[Vision2020] manual reel lawn mowers

[Paul Rumelhart]

I'd like to thank everybody for their responses on this.

I picked up a Scott's Classic (I think that's what it's called) at 
Moscow Building Supply.  I looked at Tri-State, but I didn't ask anybody 
so maybe I missed them.  It took me about 15 minutes to put the handle 
on, so it would take someone with more than a two-year old's sense of 
the mechanical about 10 minutes. 

I mowed my front lawn, which took a little more out of me than it would 
normally have done, but I also didn't spend half an hour resuscitating 
my lawn mower and going and getting new gas for it.  The first time you 
use it, it will be rough if you have lots of little tree limbs that have 
accumulated over the winter like I did.  I had to stop and pick up every 
tree limb of any size I could find and move them off of the lawn.  The 
reel mower hits one and then stops, so you have to back the blades up a 
short amount manually to dislodge whatever got stuck.  I did this 
probably twenty times.  You also have to run it over crab grass a few 
times, because it's so light that it just bends unless you hit it with a 
quick burst.  You also move quicker than I'm used to to get a good cut, 
and you tend to overlap more because you might miss some long grass that 
bent instead of being cut.  I realized I'd learned to go slow, because 
going too fast with a gas-powered motor can lug the engine.  Faster is 
better with a reel mower, because you are in effect revving the engine 
that way.  You are the engine.

On the plus side, there was no loud engine sound.  The sound of the 
blades cutting the grass was actually kind of relaxing.  You also tend 
to get mesmerized if you watch it cut the grass as you push it along, 
but that might just be me.  It's a lot lighter, so moving it around is 
not very hard work.  You also don't have to worry about gas or oil 
leaking out if you turn it over or turn it upside down.  You also don't 
feel as if the entire neighborhood is watching you struggle with the 
damn mower.  You can also easily stop and come back to it, since you 
don't feel as if you have to finish because you just got the stupid 
thing started.  I think the next few times mowing the front yard will be 
easy, because the grass will have come back a little stronger.  I've 
also learned a little bit about the best way to use it.  The grass also 
looks better, probably because it's not ripped off at high speed but 
sliced off like with scissors.

All-in-all, I'm glad I bought one.  I think I paid $130 after taxes for 
it.  There was a cheaper one, but I had seen this one reviewed online 
and it got pretty good reviews. 

Paul

Joe Campbell wrote:
> I love reel mowers! I would check Pat's Lawn and Saw on White Ave. (near 
> the McDonald's, off of Rt. 8). I think I got my reel mower there but it was 10 
> years ago, so I might be wrong. They should know where to get one. Also, I 
> would buy a new one -- they are cheap and some of them come with grass 
> catchers. They've made some incredible advancements in reel mowers!
>
> --
> Joe Campbell
>
> ---- Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote: 
>
> =============
> Does any store around here sell reel lawn mowers?  These are lawn mowers 
> that don't use gas or electricity, like the old made-of-iron ones that 
> you hated pushing around as a kid (except that the more modern ones are 
> apparently easier to push).
>
> Thought I'd do my thing for the environment and my waistline at the same 
> time.
>
> Paul
>
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