Thread: Push reel lawn mowers

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Where do you get enough light to mow at midnight without annoying the neighbors? I'd love to be able to do that

The push reel lawn mower doesn't annoy the neighbors, but the 60,000 Watt stadium lighting system he uses makes them pull their shades down!

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The push reel lawn mower doesn't annoy the neighbors, but the 60,000 Watt stadium lighting system he uses makes them pull their shades down!

strangers in the night exchanging lawn clippings sounds romantic

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The push reel lawn mower doesn't annoy the neighbors, but the 60,000 Watt stadium lighting system he uses makes them pull their shades down!

I just go ahead and use the gas mower, I find the neighbors don't hear it over the generators.

My light source is a tad less obtrusive than stadium lights. It consists of both distant street lights and moonlight. When I have the urge to mow and the moonlight is lacking, I just do it by best guess. If I miss a few patches, I figure I'll just catch them next time. In other words, while I don't want to annoy my neighbors (except for chasing their damn cats out of my gardens), I don't care about impressing them with manicured lawns either.

Funny this thread should come up. I bought one of these last summer while living in Florida. Currently it is on the porch of my San Diego apartment because I liked it too much to give away. Like the straight razor, the mower was just another case of me becoming fed up with all things modern. I remember from growing up that the fancier and more costly a mower, the worse job it always seemed to do. Self bagging mowers were the worst, always clogging. This other old, busted and rusted up no name mower never seemed to have any problems.
After living in apartments for a while and finally having a house with a yard, but not expecting to be there too long, I went for the reel mower because I thought it would be cheaper, and because I always thought it would be fun. Turns out they run about the same price as lower end mowers, but I still think it was worth it, especially because my wife was so intrigued that she took to mowing the lawn while I was working. We had numerous people walking and driving by stop to stare or chat about it. A surprising number said that they had used them and loved them, but couldn't find one.
Concur on the twigs and weeds part. a twig jammed in there is a pain, and those tall, slender weeds just get pushed over and come right back up. No big deal though. Biggest upside, as others mentioned, is a peaceful swishing sound rather than another loud engine in your life.

I was thinking of graduating to a reel pusher as my 36 year old Lawnboy has to give up the ghost some time, but learned that my neighbor just got two beagle puppies which are now learning to bay. I think I'll take the muffler of the old gas hog so they can enjoy noise too.

Ear muffs at midnight, in the moonlight

Originally Posted by Bruce

t my neighbor just got two beagle puppies which are now learning to bay. I think I'll take the muffler of the old gas hog so they can enjoy noise too.

Ear muffs at midnight, in the moonlight

You've got something wrong with you if you don't think that beagle puppies howling is the absolute cutest thing on the planet. (Says the owner of two beagles)

P.S. I'm not your neighbor, so don't blame me

I still have mine but unfortunately cant really use it. It would take a little too long to mow almost 2 acres with it. But I miss the nice sound of it compared to the 48" riding mower we use now.

When I lived in town and had a smaller lawn I used it about half of the time (when the grass got too high I switched to the gas mower) but I was out mowing the back yard with the Reel mower and a lady drove by and looked....stopped ....backed up...rolled down her window and proceded to tell me about her yard sale that weekend and that she had a "real" lawnmower she was selling. I politely thanked her and informed her that I already had one, she said "no I mean a Gas mower." So I said "yes, I have one of those too." She had this extremely puzzled look on her face and drove off.

p.s. after you put the reel mower up and get out the hand scythe to do the trimming you get some frightened looks from people walking by...

it's funny how attached some people are to the "newer and better"

Originally Posted by drewdog

it's funny how attached some people are to the "newer and better"

And there are all levels of it. For instance, the guy who I saw using a pair of scissors to trim his sidewalk (no joke) last summer probably thinks you are a victim of "new and improved!" 1930s marketing schemes with your fancy push-reel

We used to have a couple of these in the shed when I was a kid, also a large 'Atco' petrol cylinder mower with a Villiers engine, I think the lawnmower shops use a special cylinder grinding jig for sharpening.
These days, to save enough time to be able to use a cutthroat razor, I have a petrol driven mower.
It takes over an hour to do both lawns, I think I'd need half a day a week in the growing season if I used a human powered machine. We usually have sheep in the field behind us, I've been tempted to leave the gate open to save time and fuel.