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I grew up in the 1950's, and remember the biggest complaint on push mowers was keeping the blades sharp. It was hard to find some who knew how to do the sharpening.
It's stupid simple on the Scott's. Little hand crank and some lapping compound, remove the left wheel and basically set the blades slightly tight to the cutting bar and run the mower in reverse with the crank for about 10 minutes or less and you get a razor sharp mower again. It's easier that removing blades and sharpening a a powered mower.
I grew up in the 1950's, and remember the biggest complaint on push mowers was keeping the blades sharp. It was hard to find some who knew how to do the sharpening.
A reel mower gives by far the best quality cut, on the proper type of grass (one that likes short mowing, like Bermuda or zoysia) but they're indeed hard to keep adjusted and sharp. They work like scissors and literally shear the grass blades instead of just using basically kinetic energy like a rotary mower does. I've used a human-powered reel mower before, but it's hard to do unless you're really young, so a power reel is best - and most expensive. It's what golf courses use on their fairways and greens.
One way of sharpening is to use valve grinding compound and "backlap", meaning to turn the reel backward. I started to buy a powered reel for my zoysia lawn but decided against it, so just bought a Honda rotary and live with the lower quality cut.
Occasional clipping like the OP detailed is practical; pushing that thing around all summer isn't.
I grew up in the 1950's, and remember the biggest complaint on push mowers was keeping the blades sharp. It was hard to find some who knew how to do the sharpening.
I had a mechanic tell me something to use to sharpen the blades on one of those old mowers. He said, wen he used one of these, he went to the auto parts shop and bought some valve grinding compound. Put some on the plate the blades hit and lower the blade some while turning it.
We have a reel mower that I think we bought on sale for about $25 at Lowe's 15 years ago. We only use it for the backyard around the pool because there's not much grass, and even then only when we are having a party between the weeks we have our lawn guys come in. They only weed-eat and blow back there.
They seem like they would work, and actually feel nice to push, but the one we got for our un-graded yard and would snag if it met a weed or twig. Tried giving it to the neighbors but they didn't want it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kygman
I had a mechanic tell me something to use to sharpen the blades on one of those old mowers. He said, wen he used one of these, he went to the auto parts shop and bought some valve grinding compound. Put some on the plate the blades hit and lower the blade some while turning it.
That's how we did it on ours when I was a kid in the 1960s. You just have to be careful with your fingers down there applying it.
They seem like they would work, and actually feel nice to push, but the one we got for our un-graded yard and would snag if it met a weed or twig. Tried giving it to the neighbors but they didn't want it.
It's not for everything. But I figured out that when you get a jam, just reach down with your foot and rotate the blade assembly backwards to clear it. That said I sure wouldn't want to try to use this thing on foot-high grass. It's obvious from the start that you want to be on a fairly flat lawn and keep it trimmed frequently, for sure.
It's not for everything. But I figured out that when you get a jam, just reach down with your foot and rotate the blade assembly backwards to clear it. That said I sure wouldn't want to try to use this thing on foot-high grass. It's obvious from the start that you want to be on a fairly flat lawn and keep it trimmed frequently, for sure.
I definitely had to walk the yard and toss pine cones and any sticks/twigs, and yes- not good for overgrown lawns. For the stalks of field grass poking up? I usually ran over it twice and it would cut. Or get them from the opposite direction on a return pass.
This is a good point. You can be moving right along, and suddenly come to a jarring stop.
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