Dh just bought one, for the new house/new yard. he looked so handsome pushing around a beautiful green, non- polluting, non- noisy machine. :)

The guy at the store said they work better than gas ones- the grass is more even. :)

I bet he does look good! I've been tring to to talk dh into getting one...to no avail :(

I asked my dh for one before he left so I could mow without

A. waking the kids if they are napping
B. can hear them if they wake up or are out there with me
C. not lose my hearing
D. not worry about gas & other maintence (other than blade sharpening)

I'm sure there are a million other reasons (other than environmental...I'm just being selfish here)

I think I'll go buy one in the coming weeks!!

Dh just bought one, for the new house/new yard. he looked so handsome pushing around a beautiful green, non- polluting, non- noisy machine. :)

The guy at the store said they work better than gas ones- the grass is more even. :)


We need a new mower this year. Where do you find push mowers? Are there better push mowers brand wise than other push mowers?

I could probably convince dh....especially if they are less expensive than a gas push mower. How much did you spend?

Since we have to buy a new one....

Michelle

I love ours. It is a Scotts brand, I think I paid around $100 last summer for it. My only beef is it doesn't cut quite short enough for my taste, so you really have to keep after it. (Wouldn't be a big problem if you didn't have a huge yard and grass that grows insanely fast) Oh, and it doesn't cut tough weeds very well, like dandelions. They go right through. But I don't give a crap if I have a weedy lawn. ;)

We bought it at Home Depot. They have two brands, a little grim grey one, and this beautiful green one. It cost $129, a hundred less than the cheapest gas mower. The grey one cost less than one hundred dollars. DH just liked the way the green one looked, I think.

And yes!!!! it is so quiet, we didn't even know he was out cutting the grass until he was halfway through.

The blades can be raised or lowered. We hadn't cut the lawn since we moved in, and there were some ferocious weeds. So he went over the area once at a high level, and then dropped the blades.

Oh- the blades aren't sharp- it works by pushing the grass against a metal scoop, which cuts it sort of like a papercutter. So it's a safe machine around curious small children.

Dh had to mow the lawn growing up, and he says this is the same amount of sweat and effort as a gas machine, but with no noise, and no fumes, and so he likes it more.

ari

PUSH MOWERS ROCK!

Did you know that gas mowers put out more pollution and exhaust than cars?

I got mine at a yard sale for 6$!!! I love it. We live in a apartment now, only for a few more months...can't wait to have a yard again!

Ari, I was just coming to say I had seen a Home Depot ad last night and it had the exact same mower we have for $129. So we must have the same one! For anyone looking to buy one, I know mine was less than $100, I got it at a locally owned hardware store on sale. So you might want to check around.

ooooh, I think I am going to bug DH to get one of these. Our yard is pretty big compared to what we have had before, but since DH is working construction, I am pretty sure I will be the one in charge of mowing.

Thanks! I'll look around town. Even if dh ends up hating using it, spending around $100 will be worth it since I'd use it when I mow.

Also, I'd trust my 10 year old daughter to mow with a push mower and she's been begging to mow the yard.

Anyone have any proof of the amount of exhaust that a gas mower puts out? I want to "build my case" before I take the idea to my dh. (who I think is looking forward to a new "toy" aka gas mower with a bag for us to easily pick up leaves in the fall)

Michelle

We're starting a natural organic lawn care company that includes mowing with reel mowers!!!

Can't wait until we get up to VT to get it going!

They are terrific - I read an article about a lawn care company in Canada that switched over and they found that it didn't take any longer than the motor ones!!

Warm wishes,
Tonya
Home Educating, Simple Living, Mom of 5
http://www.naturalearthfarm.com
http://www.seasonsoriginals.com

Tonya,

Is a reel mower what everyone else here is talking about?
Michelle

Yes,
a push reel mower is what they are actually called:)
My husband has been in the greens/lawn business for over 17 years....
We hope to get into the "true" green market" by providing no impact lawn care...

Warm wishes,
Tonya
Home Educating, Simple Living, Mom of 5
http://www.naturalearthfarm.com
http://www.seasonsoriginals.com

we got one for $19? maybe? at a thrift store. I have pretty girls arms and can push it through weeds etc :D

We got one from freecycle!! It was almost never used and is only two years old. Dh pretty much refused to buy one since we had a mower. When we moved last spring something broke on it. Our neighbor who is a friend was letting us use his but as soon as we got it dh started using it, even though he said he wasn’t going to because he thought it would be to hard. It is harder to push but not terribly so. Ds who is 11 can use it with out me worrying he will chop off his foot and after doing the whole yard he said his arms hurt just a little more then the few times dh would let him do the gas mower. I really don’t know if our blades drop down but before we would cut every two weeks, we still do but it could be done by the middle of the week so really not that much difference. We are moving and it takes about 2 hours to cut the lawn in our new house and that is with a self propelled mower for the front and a riding mower in the back. So I think we will use the push in the front and they are giving us the riding one, it is really old so once that goes I am sure we will at least get a self propelled one. We will have to see. We don’t have that many dandelions and my kids pick them before we get a chance to mow them over lol so I don’t know how it works on that but I happen to like them so I don’t care about that lol We do nothing to our lawn other then mow it. If there is a spikey weed or some other big looking weed we will pull it but nothing else. Our lawn may not be the best on the block but it is pretty close. Never brown like some of our neighbors who water. The people next to use have some chem lawn service come every two weeks to a month they spray all sorts of crap on it and theirs is brown half the time and last year they had to re-sod their side lot because it was so dead in patches lol My mom has a flower garden in front of her house, the only part of their lawn that ever turns brown is the part that the sprinkler hits when she waters the flowers. I’m not really happy about using a gas one again but I do get to have a huge garden so I can’t complain to much.

Ok, you guys have talked me into getting one, lol! Our riding lawn mower has broke down, and dh isn't in any hurry to fix it. I think I'll just go get a reel mower and mow the lawn myself!!

We used one for 3 years. My dh gave it his best shot, but he HATED the thing. I think it may have had dull blades though (we got it secondhand). Maybe if we had a new one or found somewhere to sharpen blades it would have been better. I like them so much more than gas powered because I can handle them. I'm intimidated by a big, loud machine with sharp, spinning blades! :eek:

Jo, when I bought mine they told me the blades should be sharpened every summer or two. I can get it sharpened through my local ACE hardware, I think they send it off to get done. The guy told me you want to make sure you take it to someone who knows what they're doing or they can mess it up. Don't just take it to the local skate sharpener guy.

I have a big yard, I mow over an acre, and I just do it in little spurts here and there when we are outside playing. I'd probably collapse if I tried to do it all at once.

OOOOoh! I want one! It would be great to be able to mow a little here and there when the kids are out playing or napping! My dh hates to do chores and I am a neat freak. This would get things done around here! :rolleyes:

OT....what is freecycle?

I have heard that referred to here on Amitys a few times and am finally curious enough to ask what the heck it is.

Michelle

I have wanted one of these for so long. Especially my front yard which is so tiny, using a gas-powered lawn mower is ridiculous.

Emily

We just had a lawn care meeting at our Holistic Moms Network monthly meeting.

Their advice, cut the lawn high (3-4 inches). They said if its cut any shorter it becomes a much weaker plant and grows much faster its its effort to survive (needs to have a fairly long green part to convert sun energy into food). Longer grass grows slower, shadows baby weeds starving them, grows deeper stronger roots, uses much less water (it conserves water in its longer blades), and is much less likely to turn brown.

They also suggested the old leave the grass clippings on the lawn to ferilize and enrich the soil. Don't water unless the grass is looking dry and then water early or late and a *lot* -- so that a cup put on the lawn has at least an inch of water to cause deep rather than shallow roots. And stop if there's "runoff" into the gutters.

Just passing on the info.

Astoria

Woo-Hoo!

My friend lent me hers since their landlord contracts out to do their lawn so I have use of theirs until they PCS...which is supposed to be after dh comes home.

Now if it would stop raining I could put it to use!

We just had a lawn care meeting at our Holistic Moms Network monthly meeting.

Their advice, cut the lawn high (3-4 inches). They said if its cut any shorter it becomes a much weaker plant and grows much faster its its effort to survive (needs to have a fairly long green part to convert sun energy into food). Longer grass grows slower, shadows baby weeds starving them, grows deeper stronger roots, uses much less water (it conserves water in its longer blades), and is much less likely to turn brown.

They also suggested the old leave the grass clippings on the lawn to ferilize and enrich the soil. Don't water unless the grass is looking dry and then water early or late and a *lot* -- so that a cup put on the lawn has at least an inch of water to cause deep rather than shallow roots. And stop if there's "runoff" into the gutters.

Just passing on the info.

Astoria



I totally agree Astoria!

We read those same recommendations last spring and followed them last summer and our small lawn looked great!

I'm really going to push (no pun intended) my dh into getting the push mower since we are in need of a new mower. My fifteen year old son also is wanting to go with a reel/push mower so I hope we can convince my dh. However, my dh has wanted a nice lawn mower since we've been married but we could never afford one. (we've been together 13 years)

We have our sprinklers set on timers and they do the work at night when we are all asleep. We have the soaker hoses also on timers for the gardens and it makes things so much easier and saves so much time.

However we are also rocking in a portion of our lawn so we have less water wasting going on.

Michelle

I am not shocked, but we can not get one of these in our area w/out spending waaaay to much money on it.

The local saw/mower store said that they use to carry reel mowers but then when Lowes and Home Depot etc...started to carry them, they (Home Depo) sold them retail for less than the small saw/mower stores could buy them wholesale!

The nearest home improvement store is about 2 hours drive from here. Do these mowers come in pieces so that they will fit in a small mini-van?

Sometimes I HATE living where I do. (when I need to go shopping)

I'm going to keep any eye out at garage sales too but we do need to get a new mower and be ready to mow as soon as the snows are gone and if I want to steer dh into a reel mower, I need to have it here *before* mowing needs to be done, or else he'll go buy a gas powered one. :rolleyes:

Michelle

Michelle,
We have one, and the handle comes off, so it was basically that wheel on the bottom and the long handle - I could see how both pieces could fit in a van (we have a large "trunk" space in our odyssey, so it wasn't a problem for us, but honestly if you could fit a stroller in there you should be able to fit the parts of a mower). You could also call ahead of time and ask that they give you dimensions.

~amey (we also have a reel mower)

great thread! we just bought a house and will be moving in in july. we have never needed a mower before since we live in a condo, but I knew i could count on amity to know what's up in healthy lawn care. thanks for all the tips, we bought our Gardena reel mower this evening and dh tested it out on our condo lawn that is rarely cut properly and he LOVES it! at first he was sceptical that it would be a pain to push etc, but this one is very very nice, i think it's the domestic version of the brill luxus 38. he said it's way nicer than a noisy electric or gas one that would surely scare the crap outta ds, 19 months.

Michelle, did you get one. Boxed the Scotts fit in the trunk of my Honda. Not going to get a gas mower in there!

I've gotten some funny responses from my neighbors. One guy offered to let me use his gas mower & the elderly guy next door was inspired to use his 40 yr old push reel. Granted he only made it around the edges before going back to the gas self propelled fancy thing, but he is 94 yrs old. I'l cut him some slack, he's probibly mowed with a reel mower for longer than I've been alive!

Chole

LAUREL :kittypink :couple:

We love our old one and have a pretty big yard too...
the older neighbor across the street just stopped while sitting on his big ride-on mower and watched me as I pushed with Sarah in the back pack....

I love feeling safe, no gas, oil and no noise.

Warm wishes,

OK, all of you reel lovin mamas, how big are your lawns? I saw Renee (I think?) has an acre, which is huge! I have about 1/3 of an acre. When I asked DH about the me-powered mower, he laughed his ass off! He uses an industrial type walk behind mower to do our lawn, like the landscapers use. I want to get an idea of how big a lawn is really do-able.

Free cycle:
http://freecycle.org

the website for one style of reel mower said they are best for yards less than 6000 square feet. our house is on a 40x100 lot so it's easily manageable with our reel mower.

We have a city lot that's 50x100. I can whip off the mowing (with kid & dog "help) in 1 hour and not break a sweat. I could totally do a larger yard with a reel mower. I think the size suggestions are an understatement. I don't "push" any more than you have to with a non-self propelled gas mower.

Speaking of which, I'm off to mow today. Have to wait for DD though, she loves to help & play "chase me catch me" with the mower. Certainly couldn't do THAT with a gas mower.

Chole

We have almost 1/2 acre, and I can do front and back in 2 hours. Usually I divide them up - the whole front, half the back, and the other half of the back. I do wish I had a wider one, like a Brill, but I love my human powered mower. :D I love that I can mow while the kids play around me. I love that I can mow late or early without disturbing neighbors. I love that I don't smell of anything but sweat and grass after mowing (the gasoline stench from the old mower grosses me out).

I find that it's the same amount of effort as the gas mower. Might take 50% longer, but that's because mine is narrow. If I had a wider reel mower, it would probably be very close to the cheapy gas mower we have. I just chalk the time up as my workout time on mowing days.

my Dh, who is turning crunchier by the day LOL initially scoffed at the idea of us getting a Reel mower. He thought it was silly and a waste of time, until we bought one and he tried it out. He mowed the lawn at our condo 2 days in a row and got in trouble since we're supposed to leave the lawn care up to the company who is responsible for it. He really loves this mower! He even did some research on his own yesterday and found out that lawnmowers are not subject to any emissions laws, and that mowing a lawn with a gas mower for 1 hour emits the same emissions as driving a newer car for 40 HOURS!

ahh, an open mind is so sexy, don't you think?

we have a push mower- i convinced dh that this one would be better since i dont know how to use the other kinds.