From the brand
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Great States
The Great States gives you an environmentally-conscious lawn maintenance solution that has been around for over 120 years.
<img alt=”GS” src=”https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media-library-service-media/0ef0b220-3405-42aa-be07-0971aaf5fa67.__CR0,108,400,184_PT0_SX315_V1___.jpg”/>- The Great States gives you an environmentally-conscious lawn maintenance solution that has been around for over 120 years.
- You can forget about costly maintenance since Great States reel mowers are virtually maintenance-free. Our brand focuses on providing clean and effective lawn maintenance solutions that are maneuverable and easy to use.
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Reel Mowers
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Reel Mowers
How did we get our start?
- The Great States gives you an environmentally-conscious lawn maintenance solution that has been around for over 120 years.
Why do we love what we do?
- Even though the original design is over a century old, our brand gives you modern upgrades to classic lawnmower designs. We spent over 120 years perfecting our craft and helping reduce carbon emissions caused by routine yard maintenance.
What makes our products unique?
- Our brand focuses on providing clean and effective lawn maintenance solutions that are maneuverable and easy to use.
<img alt=”LL” src=”https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media-library-service-media/23936e3f-d50e-40fc-b36a-f970921420fc.__CR151,0,1199,1500_PT0_SX362_V1___.jpg”/>- Great States is committed to giving you the highest quality of planet-conscious reel mowers crafted from the best possible material.
CAKatwoman –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great little mower!
Pretty easy assembly if you follow the directions. It was getting the handle on thatI had to be careful to really be able to squeeze it in without getting my finger caught, which luckily I did. It would be much easier if they said in the directions that the handle locks into the red painted knobs and has nothing to do with the screws near the blades! There’s a picture of what it should look like and what it shouldn’t look like and it’s not an easy picture to decipher. Just say, put it into the red knobs!!!! Night and day if they would change the directions! Surprised at how easy it is to push, even at 63. Literally, I could mow with one hand and I did just for the heck of it for a little while. Basically easy to maneuver and pretty light weight overall. Very satisfied with this purchase. I got one of the returns or whatever it came from so it came slightly pre- rusted in two small spots Lol but I don’t mind. Glad I decided on this brand after viewing many others.
12 people found this helpful
Gabbi –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great
I love it. Gets the job done and a good work out
John –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect tool for the job
I decided to test before I gave a review, so this is after 2 years of use.About 6 years ago as empty nesters we downsized to a patio home, which came with a very small back yard (the front is handled by HOA) I went from upkeeping about 80,000 square feet of lawn to 1,000 square feet of which 1/2 is concrete deck. When we moved I got rid of the big mower and decided to just use the weed whacker to maintain the grass—-HUGE MISTAKE! You can say burnt, scalped, uneven, or just plain Ugly and any of them would be true. I fought that for a few years and I can tell you it was always a 1 to 1-1/2 hour chore to do the grass and clean up.So in 2019 I decided to try this. It was easy to assemble but what really got me was how easy it was to operate once I really paid attention to the comments and did a twig/debris walk down first. Now from start to finish including edging and blowing the trimmings into a pile for removal it takes a huge 20 minutes to get an even cut that looks like a golf fairway. I really think I would use this mower on a yard that was 10 times the size or more. The not having to deal with having gas and storing it makes up for the effort output.There are a couple of things to be aware of:1) it will always take you a foot or two to get the blades spinning sufficiently for a good cut, so you will need to plan your cut to allow you an edge to start from. I normally just cut a few widths parallel to the house and then cut the rest of the yard at 90 degrees to that.2) if you try to mow like you are using a power mower by tracing the wheel mark you will leave a strip of uncut grass as the reel is totally within the wheels. What I do is overlap my runs by about a 1/2 width of the mower, this also makes the pushing easier if you miss a week due to rain on the weekend or travel.3) If you have a fence you will still have to trim the border with the whacker but you have to do that with a power mower also.
6 people found this helpful
Lindsey with an ELindsey with an E –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great mower for flat, unfussy yards
I bought this a year ago after doing a lot of research on various web sites, and it’s met all my expectations. I get a good work out using it to mow the yard, so I can feel as if I’m killing two birds with one stone. It isn’t too heavy for me to push (I’m an average-height, lighter-weight woman), and I don’t have any trouble repositioning it at the end of a row. I also love how little space it takes up in the garage.I’ve found the reviews I’ve read about reel mowers in general were right about a few things:1) They’ll choke on twigs, pieces of mulch, walnut shell halves the squirrels leave behind, etc. So you have to be patient about having your momentum stopped while you pick out whatever it is that’s gotten stuck on a blade.2) They work best on a yard that’s relatively level.3) They’re much quieter than a power one.4) They aren’t going to give your lawn that manicured look you get with a gas or electric mower (see photos). I get around this by hiring a lawn service to come mow and edge once a month or so.Finally, using a reel mower on grass that’s too tall may bring one of Eddie Izzard’s monologues from “Glorious,” to mind: “We had the big lawn mower. It was much better than my grandad’s. It was a Pushmi-pullyu, related to the cleaning equipment. My grandad had that little triangle of lawn. Hod-de-de-de-de. Hod-de-de-de-de. Hod-de-de-de-de. The grass would go, ‘Oh, for f***’s sake.’ Hod-de-de-de-de. Hod-de-de-de-de. ‘Stay down, lads. Stay down. It’s just an air raid. No problem.’ Hod-de-de-de-de. He’d flatten the lawn out. Put it away. They’d go ‘f-thum’ as he was walking away.”I’ve been happy with my Great States reel mower. I’ve used it almost every week for a summer and a half, and I haven’t had to sharpen or adjust the blades yet. The company was very responsive when I needed to replace one of the fasteners (these should be hand tightened each time before mowing because they loosen up and may fall off as the mower is used). Instructions for assembly were clear enough for this non-technical, non-mechanically-minded person to follow, though I found that attaching the handlebar to the mower was a two-person job because I didn’t have the hand strength to do it myself. The rubber padding on the handlebar is starting to crack and split (see photos), but that’s probably to be expected.If I were to buy another reel mower, I’d buy a Great States again because I’ve been happy with the quality of the one I have, but I’d buy a wider one. I chose the narrower model because I was concerned about the weight and maneuverability of the wider model. But I’ve discovered these mowers aren’t heavy or awkward, and the need to overlap the rows when mowing means I don’t get the full 15 inches of blade width with each row. However, I anticipate the mower I bought will last a long, long time.Photo 1: The left half has been mowed with the reel mower, the right half (the neighbor’s yard) was mowed with a power mower a few days beforePhoto 3: The left half has been mowed with the reel mower, the right half hasn’t been mowed yetPhotos 2 & 4: The wear on the rubber padding after about a season’s worth of mowing
95 people found this helpful
JBC CUSTOMS –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works
Easy to use. Follow directions on sharpening clean and oil after use
Ms. Wysteria –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trust the Hippie Tree Huggers on this One!
SO GLAD I ignored the negative comments and got this for a couple small lawns! First, the experience IS completely different than using a gas mower. I always ended up stressed, angry, and exhausted with my gas mower. It was brute strength against “green” as I slung the heavy mower around tight corners and yanked it back over and over in heavily landscaped small yards. The reel mower — so much lighter, easy to back up, & I could even lift up limbs with one hand as I push this under with the other. Light! I can carry this thing with handle on my shoulder.About those negative comments: I have all kinds of weeds, clover, and grass it did the job well even at 6 inches high. You have to go over a couple spots — but I had to do with with my gas mower too. But in this case, it’s so easy…well as easy as walking. Sticks! OMG…what to do? Take a 1/2 step back and 95% of the sticks fall out and you proceed. The others? Push the reel back with your foot extended…it pushes the twig out and you proceed. You don’t even have to bend over. I have a lot of twigs under pecans that shed….this “twig issue” just isn’t a problem.Weeds! Okay, this got most of them first pass…but after you cut and still have have 4 spots of a tall weed popping up…you can be LAZY like me, angle the reel up on one wheel to “catch” the tall blades in the reel and …done…weed be gone. Amazing. Or you can just catch ’em later when you use trimmer Or omg….just reach down and pull the sucker out so it’s not there next time…mocking you.I suppose if you have very rough terrain, long stretches of terrain, ALL crab grass all the time….then this may not be for you. But a gas mower won’t work well on rough terrain either AND…I know from personal experience that with Crab Grass I’ve had to run it down many times with a gas mower….and even when finished…find that a few defiant blades escaped the massacre.So…trust the green, tree hugging hippies on this one….it really is a different experience and worth it….I no longer have a sense of dread about cutting the lawn…Tip #1: When assembling….you have to compress the bottom “fork” of the handle assembly to pop into the two prongs on the mower…I found this nearly impossible if the mower sat flat on the ground. Use gravity and leverage…slip on one fork of the handle…turn the mower up on its side so it’s resting on the side of one wheel (next to the handle fork you just slipped on) …then press the other fork of the handle down (towards the ground) to pop it into place (next to the “upper” wheel). Even with this procedure it’s tight…but that’s good…b/c it means the handle won’t just pop out later.Tip #2: Consider a Warehouse deal if linked on the site…I got 30% off for “used – like new” and indeed, it was like new — it had never been used.
4 people found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I like it
It doesn’t cut the long stuff. I should say that. You need to use it every 2 days or so to make sure it doesn’t get too long to cut.Which is cool with me, because it’s my workout. I have a steep hill, and the walking up and down it every 2 days is good for me.I should also say tho, it’s very light. I can carry this thing up and down the hill as needed, and it’s totally doable.You need a weedeater for the edges, tho.But the fact that I will never have to buy gas for it and don’t care too much about pristine edges makes this a perfect lawn mowing tool for me.I also hear that it’s better for the health of the grass. So thats nice, as well.It’s not a tool for prissy lawn owners.It’s a tool for people who don’t see their lawn as a reflection of themselves and care about having a green alternative to the usual gas hog of a mower.And it does a real nice job. It’s just bad at edging.
8 people found this helpful
Susie –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works great!
Me and my husband were struggling to find an affordable lawn mower, so I searched on Amazon and found this one! It was delivered very quickly, it was easy to put together, and it works really well! Even for our taller grass! My only note is that you will need to sharpen the blade once a month or every other month depending on how often you’ll use it. But the blade is easy to get to so that’s not even an issue! I recommend this reel mower if you’re looking for an affordable alternative to an electric mower, have a small yard, want to be environmentally friendly, or have small jobs in your yard that need to get done! It’s a superb mower!
2 people found this helpful
Melly –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn’t cut the tall weeds
It does a pretty decent job. Only thing i don’t like is that it didn’t cut the tall weeds in the grass.
Steven Baker –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent product!
This is my first push mower and I’m very pleased with the results. We have a smaller heard, front and back combined probably around 3,000-3,500 sqft. It was time for me to take over the yard maintenance from our gardeners (longer story here…) so i started researching mowers. Having grown up with gas mowers, i always bought quality machinery (snapper toro etc). I looked into cordless tech, which is much more advanced from when i last researched the options. The reel technology intrigued me mostly in the difference between cutting versus tearing. The reduced carbon footprint, lack of need to store gas, and getting a bit of exercise (always a good thing) sold me.I did more research on reel mowers and also looked around for used ones on Craigslist. The Craigslist research tells me how well the various models hold up. It’s a great way to see if a manufacturer’s product falls apart after a few years. After much consideration i picked up this model from Great States.I have used it a few times and i must say I’m impressed. It assembled super easy, so easy a caveman could do it. It’s lightweight and easy to push around. It has several adjustments for height which is nice. The rollers have three settings and also the front wheels have three height settings. That’s a nice feature so you can dial it in for not only the height but also the composition of your unique lawn (hard pack, spongy etc). It was fun to fiddle around with the different adjustments and see the differences.The quality of the cut is noticeable. Very noticeable! I have a smooth even cut across the entire lawn, almost like a visit to the barbershop. I believe my lawn is going to looks great this summer and will be much healthier than before. Plus i will have earned my obligatory beer when I’m done too. While it’s more work than a deck mower, it’s not crazy like doing Insanity or plyo intervals. It’s a bit of a push but once you are moving the blades do most of the work.Finally, i picked up the Great States catch bag for clippings. That fit nicely and was easily installed. I use the bag most of the time. About every three mows, i let the grass clippings fall back into the lawn to help feed the grass like a mulching mower would.In summary i am very pleased with the reel technology over a deck mower and the quality-to-price for the Great States is unbeatable.
33 people found this helpful
NeverBend –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old School wins
I purchased (received) the Great States 415-16 reel mower on July 18th, 2013. Today is August 17th, 2013. I’ve owned it for 4 weeks at this writing and have used it 7 times.My front lawn is 45′ x 35′ and my back lawn was 60′ x 75′. Both lawns were in dismal shape, mostly weeds, crabgrass and rocks. My lawn service charged $35 a week to cut the few strands of grass that dared grow.We decided to renovate the backyard including expanding it another 100′ into what was woods (so the backyard lawn is now 60′ x 175′). I suspended the lawn service and purchased the Great States 415-16 reel mower to do my front yard while the backyard was being renovated.I ordered the mower from Amazon late on Wednesday night and with Amazon Prime it arrived about noon on Friday. I had it assembled in less than 10 minutes and proceeded to cut the front lawn.The cut was serviceable but no worse than the lawn service had been. Years ago (when I did the laws myself) I had a gas powered, self-propelled Snapper that was brutally heavy and poorly selected for my lawns. It took 1-1/2 hours of wrestling an 80-lb mower to do a mediocre job (thus the lawn service). The front yard took 30 minutes with the Snapper while the more agile reel mower takes about 15 minutes. Each time I’ve cut the lawn with the reel it’s been easier and taken less time.I assumed that I’d have more jams but after the first mow (and removal of most of the debris) it happens once or twice and I do like the fact that when it’s jammed you can be sure that something is stuck that you can remove yourself without getting the unit serviced (unlike the Snapper).The backyard was completed with sod that was allowed to grow out to 6″ or more before I mowed it. I had some trepidation about using the Great States reel mower but having decided to permanently stop the lawn service I gave it a try.I set the cutting height to the highest setting (took about 5 minutes but should take less since I now know what to do) and then it was like giving the lawn a haircut. The reel mower performed beautifully. It was agile around tree bases and cut acceptably close to walls. The cut of the grass was refined and elegant – no tearing. I did find that at this height > 6″) I needed to give multiple passes (2) in most areas but needed to do so less the second time I did the lawn. I also found that it gave a more complete cut walking slowly. Grass flipping up, quiet and no gas fumes.My landscape contractor advised me to use a blower and clear the grassy mulch on new sod. That took about 20 minutes. In all it took 1-3/4 hours the first time I cut and 1-1/2 hours the second (including the blower). I can’t compare this directly to the Snapper since the lawn is more than twice the size now but it used to take about 50 minutes with that mower on the smaller lawn. I can tell you that the reel mower’s agility and substantially lighter weight (28lbs) leaves me less exhausted. As a bonus I was able to blow the mulch into areas that need it.My former lawn service quoted me $60/week to mow the new lawn. I believe that I’ll be able to do it with the reel mower and blower (I expect to take 30-40 minutes every other week to do the trimming) in 1-1/4 hours on a maintenance basis. I’ve decided to take the exercise, save the money and do it myself.Conclusion:Depends on your perspective but I feel that I now have a medium sized suburban lawn. Having used a powerful gas self-propelled mower and the reel I prefer the latter. It’s less strenuous, takes about the same time, cuts better, it’s cheaper ($97 shipped to my door including tax), and it’s easier and far cheaper to maintain the equipment. I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of construction on the Great States 415-16. I believe that it will give me years of quality service. My modest complaint is that the handle foam moves around the handle (it doesn’t slide upwards though). Very minor complaint indeed.I used the Snapper with a large, cumbersome, vinyl grass catching bin. I usually had to empty it 6-7 time during a full lawn cut. Using the blower simplifies this and the cuttings from the reel are clean and light so that they blow easily.I had been researching electric mowers in the belief that I’d need more power or cutting surface but having used an even larger machine (Snapper) without benefit makes me believe that most homeowners in a similar situation as mine would be well served to try a low cost reel mower before investing in more expensive equipment. You may just find, as I did, that the old school reel mower does as good (or better) a job, in about the same time and if you can discontinue lawn service in the bargain your pocketbook will be heftier as well.Note: My lawn is mostly flat but tilted. There were no issues when mowing from the terrain.Update 9/3/2013I adjusted the cutting length to the middle setting (~1-1/2″) and did 2 passes (per below) so it took close to 2 hours on the backyard alone but the lawn looks like a golf course.Thanks to Nelson of my landscape contractor’s crew who demonstrated how effective the mower is when mowing slowly, passing both ways (back and forth) and then cutting the following week at a right angle to the previous cut (also back and forth). There were no issues with grass that wouldn’t cut because of height or otherwise. On each return row I overlapped the left wheel inside of the previous row. Not fast but very effective.Keep in mind that this mower only has a 16″ cutting swath so you’re going to have to cut a lot of ‘row’s, (at least 100) to do a nice clean job on 50’ of lawn, but it’s more agile than larger electric or gas mowers.
91 people found this helpful
Dog Lover –
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you want a push reel mower, this is an excellent choice
We have a lot of lawn to mow, but are not fussy about it being mowed every week or “perfectly”. Use the gas mower for some of the big areas, but wanted to try and become more environmentally friendly and LESS NOISY! First, the assembly. Let me say that even tho’ I am a 61 year old female, I am VERY handy. I gave 3 stars to ease of assembly. This is the biggest negative about the mower. I am not saying it is difficult exactly, just annoying at times. One good tip I got from reading the reviews was this: ASSEMBLY is a bit of a…..pain. There are 3 bits: the handle, the middle, and the reel. The handle assembles easily. You will have issues if you follow the instructions by attaching that to the middle part and then putting the entire assembly on the reel. The trick is to attach the middle part to the reel as you will have to push on it (compress it) to get it on the posts. That will be impossible if you’ve fully assembled the handle as it doesn’t flex to fit. Once it’s on the reel, bolt the handle to the middle bit. THAT reviewer knew what they were talking about! ALSO, regarding assembly I agree with this reviewer: BUILD quality seem acceptable for a 100 dollar piece of equipment. However, it’s engineered terribly. They basically send you two left sides to a handle. And this is actually an issue if you want to fasten the wing nuts/bolt in the same direction on both sides of the handle. Because the left handle is basically the right handle upside down, the bolt no longer fits inside of a dimple in the handle frame. So you’re left with two choices: bolting one bolt and wing nut upside down and one right side up, or muscling one of the wing nuts so hard that you make your own dimple in the frame. THIS IS TRUE! I did the former.I also found that altho’ it is true that ideally one doesn’t want to set the reel too low and cut too much height off the grass at any one time, the mower works WAY better if you adjust the blades close to ground. I have not found that doing so causes the usual problem of grass too short and “burning”. Oh, the method for adjust reel / blades is just awkward. But, not too hard. Regarding trying to cut longer grass. I have found that the blades are so sharp that even letting the grass get rather long (say 6-7 inches!) is perfectly fine. It is true that it does a much better job on soft grass. If you have a lot of “straw”, you will get frustrated; it will not cut this sort of grass. People commented that it is better to walk fast and get the reel turning faster…yes, definitely makes cutting easier. Sometimes you benefit by giving a spot a second swipe. I think no matter the type of mower that overlapping your “lanes” of mowing and essentially double mowing is beneficial. I don’t know why, but I like the “cut’ produced by this mower much better than the gas mower. It is much greener and thicker looking. If you want a reel type mower, this one is highly recommended. Oh, yes it only goes forward. Not really an issue. Sticks? Well, if they are small and flat on ground, not an issue. If one gets in the blades…it stops SUDDENLY. Just pick the stick out. Hardly an issue for me; most small twigs get mowed right over. Lastly, the best thing is you can quickly grab it, no gassing up, do a small area only if need be…sometimes there are patches that grew faster than the rest. I am glad I bought it. Get the wider one for a few more dollars.
19 people found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
3.8 because a 4 equals “I like it”. There are a couple of issues …
I’ll give it a 3.8 because a 4 equals “I like it”. There are a couple of issues. OK, from the beginning….Assembly: After removing all items out of the protective plastic bags, it took 20 minutes to assemble and worked fine as is. It could have been 10 minutes but a few minor things that make me pause or go get a long handle pliers. First, the lower handle snaps into the welded stud on the frame. A cir-clip keeps the handle from falling out. Not necessary. The handle is bent wider than the frames studs on either side. I had to squeeze the bent tube to clear the studs. I depended on the spring quality of the metal bent tube to keep itself in place. The studs have a groove for the cir-clip so I pop in the clips. One side goes in easy. The other side had paint in the groove so the clip did not go in easy. Then the upper handle and the upper-upper handle goes on the lower handle. Plastic wing nuts and screws and washers are easy enough. All 6 sets of screw, washer, and wing nut are the same. The user manual picture list item number for the upper 2 screws different than the lower 4 screws. Why? They are same screws? Another pause to scratch my head. Being an engineer, I nit-pick on these issues.Adjustment: The height rollers are attache to the mower frame that has 3 holes for different heights. The rollers sub=assembly frame has 3 holes on each side. Are the 3 holes on the main frame and 3 holes on the roller frame the same spacing to achieve more than 3 height selections? I will report back later. I did not look that close. Update: The wheel axle can be mounted to one of 3 holes to achieve different cut height. I did not check to see how it was delivered. The mid hole is 2″ and highest hole is 2.5″ cut. The rollers are for fine adjustments. Update: Delivered set to the highest cut height.Performance: More difficult to push, as expected. More difficult than a motor mower with no driven wheels. It is not TOO bad. My problem is that I am out of shape. This thing will either get me into shape or it will kill me. It cuts nice. Path width is narrower than my old mower. I wish there is a comparable 20 inch wide model. It is more difficult to see the transition between the cut and the uncut grass. I am also accustom to run the wheel over the previous wheel track. Not good, I have to re-learn this because the cut ting blade is inside the 2 wheels. My powered mower has blade cut width as wide as the wheels. The power mower bit the dust in mid job last week. 20% of the lawn was left uncut. This mower arrived a week later. So the uncut 20% is now 12 days worth of growth from what started out as a well trimmed lawn. A few days of rain in the 12 days.BIG COMPLAINT: The handle pivot design force me to spent a large percentage of my push force to maintain the handle alignment. Push too far upward or downward, the whole mower lift slightly upward at the back or the front. I end up standing with the handle against my chest (at the solar plexus height) to anchor the height of the handle. If I stand too far back, with my arms straight, I tend to push the handle upward. I cannot lower the handle to align the arm axis to the handle axis because the handle has a “stop” on the frame to prevent it rotating further downward. I can get a grinder or dremal tool to take off a bit of metal so the handle can come down a bit. I have to think it through first. Even if it works for me, I don’t want to make it difficult for another user.What I like: It is quiet. No ear plugs. I am nut under pressure to get the job done within a time window so it won’t bother the neighbors. I can mow the lawn as long as I can see the grass. I don’t have to deal with keeping the old engine working. If this reel mower start to fall apart, I will immediately buy another because it is low cost. Then, proceed to try to repair the current broken reel mower. I cannot do that with high cost engine mowers. Parts for power mowers are usually not made by the same manufacturer. They are lower quality. They are priced relatively high in relation to a new mower. I always feel cheated whenever I buy replacement parts to keep the old engine mower alive. I pretty much replaced most parts 2X on my old mower. The main parts are original but all the wear and tear parts are after market parts and they don’t last as long as OEM parts. I got my money’s worth out of the 20 years old power mower.Durability: I will report back later. So far, it looks solid. I am guessing the the inner gears inside the wheel is plastic. I am sure replacement parts will not be cheap. Like most business models, the initial investment cost is lowered and make the money back later with high cost parts. Looking to see what I can use to keep the gears lube to maximize the durability. Update: The foam wrap for the handle tears easily when I scrap it against a wall stud. Bicycle handle bar warp next. Inner gear inside the wheel is plastic, well lubed, need to maintain the lube. Plastic pinion gear is approx $1.80 each online. Wheel is $12.10. Not bad.
51 people found this helpful
Amazonian Anderson –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Corn Popper Push Toy for Adults
Fun – this is the most enjoyable lawn mower I have ever used. I have been mowing lawns for over 40 years and have no idea why I have been fighting with powered mowers when this ancient technology has been here all along.Easy to push – this is easier to push than my previous battery-powered mower and drastically less work than the gas-powered mower before that. I suppose it’s harder than a self-propelled mower, but I enjoy the exercise.Fast – it takes me less time to do the lawn than with either a gas or battery mower. The faster I go, the faster the blades go. I don’t have to go slow in tall spots.Looks good – the grass looks decidedly better than any mower I’ve ever used. With previous mowers, no matter what I did there always seemed to be a line of grass sticking up. Now it’s all even with no lines. Sometimes have to go over a spot more than once, but that happens with any mower.Quiet – I mean, it makes noise, but nothing like a gas or battery mower. I don’t like the squeaky sound the blades make when cutting, so I quick-lube all the moving parts with oil before every mow, including the cut point between the blades and body.Maneuverable – we live surrounded by woods. Our lawn is anything but a golf course. Bumpy, uneven, hilly. Probably the toughest lawn I’ve ever mowed. No harder with this than any other mower I’ve used.Environmentally friendly – like actually environmentally friendly. It’s just a giant pair of human-powered scissors. Have you read the facts about gas lawn mower pollution and carbon footprint? Horrifying and unnecessary. Well-played oil companies.Safer – it would take an acrobatic feat to chop off your finger or toe with this.Cheap – this is the least-expensive, least maintenance and lowest power-cost (no gas) mower I’ve ever owned.Wet mowing – the blades don’t seem to care if the grass is wet. I’ve mowed when wet from dew, rain and even during a light rainstorm. No clumping or jamming.Tips from my experience:- For 20% extra push power, wear gloves and sturdy shoes.- Set the blades high. This will take care of many of the problems people are complaining about. Sliding wheels, small sticks jamming the blades, etc. Plus the lawn looks and grows better.- Pick up sticks. A 5 minute walk around the lawn takes care of any blade-jammer’s. I’ve always done this anyway.- Lube it baby. Anything that moves gets a squirt every mow. Takes all of 15 seconds. Spins and sounds much better.We’ll see how it holds up, but so far seems sturdy and durable. It’s been 3 months with the only maintenance being a regular clean and lube. Maybe 2 minutes each mow?The only gripe I have about this is mulching. The leaves are starting to fall and all this does is cut them up a bit. I bought the bag as well with the idea of “raking” them up that way, but performance is underwhelming. I’ll be raking, but I had to do that anyway with my battery mower – once the leaves got deep.Overall very happy with this tool/toy.
15 people found this helpful
GrambleGramble –
5.0 out of 5 stars
FABULOUS mower, frustrating assembly
I love this mower. I tried ordering it twice from Home Depot and got the wrong one (it was cheaper there, which is why we tried) but returned them and ordered here, got the right one, and it came quickly. Mowing is a breeze, it is about the same physical effort as using a non-self propelled gas mower, but with so many advantages! Turning is the only thing that really takes some muscle and if you have a pretty square yard, that’s less of a concern (my yard is strangely shaped with lots of different grassy areas).Please note that it only mows going forward due to the way these work (none of them will). It is also not silent, but it’s much quieter than gas.Pros:Doesn’t kick stuff up so it doesn’t bother my allergies (plus no exhaust)No clumps of grassQuieterNo running out of gasEasy to start and stop (so I can mow while husband is doing something and just stop walking and go over to him to help him if he needs)Takes up less room storing it in the garageCan adjust the height of the cutLarger size on this model (and it doesn’t take much more effort than the 14″ we borrowed from our neighbors)Padded handle–although I will probably buy some pipe insulation to make it a little more padded.Easy to sharpen (get yourself a kit)Cons:Assembly (see below)!!!Doesn’t cut tall grass (same with any reel mower)Lawn debris–it will stop if you run into a piece of mulch, which is easy to remove, but takes some getting used to, and you have to check the yard for sticks better (also the same with any reel mower)Assembly: One side of the handle was easy peasy, the bolts went in, the block under the head fit easily into the slot, and all was well. The other side, SEVERAL of the holes were not drilled correctly (see picture) and I had to turn the bolt head with pliers, and then the block did not slot in easily. I never did get them 100% through (ie, the bolt head does not lie flat against the handle). My husband had to help. It would not be easy to do if you don’t have the muscles to get the leverage (as I don’t). Attaching the handle to the mower itself was also a little tricky and required some muscle as you have to bend it in slightly; adding the E-clips took some finesse and smaller fingers (so I did that part) but also effort. That said, I have no concerns about the handle coming off, it’s very, very secure. I think if we had returned it and gotten another one, we probably would have had correctly drilled holes and had a lot less of a battle with that part, but it wasn’t worth that to me. All told, the assembly was pretty frustrating, but your results may vary.Overall, I’m so glad we have this mower! I love it and I’ve already recommended it to a ton of people and I’m very glad we held out for this size (18″) and this brand and model.
6 people found this helpful
BlueVistaGT –
3.0 out of 5 stars
You Get What You Pay For
I’ve been mowing lawns for 45+ years – mostly with standard gas mowers and edgers. Since I moved to a smaller townhouse, I switched to an electric weed eater to cut my small yard since my large gas mower exceeded its usefulness on such a small yard. I decided to give this push reel mower a try and this review is based on my first impressions. First, assembly was straight forward and only took a few minutes as other reviewers have mentioned. Fortunately, I did not have to adjust the blades out of the box, but that might not always be the case for some purchasers. Before I go any further, I must mention that contrary to one reviewer’s comment, this mower is not made in the U.S.A. – Country Of Origin is China. Also, don’t kid yourself, this mower in no way, shape or form can do the job of a traditional gas mower. Another reviewer described gas mowers as heavy, stinky, noisy, and high maintenance. I have not personally experienced any of these descriptions, but everyone’s different.Pros: light weight; easy assembly; relatively inexpensive; relatively low maintenance; easy cleanup; easy storage; minimal noise; environment friendly; hoa friendly; social police friendly (I had one neighbor complain when I used my Electric, virtually silent weed eater early in the morning)Cons: requires multiple passes to cut all the grass (gas mower blades cut better because the blades are constantly moving); blades require precision adjustments in order to get a straight, even cut – don’t think this is a problem? wait ’til your blades start to dull and you either need to sharpen or replace them (a gas mower blade is just one nut/bolt and done); blades don’t cut in reverse direction (gas mower blades don’t care what direction you’re moving); the only available grass catchers catch 50% of the cut grass if you’re lucky (I never had that problem with my gas mower catcher); subjectively – the cost is not justified considering the amount of additional physical effort with multiple passes needed to get a clean even cut compared to a gas mower.Conclusion: I could have purchased a low-end classic Briggs and Stratton gas mower for $40 more than I paid for this reel mower that easily does a better job, has a bigger footprint, and would get the job done in a fraction of the time and doesn’t freeze at the sight of small sticks, tall weeds, mulch or even small rocks for that matter. The only actual benefit that I get from using this reel mower is the minimal noise in a neighborhood where some complain if you sneeze too loudly.
7 people found this helpful
Lars Sveen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
I bought this simple push mower and hoped I wasn’t too spoiled by modern convenience to use it. Turns out it is actually quite enjoyable to use. I was concerned about it getting stuck every few feet because have a very messy pecan tree in my yard which drops seed pods and sheds branches constantly. A quick raking before mowing and I didn’t get jammed up once. I even left the garden hose across the lawn and tried mowing over top of that as a test. It worked just fine. Didn’t catch on the hose or damage it. I wouldn’t do that with a gas mower! Also, I didn’t have an allergy fit, nor blow a bunch of black crud out of my nose afterwards. All of the benefits far outweigh the fact that I do have to go over certain spots a couple of times and certain long grasses/weeds are stubborn and force me to get out the hand shears. All things considered, I am much happier with this mower than I would be with any gas mower.Background:When I was a kid, my mother used to regularly take me to visit my great grandparents. Being a child surrounded by adults, I was seen as full of energy and free labor, so I was often put to work on various chores. My great grandparents were self-sufficient folk, and as a side effect, conservationists. They lived in the middle of the desert with hardly another soul around. They dug their own wells for water, and relied on a huge propane tank for cooking and heating. To my young self they seemed only to subscribe to two things: electricity and National Geographic. They grew their own crops, made their own furniture, did their own chores, made blankets on a loom, plucked chicken down for their pillows, and so on. Just about every tool my great grandparents owned was powered by sweat and elbow grease alone. Their mower was no exception. At first I was very confused by this contraption they called a mower, being unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Once they showed me how it worked and set me to the lawn, I was surprised that such a radically different device than I have ever seen even worked. In some ways I wanted them to have a gas mower just because that’s what everyone else had, but I also secretly enjoyed using this strange contraption.Over the course of the next 25 years my experience with that push mower of theirs was all but forgotten. But that all changed a few months ago when I bought a house and found myself pinching pennies and needing to mow a lawn. I’ve always found the noise of gas-driven modern lawn equipment extraordinarily annoying, and I was lamenting having to buy an expensive mower and a gas can (plus the inconvenience of making runs to the gas station to keep a supply on hand). As my grass became more and more overgrown, I decided I would just have to bite the bullet and buy a gas mower, but then I realized I also had the problem of where to store it. I have a tiny garage full of stuff, so I’d probably have to get rid of my bicycle or maybe hang it from the rafters (which would mean I’d probably never use it again). Suddenly, the experience of mowing my great grandparent’s lawn popped in my head, and I wondered if I could find an old reel mower at an antique shop or if they were still made. A quick peek at Amazon and I had my answer… they do exist! And with quite positive reviews, too.
2 people found this helpful
Robvs –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressed, reviews and footage made me nervous, some design concerns.
I have no desire to be “organic” or to adopt some weird hipster method for cutting my lawn. I use some legitimate equipment on my lawn that is just too brutal on some areas of my lawn. Getting tired of 100 point turns and super spins from my zero-turn mower ripping up my grass. I was looking for a solution to allow my lawn to grow back in some spots that have gotten a little too beaten up by my lawnmower. So, I considered a push reel mower. But I had some major hesitations. There’s so many videos and photos out there of people’s lawns looking like garbage after using this thing. But I took the gamble and bought it and I’m glad I did so far. I figured “that guy in the video has grass that’s 8 inches high. There’s no way it’s the mower’s fault” or “look at this dope butchering his lawn on the lowest setting.” Sure enough, I was right. I keep a very well manicured lawn. This was supposed to be my easy quick fix for hitting a few strips of property that are tricky to get to. However, I found myself hitting nearly the whole lawn with it today after assembly and it looks great. It can’t beat the striping and the even cut of my zero turn mower, but it does a pretty darn good job for what I need it for and if you are cool with frequent cuts and leaving behind grass clippings, you’ll like this thing. It can be used by a lawn manicurist, not just some hippie that would rather be brewing his coffee with a french press and looking at his record collection. I cut my lawn to 3 inches plus, but the highest setting of 2 3/4 inches is just fine for the area I’m doing. It’s the setting I would recommend. It does require an easy adjustment. Build quality seem acceptable for a 100 dollar piece of equipment. However, it’s engineered terribly. They basically send you two left sides to a handle. And this is actually an issue if you want to fasten the wing nuts/bolt in the same direction on both sides of the handle. Because the left handle is basically the right handle upside down, the bolt no longer fits inside of a dimple in the handle frame. So you’re left with two choices: bolting one bolt and wing nut upside down and one right side up, or muscling one of the wing nuts so hard that you make your own dimple in the frame. I chose the second option and don’t think I’d do it that way as the wing nut doesn’t seem to like that much force. After reviewing some photos of other peoples’ mowers on here, I can tell they had the same issue. The manual touches upon this in Chinglish. But in reality it’s a lazy design flaw. But back to the positive. I love that I can just grab this from a corner of my garage and quickly do some touchup work with it. I love that it’s light. I have an acre of land and prefer to pick up clippings, but if I had 1/4 of an acre or less I would totally use this thing every few cuts for a quick trim. And again, it’s perfect for touchup work. It would be even better if the blades didn’t sit between the wheels. I’d like it to be able to do edge work better. It looks like some models that Fiskars makes have the wheels behind the blades so that the blades cut to the very edge. You’ll understand this gentle complaint once you start using this. If you want to cut up against a garden bed, you need to put the wheel in the garden bed. And if the garden bed is raised a bit, you’re stuck with a lousy cut along that bed. Those models with the wheels behind the blades rather than sandwiching the blades sound like an option I would explore. Better, pneumatic tires would be really nice too for lawn work. Oh…this thing chokes on pinecones big time. At the highest setting it goes over sprinkler heads with no problem, so I figured it would clear a pinecone. Nope. Won’t do that again.
21 people found this helpful
R. DelVecchio –
4.0 out of 5 stars
It does the job, with a few exceptions
I’ve had this mower for a little over a year now, and I’m happy with the purchase. I got it because my gas mower stopped running and didn’t work after an oil change, along with a couple of maintenance procedures. I had to get something fast to get the job done before the grass grew too tall.The first mow was painful because of how overgrown the grass was. You don’t want to let this go for 2 to 3 weeks without mowing. This season I’ve done it every 7 to 8 days which is the perfect frequency. Even that can get tedious if it’s a real rainy week with rapid growth.What’s good about the mower?It cuts flat blade grass very nicely. The one thing I like about it is that you have a better feel for mowing your lawn than just powering over it with a gas mower. Once you get the blades moving fast with momentum, they can handle a few bumps in the road and keep on going.It’s nice not making any noise, so you can do it slightly earlier in the morning or later in the evening without worrying about annoying the neighbors (or yourself). Because you’re mowing more often and don’t bag the grass, it naturally fertilizes your lawn.What’s bad about the mower?I understand why somebody wouldn’t want to use a reel mower. I use wood chip mulch which some of them have gotten into my lawn from using a blower. A longer stick or piece of wood mulch will catch the blades and stop you in your tracks.I’ve had the same experience with round, thicker pieces of grass or weeds. I noticed that when the grass is putting out seed heads, it takes a lot more effort and passes, and the mower gets stuck more often without any real obstructions.If your grass is thick, I’ve noticed that sometimes the wheels sink too deep and don’t get enough traction to keep the blade moving. So instead, you are sliding the wheels across the grass, and they’re not turning.I’m operating on a corner property, and the same thing happens on the corners painted yellow over the concrete. They are so smooth that the wheel riding along the curb doesn’t get traction and stops the mower from cutting. It also takes a lot more effort if you’re doing this uphill versus downhill. So mow first downhill and do a second pass uphill or perpendicular.On top of that, I’m not a tall guy (5 ft 5 in), and I feel like anyone shorter might have a hard time using the handles at the correct angle because if you’re too low, you’re moving the blade off the ground. If your hands are too high, you are kind of driving the wheels into the ground, and it’s not as effortless as it should be. It does take a few rounds to get a good feel for how to operate.My best tip is to hold the mower out in front of you with your arms extended, and if anything catches or slows you down, use your arms as shocks and use your legs to power yourself forward more than pushing with your arms.The mower works better if you go faster, a.k.a. slight jog. Yes, you may look like an idiot, but who cares? You’re getting some exercise, and that’s a good thing.If you are looking for straight ease of use, go gas. I’m an old-school guy, so this works for me. Frankly, it’s not the mowing that’s frustrating as much as trimming the edges and curb!
3 people found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good product
I like this lawn mower. It does struggle when the lawn is long, but it is easy to work with and I love how my lawn looks when I’m done mowing.
Diana LockeDiana Locke –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cuts like butter
So my experiences with these type of mowers is from the 70’s as a child. I can honestly say this works so much better. My gas powered self propelled mower and riding mower stopped working as soon as my hubby went out of town. I thought about weed whacking the whole yard and said no it would take me forever. So I got this amazing push mower from Amazon. Easy to put together. Only issue I had was putting the e ring washers on as I have fat fingers and no finger strength but got them on. I am amazed at how well this cuts and how easy to push. Do I have to go over some spots since my grass was a little higher? Yes but the entire back yard took me about the same time as if I was using my walk behind gas powered mower. I still have the other part of our property to do but I will take another day to do that since it is over an acre left to do. Highly recommend this!!
10 people found this helpful
M. Lauroel –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous mower
I love this mower. I have been struggling to mow my entire medium-size lawn with an 11-inch Weed Eater because I can’t use a gas-powered mower (respiratory issues), and larger trmmers with a wider path are too heavy for me to hold. I didn’t want to buy an electric mower because I’m really just afraid of mower blades. I tried to find an electric wheeled walk-behind line trimmer but apparently nobody makes one. I had investigated reel mowers several years ago, but was finally told by a salesman for Sears Craftsman reel mowers that the mower could not handle St. Augustine grass, which is about an 80% component of my lawn. So I gave up the idea.Then, about a week ago, after I had just begun researching reel mowers again, I noticed my neighbor tinkering with an old, very rusted-out reel mower. Really, really rusty blades. I watched his five-year old son mow a swath of grass the same as mine, with St. Augustine clippings flying everywhere, with that old rusty mower. I thought, “If a five-year old kid with an old rusty mower can handle this, surely I can too, with a brand new mower.” I asked if I could try it, and was amazed at how easy it was. You do need to get it going fast, because it cuts better with the blades spinning fast, and you have to go over it often, but it was loads easier than the method I had been using. The brand of the mower was Great States, and it was a 16-inch mower, one of the ones I had saved on my wish list at Amazon.I just walked back in my house and clicked the link to buy this directly from Amazon. I got the sharpening kit also.The mower arrived very promptly.One thing I’ll mention–When attaching the handle to the reel, just loosen the lower two wing-nuts on the assembled handle and you will get enough play in the two sides of the handle so they will easily fit onto the reel, I had assembled the handle as per instructions and did not know how I was going to get it onto the reel before I thought of this, because I am certainly not strong enough to have compressed the two sides together to fit. Once it’s on, you can just re-tighten the wing nuts. I really think this should be in the instructions, as it gave me a moment of panic to see that the handle was not going to fit on the reel in its completely assembled condition.The mower is so peaceful to use. No cords or gas to hassle with, no exhaust fumes, no batteries to charge, no loud noise, no dangerous blades, no projectiles hitting your ankles (or face). When I was through with my small front yard, there was this velvety green carpet of mowed grass that was so pretty. My back yard was grown up with grass about a foot high, and this mower just took most of it down. Of course, I had to go over most of it, but I was surprised that the mower could handle it at all. I thought I would have to use the electric trimmer first. I am really happy with this purchase, and am so thankful to all those who gave so much helpful information in their reviews.
95 people found this helpful
Glamazon –
4.0 out of 5 stars
It worked surprisingly well on the grass and I loved a few things about it but there were also …
I bought this as our first mower back in 2012. It worked surprisingly well on the grass and I loved a few things about it but there were also things I didn’t like too. . . .THE GOOD PARTS ABOUT THIS #1 no loud noise except the distinct “whirr” sound of the blades spinning as you roll#2 the fact that it takes no gas or fuel, it’s 100% man powered so you save on that cost, just keep the blades sharpened and clean it off after EVERY use so it doesn’t get clogged up and rusty.#3 If you want a good workout this is good too, you’re walking and it’s very eco friendly too :)THE DOWN SIDES ABOUT THIS#4 if you have a lot of weeds and dandylions you’ll probably be in trouble. . . . We had a small yard at our first home but TONS of weeds and thick dandylions. . . The mower cut the thin grass and clover well but sometimes if you had any thicker grass you would have to push and pull a few times over the same spot to get it cut and in some cases with the thick weeds they wouldn’t get cut at all and by the end of mowing we would have to go back and pick them out by hand. . . . We ended up getting weed killer spray and killing all the weeds and that helped a whole lot.#4 if you want a perfectly mowed lawn this might not be for you, I mean if you have 100% pure grass like on a golf course this might work better for you, but if you have a typical yard this mower will cut a little choppy, but it’s not that bad, we didn’t mind it really because it got the job done and we liked the price and that there was no oil changing or gas to put in it. . .Overall, we kept this mower for about 2 seasons. The 1st season we used nothing but this mower, the 2nd season we invested in a motorized push mower because I was pregnant and need something a little easier so one person would use this mower and the other would use the gas powered one. . . . We lived on a piece of land that was about a quarter of an acre. We have since moved and live on 3 mow-able acres of land, we ditched this mower because it was too much work- got 2 gas powered push mowers and used those for a while but now we have a gas riding mower along with a gas push mower. . . . This is best for people with very small yards
One person found this helpful
Adelis –
4.0 out of 5 stars
It works
Honestly didn’t expect much but it surprisingly works. For grass that is. It is a pain in the butt to cut weeds (you can’t) and long grass will take a while going over and over the spot. If you maintain your lawn and have mostly grass, this will work perfect. Just gotta keep it maintained. Doesn’t always work in my favor for my lawn (more weeds than grass) but would definitely recommend this for those with grass/ low lawns.
2 people found this helpful
Keith –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Little Mower For People of Short Stature
The Great States 204-14 Hand Reel 14 inch Push Lawn Mower works best for people of short stature. My wife loves it! Being taller, I find it a little more difficult to push because of the position of the handle. This we were aware of prior to purchasing, since Great States had provided a diagram indicating the ideal height for various push mower widths. The mower was easy to assemble, is light weight and easy to maneuver. As long as you keep you grass cut short, it works great. If you let your lawn get too long, however, you will have to over some areas more than once. All in all, the Great States 204-14 Hand Reel 14 inch Push Lawn Mower is a good mower for the price, and one I am happy to recomend.
4 people found this helpful
Gypsi –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes technological advances are not an improvement!
I can not give this mower enough praise!After years of battling with gas-powered mowers (our latest, new John Deere, was no different), we decided to concede the struggle and replace it. Looking at “electric” mowers, we were disappointed to see that they wouldn’t be as much of an improvement as we’d hoped.Then we began to look at push reel mowers. I had always been fascinated by them and wanted to try one for many reason, not the least being that it was human powered. After some research, we bought this model and it was one of the best decisions we’ve made as homeowners!This mower is easy to push and pull, and doesn’t put strain on my troublesome back. In fact, I find it much easier to control that a gas-powered mower. I don’t have to pull back on it to keep it under control, and it responds to a moderate amount of arm power. I can go as slow or as fast as I want to go, unlike a gas mower where I am forced to keep up with it.The quietness of this mower is fantastic. It makes a pleasant noise, as the scissors snip. It doesn’t disturb the wildlife in my yard and trees or give me a headache.I was surprised at just how good a job it does at cutting grass. The cut lawn looks good and is even. I have seen complaints that it doesn’t cut long grass well. Our grass was long, but I had no difficulty in cutting it. Long weeds with thicker stems, however, are more difficult to cut. It is prone to push them down instead of cutting them. That is not a problem with us, though, as there are few weeds and they can be trimmed with clippers if need be. I would advise, if that will be a problem, that the lawn be mowed closely one last time with a gas mower. For us, though, it was not a problem.I have also seen complaints about this push mower becoming jammed. That is true: it does get jammed when run over rocks or if it gets a limb caught in the blades. It is easy to fix, though, by jiggling it from side to side. As I don’t regularly run over rocks or limbs, this to is not a problem. Frankly, that small problem is better than having rocks and limbs thrown out the side of a gas mower. (My husband still bears the scar of being hit by a rock out of the gas mower.)There will certainly be people who try a reel mower and don’t like it, because it is not a gas mower. For me though, the lack of noise and gas fumes, the ease of control and the good cut make cutting the grass with this reel mower a pleasant task.
15 people found this helpful
Timothy Hansgen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to Assemble and High Quality
This mower arrived quickly after ordering. It was well packed, with all expected parts present and in excellent condition. Assembly was easy using the included instructions; the mower was ready for use within a few minutes.The mower has a much smaller footprint that the gasoline engine mower I have been using. It is light enough to be hung in the garage, and to be carried with one hand, yet its construction is substantial.Operation is not silent, but it is far quieter than a gasoline engine mower; I am able to listen to music on my phone while mowing without ear buds.The mower does a good job of cutting the grass and is very easy to maneuver.As compared to my self-propelled mower, the reel mower takes a little more effort, but I can mow my entire lawn in about the same amount of time it took with the gasoline engine mower.Other positives include: easier to operate, no gasoline, oil, or exhaust fumes.Other downsides are: even small twigs that get into the blade will stop it, so it’s important to pick up any debris before mowing (anything that gets into the blades can very quickly and easily be removed), the mower can bog down in tall dense grass, I can’t mow as close to objects as I can with my other mower, it can have trouble with high-centering on uneven ground.
19 people found this helpful
Niesha C.Niesha C. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommend
Definitely recommend this lawn mower, i was trying to save mower and find a cheap mower that’s efficient and this definitely hit the nail!! My grass was tall, idk if you can tell by the picture, but this only took about 30-40 minutes to complete!
Wofsey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent mower, but two problems …
This is a good mower, I had one problem with this mower and one with reel mowers like this in general, but that at the end.First off, if you get this with a fairly lush, green lawn, you’re probably not going to be able to mow it on your first try, even at the tallest setting. This mower will choke on loose grass and long grass. I had to use my 2-stoke gas Ryobi weed wacker to basically mow the entire lawn first, then rake up all the loose grass, and then the mower still couldn’t handle it. So I weed wacked it again, got it even lower, raked up all the loose grass, then this mower could handle it, again, at the tallest setting. The whole thing took me about four hours of very difficult work.Now that the lawn is short, I plan to mow it every week with this mower, so that I can avoid that happening again. And unlike a rotary mower, you’ll need to either hand trim or weed wack the edges if you are near stone, because that reel mower can’t cut that kind of uneven grass well, or at all. If you’re buying this mower because you want a cheap way to cut your grass, just invest in an electric or gas mower, you’ll almost definitely pay for this in the long run. But if you want it because it’s quiet easy to use on a well-prepared lawn, then it’s good.Now, a minor problem … the top tubes that they used are relatively thin wall, and one bent on me, first time out. Nothing major, I was able to bend it back, but this mower hates to be torqued around corners. If they had gone just a little bit thicker wall on the tube handles, then this would have been a better product. I get that they want the light weight, but most of the weight is the base, not the handles anyway.Next, a bigger problem … if you’re buying this thing because you want to help save the planet with a green mowing technique, then I have news for you, this ‘aint it! The problem is that even on the highest setting, this cuts the grass very short. If you like that golf course look to your lawn, okay, but that too short lawn is going to lose water and moisture a LOT faster than a slightly taller lawn. So sure, you’ll avoid burning gas, and you won’t have to deal with an electric cord, but your lawn will need more water. If you live where there is a lot of water like Indiana or Ohio or NY State, etc., then no problem. But if you live in California, Colorado, Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc., where water is expensive, and scarce, then this reel lawn mower will probably cause more environmental cost in spent water than it will save in gasoline or electricity. The increasing reality is that electricity is being made cleaner and cleaner, but water is getting more and more threatened.If you want to really save money and help the environment, then save money on your watering bill too … get yourself a little electric rotary mower, be careful not to run over the cord, set the height as high as you can, and let the lawn do what it wants to do, which is hold onto its water by shading the soil with longer blades of grass. I already bought this one, but I regret not just getting an electric with a grass catcher.One last thing that they could have done to make this a better mower is allow a higher cut height. I’m not sure how they could have done that with the back roller setting the height, but I can’t imagine that it would have been a terribly difficult engineering problem.
12 people found this helpful
K_cool_W –
5.0 out of 5 stars
My 1st Reel Mower..
I bought this reel mower on Amazon site.. I put it together with not much problem in about 15 mins. I then had to wait for 2.5 months for some grass to grow cause i bought it pretty early in the new year… I felt like a kid waiting to go mow lawn for the 1st time.. when that time came to mow lawn i must admite i was worn out cause i have a 2 lot yard to mow which is no easy task even with the gas mower i no longer mower have cause i have a bumpy yard.. but i didn’t give up,anyways 2nd time was much easier. & now i actually don’t mind mowing i also have gotton so good with it i get done faster than i did with the gas mower i bought 2 seasons ago that is already broke cause it is a cheap weed eater kind that Walmart sells go figure that.. i broke the back wheel off it in the past season.. so now it has been sold in my yard sale.. I love being green I love not buyin gas & oil & having to worry about upkeep crap. Now u do have to keep on top of ur lawn cutting.. i do mine about every 3 or 4 days no problem.. it doesn’t cut the dandylions down when there tall i do have a stray tall blade of grass here & there no biggy i get it next time.. i even trim around trees & such with a pair of hand grass sissors.. I like being outside so it doesn’t bother me i even have allergies & use a inhaler.. i even have curious people asking bout it & how hard is it to use.. i tell them the truth..I would encourage everyone to get a Reel Mower & go green & it’s true these newer ones made are not like ur grandpas one..Only complaint i have is this Great States 18″in mower is no longer Made in good ol USA it’s made where everything else in this world is made CHINA….ugh.! also i did break one of the knobs to move the back wheel up or down for high.. i emailed the company whcih by the way american & great state is one & the same company to tell them this & got a email back from them in a day in a half casue it was a weekend.. & told me the mail me the replacement part. i was amazed i got the part in 3 days time after from UPS man… Great service from the CO. Thank you by the way … Anyways that all i have for now i’ll prob write another in near future on this cause i haven’t needed to sharpen it yet so i’ll let ya know how that went.. Peace to all & Go Green to make the world a better place to be..if i have any mispellings or typo’s i’m sorry..
One person found this helpful
Sean –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works better than I hoped!
So I wanted to try to save us a little money in not having to dish out a few 100 for a new lawn mower and also wanted to be eco-friendly. I’d say my yard is quite a bit bigger than most who purchase this, but I’m fine with the labor. It’s very easy to push and I usually only have to go over an area twice for even cutting. It doesn’t cut tall weeds, though I never expected it to. It cuts through grass up to 4 or 5 inches quite well, that really surprised me. My kids like using this too (supervised). As for assembly, I can’t say for sure how easy it is since I had my husband put it together but it didn’t look too complicated. I’ll try to remember to update with pictures since I’ll be mowing when I return from a 2 week vacation.
4 people found this helpful
NorhLoudspeaker –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Useful Exercise Machine
I just purchased a new home with a 1/5 acre yard. Most people warned me not to try to use a Push Reel Lawn mower as it would be too exhausting. Some warned that the results would not be good. I didn’t want to buy a gasoline powered lawnmower at this time as I had so many expenses to deal with moving. I did need to keep my yard in shape.It took me about 30 minutes to put the lawnmower together. I didn’t read the instructions. No tools were required. By the time I finished the assembly, it was dark outside. I decided to give the lawnmower a try in the dark. I spent about 30 min cutting the front yard. As it was dark, I didn’t see how I did.until the next day.The next morning, I went out to look at my work. I was surprised. The yard looked great. The next evening, I cut the back yard. The results were also very good.The biggest challenge is that small twigs and sticks will stop the mower. To clear the mower, I reverse the blade with my foot. I can mow over top of hoses without cutting them.I would guess that it takes me about 30% more time to use the Great States Reel Mower than a gasoline powered one. The benefit is that I do get a workout. I don’t have to buy and store gasoline in the garage. I can mow at night without bothering my neighbors and the results are just as good as using a powered mower.My yard is possibly more yard than ideal for push mowing. I had used Push Reel mowers when I was a kid. Those were very heavy with solid wood handles and much heavier hardware. The Great States is much easier to use than the old fashioned ones. The mower is a serious tool that does real work. If you are concerned about the quality of the cut,Update: 6/23/2015This is season 3 with the mower. I never would have thought I would still be using this push mower for a third season. This season, we have had nothing but rain and sunshine. I have to cut the grass twice a week. None-the-less, the mower is up-to-the-task. My wife and neighbors pity me but I don’t pity myself. I don’t have to worry about a cord, buying new batteries or having gasoline stored in the garage. The grass continues to look good every time I cut it.I am 61 years old. It is a pretty good 45 min workout to cut the yard. The mower is cheaper than most exercise machines and serves a useful purpose as well.
3 people found this helpful
S. T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than expected
I haven’t mowed a lawn in over 7 – 8 years. I left that up to a lawn service. I started thinking of ways to get me out of the house and active again, not just for work. Then I remembered this family trip we made in the mid 90’s to New York. My cousin(older) had a place with a very very small “yard”. Guess what he had? A push reel mower. I’d never seen one of these before(except as a gag on Tom & Jerry), and was too willing to cut his 2 strips of turf with a side walk in the middle. All for a trip to White Castle, but that is another story………So I’m thinking regular gas, maybe electric, and the underdog is the old school push reel. I tried not to over think it, but when have I ever done that? After reading reviews, researching make/model, watching YouTube videos of people cutting the grass, and assessing my own goals, the push reel won me over. I hate the noise of conventional mowers. Didn’t want to buy gas. Didn’t want another thing I had to remember to charge. The least amount of maintenance as possible. I also like the idea of being “green”. Oh yeah, almost forgot……I’m practical(CHEAP). After assembling this mower and doing minor blade adjustments, it was time for a test run. Started in the back yard with a few lines. Felt good, ran pretty smooth, and the grass cut easily. Next thing you know, I was done with the entire back yard. And it looked good. Nice and even except for the dandelion stems. Weeds are the enemy. Nothing a quick pull didn’t handle. Decided I was satisfied and went to put the mower away. But the front yard wanted it’s turn, and I needed more input for this review. My test run turned into a completed job. Minimal grass clippings and my allergies were grateful for it. So despite my round about way of saying it, this mower is everything I expected it to be. I got a good enough workout and spent some time outside. Worth the $$. Many companies have improved on an old technology. Great States is one that got it right.Recommendations:Hand tightening will get it put together, but it won’t feel right. Use the provided wrench to tighten the handle(screws) until it does not move.Remove twigs and other debris that may jam your blades.Don’t mow according to your wheel tracks, overlap a few inches and you’ll go back less.I hope this helps someone on the fence about going with a push reel power. It’s easier than you think.
26 people found this helpful
CedarCedar –
4.0 out of 5 stars
I hope this clarifies your decision
I’ve used it over the year and this is my honest review, pointing out the good, bad, and worst. I live in the southern state.1) LAWN SIZE: I have roughly 2000 sq ft lawn of st.augustine and centipedegrawss. It was a good workout for me in the summer. If you have lawn larger than this, close this window and search for gasoline lawnmower.2) LAWN COVERAGE: It will take some time to learn this to cut grasses evenly. This would need a lot more passes through the lawn to be perfect. (Unlike gasoline lawnmowers, following the wheel step would leave a trace of uncut grasses) Are you willing to put in more effort?3) PRICE: Hands down, it is much cheaper to buy and maintain. And yes, it’s so quiet that you can cut grass in the late evening or early morning.4) CONTROL: Due to lightness, yes it is easier to maneuver than gasoline lawnmower. However, keep in mind that there needs to be a strong effort from you since you have to have much more passes through the lawn due to smaller cutting coverage. The hills do not make this any easier and it will make you sweat at the end of the day. If you smoke or have not done cardio for a while, then I suggest closing this window and search for gasoline lawnmower.5) INCONVENIENCE ONE: It DOES get stuck by a small wood stick. If you have trees nearby your lawn, close this window and search for gasoline lawnmower.6) INCONVENIENCE TWO: It DOES NOT cut any tall things, like weed seed stems. Beware. However, it cuts through decent heights such as annoying Nutsedge. If you have a lot of weed that sprouts long stems everywhere, close this window and search for gasoline lawnmower.7) THATCH: Be aware that automatic collection is not possible with this device. Though I tend to leave the thatch as is, if you like to collect the thatch layer, then you’d need to manually collect them.8) BEAUTY: Now, one really good part of this reel mower is the quality of the haircut that the grasses receive. It’s a top class. If you love your lawn like I do, I know you’d go through ALL the troubles that I’ve mentioned above for the sake of the health of the grass. Please see the picture I have attached with the review. As you can tell, the left is reel mower and right is my neighbor’s dull blade gasoline lawnmower. Not everyone will have a dull blade to give grass that looks. But as a lawn lover, you’ll have this pride deep in your heart that no one acknowledges but you believe it anyway without a doubt: that your lawn has received the healthiest cut in the neighborhood.
270 people found this helpful
Jo Ann Hurst –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love love love it!
Let me start by saying I am a 60 year old woman, 5 foot nothing, with a back issue and a knee issue. And I have about an acre to mow. It is not flat.I was fed up with gas mowers that won’t start and repair men who say they’ll come fix it but don’t. Out of frustration, I decided to take a gamble and try a reel mower and boy am I glad I did! I chose this particular one because it had great reviews.One of the concerns I had was whether a reel mower could handle a yard as big as mine. Well, it handles it like a champ and in many ways better than a gas mower by virtue of it being so lightweight and compact. And I’m nowhere near as tired when I’m done.My other concern was whether I could handle mowing a yard as big as mine with a reel mower. Turns out I handle it like a champ too! The first time I used it, I threw my knee out and had to quit. But that’s because I started out walking really fast with it because I thought I had to in order for it to work. As I was limping across the yard slowly I found out that wasn’t true. So after spending a little time with an ice pack on my knee, I went back put and finished mowing, this time at a comfortable pace. It takes a total of two hours to mow my yard so that gives me four 30 minute workouts a week. I expect to lose some weight with this little mower too. Added bonus! LOLThe mower was well packaged and came out of the box easily. The only assembly required is putting together the handle and then putting it on the mower. No tools are needed. The handle is in three parts and the instructions say to put them all together before mounting handle to mower. However, I wasn’t able to squeeze the end of the handle over the posts on the mower. I ended up taking the bottom part of the handle back off and mounting it to the mower and then reattaching the top of the handle to it.I’m feeling very empowered by this little mower and definitely recommend it!
515 people found this helpful
Mike –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great! Wished I would’ve gotten a reel mower years ago
I use this as a workout tool (shoulder lifts to move it quickly) and aerobics (jogging and even running with it still provides a normal cut) so I think it’s maneuverable and light weight but IDK if everyone would agree. It was very easy to assemble. The thing that some people might not like is that it cuts pretty high, not the ‘perfect’ mower setting and I don’t know if that is adjustable or not since I’m fine with it. It will cut some pretty high grass but doesn’t do well on huge sizes (2 ft high or so) but it isn’t really supposed to. The one complaint is probably one I’d have with any reel mower (IDK for sure though) is with pieces of wood making me stop to deal with it. It isn’t terrible but still annoying. Overall, it was a great purchase that I’ve used many times and wished I would’ve gotten a reel mower years ago. The biggest question is durability but only time can tell about that.
14 people found this helpful
Gift Card –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The missing puzzle piece
I have a tiny gardening business. Over the last couple of years, I have found half a dozen awesome, regular clients that reach out for me to pull weeds, trim hedges, and do general maintenance. The biggest problem was that, unless they had a lawn mower I could use to mow (most do and just need the labor, and if not, they were paying big landscaping companies), I couldn’t mow, because most machines are too big to fit into the back of a sedan. It’s too early to buy a truck, and I kinda dont want to make that investment, I prefer the no-frills approach. Handtools, simple machinery… I finally found a mower I could fit in my car – and offer another service. It’s great!Please note: in my experience, this is NOT a machine for the lawnowner that is somewhat lax in their habit of lawn cutting. You can’t expect this type of machine to do great things if you haven’t looked at your lawn in a month. High grass and weeds just needs more than man-push power. This is a 1950s, old school type ‘dad’ mower – the kind that had dads or kids pushing the mowers weekly, for a trim. And it’s not for the people who dont clear twigs and pinecones before mowing. Part of the price you pay for simplicity is that you have to clear as many obstacles as possible before the actual cutting begins. Thats why most go for electric or gas power, they want a machine that does all that for them. If you want the manicured look, I suggest using the “big boy” machines once a month, and using this reel mower as a weekly compliment. But I usually prep for 15-20 min and clear away the big items before actually mowing, so I am able to use minimal effort when actually lawn mowing. This machine is a treat. No more getting gas, no more having to be constantly mindful of not running over the electric cord. No having to lift and push the heavy machine around tight corners. It’s great.
6 people found this helpful
Kelly D –
3.0 out of 5 stars
not as easy to use as I hoped
The cut is good but it is rather difficult to push if the ground isn’t exactly flat. Probably would not purchase again
D.S. –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works great
Like how light and easy too move it is. Love not having to maintain a gas mower and have all the dirt, grass and allergines flying up at me. It takes less time than my non self propelled mower. My first spring cut was really tall and green. Like 10″. I had to rake up the long cut grass. But if you cut every 3-4 days, one time does the trick. I mow in different directions each time. The lawn looks great an there’s less mess coming into the house on shoes and dogs feet. My blonde dogs feet don’t get all green. You can go as fast as you can walk. The rows need to overlap a lot. Great for smaller yards. Mine is 30 by 60, takes about 20 mins. Enjoy it’s quietness and simpleness, should have got one years ago. It does ok even when it’s wet. I look forward to mowing my lawn, it’s never looked so good. Also saved me from having to sweep my walls from all the flying grass and debry a power mower throws around. I enjoy not getting allergies when I cut my lawn now.
One person found this helpful
Kaitou1412 –
2.0 out of 5 stars
Buyer Beware
After a move that saw us leaving a lot of things, yardworking tools included, behind, we needed something to replace our old gas-powered mower. I thought y’know what, this yard is fairly big, even at over $100 we’d make the money back in one year just saving on fuel costs.And if the dumb thing worked, that might’ve been true.First of all, don’t even think about buying this unless you have a perfectly flat yard. A perfectly flat and very small yard. If your lawn has any kind of hill or slight incline, expect frustrations. Even on flat land, the mower hitches nonstop, requiring you to lift it up and tap it OR to shove it forward with force to get the blades spinning fast enough to dislodge the problem. And I’m not talking about sticks. This thing was jamming up going over spindly, thin grass. It left my arms and back aching and after a few attempts to make it work, I left it to rust outside under a tarp. It couldn’t cut grass worth a flip anyway.You’d better have a weedeater to go over every single line you try cutting with this thing, otherwise the thin sprigs of grass it can’t deal with will dot your yard. Assembly was a huge chore, too, with one section needing to be dealt with dangerously close to the blades.If your yard is tiny and flat and you don’t have a bad back, maybe this will be your dream mower. For us, it was an absolute waste of money.
BJ –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too narrow
Does a good job of trimming the grass but it’s way too narrow. It’s worth paying for a 20″+ version unless you have a 10’x10′ area to now.
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Push Lawn Mower
It does the job as long as the grass is not too heavy. Also any little stick will jam it
Mike C –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for a small yard
This does a good job for a small yard and if your grass is not too tall. If your grass is tall, more than 4 inches, you will have to use 2 or 3 passes over the grass to cut it all. You can put the blades at their highest level and it will help some.If you are cutting your grass often and the grass is a normal height then this little mower works great. If you have any small twigs in your grass, the blades will stop cutting each and every time you run over a twig and you will have to back up and remove the twig.One thing I found out early is that when you cut the grass, the mower throws the grass clippings behind and to the left of the mower. If you are cutting next to a driveway or walkway and don’t want grass clipping all over your driveway (meaning you’ll have to sweep them up) just make sure to keep the driveway and or walkway on your right when cutting the grass and the clippings will be thrown back into the yard keeping your driveway and walkway clean.Once you’re used to the mower, and grass is of normal height and all twigs are out of the grass, this does a good job.Cons:Small blades, only 14 inches wide meaning you have to do more passes to cover the whole yard.Loud for a manual push mower. You can hear the blades grinding against each other as you push it around.Gets stuck on every small twig and stops working.
2 people found this helpful
Gregory S Bailey –
5.0 out of 5 stars
It slices. Doesn’t dice or julienne
We did not have a lawnmower prior to purchasing this reel mower.Our grass was simply too tall at first for this mower to hit. And I mean it was absurdly high and should never have gotten to that point. The initial mowing for us had to be one last time with a gas-powered lawnmower. After that one final time, though, it was very smooth sailing.We cut the lawn at least once every two weeks. Two week old grass is no match at all for this mower. In fact, it just cuts and cuts and cuts through that level of grass on the lowest level (0.5 inches above ground). One week old grass DEFINITELY isn’t a match for this mower. It will work and work and just keep going as long as you can keep going!It comes pre-tuned, so you don’t have to adjust the blades out of the box. You can adjust the height of the cutter, but it’s paradoxical in nature–adjusting the back of the mower higher actually puts the cutting surface lower and vice versa. The nuts/bolts to adjust this come off with little effort. Make sure the bolts are in there and those back wheels have no wiggle room, though. They can slip if not put in there correctly and somewhat tightly. So make sure of this before mowing.The mower itself is very easy to push. It’s not like the old ones that weighed a ton. This is light. I thoroughly enjoy pushing this mower.It does get caught on stuff sometimes. That’s actually normal for this kind of mower. If this happens, you simply back it up a hair, move the reel toward you with your foot, and then waddle it over the problem item. Throw said item out and continue mowing. For those living in fear of constantly having to do just this, know it isn’t so. I have maybe two or three little snags like this in forty minutes of mowing with this mower and it’s ridiculously easy to get going again.BEST PRO: This thing just shreds the grass that’s in front of it, provided it isn’t too high. And if you have a high spot or two, just go back and forth until it’s under control.WORST CON: It’s not good at all for very tall grass. You will need one more gas-powered mowing before you can use this regularly.It slices. It doesn’t dice. It doesn’t make julienne fries either. 😉
3 people found this helpful
winterlilycat –
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent mower … I expect. with care, it will last for a long time!
I purchased this push mower as I suffer from “bad” hands; two carpal tunnel releases; basal thumb LRTI and currently unaddressed, my ring fingers are “triggering” in both hands. Moan, moan. After recently mowing the lawn with my 15-yr old gas beast and the vibration made my hands hurt, I figured I’d give this unit a try … since it got such good reviews. I’m also one who recalls using my grandmother’s push mower … also a beast!I agree 100% with other commenters about not tightening the bolts down before final assembly. I also agree the first step should be positioning the handle onto the cutter unit as it really aids in the assembly process. Because of my “bad” hands (and the inability to “hand” tighten anything), I found the supplied hardware less than friendly. As a result, I visited the local hardware store and picked up one machine bolt (¼” x 1 ½”) and two SS machine bolts (¼” x 2”) plus three ¼” SS self-locking hex nuts; total cost ~$3-4. I also picked up a pair of bike grips ($10) since some users commented that the foam ones provided did not last … and I have no desire to replace them in the future.Once I had the right hardware, I was able to assemble this in ~15-20 minutes using a 7/16” hex wrench to hold the hex nuts and a 7/16” socket wrench to tighten the bolts. This baby isn’t coming apart … ever! To get the E ring(s) in place, I used the narrow end of a finishing hammer to tap each into place. All in all, and with a little forethought about the assembly process … it really was easy!************Okay, before taking this baby out for a spin on my small front yard; I checked for debris first (as I didn’t want getting “jammed up” to be an issue). Half of the lawn was “tall-ish” newly planted grass and the other half is old growth that is catching/greening up slowly. As I mowed, yes, the tall did grass “lay” down; but I expected that. As I mowed, I overlapped each pass by ~50% as others recommended. I found myself going over spots numerous times to get a good cut. It took ~40 minutes; but best of all, it wasn’t difficult … at all. I’ll venture the next cutting won’t require as much time, since I won’t allow the grass to get too high.All in all, I am very pleased with this purchase and the way my lawn looks. And my hands are happy too!I definitely recommend this mower but advise to assemble it with substantial hardware as described.
18 people found this helpful
karen6065 –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works
We had an older Great States mower that we used for six years, but it was a real pain to sharpen ourselves. There is only one place in Michigan that sharpens reel mowers and it’s on the other side of the state and it’s expensive. I decided to drive out there last summer to let them do it instead of messing around with it again myself. After that it was great for a year, then needed sharpening again, so we just bought a new one instead. Reel mowers are great for small lawns. Don’t expect it to cut like a power mower; it won’t. It has trouble if you let the grass get too tall. If you mow often and don’t care about a few stray blades, it’s fine. There are no fumes, no gasoline, and very little little noise. It was a bit difficult to assemble but we managed.
2 people found this helpful
Brench Stevens –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Mower Overall
So far after a few weeks of mowing, I love this mower. I bought an electric battery powered mower from a big box store in 2017 and it has worked well for most of the time I’ve had it, but it has its limitations. I bought this because I was having to mow and then take a brake while my battery charged, which was inconvenient, so I needed something I could use without having to wait, and I didn’t want the pain or cost of a gas mower. Additionally, I read that a reel mower is much better for the grass. So, I bought this one. I adjusted it to cut lower for my bermudagrass turf and I am very pleased with the results. I don’t have irrigation in my back yard, but the grass seems greener than before. My other mower was unable to cut very low without frequent charging, so the grass was a bit taller than I preferred. After dropping the height I had to really push the mower to get it through that thick tall grass, but once I did, it has been much easier to mow. I have noticed, though, that I will need to use my string trimmer about every time because it doesn’t cut as close to the edge as my battery powered mower, so I gave 4 stars for maneuverability, though 5 stars overall. One review said it was as easy to push as a regular push mower. I have found that to be true, but only with regularly cut grass like in my front yard. Make no mistake, you are the one powering this thing, and whatever you are pushing it through, the resistance will transfer to you. You will need a certain amount of strength and stamina to use this mower, but this is true of lawn care in general.
3 people found this helpful
Taylor –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Victory!
I was so relieved when this thing ended up doing a great job at cutting my grass. It was a little difficult to put together, and one of my foam handles didn’t fit onto the handle all the way and already started to split, but this thing is easy to move around and quiet (there’s a noise but it’s not a lawn mower so it’s automatically more tolerable)- I love that the only fumes I’m putting out is if I happen to fart while mowing.I’m a couch potato with a medium sized front lawn- I’m able to bust it out in about 30-45 minutes with WAY less physical strain than pushing the dang gas powered mower. Yeah, you have to go over some spots twice, but I have so much fun with this thing, it doesn’t bother me at all.Beware of sticks- they will stop you in your tracks.Super happy with my purchase and I highly recommend this buy to others! It makes mowing the yard less of a chore and I love it.
13 people found this helpful
VA –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works as expected
Good work out without gas or electric. Does the job
Paul L. Yambor –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just keeping swimming… just keep swimming
My Wii Fit says, “Ouch” when I step on it – I’m 55 and obese. I used a self-propelled gas mower that dragged all my weight quickly down the narrow slopes of my half-acre lot and threaten to bash me into the fence at the bottom. Self-propelled can be scary and difficult to resist, especially on wet slopes. I hoped the reel mower would be safer and it is. I now use the reel mower for the entire front and side yards.If you impatiently want a perfectly cut lawn, this mower’s cons may concern you: > A few blades of grass are missed; more if the grass is tall > It takes 1.5 – 2 times as long as a self-propelled gas mower to mow the yard > It cuts as wide as the blades; not the tires (you get used to it) > The blades need lightly lubed after each use; WD-40 works greatIf a few missed blades and more time are not an issue consider these pros: > No noise loud enough to prevent an early morning mow > No gas burnt or spilled > No oil burnt > No smoke > No dust or dirt stirred up > No power cord to chew through > No pull cord to pull and pull > No filter, spark plug or valves to replace > No battery to charge and push around > No control cables to stick, kink or break > No projectiles > No muffler burns or added heat > No carbon monoxide > No shredded wood/plastic/metal > No carb cleaner > No lubing all the spring and lever linkages. > Mom will not say, “You’ll put your eye out” > Stop & it stops > Light to carry > Easy to push and maneuver > Easy to adjust cut and wheel height > No burned-up motor > No fighting the self-propel drive > No tip hazards – Injury, damage or oil in cylinders > Environmentalist will pass over your doorway > Under $100BOTTOM LINE: Enjoyable change after 25 years of roaring gas engines. Do it for your ears!
306 people found this helpful
aliciaalicia –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent equipment….not so great for Bihea grass
I have a small lawn in the “deep south”.This little gem worked wonders on the crab grass, clover, etc but it definitely struggled with cutting the dreaded Bihea grass. if you have a lot of Bihea grass, I wouldn’t wast my time with this product, BUT, i’d tour grass is filled with a variety, much like mine, then I’d say take the change. You may have to pay special attention to certain areas. but overall I am satisfied with this product.
One person found this helpful
C.Brackett –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Please read.
You need to keep this clean and dry after every use to keep its sharpness. As for performance goes you need to use this on less than 3 inches of grass. Any taller and you will be going over the same spot until it is cut but that makes a good workout. Stability isn’t to well on uneven or lumpy land so go slowly if you have uneven land because it will stop bluntly or be harder to mow. Durability is pretty good as long as you put it together correctly and tightly.
2 people found this helpful
XQXQ –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Mower for Zeon Zoysia
I was concerned before buying this mower, as several reviews say it is not for Zoysia, Bermuda, St. Augstine. If this is the case, it is pretty much useless in the Southeast. However, reviews from other websites show the opposite. So, I purchased the 16-Inch Reel Mower and I am happy with my decision.I set it at the max height of 2.5″ and mow my Zeon Zoysia every two weeks. The grass is long in two weeks, but the mower still does the job. In the photo, the grass near the stone edges are at the height before mowing, and the grass in other areas are at the height after mowing. Since the grass is long, I need to mow the lawn two to three times repeatly, as well as back and forth at some uneven areas, to make the lawn at the same height. Some grass are bending down, I need to straight it up before mowing. Since there are many trees surrounding my house, I need to push the mower slowly. It still gets stuck by small debris or branches sometimes, but it is easy to remove. Overall, the result is great, and mowing the lawn is a good weekend exercise.
2 people found this helpful
Lala –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really great! Instructions, not so much!
I am a fat old lady, so I wasn’t sure this would be for me, but decided to try it, because I have a very small lot, and it seemed ridiculous to buy anything more substantial.When my back isn’t in spasm, I can use my battery powered trimmer to do the whole thing in about an hour.Unfortunately, one of the worst things I can do with the spasms is weedwhacking – that, and vacuuming, set them off immediately – so I needed something that would do the job while not requiring any twisting.After some research, I decided to try this old school, manual, reel mower. I am glad I did! It is affordable, quiet, easy to push, and can actually deal with a lot more than they promise!I waited way too long to try this mower, so the grass was about 6-8 inches high, which it isn’t supposed to be able to deal with at all, but I figured I would try it, and if it didn’t work, I would cripple myself one more time, whack it down, and then use the mower.Surprisingly, the mower was able to handle the tall grass as long as I kept it to short passes and used a back and forth motion. Once it was made a bit shorter with this process, I was able to use it as intended, and it did a great job.I wouldn’t recommend what I did, but it is nice to know that it can do this in a pinch. I am really looking forward to mowing again next week to see how it does under reasonable conditions.I will report back if something goes wrong, or it breaks, but so far it is a winner! Makes me question why people bother with powered push mowers…Oh, yeah. The assembly instructions were terrible. But I watched a few videos, and used those to figure out how the handle was assembled correctly, how to adjust the cutting height, and how to actually apply the “E rings” to the ends of the bolts properly.
13 people found this helpful
Shirley Zuvlis –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good quality & small size
arrived on time and as described. Easy to assemble the handle. It is small and works perfectly for mowing the grass in my dogs 6ft x 8ft kennel run. I would recommend this product.
One person found this helpful
Ariella –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very thankful for this product! Not so bad
A little assbly required out of the box for the handle, but its pretty self explainatory.Tall, grassy type thin wheat-looking weeds took over my lawn, and unfortunately this type of mower does not cut those (they just bend over and avoid the blades)However,it works great with grass and other weeds. The blades are super sharp.I wouldn’t say that it isn’t loud, it makes some noise. And be prepared to get grass in your shoes.But I am able to push it fine over level ground.All in all, this helped me avoid fees from the HOA when I could not afford a lawn mower.I did however still have to get a weed Wacker for the tall, grassy weeds, and to trim around the edges.Pretty thankful to have had this option! I don’t have to deal with gas or much maintenance on it. Just don’t hit rocks or sticks and such lol
7 people found this helpful
BigFisch –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little green alternative that is vintage cool
This review will have 2 seperate perspectives: 1) purely as a review of this machine 2) vs a small, electric rotary mower.1) I am very surprised how much I like this little thing. My father used to tell me stories about how difficult these are to push, and fresh out of the box this is not the case. Sure it will require its own unique maintenance, but everything does. Over time the blade will need sharpening and adjusting to keep it rolling easily and cutting crisply. This mower is very well made. I typically need to cut the grass twice in opposite directions as there are random pieces that get missed. Love the sound of the bail arms whisking past the blade bar. 5 STARS2) No gas or electricity. No engine. No loud noise. No pollution to make the gas or electricity. No pollution in exhaust fumes. There is no denying that shearing-type of cut on a reel mower is significantly better on the grass than a rotary mower’s sickle-style which involves a bit of tearing. However, I think a rotary mower is more tolerant to less frequent maintenance while still achieving a decent cut. Be prepared to invest in a different type of maintenance on this style of mower to get an optimal cut. Still, total maintenance will be far less on a manual mower than a power mower. I’ve never had to go back and cut my grass twice to get it all with a rotary mower. The blade is spinning so fast, it does that for me. With this style of mower, you’ll have to go over it twice if you want to get every last piece. Finally, the remaining uncut edge on the sides is significantly wider on this style of mower than a rotary. When I try to get close to the fence or house, I always have an uncut gap of grass equal to the full width of the wheel, the inner wheel mount/hub and the clearance to the spinning reel. All told that is about a 3″ strip of grass that needs to be trimmed. Again, not a fault of this specific mower, but a “con” of a reel type mower compared to a small rotary where the blade reach is not constrained on the edging side by the wheels. Typically the round deck sticks out between the front and rear wheels leaving an inch or so. 3 STARS compared to a little rotary based primarily on cutting performance.Summary: I love this little mower. I’ve always wanted a reel mower, and I’m glad I bought it. Embrace the romance of this vintage style and buy it with your eyes wide open. (+1 STAR for old school cool factor). Avg 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
2 people found this helpful
Dan E.Dan E. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Height of Cut is 1/2in-5/8in – Amazing Mower
For those people giving poor reviews staying this only cuts to a min height of a little over 1in that is because they didn’t know to change the major height cutting positions and only tinkered with the minor adjustments via the roller height. Major adjustments require removing the wheel to adjust to the lower tiers of height. Superb little mower for the price I have just scalped my yard with it to slightly under 1/2in by removing the roller entirely and will maintain it at .6-.75in for the rest of the season. Amazing workout as well.Photos first is at 1in or so before mid season scalp and the others are during scalping at ~.5in.Again remove the hubcap and the clip that holds the wheel on and slide the wheel off and loosen and remove the nut on the axel and lower the position. Repeat on both sides.A good video tutorial is available if you search “Reel Mower Major Height Adjustment” it’s only a few minutes long.Edit: after making all the adjustments and trying on one section that I leveled recently the height of cut is sub 1/2in it is something closer to 1/3in I’ll use calipers and a better reference later for now I used some paper I had nearby and it worked out to .335in which is nice because I can easily scalp at that .35-.4in and maintain between .5-.75in and not have to worry about the brown showing on my Bermuda grass. No need to buy a $2000 reel mower… yet.
33 people found this helpful
Dirk Drudgler –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Tool – Makes me wonder where else I can change
I received the mower several days ago and the grass can’t grow fast enough for me. I love using this thing. My experiences have been similar to those of many other users.POSITIVES:1) I instantly became the neighborhood oddity, but have had several people ask to try the mower.2) I was more than happy to sell the power monster in the garage that has cost me hundreds of dollars in repairs and gasoline over the last few years.3) I love the fact that I never have to empty grass clipping bags. The grass just spits out the back of the mower to simply mulch. Every time you go over the lawn again, stray clippings will get cut up a little more and you won’t even know they are there. For longer grass you might want to run the mower over the clippings a few times just to chop them up a little more. It’s cool that I have that much less waste to put out on garbage day.4) The lawn has a very clean, even cut look which is really hard to describe, but definitely noticeable.5) You don’t reek of gas exhaust when you finish.6) The entire process of cutting my lawn (a smallish, suburban thing, maybe 1100 sq. ft) takes significantly less time because I just pull the mower out, use it, then put it away. Done.7) Hitting a hidden foreign object like a rock or a neighbor kid’s baseball does not result in a gut wrenching crash of machinery leading to a probable blade replacement. This mower just stops moving forward until the offending object is removed. You will never have flying projectiles launched from it either. It is much safer for dogs, kids and shins.IMPORTANT:1) It does take a little bit of effort, no more than a non-self propelled power mower, but you definitely have to push the thing. It is very light, but it’s not like floating on air. It’s good full body exercise!2) As mentioned in other reviews any twig thicker than a chopstick will jam it. If you have a yard with lots of trees, it could get to be a hassle, but those yards with a few (or none) trees will discover you find most of the twigs the first time you use the mower and with subsequent mowings this is not a problem.3) Although I’ve only had it for a short time, I can tell this will not be a tool that never needs maintenance, but an every two year blade sharpening and routine WD-40 treatment will allow this tool to work for more years than I will be alive. I am not a mechanically inclined person so this is great for me.4) Uneven terrain proves to be a challenge and forget getting close to walls and buildings or power mowing through heavy growth. As others have mentioned a weed trimmer will be needed to get to hard to reach areas.As I get older I’ve developed a clear desire to start dumping complex machinery and systems for simpler, more self-sufficient tools. This mower (as I’m sure many other brands of reel mowers are) is a great affirmation of that desire. It inspires me to look for other areas in my life which can be boiled down to the “power mower vs. reel mower” analogy. If the other differences are as stark as this one, I’m definitely going to have some fun.
15 people found this helpful
Amy K. Amos –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for soft uniform grass only!
First, let me say I’ve been using this mower 1-2 times per week for the past month. It was easy to assemble except for one part, the lower bar, that was difficult to snap on for whatever reason.The mower cuts wonderfully if you have fresh, smooth grass. If your yard was from sod and is weed free and only one soft grass type then you will love this mower. It will be five stars for you. Works wonderful on the seeded sections of my yard.However, if you have a lot of tiny sticks—I’m talking little broken stick pieces that end up under trees, like 1 inch or less down in the grass, this mower will catch on them repeatedly until you want to give up and cry. Don’t try to use it if you have a tree filled yard.Do you have dandelions or other similar weeds? Do not buy this mower. The blades do not slice through basic dandelion stems, leaving them sticking up all over the yard.Do you have any thicker types of grass mixed into soft grass? Don’t buy this mower! It does not cut most thick clumps of grass aside from the blades of grass in the very center of the clump.Do you cut your grass every three days during peak season? If so, this mower will work fine. If you let any blades of grass get the little seeds at the top (and become 3-4 in tall, which can literally happen overnight in the southern US) then this mower will not work for you. It leaves this blades waving high all over your yard while cutting the softer, shorter grass around them.On the plus side the mower is very easy to push and reasonably safe around kids playing nearby in the yard compared to a gas powered mower.
2 people found this helpful