Reel Lawn Mowers

[DunEdinRanger]

Gents,

I may have killed our Lawnmower this afternoon. The first sign of trouble came when I noticed some tread had been removed from the front right wheel. The second sign was when shortly after that, with plenty of gas, it sputtered and died. It is a Sears 675 Series Self Propelled mower.

As a replacement, I am considering a Fiskars 6201 Reel Lawn Mower. While the lawn is not big, there are some parts that are at an incline, and several trees.

I can rationalize the advantages as:

1) No noise
2) No gas
3) "Better" for the lawn.
4) Can cut grass anytime, and not worry about waking neighbors up.
5) Adjustable cutting height.

Disadvantages

1) Longer time needed
2) More Effort involved

Has anyone here used a Fiskars? What was your experience with it?

[thatsilverguy]

Having been there, done that, you need to rephrase that one disadvantage:
"- A LOT MORE effort involved."

That said, if you have a small yard maybe it won't be too painful. Suffice to say that you can probably cancel your gym membership and any cardio or weight-loss regimen you may be on now if you get a push-reel. You will be pretty buff in just a few weeks.

Good luck!

[M80]

Gents,

I am considering a Fiskars 6201 Reel Lawn Mower.

I can rationalize the advantages as:

1) No noise
2) No gas
4) Can cut grass anytime, and not worry about waking neighbors up.
5) Adjustable cutting height.

An electric would have all the same advantages.

Disadvantages

1) Longer time needed
2) More Effort involved

Not a problem with an electric.

[Flynnster]

Also, they are not exactly silent, there is still quite a racket from the.

[DunEdinRanger]

I doubt anyone would ever describe me as "Buff" - but I do need to deplumpify so there is that. It weighs about half of what the self propelled mower weighs now...

Having been there, done that, you need to rephrase that one disadvantage:
"- A LOT MORE effort involved."

That said, if you have a small yard maybe it won't be too painful. Suffice to say that you can probably cancel your gym membership and any cardio or weight-loss regimen you may be on now if you get a push-reel. You will be pretty buff in just a few weeks.

Good luck!

[garyg]

Well, as always, it depends .. a manual reel mower is a great cutter, on a flat lawn, when the blades are kept sharp .. the adjustments on most manuals have a high end that is less than a healthy height for bluegrass lawns in latitudes that might include Bergen County

[shaveitoff]

Your Sears probably isn't completely dead. It could just need a new spark plug. Take it in for service first.

If it is truly dead, you could try the reel mower. I'd only get one if the lawn was fairly clean - i.e. not prone to getting a lot of branches or twigs falling out of tree canopies. Also consider leaves in the fall. Do you rake them now or just mow them? If you are used to mowing them, you might need to start raking them with a push mower.

[Pkrankow]

If it was hot when it sputtered and died, and after it becomes cold you can restart it, you might just need a coil, located under the flywheel with the other ignition parts (put points and condenser in while there). Add a new set of wheel and you are in for less than a new mower, and it will probably run for another decade.

If it won't restart cold you have a gummed carburetor.

The Briggs and Straton engine is highly rebuildable and cheap to work on. I bought a carb rebuild for a chipper/shredder last year for $20. Took about an hour to do the rebuild.... If you care to do that kind of thing.

I used a reel mower growing up on 5000 square feet of lawn. I cannot recommend one, but they do work (in general) and I would consider one for less than 1000 square feet of lawn. Hills were not a problem, cut from the top down, then go back to the top of the hill.

Phil

[Mr5x5]

It is ok. A lot less forgiving of small twigs and branches though.

[PugslyCat]

I used one of these for a while when my first wife and I were living in a duplex. Our side of the yard was large for using a reel mower, but manageable. Then SWMBO insisted I had to mow both sides and the job more than doubled.

Mine was not the Fiskars, but a Sears. I most liked that I didn't have to store gasoline in the lean to shed outside my bedroom window anymore and the price was right. It seemed to do a nice job and I didn't really notice that it was any more difficult to push around than a gas mower. That was 20 years ago, though. It was also nice that when I needed to mow another small lot I could easily get it in and out of the trunk of the car.

It really didn't like small twigs of any kind. There was a real sudden stop whenever I hit one. Not just the cutting reel, but the whole thing becomes a brake.

Mine was only a 16" reel, so it made for a lot more passes than it would have been with a 22" power mower. Every 4 passes with the reel mower could have been done with 3 passes of a power mower.

SWMBO insisted I had to ditch it and get a gas mower when we moved to a single family home, even though the new lawn probably wasn' t any bigger than both sides of the duplex. Things like that are why she became ex-SWMBO.

[Go West Young Man]

If you sharpen and adjust a reel mower properly and don't let the grass get overly long, it's no more exercise than walking back and forth would be.

[xraygun]

What kind of grass do you have? Bermuda loves reel mowers. Bluegrass, ryes and fescues usually are better cut with a rotary.

90% of "broken" lawn mowers are suffering from bad gas or problems caused by bad gas. Unfortunately, the wonderful ethanol that is being added to our gasoline (for no good reason) is a literal sponge for water. That water causes corrosion in carburetors when the gas isn't drained as part of winterizing. It can happen in the spring with a month's sitting around. If the gasoline you are using isn't stored in a sealed container and less than 2 months old, get some fresh gas. Buy premium as the alcohol degrades octane over time. For example, gas powered string trimmers such as a Stihl brand require 89 octane, not 87 and in a few months 91 is down to 89 easy. Draining the gas out of the old mower and replacing it, using a little carburetor cleaner and some compressed air could return your mower to life. If this doesn't help and the spark plug isn't filthy, and the thing is rattling apart, (and you really want a new mower) maybe it's time to retire it.

First let's hear what kind of grass you have!

[jd_1138]

90% of "broken" lawn mowers are suffering from bad gas or problems caused by bad gas.

Yep. Gas goes bad and will clog up the fuel lines. I always buy premium and put some fuel stabilizer in it, and never have a problem. Sometimes I will leave gas in the mower over winter, but it always starts up in the Spring. What you don't want to do is keep gas for longer than 6 months or so. I have a Sears Craftsman 6.5 hp (Briggs) that goes through even tall grass easily. It's non-self propelled and is a real beast. Been plugging away for 5 years with no problems, and I only tuned it up once and changed the oil twice I think.

[Garlisk]

Just tossing this out there, but there are tons of old reel mowers from way back that are in fine condition that no one wants to use anymore. I use an old reel mower from the 50's that I picked up for 15 bucks at a local antique shop, and it cuts great.

[craig87c]

You're reel brave for wanting to try one out!

[ScottJH]

I use a Scott's 20" reel mower on my back yard. It's a good workout and it's nice to be able to hear birds chirping when you mow.

As other have said, twigs will stop a reel mower in it's tracks. Also if the grass or weeds is over a certain height, a reel mower will not cut them. The Fiskars is a more advanced design that the Scott's so these might not be an issue for you. It would be good to try one out if you could.

[RDPOE]

I just got the Fiskars to mow the lawn at my new house (3 mowings so far). The lawn is .26 acres, so not huge. That said, I wouldn't use a reel mower on anything larger.

Pros:
- quiet
- no gas
- no maintenance
- no smell
- easy to adjust
- decent exercise
- I think the old-school factor is cool. I enjoy taking my time and doing things that require more effort
- This one goes through twigs alright, but I haven't encountered anything too large

Cons:
- you will need to keep the grass mowed. This does not do well with overgrown, or even long grass. It gets hard to push through long stuff, you might need to raise the height, cut, then lower and cut again
- it's a workout, especially if you have hills, or mow during the day. Mow when it's cool (morning/evening) and you'll be fine
- if you have uneven ground, your mowing will look like you've missed patches, no matter how many times you go over it (roots, etc.)
- it has an 18 inch cutting path, so you'll end up doing several more passes than a gas powered mower.
- you will get some weird looks.

I like mine, it's easy enough to use, it's quiet, it's efficient, it doesn't pollute and I think it's just kind of cool!

[DunEdinRanger]

Fittingly on the Feast of the Ascension, the mower rose from the dead, thanks to my very helpful neighbors.

Thanks to everyone for their advice, but it was not bad gas, or a bad spark plug.

Apparently, the blades were not on tight; maybe they were loosened from debris, and this prevented the mower from starting. Once it was tightened, it sputtered and roared back to life!

[Tim_McD]

Sad that the power mowers are cheaper to throw away and buy new every couple of years. My wife is the lawn fiend and mows about every three days in season. Unfortunately, she got careless and mowed over a piece of ledge that becomes hidden once the grass gets a little high.

She bent the spindle and while I was able to mostly straighten it with a mini sledge, the lawnmower definitely had a shimmy. I took it to the shop and the guy was straight with me; $80 to do the initial assessment, from what I told him it would be a new spindle and blade, and all that with labor would exceed the cost of buying a new Toro on sale

We have a new Toro.

[xraygun]

I'm glad to hear the mower lived.

Tim a bent crank is the death of a mower engine. I know I've had idiots move the red post out of the way that marks an old pipe and try to mow it. ouch. Not the Stig ouch, just ouch. The Sledge treatment has never worked for me. I think it's 1 out of 20 that it works. I'm a high end Snapper guy, so it was engine replacement time, not whole mower. $250 vs $900+.
At least you have a wife that'll mow!!!