Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have owned a Craftsman brand reel mower, and ended up bashing it into the ground and pummeling it with a sledgehammer. I hated it that much, and it cost almost twice as much as this one. This review will identify issues with the mower and what I did to get around the issue, and finish with the conclusion of performance. 1. Handles will bend under too much pressure: you will have to work to push the mower through the yard, however when the mower gets stuck (it will), brute forcing through the patch will only frustrate you and bend the handle (thereby pissing you off). Solution: use technique to restart your cut. 2. Crabgrass will stop the blades. Solution: attack the crabgrass from different angles until you find the angle that cuts the grass without binding. This is why in the older movies/tv shows someone was complaining about crabgrass and how much of a pain it was to mow. It can be done though. 3. Thick grass will stop the blades. If the grass is too tall 4" and higher, you will have a rough time. no questions asked. Back the mower up just a bit to where you just cut, and give a short push, letting momentum run over the grass in front of the mower. I have also had success with lifting one side of the mower up at an angle for a short bit to get the cut started (this only had to be done on the first cut on the lawn). Sometimes all you need is a small push and things get moving, I'll sometimes push forward on either wheel and the blades get going right away. it takes a while to figure out the best method for your lawn, but when the grass gets too tall, it wads up under the feeding blades and just binds up on the cutting surface In those same old TV shows this was why the dad would get upset at the lawn not getting done...it would take all the longer the next time it was done. My first cut had grass that was 4.5-5" tall. It took me forever. Solution: mow weekly, and understand that the longer the grass, the thicker the grass, the more work you will do. Now that I have done the mowing once, and learned how much work was in fact involved, I keep it rimmed at a minimum weekly. If there is a spot growing faster than the rest, I'll hit it. When the rest of the yard is ready for a mow, then the whole yard gets mowed. Ever since then it has been smooth. 4. Sticks will stop the blades. They do. it happens. just like with the wads of grass that may bind up the blades, I have found an easy way to clear the stoppage is to use my foot and push the blades in reverse (they will freewheel). Conclusion: Any reel mower will require effort when you use it. If your idea is based on a whimsical save the planet and go for a leisurely walk behind your human powered mower and have the clippings just flying off butter smooth, you need to be ready for the reality of the work you will invest. It isn't terrible, but understand that you will have to work, you may even sweat. Someone in a previous review stated that these mowers were replaced by gas mowers for a reason, and I agree that gas mowers are easier and time savers. However, once I got the initial cut made, and learned how to handle the various spots in my yard with this mower including the crabgrass, it's a salad shooter. I'm keeping it. Why 4 instead of 5 stars? because I couldn't go 4.5. Because of learning the handle issue and the rollers needing a bit of additional adjustment to stay in place after the initial run, it seems as though those points of the mower could have been designed with a little more strength. This is a good mower based on my experience with it after 2 months. I do like the fact that both wheels house driving mechanisms for the blades, and the fact that there is enough weight to this mower to keep it from bouncing all over the yard. If I had purchased this instead of the craftsman, I may very well have never owned the gas mower that filled the gap between them.