a gas mower. :)
Not to mention that having a push mower means your lawn will mow itself! Whenever my friends come over, inevitably someone see’s the mower and wants to play with it, and winds up mowing a good bit of my lawn for me.
My wife suggested getting one of these when we moved into a new home that didn’t have much lawn. It is fast, easy to use, and definitely less dangerous. I also burned myself on a gas powered mower years ago, no danger of that here!
These work well if you keep your lawn trimmed short. Really long grass tends to just get bent over and not cut. Still, you could get it close with the power rotary motor and use the push mower on the next go around. Until I moved to a large yard, the push reel was great!
I’m living in a rental house where I am responsible for the lawn. I’ve been debating for weeks about whether I should pay for service or buy a mower. This article sent me over the edge. I bought the same Fiskar and used it this afternoon. Very effective and satisfying to use. Thanks @BrettMcKay for pushing me in the right direction.
I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now, and this post has pushed me over the decision-making edge. Especially the part about getting at it early to avoid the heat of the summer day, and not troubling your neighbors with the noise…. sold. I’ll start looking at some reel mower models and start dropping some hints for Father’s Day.
I’m sold. We are looking at moving from condo to something with a small yard in the next little while. A reel mower will be my weapon of choice. (Also the final “safety razor” link is bad)
Operating a typical gasoline-powered lawn mower for one hour produces the same amount of smog-forming hydrocarbons as driving an average car almost 200 miles under typical driving conditions.”
Let’s see 200 miles at 50 mph is 4 hours
I think it is safe to assume that an auto’s engine is significantly larger than a lawn mowers and even with cat cons I think maybe somebody is fiddling with the numbers when you consider the “emissions” from the auto trans, power steering, differential, air cond, tires etc etc. But it does make a good golly wow chart.
I have a Scotts reel mower and love it when the grass is not too long but still needs to be mowed. Longer grass results in an uneven cut. Greatest complement was from a neighbor at 8am one morning, “Hey will you keep the noise down back there!” We both had a good laugh…
Try to find a Gardena (Sun Lawn) reel mower from Germany. The best seller reel mower in Europe. Better made than the Fiskar’s and I think lighter and easier to use.
The actual manufacturer in Germany is Brill. Rebranded as Gardena in USA and Canada.
I’ve been using a Scotts reel mower for about 2.5 years. Even though my yard is small (less than a quarter acre, WITH the house), I’m looking to buy a new mower, proably a cordless electric. My yard is the prototype for poor compatability: lots of roots, bumps, hidden ditches, grooves, holes, weeds, wide variety of grasses. My backyard can become extremely hard to mow if Imiss a week. I just about had a stroke last week. Don’t know about others, but increasing the cutheight on mine causes the handle to rise, which means loss of leverage for a short guy like me. My front yard looks like garbage though I cant blame that just on the cutter. The grass is sparse and unhealthy, but the mower is almost useless against the weeds. Doesn’t help that my neighbors on all three borders have immaculate lawns.
Excellent point! I’ve been using a used Scotts pusher for five years. Takes about fifteen minutes to cut the grass. I just blow the buildup out with an air compressor about once every two months, and shoot the blades with some silicone lubricant. About twice a year, I take a polishing stone on my Dremel and sharpen the blades. The mower hangs up on a hook in the shed. I get exercise and can mow anytime I want. I’ve even mowed the lawn at 4 am by street light!
It helps to thatch the lawn as well. For that, why run down to Aba Daba and rent a power machine? I have a good thatch rake. Just make up a pitcher of “lemonade” (like Mike’s), then have at it. It not only gets up the accumulated crap and aerates the lawn, but it’s a hell of an upper-body workout.
Daniel beat me to it about the scythe. I can still point out that just as the safety razor is not the classic way of shaving but the cut-throat razor is, so also the push mower is not the classic way of mowing but the scythe is (as in the old song “Ten men went to mow / Went to mow a meadow” – they were about to make hay). And these classic ways declined for much the same reasons: they need a lot more skill and work. I once saw a worker using one on a Swiss farm, making easy but strong, wide and unhesitating sweeps of the scythe and stopping every few steps to take a whetstone out of a holster that kept it damp, then whetting the blade before continuing. Scythes were the way to get growth down enough to use push mowers, until rotary mowers came in, and the Stately Homes of England used them in their formal gardens (grazing sheep in the less formal parkland). Golf courses used that combination of sheep and scythes too, so Paul Nicholson is mistaken about what those need.
Oh, and anyone pushing a plough is doing it wrong (unless it’s a Hebridean foot plough).
I’m pretty sure I have that same green push mower in that video…I too love my push mower. Got it oh, a couple of years ago now I believe, actually inspired by another article on this site–I can’t recall the name, but it was one talking about your (I think) Uncle somewhere who mows a huge lawn with a push mower to stay in shape.
Count me in with the Fiskars fans. I bought my Momentum 2 years ago, and still love the thing. Best mower I’ve ever had.
First – most lawn mowers are four-stroke, not two stroke. Most manly men would/should know this.
Second – learning to maintain a small engine is much more manly then using one of these “hipster” gadgets.
Third – I’m a huge fan of this blog. This is one of the first posts that makes me question the manliness of this blog.
If you want to mow like your grandpa, get an antique mower like your grandpa used. None of these new-fangled modern ones. The old ones did not work as well as the new ones, but it’s what they had. Besides, as young as you are, your grandpa probably used a power mower. Another thing is that power mowers are more time efficient. I want to get my mowing done ( I have about 1/3 of an acre to mow) as soon as I can so that I can get to other tasks or relaxation. But, hey, to each his own. Push away!
Whelp, with 13,000+ square feet of grass, and it being all Bermuda, I think I’ll stick with a power mower. I’m living with my parents at the moment, but if my yard-to-be would work with a push reel mower, you betcha I’m going to try one out! Great article. I didn’t realize how “high tech” push reels looked today!
One thing to watch for – if you live in an area with pine trees, you’ll need to rake up the pine cones before you attempt a push reel – if not, cones will be constantly jamming the blades.
One other thing . . . your great-great grandpa used goats and sheep – no sharpening, zero replacement cost, and good for dinner!
I love my Scotts Classic reel mower. I looked at the Fiskars, which looks awesome, but I wanted to try a cheaper one to make sure I didn’t hate the experience.
own an electric unit cause i thought my yard was too big for a pusher.
Woke up one Saturday to see $3.00 push unit in my neighbouurs garage sale .What a delight.
As someone with an allergy to grass, reel mowers make the task possible. I’ve had one Scott’s mower for my adult life, and it has served me well. I also appreciate the smugness of being able to say “reel mower”, which people tend to misinterpret.
I’ve got a nice Craftsman that I bought shortly after I moved into my new house. They work great… unless your neighbors have sweet gum trees.Then you spend more time raking those blasted sweet gum balls out of your lawn than you do mowing with your push reel mower. That got to be annoying so I went back to a gas mower. Now the neighbor gets his trees’ flippin’ sweet gum balls back with a quickness.
I’ve got 12 acres.
You’re welcome anytime.
In my experience, my push reel works better on flat blades of grass. Tubular weeds give me headaches. They don’t cut as well.
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