reel lawn mower

Search for: profile | register | preferences | faq next newest topic | next oldest topic Katina – posted 02 August 2003 01:17        

I never mow a lawn before. I am not very big, I’m 5’2″, weight 92 lbs. I am interest in a reel lawn mower type. I would like some informations about this and what is the best kind I should get. Thank you.

ramador68 – posted 03 August 2003 07:57

Katina, first you have to take the size of your yard into consideration. Even if you have a large yard, your still going to need to get close to the house or around landscaping which is going to require a push mower or edger. and since a riding mower is such a big cost. I would recomend a self propeled mower. My son is 6 and he can mow using ours,(supervised of course) so I wouldn’t worry about your size. Sears has good quality mowers. Some things you might want to think of are like. fence lines in relation to trees, sheds or landscaping etc. some mowers have bigger decks which might be to large to fit in between. Good luck.

quote:Originally posted by Katina:I never mow a lawn before. I am not very big, I’m 5’2″, weight 92 lbs. I am interest in a reel lawn mower type. I would like some informations about this and what is the best kind I should get. Thank you.

Brad – posted 04 August 2003 13:24

Before you buy a reel mower, I think you should ask yourself a few questions. 1) What kind of grass do you have? This is probably the most important question. Reel mowers do not work well on all types of grass. Reel mowers work great on grasses which are cut very low (Bermuda, Zoysia, Bent Grass, etc.) , but poorly on grasses which are cut at higher levels (Fescue, St. Augustine, Rye, etc.) For example, golf course greens and fairways are mowed with reel mowers because that kind of grass is made to be mowed extremely low and a reel mower is the only way to do that (i.e. a rotary mower will not go that low). A taller grass, Fescue for example, would be severly scalped if mowed anywhere near that low so you would use a standard rotary mower on that kind of grass. 2) How big is your yard? Most reel mowers used by homeowners are in the 20 to 25 inch wide cut range and are either push or self propelled, but not riding. If it’s a big yard it might take forever to cut it with a smaller mower like that. You could buy a reel mower with multiple reels that has a wide cutting path like they use at a golf course but they are not practical for a homeowner and you are talking serious money (thousands). On the other hand, if your yard is very small and you have the right kind of grass for a reel mower, you could just go with a push reel as opposed to a larger more powerful self propelled model. 3)How much do you want to spend on purchasing a mower? Reel mowers can cost several times what a comparable quality rotary mower would run. You can easily spend $1,000 on a very good self-propelled reel mower with a 20 inch cut, but a comparable size and quality rotary mower could be had for less than $500 all day long. A push reel mower might be $50(?) 4) How much do you mind spending on annual maintenance? Annual sharpening and backlapping a reel mower blade (actually there would be either 5 or 7 blades depending on the model) and bed knife can run around $100 and it’s not always easy to find a shop that has the equipment to do it. Converesely, a rotary mower blade can easily be sharpened for $10 bucks or so, and you could even do it yourself with a basic grinding wheel. Good luck, and I hope this is helpful.

Katina – posted 06 August 2003 18:31

Thank you Ramador68 and Brad for taking time to explain to me. Your advices are very helpful for the first home owner. Actually I am going to move to my house this weekend. I am looking for a lawn mower for this summer, I will also need a snow thrower for the coming the winter. I live in Grand Rapids, MI. The house is located in the city, it has a small yard; and some grass by the side walk. I will also need to clean the snow for the side walk and drive way. I would appreciate your advice about snow thrower/blower also.

It is hard to be a home owner, especially when I don’t have any experience about it.

Thank you again.Katina

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