reel lawn mowers

1. Posted: Aug 3 2008

   I tried to do the right thing by buying a push mower, and I really hate the noise of a gasoline mower. Unfortunately, this product was a huge disappointment, and now I am going to have to buy a power mower after all. This mower skips and slides over the grass without cutting, so I have to go over the same spot three times to have any chance of cutting it. Even then it is pretty rough. In the end, it takes three times as long and five times as much personal energy to cut an area half as well. Of course, there is no trouble-shooting guide provided, and there is no hope of taking it to a service place, so the only recourse is to trash this item and waste whatever money was spent on it. Years ago I used to sell Scott products, and I thought they were reliable even if they cost somewhat more. No longer. Now it is just one more piece of junk trying to get by on a company's previous reputation. My advice: stay away from this one.

2. Posted: Aug 3 2008

   First the good stuff. It requires little or no maintenance. It is absolutely NO harder to push than a gas mower. It is more maneuverable than a gas or electric mower, therefore it takes less time to mow than either alternative mower.(I don't understand why people think it is a major workout or takes so long to mow) It is quieter than a gas or electric mower and it just makes you feel good not wasting energy when you can use your own body's stored energy. OK now the bad things which are relatively minor. 1. You have to constantly tighten the handle screws or the handle will torque. It's a pain but no big deal. 2. After mowing, you have to go back with a trimmer of some kind to get the taller grass and weeds. This mower simply will not cut them. Overall, I must say that I like this mower.

3. Posted: Jul 31 2008

   This mower works well except for one issue. If any of the grass grows over 4 inches, for instance a weed here and there, the mower will go right over it and not cut it. So what you are left with is a nicely trimmed lawn dotted with really long weeds. This is because it doesn't have the vacuum/sucking force that a motor-mower has. So if you are ok with a little inconsistency, and are not too anal about your lawn, this thing works great. Very easy to push, good exercise, quiet, and thus far, durable.

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1. Posted: Jul 7 2008

   This is my first reel mower and I must say I've been converted. The grass flew off the rear of the mower as if it were a cartoon- literally a waterfall of grass shooting into the air. You can go back over a section easily enough to hit any blades you might have missed (I missed only because I couldn't see the 'walk lines' since the mower is so light). I'm able to navigate around tightly planted edging with no trouble, but you will need a weed whacker to finish up since these don't cut the width of the tire + 1 inch. My front lawn took about 5 more minutes to cut than with the gas powered 'push' mower- and that was mostly due to me learning how to cut with this beautiful piece of equipment. My back lawn is a nightmare of twigs, leaves, holes and hills. A twig can and will stop the blades if it's too large but that only happened once. The only gripe I have with the great states 18" reel mower is that the handles aren't long enough- I'm 6'2" tall and my arms had to hold them at an awkward angle. I'll see if that improves and update as time goes on. Until then, this is a great investment. While not as wide as the Scotts 20" mower this is significantly cheaper on the per - inch basis.

2. Posted: Jul 1 2008

   I recently borrowed a friend's Great States Mower to try on my yard. He bragged on it and told me I should give it a try. What a joy it was to use. Lightweight, no real noise, no vibrations, no debris being flung out from under the mower at 900 mph towards my children, and no fumes. I could stop and start without stopping and starting an engine. I could walk and listen to music on my Nokia N810 without ear muffs or ear plugs. The kids could get close or ask questions. I declared that day I would buy one. If only the whole neighborhood would use these mowers. Some weekends are a filled with the roar of a half-dozen gasoline powered lawnmowers chomping away at the grass followed by gas leaf blowers and gas weed-wackers. No relaxing outside with a cold glass of sweet tea on those days. Are all of these gas powered tools really progress? If it is, I'll take a few steps backwards thanks... I spent $40 this spring on my 10 year old gas mower to get it back on it's feet. I bought a new blade b/c the old one was bent, new gaskets and seals for the carburetor, an oil change, and a new fuel line. Would have been much more but I am able to to do all my own work. It's been a good machine and has alot of life left in it but I'm tired of it though. Such complexity and roaring noise to do something simple like cut grass. Every year it has cost me $20 or so to get the gas mower ready. I can only imagine what it would cost to use a repair service. I looked at electric mowers - the type with a motor and battery on board. Nice machines but still more than I need week to week. Still a certain amount of noise. Still a complex device. Then I used this Great States Mower. What a perfect tool for the job. This isn't your grandfather's reel mower. I remember using one of those when I was a kid. It weighed about as much as I did at the time and a real bear to push. Maybe it was weight or maybe it was out of adjustment. Maybe it was that I was eight years old. Tough to say. I, like most folks these days, could use a little more exercise. This manual mower helps there. It's not hard to push and it weighs less than my gasoline mower. I feel really good when I get done mowing! I think it is because I was exercising without inhaling all of those exhaust fumes for 45 minutes. These mowers have limitations as you may read in other reviews. Without a blade spinning at 3,000 rpm+ it does not suck the grass and debris upward to be chopped by the blades. That means grass blades that don't stand straight enough to get cut won't get cut. It also means that debris like leaves won't get mulched. Surprisingly having mowed my yard with a reel mower a few times now - it just looks better to me. It's not a perfect cut. I can find a few stray blades that got pushed over instead of being cut and stand back up between mows. I'll get them next time. No sweat. The blades get scissored by the reel mower rather than torn or chopped by the gas mower blade. Looks greener to me. You'll need to mow a little more often. If you let the grass get out of control you'll hate mowing with this mower. Get an electric mower from Great States Mower. With a little extra mowing the finished yard looks great and the effort is minimal. Your body will be better for it too. Save your old gasoline mower for leaf control or mulching. I'm likely going to ditch mine in favor of a leaf rake. The mower needs little TLC to keep it in top form. Its easy with just a little practice. The cutter bar has to be adjusted so that the reel blades slide against it evenly. There are two screws on each side of the cutter bar that adjust this. Basically they tilt the cutter bar against or away from the blades. Too close and the mower is hard to push, and too far away and the mower won't scissor the blades of grass. It takes about 10 mins to get it just right the first time and that adjustment should be good for a long, long time. There is this perfect cutting sound that the mower makes when it is just right. Learn to hear this sound and you'll know all is right with your mower. To sharpen your mower you simply tighten this cutter bar against the blades a little closer than normal and smear valve grinding paste on the reel blades and cutter bar. Push it around the driveway to spin the blades. When the blade edges are uniformly shiny across their length then you are ready to clean the paste off and readjust the cutter bar. You can buy this valve lapping paste from any FLAPS (friendly local auto parts store) and mechanics use this paste when replacing cylinder head valves in a car or truck engine. The reel mower sharpening kits provide a handle so you can spin the blades while the mower is on your workbench and the grinding compound is the same as the FLAPS paste. The last time I mowed I did it without earplugs. I did not smell like exhaust. I did not feel run down after 45 mins of carbon monoxide laden exhaust and who knows what else in my lungs. I could listen to my Nokia N810 music player streaming radio to me via Wi-Fi (GO LINUX!) My kids could walk over to me and I could stop or start with no cranky mower engines to start or stop. No flying debris being flung at my children or our animals. I bought a 10 year old American Mower last night locally. I wanted a Great States Mower from Amazon (still the best new retail price I've found) but this deal was too good to pass up at $45. Owner bought it and used it a couple of times before putting it away for a decade. Was one of the Made in the USA versions. Tires for example are basically new so I know it did not get used too many times. The interesting thing is that mine is an American Lawn Mower Company 18-Inch Reel Mower #1815-18 and it is exactly like my buddy's Great States #815-18 18" Deluxe Reel Mower. I am wondering if the companies are the one and the same...

3. Posted: Jun 28 2008

   First of all this product is no longer made in Indiana its made in China, but it is improved. Look for the box that says made in china if you buy one. It will be made to the same spec as always but it has been improved. It uses thick nylon wing nuts housed around steel bolts which makes for a tool free set up. It took me less than 10 minutes to assemble. Plus the china one comes with the foam handle pre installed, (an issue that seemed to be a problem on many other reviews). Many people complain that reel mowers miss some of the grass when you cut. You know how when a man starts using an electric razor he has to use it a few times before it starts to cut closely; well this is the same concept. The more you mow your lawn with this the better it will get. The grass will start growing straight up. Many reviews state that pushing a reel mower is harder than using a gas powered mower; but then they turn around and recommend it for women or kids. That just does not make sense. I started using this on a 1/2 acre corner lot and it takes me no longer to do than with my honda gas mower. I actually think it is easier to push since it only weighs 20 lbs. as opposed to the 78 lb gas mower. No gas, no oil, no noise, and no smell. Plus I can let my kids play outside on the lawn while I am cutting the grass and I can still hear them and pay attention to what they are doing; something I could not do before. It will not cut dandelions or tall seeded top grass or weeds. It will cut broad leafs and clovers very well. Actually it does a pretty good job on dandelions if they are wet. Its pretty sturdy and well built and virtually maintenance free. All in all this product is definitely worth the $90 I paid for it.

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