In 1962, when I was a teenager, my father gave our neighbor, Mr. Gruder, $10 for a reel mower of my very own. The ash handle shone with age and use, and it had a canvas grass catcher. Mr. Gruder had built the reel mower from parts — the finest custom-made machine of its kind ever built. Pushing it revved up the blades, a cylinder of curved scimitars that sliced each grass blade to the same height. Mr. Gruder gave me a lesson on how to safely sharpen the blades to razor sharp. “Wear gloves,” he said, as he demonstrated.
For nearly a year, I mowed lawns with my trusty manual push mower. I wish I still had it. But two years ago, I found a Super Chief push reel mower in an antique store. It had a broken handle but a spotless canvas grass catcher. It was just $75 for a piece of American history, stored indoors for 50 years.
Buying a Reel Lawn Mower
A good vintage push lawn mower handle should be splinter-free, with solid handles baptized in boiled linseed oil. But if a bad handle is the only thing wrong with a used machine and it has a good price, buy it. For $10, I commissioned a high school shop class to make a handle for the Super Chief.
Old machines in good working condition are rare, but worth the hunt because they’re often inexpensive. But are they worth the hours of restoration? To me, yes, but you may be happier with a more recent model — something you won’t have to repair or restore first. The Mercedes of modern standard mowers is the German-made Brill Razorcut 38, and it’s priced accordingly ($250). But you can also find economy models, such as Scotts Classic Reel Mower, priced at a bit more than $100. Tip: The grass-catcher attachment is worth having on all models, as reel mowers don’t mulch grass clippings.
Pros of Reel, Manual Lawn Mowers
- Cost-Effective: Reel mowers are generally more affordable both in terms of initial purchase and maintenance, as they don’t require fuel or electricity.
- Quiet Operation: These mowers operate quietly, minimizing noise pollution and providing a more peaceful mowing experience.
- Environmental Friendliness: Reel mowers produce no emissions, making them an eco-friendly choice for maintaining your lawn.
- Healthier Lawn: The scissor-like cutting action of reel mowers results in a cleaner cut, promoting the healthiest grass type growth by reducing damage to grass blades.
- Exercise and Engagement: Using a reel mower provides physical activity, engaging users in the mowing process and offering a hands-on approach to lawn care.
Cons of Reel, Manual Lawn Mowers
- Physical Effort: Operating a reel mower requires more physical exertion, which can be challenging for larger lawns or individuals with physical limitations.
- Limited Effectiveness on Overgrown Lawns: Reel mowers may struggle to cut tall grass, necessitating more frequent mowing to maintain an optimal lawn height. Notably models with a high-quality steel blade tend to stay sharper longer and provide cleaner cuts, especially in these denser patches.
- Maneuverability Issues: Reel mowers can be less effective on bumpy ground, potentially requiring additional effort to navigate obstacles. Best on flat lawns and flat surfaces, push reel mowers perform most efficiently when the terrain is even, giving consistent results.
- Blade Maintenance: Keeping the blades sharp can be challenging, as specialized sharpening services may be limited and costly.
- Time-Consuming: Mowing with a reel mower can be more time-consuming, especially on larger lawns, due to the manual effort involved.
Maintaining and Sharpening a Reel Mower
You should perform basic maintenance on a push lawn mower after every third use, and the procedure is perfectly simple. First, put it up on a workbench. If you grovel at its level, it’s easier to be injured by the blades and lose tiny parts in the grass.
If it’s old, the blades probably need to be sharpened, and you need practice to do this right. Moving the wheels forward causes the blade cage to rotate rapidly because of the movement of a series of gears (which might need to be oiled or repacked with grease). Check the rubber wheels. If they’re slick and can’t get traction, the reel won’t turn efficiently. You can temporarily repair this by making grooves in the tires with a three-corner file — until you have time to look for replacement wheels.
Always wear leather gloves when working with the blades for any reason, including debris removal when mowing. To hone the blades, jam a wooden stick through the cage to prevent it from turning. A coarse sharpening stone and a light application of cutting oil will make each blade sharp within seven or eight light (but even and smooth) strokes. Follow the angle of the blade as closely as possible.
Use the same number of strokes on every blade to ensure a uniform distance of all blades from the cutting bar, which should almost touch the whirling blades, leaving room for the width of a blade of grass. You may need to adjust the cutting bar when you’re done. If your blades slice easily through a sheet of newspaper placed on the cutting bar, you’ve done it right.
Some experts advise dabbing the honed blades with grinding paste and pulling the mower backward for 10 minutes. But I tried out this method, and can tell you that death-by-boredom may occur in half that time. A young person, if desperate enough, might do it for $20, if nobody sees them. (Those were exactly my nephew’s terms.)
On most models, the gears in the wheel assembly aren’t hard to access, but you must be careful not to lose any nuts, bolts or pins. (Drop them in a small can or jar for collection and oiling.) Remove the wheel covers and pack the exposed gears with light grease. If you’re lucky, the wheel covers on your model will have lubrication holes. After each mowing, use a garden hose or air compressor to clean the blades and wheels. Then spray everything liberally with WD-40.
Always mow on a dry, clear day — weekly is best.
I don’t miss the pollution, the stench of hydrocarbon exhaust, or the unrelenting decibels of a gas-powered rotary mower. Instead, I have the silence, the pure scent of newly mown grass, and the satisfaction of light muscle-powered work. No earplugs required.
If you’d like to know more about sharpening blades on conventional gas-engine mowers, read A Midsummer’s Sharpening: How to Sharpen Your Lawn Mower Blade.
Do you use a push reel mower? Have you sharpened its blades? Share your experience in the comments section below.
