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I had one when i lived in my first rent house, in my current house I had 4 gas mowers in the 16 years since I lived here, all of my gas mowers were only good for the first 2 years I had them and then 3 - 4 years of taking forever to get them started, reel mowers just work as long as you keep them sharpened and oiled and even that is a once in a blue moon thing. with all my gas mowers maintenance was a constant thing after the 2nd summer of use. and I no longer have to cut my grass in the heat of the day, last night I cut my grass by porch light at 3AM, with a gas mower someone would have called the police lol. but my neighbors saw me cutting last week one mourning and were saying how they hate those things, I'm curious on your opinions.
I've had my Honda mower for 7 years. I have the shop pick it up in early spring for a check up, and they drop it off a couple of days later. Done. Starts all year long. Not a worry in the world. I would never even consider a reel mower. You often have to make two passes, and time is one thing I don't have a whole lot of. You can't mow over twigs and sticks ( I have a river birch tree, it would kill a reel mower in a heartbeat) so I'd have to run around clearing all that up before I mowed. No thanks.
The one I have works if its not tall, but I HATE the look of gas mowers since they generally cut so short. I plan to use the trimmer to take care of the tall stuff and can mow over it. I like that it keeps the grass about three inches over the usual where you can see dirt. And a can of spray oil is the only maintence I need. And it quiet. I would adjust the mower to higher but the city would object.
If your lawn is tiny, flat, and did I say tiny, reel lawnmowers are great. Also makes it much easier if you never let the grass get too long. I had one once. Came with a rental house and it took forever!
If your lawn is tiny, flat, and did I say tiny, reel lawnmowers are great. Also makes it much easier if you never let the grass get too long. I had one once. Came with a rental house and it took forever!
I guess it depends on your definition of "tiny." My house sits on 1/8th acre, and I can mow the front and back yards in about a half-hour. Of course, it would take a little longer, if I didn't have any landscaping areas. But, I don't think I'd have a problem using a reel mower on a yard up to 1/4-1/3 acre; the flatter the yard, the bigger I'd be willing to go.
I dislike them because the ones I've used get hung up on twigs or sticks very easily.
If I already had a manicured lawn, I would be more open to one
Yeah, all the sticks would do me in. There are both weeping willow and cottonwood trees adjacent to my property that frequently drop sticks onto my lawn. If I mowed with a reel, I'd have to clean that all up first. With my gas mower, I just chop up all the sticks with my mulching mower.
Plus, I'd have to mow more frequently than my once a week time. I keep my lawn fairly long...3 inches usually. That cuts down on how much I have to water!
I don't know, really. I got one that came along with the house. It was ancient and it weighed a ton, but it was in perfect condition. I cleaned it up, sharpened the blades, oiled all of the moving parts, and it cut better than any gas mower I ever had. While I probably wouldn't have used it on a bigger yard, it was ideal for my small lawn.
I've had the same Toro gas mower since 2001. It starts and goes every time. The trick IMHO, is to drain the oil at the end of the season and then overfill, I mean really overfiil, such that all the internal parts of the engine are immersed in clean oil to prevent corrosion, rusting etc. At the beginning of the season I drain that oil and fill to the correct amount. At the same time I change the plug and filter. Oh and I don't run old gas in it and always use stabilizer during the season. About every 2 years of so I clean the carb. If I can get Ethanol free fuel, I will go out of my way to purchase that. Ethanol is causing enormous small engine problems.
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