sashime76

I was wondering if any owns / has owned one of these? How do they work? http://www.cleanairgardening.com/reelmowers.html

I have about 1/3 acre corner lot, plus long side walk. Currently I use a 6.5HP self propelled push type mower. It's about 5 years old and still runs well. I just want to know if anyone has any experience with the manual kind?

Thanks!

mazak

the manual kind,are just that manual. if it cuts you are pushing it uses you're power.no gas or electric power. if you will poeple power,instead of horse power .keep the blades sharp ! these are a blast from the past! as before small engines and electric. a swing blade or a syth[spell check] was used before that. good luck with it ! there a lot of fun,but it does not pull its self nor does it spin,unless you are on the user end of it !!

ratbastid

Man, the house I grew up in had a 1/3 acre lot, and it was miserable mowing that even with a self-propelled electric!

lurkette has this fundamental hatred of gas-burning tools. As a result, we bought a reel mower when we got our first house, which was on a 1/10th acre lot. That thing was endless misery. First of all, it's not just pushing, there's resistence in the wheels that gives the blades power to turn. So it's sort of a work-out. You also can't let the grass get too long, because if you do, the damn thing will just bend the grass over and not let it into the cutting area.

If you're looking for an environmentally and acoustically friendly lawn mower, check out the one I just ordered for use at our new house: right here

It's an electric mower from Black & Decker with a rechargeable battery. It's a little spendy, but it's a super cool thing that is going to serve me well for years and years. UPS is alledgedly going to deliver it tomorrow.

Charlatan

As I mentioned in *nikki*'s journal, I have a bit of a fetish about the push mower... I love the sound, feel and look of the push mower. Yes they can be a bit of a pain to work but for me they are just a slice of cool.

I used to have one some years ago and it wasn't that hard to use. At my last house with a lawn we had a plug in mower that served us well.

I don't have a lawn anymore so I don't need a mower... but if I did, I'd look for a push mower...

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shakran

keep it well lubricated. If it seizes up on you the handle will punch you in the gut. This is why I don't use one anymore.

iRobot has a new mower out that's based on Roomba technology. Mows the lawn for you.. . . I may have to look in to that

catback

unless your yard is super small, reel-type mowers are a pain in the ass. If you want the advantages of a reel-type then get an electric lawn mower, they may not be as quiet but they are quiet enough for the person who doesn't like loud gas lawn mowers.

Lebell

I had a fairly small lot and I STILL hated our manual mower.

Hard to push, poor cutting and the damn grass spilled out most of the time.

No no no no no no, never again.

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rideough

I have the Brill Luxus 38 and it is awesome. I have a small yard though. I'm pretty sure doing a 1/3 acre lot wouldn't be that bad but you wouldn't be too happy about doing it alot. With the manual mowers you hve to mow more because the grass isn't as damaged by the blades so it grows faster.

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sipsake

I use one, albeit on a very small yard. Cuts wonderfully, though you need to keep the yard from getting too long. And careful for twigs and pinecones, the mower stops dead in its tracks if you hit one.

Big advantage is that it fits under the house and without a motor, it isn't very attractive to thieves.

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sashime76

I was thinking of getting one as a backup, in case my 5 yr old gas mower quits on me in the middle of cutting. That way I can at least finish the mowing then get the gas mower repaired.

william

They work by pushing them across the lawn. Many people buy them; not many reccommend them (see above). If you have just a yard of grass (no trees), it should work fine. Less maintenance than other mowers (keep it lubed and sharp). More time intensive, as there isn't a mulcher reel mower, so you have to rake up.

Stilts

I had to use one of these growing up. They are pretty neat....until you have to use one. Just thinking about pushing that thing up the hill in our front yard when we'd been away for a couple of weeks on vacation makes me want to rock over my entire front lawn so there is no way in hell I'll ever somehow get stuck doing that again.

ratbastid

I think they're kind of like straight razors. They look neat, lots of guys would like to use them, but you end up a cursing bloody mess if you try it.

pattycakes

200 bucks what a rip off

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pacaveli

my grandmtoher had an old one it was quite the hassel

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