Review: My New Lawn Mower.

[RJM62]

I've been shopping around for lawn mowers for the past couple of weeks, and I've been amazed at how much some of them cost. Listening to some of the salesmen describing all the advanced features, you would thing I was buying an airplane; and some of the prices are more than I've paid for some of the cars I've owned.

We're talking about a lawn mower, for crying out loud. It cuts grass.

While in one of the stores, a new, but old-fashioned reel mower caught my eye: a Scott's "Classic" model. I'd used reel mowers as a child, and was rather surprised that they're still made. When I was offered $30.00 off (open-box deal), a full warranty, and a satisfaction guarantee at Home Depot, I decided to try it.

I must say, I'm very impressed. The mower is well-built, made in the USA, assembled very easily -- and cuts grass very well, too, which is also important. Surprisingly, its light weight actually make it easier to use than most of the powered lawn mowers I've used. Even self-propelled mowers have to be muscled around obstacles, turned around, and so forth, which can be a pain with a heavy mower. This one, on the other hand, weighs only 30 pounds -- less than some of my meals.

In addition, with the 20" cutting width and my rather brisk walking speed (some New York City habits are hard to shake), I think it may be a bit faster than a power mower, as well. It takes me about 30 - 45 minutes to mow the whole lawn, which I estimate is roughly 10,000 square feet. I doubt I could keep up that brisk a pace with a heavy, non-self propelled power mower, and a self-propelled one probably wouldn't let me. The cutting height is adjustable from one to three inches.

The other things I like about this mower are: no gas, no gas can, no Stabil to keep the gas from going stale, no oil, no fumes, no noise, no spark plugs, no air filters, no tune-ups, and in fact no maintenance at all to speak of other than the occasional blade sharpening.

All in all, I'm impressed. It's dark out now, but if I remember tomorrow, I'll take a picture of the lawn and upload it. It looks very nice, and I feel very refreshed from my brisk, but relaxing walk -- sans fumes, noise, and hand-numbing vibrations.

Note: The mower also has a grass catcher attachment (not pictured) that I haven't bothered installing yet.

-Rich

 

[EppyGA]

OMG, you have to push it yourself!

 

[timwinters]

assembled very easily

7500

It amazes me how we are all so well trained by the mfgrs. We buy something and we get to go to work at their factory assembling it ourselves.

I refuse to. If I buy a little red wagon I want to by a little red wagon...assembled. I don't want to go to work in the little red wagon factory.

/7500

Otherwise, I like it!

 

[RJM62]

OMG, you have to push it yourself!

LOL, I'm actually waiting for one of my littler nieces or nephews or one of my young godchildren to come around looking to earn a few bucks doing chores. "Sure," I'll say, "Go mow the lawn." I can't wait to see their jaws drop when they see a mower without an engine.

It works great, though. I'm very happy with it.

-Rich

 

[RJM62]

7500

It amazes me how we are all so well trained by the mfgrs. We buy something and we get to go to work at their factory assembling it ourselves.

I refuse to. If I buy a little red wagon I want to by a little red wagon...assembled. I don't want to go to work in the little red wagon factory.

/7500

Otherwise, I like it!

Tim, I think it the assembly consisted of two screws and two jeezus clips to assemble and attach the handle. It took maybe three minutes.

I must say, I was amused at the people in the parking lot who gasped as they watched the white-bearded old fart (that would be me) carrying the mower out to the car, in the box, on my shoulder. I guess they didn't know how little it weighed.

-Rich

 

[Henning]

Reel mowers always give the best cut, look at what golf courses use...

 

[timwinters]

Tim, I think it the assembly consisted of two screws and two jeezus clips to assemble and attach the handle. It took maybe three minutes.
-Rich

well, that's not bad then. I'm amazed at the items that are sold these days, though, that consist of nothing more that piles of parts and bags of screws and bolts.

Pretty soon we'll just buy just the assembly instructions and then pay for the parts separately!

Kinda like building an RV!

 

[nddons]

We bought my father in law one so he could bring it to the cemetery to maintain a grave. But it was from Sears, and quite heavy. I think yours looks great, and as Henning said, golf courses use real mowers.

 

[Taggg]

Did you buy the warranty too?

 

[rotorhead1026]

You DO have to keep the blades sharp.

 

[denverpilot]

And here I thought this was you coming home from the store...

 

[Rigged4Flight]

Does grass even grow without the benefits of noise/vibration/fumes every few days?

 

[RJM62]

Did you buy the warranty too?

Nah. I never bother with extended warranties.

-Rich

 

[RJM62]

You DO have to keep the blades sharp.

Yep. There's a guy around here who does sharpening of everything from pocket knives to farm equipment. He says that generally speaking, once every two to three years is usually enough for a reel mower unless you have a habit of hitting rocks with it.

He also sells some stuff that supposedly sharpens the blades if you apply it to them and turn them backwards with a crank, which is what he says he basically does for mower blades that are just dull (rather than damaged). The only difference is that he has a machine that does the turning.

He also said it's important to clean the blades and spray them with some sort of lubricant after use, but he says it doesn't make much of a difference whether it's silicone, WD-40, or used motor oil. I have some generic WD-40 sort of stuff that I've been using.

-Rich

 

[wabower]

Seeing that picture brought flashbacks of when I was 10 and was assigned the job of mowing the yard with one kinda like that but with a wooden T-handle. The septic tank laterals were a *****.

 

[woodstock]

And here I thought this was you coming home from the store...

I would hate to see a rapid decel...

 

[weilke]

Fiskars makes a very nifty reel-mower. The wheel is a bit heavier and spins without direct contact with the fixed blade, you basically get the reel to spin and individual cuts are mostlly by inertia. Good exercise.

 

[tonycondon]

yea I have the Fiskars model, like it a lot!

 

[Geico266]

Commercial John Deere F935, front mounted 72' blade, 30 HP , 3 cylinder water cooled Yanmar . Cuts grass as fast as you can go. I can cut my yard in 45 mins, and be in the truck headed to the airport.

The right equipment for the right job. Get r dun.

 

[steingar]

Push mowers are for the retired. Those of us who have to get on with things turn to Briggs and Stratton.

 

[rotorhead1026]

Yep. There's a guy around here who does sharpening of everything from pocket knives to farm equipment. He says that generally speaking, once every two to three years is usually enough for a reel mower unless you have a habit of hitting rocks with it.

If you cut frequently, and if the mower's steel is relatively hard, that might be true. If you let the grass go for a couple of weeks - NOT! You'll just have to figure out what works, though.

 

[tonycondon]

Push mowers are for the retired. Those of us who have to get on with things turn to Briggs and Stratton.

i have a small yard, it doesn't take me very long to mow it with my reel mower. half hour tops.

 

[dell30rb]

I wouldn't mind having a mower like that for the small stuff around my house. I am on the other end of the spectrum, a three blade 48" snapper pro.. one of those types you ride behind on a little trailer wheel/platform.

Problem with the snapper is that I can only get so close to the house with it, and even though it is a zero turn radius mower it weighs about 600lbs and is not the best. Great for mowing the field out front though, last week I was mowing along (grass had gotten a bit tall) and a copperhead went slithering out of there. Would not want to run into that with a little push mower for sure.

 

[bluesky74656]

I'm just buying a house with a 1/2 acre yard. I'm interested in the reel mowers, but most of the reviews I've read say they get annoying over about 1/4 acre. Any experience to the contrary here?

 

[TMetzinger]

I had the exact same mower.. and found that on my lawn that unless I cut the grass every two-three days it was just too tall/thick to push the mower through. So I went to a craftsman powered mower (still have to push it) with a B&S engine and it works fine.

For certain lawns where the turf is solid and dry, the reel mowers work very well. Wish I had one of those lawns.

 

[Sac Arrow]

When I was a kid, I had to mow the front lawn with a reel mower. But the front lawn was just a couple of ten foot square strips. I don't think I'd be willing to use one on anything bigger.

 

[flightwriter]

Rich, I think you just convinced me to buy one of these. My new (to me) house has a small patch of grass in back. A lawn service comes by every other week to mow and weed the property, but it definitely needs to be cut every week. Using a powered mower for that seems like overkill.

 

[jesse]

I have a self propelled Honda push mower that I really like. But I don't think I've mowed since like early June. No water, everything is dead here.

 

[flightwriter]

I have a self propelled Honda push mower that I really like. But I don't think I've mowed since like early June. No water, everything is dead here.

I'm heading to Omaha in a couple weeks (I grew up there) and, from conversations I've had with friends, it sounds like we've had more rain here in NM than you've seen in months. Scary.

 

[denverpilot]

Push mowers are for the retired. Those of us who have to get on with things turn to Briggs and Stratton.

Hell, I just pay someone. There's always a neighborhood kid or small business that will mow, cheap. They need the cash, and I need the time. It's always a fair trade.

 

[timwinters]

Push mowers are for the retired. Those of us who have to get on with things turn to Briggs and Stratton.

That reminds me of this:

Man sacrifices his health to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die,
and then dies having never really lived.

 

[RJM62]

Here are some pictures of the lawn, just to give you a little idea of the size and how the mower works. There's also maybe five feet on each side of the driveway (maybe 60 feet long) which isn't visible in either picture.

-Rich

 

[Gary]

Here are some pictures of the lawn, just to give you a little idea of the size and how the mower works. There's also maybe five feet on each side of the driveway (maybe 60 feet long) which isn't visible in either picture.

-Rich

NICE looking place!!!

Good for you on the manual mower, get to cut grass and get some exercise (and maybe therapy) at the same time.

Gary

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Commercial John Deere F935, front mounted 72' blade, 30 HP , 3 cylinder water cooled Yanmar . Cuts grass as fast as you can go. I can cut my yard in 45 mins, and be in the truck headed to the airport.

The right equipment for the right job. Get r dun.

A 72-foot blade and it still takes you 45 minutes? Must be one helluva yard!

 

[RJM62]

NICE looking place!!!

Good for you on the manual mower, get to cut grass and get some exercise (and maybe therapy) at the same time.

Gary

I certainly can use both: the exercise and the therapy. Thanks.

-Rich