Anyone use a push reel mower?

[Steve M]

The ol' lady wants one. She said she liked the one they had when she was a kid other than catching her finger in the blade one time. Home Depot has two to choose from. I'm thinking it would be a novelty if nothing else. She doesn't like the dust from the ol' Briggs and Stratton. I'd mow the grass but she says it's the only exercise she gets. We only have a 50X100' lot. Are they worth having or are they a big pain in the butt?

 

[illflem]

I have a really nice one I found at the recycling center. It is definitely an excellent workout and does a great mowing job. My complaints is that you must do it more often than with a power mower, if you let the lawn get ahead of you it will turn into more of a workout than most people want. In FL it will probably mean every three days. You also must use a grass catcher or rake the lawn, trimmings on the lawn also make it too much of a workout. Your wife at least will never complain about B&S again after a few weeks of push mowing.

 

[fest3er]

Properly adjusted, a push mower takes very little effort to use. The bar should be very close to the reel, but should not touch it. It cuts by cleanly shearing the grass, not by mechanically grinding it apart.

For a while, I used Dad's old Jacobsen. I figured if it was good enough for him when he was my age, it should be good enough for me 40 years later. Unfortunately, the drive cogs wore out. I had new ones made, but the shop didn't harden them, and they wore out rather quickly.

I only had about 50'x50' of lawn to mow, and I eased through it in about 20 minutes. The thin grass would take almost no effort, whilst the thick grass would slow me down a bit.

Getting it sharpened is a pain; very few shops have the necessary tooling needed. If your wife wants the exercise, then by all means buy her the best push mower you can find. It's the *least* you can do.

"Honey? Come outside and see the new push mower I bought you. You'll get lots of exercise so you can restore that lovely figure you had when I married you. Now that we have central heat *and* air conditioning, I don't need the warmth in winter or the shade in summer any more. . ... See how easy it is to use? Oh, honey? You missed a spot back there... . "

A few more in case you missed the redneck humor!

Fest3er

 

[Steve M]

Thanks for the replies. I already catch flack from the neighbors when they see my wife out mowing the lawn while I stand on the porch drinking a cold one. Us scooter tramps are hard on the Mrs. Imagine tomorrow when they see her pushing her new push reel mower! They might just turn me in. I could stand out there with a belt in one hand! Actually while she's mowing I'm running my high-performance modified weedeater around the edges. I always get the hard job. If the push reel mower doesn't do it. I'll get her a sickle.