Reel Mowers (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

As my drive to be Human Powered as much as possible, I'm looking at getting a reel mower for my small yard at my new house. I've looked at various brands and stuff, particularly Brill which seems to be a fairly common upscale kind of reel mower. Prices don't seem that much cheaper than a gas one but of course, the lack of gas, polluting, noise, and tune ups is appealing and frankly, I like the exercise and the fact that it's not gas powered or electric powered. (perhaps Ice Cream powered, cause I love ice cream ).

Anyway, from what some companies mentioned, the steel blades on the brill is not replaceable, that it would be cheaper to replace the whole thing and buy a new one. Well that seems counterproductive if I'm going to use it to save gas/energy/waste. How strong are these blades, I know you don't want to be mowing over twigs, rocks and stuff, but if anybody here have used a brill or a reel mower, how delicate are they?

Jay

p.s. thought I'd start a separate thread rather than add it to the ever-growing lawn mower thread...

 

[Philip Hamm]

Well, though I recently retired my reel mower after 9 years of use, (I still keep it around in case I want to use it for light mowing) I'll try to relay my experience.

The blades are very strong, don't worry about them.

You'll need to sharpen them at least once a year.

How big is your lawn? Mine was .5 acre, I wouldn't want to go much larger with a reel mower.

The most important thing to to is mow often and do not let the lawn get high. Reel mowers can't handle high grass.

My model was/is the Deluxe Light from American Lawn Mowers, Inc.. I'd recommend this company. Made in the good ol' US of A, and heavy duty. Mine did really well on my end unit townhome and then my new home for years.

It's very tricky to adjust these things so that they cut well but don't bind and become hard to push. When they work they are great!

 

[Jay H]

My total property is a 1/3 acre, so you have to minus out the house, the rocks, the driveway, etc. so not much at all... It's certainly manageable without a gas mower I think...

I think I need a mower attachment to my bike, then i can simply bike around in circles and mow at the same time. Maybe even harness the chain to drive the blades...

Seems like Target carries the brand that you have and I see that you can get a sharpening kit for $20 there too.. Might have to check that out...

Jay