Push Reel Mowers

[GlockSpock]

Ever since my wife and I got married and started renting our current house, I've been using an old and abused gas push mower. It really needs replacing, it is just something I have been putting off because each time I mow it "gets the job done". However, it really needs replacing.

 

I'm interested in the "old style" manual push mowers such as the one linked here:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Great-States-415-16-16-Inch-Standard/dp/B00002N691/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1377297632&sr=8-3&keywords=reel+mower

 

Benefits I'd see are:

 

Gas savings

Lower cost than a new gas mower

Quiet

 

Possible disadvantages:

 

Possible longer cutting time

Possibly "more difficult"

Probably have to keep the grass a more uniform length because I doubt it works if the grass is too high (maybe)

 

I have never been around them, but I'd bet money that someone on here has. Any input?

 

[surfabilly]

used one for several years on a small lawn. wouldnt recommend for much over a quarter acre

you don't want to let the grass get very high. two weeks without mowing will make it extremely difficult to cut. have to keep it sharp, which is fairly easy with rubbing compound.

grass does look much better cutting with a reel, but i ended up going back to a gas mower after a couple of years. (when we started having kids and free time became more valuable)

[GlockSpock]

Very small yard, I don't believe size would be the issue here. Thought a lot about the length though, guess one would probably need to have a backup gas mower just in case it did get too tall. So it does take quite a bit longer?

[surfabilly]

didn't seem to take me any longer, except when the grass was too tall.

[Patton]

It's not too bad using one if the grass isn't too high. If its a warm season turf grass it actually looks better. Once the blades get dull it's tough and they are tough to sharpen.

[leafinthewind]

used one for several years on a small lawn. wouldnt recommend for much over a quarter acre

you don't want to let the grass get very high. two weeks without mowing will make it extremely difficult to cut. have to keep it sharp, which is fairly easy with rubbing compound.

grass does look much better cutting with a reel, but i ended up going back to a gas mower after a couple of years. (when we started having kids and free time became more valuable)

 

I am "sharpening impaired"...I admit it.  I could make a spoon dull.  But how would you sharpen the blades of these things with rubbing compound?...Buffer wheel?

[surfabilly]

i found a couple of videos on YouTube for sharpening the reels. found the kit at ace hardware.

basically you brush the rubbing compound on each blade of the reel (not the bed knife) and run the reels in reverse. works well, but probably not as well as having each reel sharpened individually.