I’ve a relatively small area to mow, so I’m thinking I might buy a manual reel mower instead of a gas or electric powered one. Does anyone know, are there any disadvantages (besides the sweat factor) to using a manual push mower rather than a power mower? For example, is it bad for my lawn, etc?
Besides the sweat factor, none. Do it.
A reel-type mower slices the grass like scissors, causing less damage to the grass and reducing the tendency for the tips to turn brown, while a rotary-type mower simply whacks and tears the grass. That’s effectively comparing power to manual mowers, since all manual ones have reels and all power ones have rotary blades. Actually, there used to be power reel mowers, but they tended to cut off too many toes and the lawyers got hold of the manufacturers. Even power rotary types can grab and fling loose objects at the unwary.
A manual makes a pleasing, quiet sort of rustling sound, too, and lets you enjoy the smell of cut grass instead of engine exhaust. The neighbors don’t get annoyed, either, and when you’re done you can hang the mower on the garage wall. You don’t have to fight and cuss over an engine that doesn’t start, either, and there is a lot less maintenance involved. Plus, they cost a lot less, and can often be found at yard sales if you’re short of cash.
:sparc sighs with pleasure:
What a welcome change to all the inflammatory hogwash these last weeks in GD.
ElvisL1ves; I was most titillated and amused by this dastardly, pleasant and royally enlightening clarification on our should be needs and cares in mower selection. Very well put, very well indeed!
Thank you ever so much…
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- Gas-powered reel mowers are still available, but damned expensive. Golf courses use them for the putting greens. - DougC
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Absolutely! The reel type mowers are much superior than rotary blade mowers, with the ‘scissors action’ noted above. Note that golf courses use rotary mowers (powered) and that’s how they get incredibly close cropped greens.
Try alternating directions (no matter what type of mower you use, actually) at 90 degrees every other mow and and a diagonal every third or so – this tends to make a more even cut by encouraging the lawn to grow straight up among other things, and you get a nice striped pattern, pleasing to the eye.
The trick with reel mowers though – make sure the blade is sharp; this is also true of rotary blades but since the engine is doing most of the work it’s not so critical. I sharpen blades twice a year – helps a lot for a nice looking lawn.
I don’t have a yard; but when I do get one I plan to get a push-mower. First, there’s the exercise factor. Next, I can feel morally superior because I’m not dumping exhaust into the atmosphere. And then there’s the buying and storing of gasoline, the noise, etc. that I won’t have to deal with.
I used to mow the lawn with a push-mower when I was a kid, and I hated it. It was much better when I was at my dad’s and used the power mower. But at the time I didn’t appreciate the meditative qualities of mowing a lawn with a manual mower.
My dad had a couple of reel style mowers, the modern one was very easy to push once you got it going, you do have to keep a decent pace, it won’t cut if you walk very slow. It’s not really any harder than pushing a regular mower that doesn’t have drive wheels.
Absolutely! The reel type mowers are much superior than rotary blade mowers, with the ‘scissors action’ noted above. Note that golf courses use rotary mowers (powered) and that’s how they get incredibly close cropped greens.
Try alternating directions (no matter what type of mower you use, actually) at 90 degrees every other mow and and a diagonal every third or so – this tends to make a more even cut by encouraging the lawn to grow straight up among other things, and you get a nice striped pattern, pleasing to the eye.
The trick with reel mowers though – make sure the blade is sharp; this is also true of rotary blades but since the engine is doing most of the work it’s not so critical. I sharpen blades twice a year – helps a lot for a nice looking lawn.
Wow…thanks everyone for your input. I am now convinced that I would be a nutcase to purchase a power mower. Ace Hardware, here I come.
Sue
My grandfather had his budding career as professional cross-country runner ruined while he severed his toes in an early model rotary type mower gone rampant in the early 40s. One could argue that anything with thus destructive capacity should best be left in the hands of professionals.
Now, one might also argue that rotary type mowers have evolved, and that banning the reel type motor mowers to golf courses suffices for safety, but then you have to weigh in previous eloquent posts on the matter of the sheer esthetics, health and environment.
All that being said there is a certain meditative pleasure in pushing a motor mower across the lawn in as much as that it blocks out all other bothersome worldly things by it’s deafening roar and the concentration required. There is also the sheer joy of feeling man’s power over nature involved. In a way a power mower represents the essence of humanity in the last part of the twentieth century. Why deny oneself the visceral feeling of being the autocratic ruler of earth, proven in a violent motorized manner that literally subjugates the growing power of another life form. OTOH the manual reel type mower could be argued to satisfy that notion in a more sensual and direct form, perhaps arguably more twenty-first century style.
Nah… I too say go for the manual reel type.
Sparc
Gardening should be a peaceful and synergistic experience. Not that I’m a technophobe. To the contrary. I love power tools and the like. But I don’t think they belong in the garden. Maybe the occasional unobtrusive high-tech sprinkler system. Not, however, some noise generating robot driven does-everything-for-you mower.
I would also go for the manual kind. I have to agree with ElvisL1ves and Tesdter. The constant whirring of a motor-driven mower doesn’t compare to the meditative rustling noise of a manual model. Zazka zacka zacka. Pause. Zacka zazka zacka. Pause. Those rhythmic zacks and silent moments when you work your way around a rosebush are priceless!
Severed toes and rhythmic zacks. I look forward to the experience.
Argh. My push reel mower drove me nuts and totally wore me out. I’m talking real physical exhaustion here, and yes I did have it sharpened, by a real-live professional lawn mower sharpening person. I used it about four times before I finally gave up and hid it in the back of the garage, sweating and exhausted, and turned with relief to the $99 power mower.
Growing up, all I had were reel mowers to cut our lawns as well as several old ladies on the block. You cannot compare today’s reel mowers to those dinosaurs. They are much lighter, and most have a differential making them easier to push (instead of the blade being turned directly on the axle).
I used one as a kid, and my kids use ours, so I don’t think physical strength is that big of a deal. Especially compared to a non-self-propelled power mower. Plus, IMO reel mowers are much easier to maneuver and turn, with just the two wheels compared to the 4 on a power mower.
One possible minor disadvantage is that the reel is between the wheels, so you cannot get quite as close to the edge. Also, do not let the grass get too long, or it will be a bear to cut and will look shaggy. But you can clean it up by going over it a second time in a different direction. And unless you let the grass get too long between cuttings, you do not need to rake or bag it.
No gas, no cords, no batteries, no pollution, much less noise, smaller storage area, less maintenance. I don’t see that there is even much of a comparison.
I just bought a house last fall, so this is my first season cutting grass. Ever. Mowing the lawn was always my brother’s job when I lived at home, then it was my landlord’s job when I lived in my apartment.
My yard isn’t very big, and I’m on a very limited budget, so buying expensive lawn-maintenance equipment was out of the question. My father is an antique dealer, so I put him onto the project of procuring an old-fashioned reel mower for me.
The one he found probably weighs 30 lbs. Works like a charm. Makes a nice noise. Gives me a good workout. I’m the only one on my block that can mow the lawn early on Saturday morning without pissing people off.
Oddly enough, my 82 year old neighbor is appalled that I’m using the push mower. The first time he saw me using it, he hauled his gas mower out of his basement and gave me a lesson in its operation. Then he went off to breakfast, confident that he’d done his good deed for the day. I pushed it off to the side and used the push mower anyway, and didn’t let on when he returned, I just thanked him for his generosity.
I’m all about the reel mower.
Hmm…just last week, I took my hand-me-down reel mower to the Sharpening Shop (“We sharpen anything!”) to get the blades sharpened.
The shop turned out to be someone’s house, with a garden and a fenced-in yard in which a variety of yappy little rat-dogs swarmed. The shirtless dude out front called in through the screen door to the grandma-like-lady who in turn called for the friendly old geezer of the house to come out. He was the Sharpener.
And he took a good long look at the mower before declaring that it couldn’t be sharpened. I believed him at the time: the reels have square edges, not sharp blades.
Now y’all are telling me that he’s full of shit. But where do I go to get it sharpened? Right now it’s more of a grass-smusher than a grass-clipper, like cutting someone’s hair by running a butterknife over their head.
Where to get it sharpened?
Daniel
I love my reel mower. I find it just the thing for my little yard. A gas powered mower would be overkill, and I never have liked the idea of dragging an electric cord behind the mower.
In my opinion, it doesn’t hurt for the mower to be a little heavy. Since you have to push them along at a good clip to cut properly, they tend to bounce a lot if the ground is uneven. A heavier mower reduces the jumping.
Sure, the blades have squared edges. That doesn’t mean that they can’t get dull. The squared edges get rounded with usage, and you have to true them back up to a nice, crisp square edge.
If you can’t find someone to sharpen your blades, you can do it yourself. You just have to be careful - both of your fingers and to sharpen evenly.
Clamp the mower in a vise so that you can turn the wheels by hand. Spread valve grinding compound along the fixed blade, and crank the wheels by hand. When the blades stop scraping (you can hear the valve compound grating between the surfaces,) put more compound on the fixed blade and tighten the adjusters on the reel so that the blades are pressed together more strongly. Make sure to tighten the adjusters on both ends of the reel evenly, else you end up with a funky looking blade that won’t cut right. Continue putting on valve compound and tightening and cranking until the edges on the fixed blade and the reel blades are nice and shiny along the whole length and the full width of the blades. Now adjust the reel so that you can use the mower to cut a sheet of paper without it tearing or ripping. Now go out and mow your lawn and be amazed at how well it cuts.
P.S.
Keep your fingers clear of the blades while sharpening. These days they can reattach fingers, but I hear it hurts like hell - and stitches aren’t much fun either if you just cut yourself.
Thanks, Murt! Unfortunately, the tools I have could fit in a lunch box and leave room for a sandwich: sharpening it myself is probably out. Is this something that Home Depot would be able to do, or where would I find folks willing to offer this service?
In any case, it’s cool to know how to do it.
Daniel
The only real trick is keeping the mower from rolling around when you crank the wheels. If you can prop it up so that the wheels are off the ground so that you can turn them, the only other thing you would need is a wrench that fits the adjuster nuts and some valve grinding compound from a car parts store.
I don’t know where you could find someone to do the job for you. I got into reel type mowers about twenty years ago, and even back then we couldn’t have it sharpened. My Dad taught me how to do it myself for that reason.
My current mower is a little $50 jobbie - which is about all I can get here in Germany. Apparently, folks here just buy a new one when it gets dull, or they move up to an electric or gas powered mower.
If you live anywhere near Springfield, Missouri we could see if my father would be interested - but you would have to wait a while because he is on vacation over here and won’t be home for a few months.
Oops. I just noticed your location tag, Daniel. I think North Carolina would be just a little too far from Springfield for you go there just to have a mower sharpened.
You might ask at a golf course, since they use powered reel mowers. Maybe someone there would know where they have it done - it might even be the grrens keeper himself, and he might do it for you.