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6 of the best manual push mowers in | BBC Gardeners World Magazine
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Manual lawnmowers
And unless you don't mind the extra work of raking up twigs beforehand, reel mowers are not practical for large areas with lots of trees, since you can't ride roughshod over twigs as you can with standard mowers. A reel mower is a push mower that does not use fuel, electricity, or oil and is powered by the person pushing it. Most have two primary wheels and several sharp blades in a cylinder that spin around to cut the grass. As with most things, reel mowers are excellent for some situations and users and troublesome for others.
Reel mowers lack many of the common annoyances that come with other types of mowers—the smell and noise, the potential risks, and the price—but they also have drawbacks. Reel mowers don't work as well on tall grass or grass sprinkled with twigs and leaves.
The blades of a rotary lawn mower spin on a plane parallel to the ground. Reel mower blades spin at an angle perpendicular to the ground. While you may be able to get by for years without sharpening the blades on a regular mower, it's critical to keep the blades of a reel mower razor-sharp.
Manual or push reel mowers don't have engines, so they don't use gas and emit no pollutants. The lack of an engine also means reel mowers are virtually noiseless. No engine also means no tune-ups , and less maintenance: no oil to check, no filter to clean, no spark plugs, saving time and money.
Reel mowers have blades that turn as the mower is pushed. Today's models have a protective guard to prevent the grass from being blown back on the person pushing the mower. And some models come with a grass-collecting bag. Most models allow you to adjust the blades to cut the grass at a certain height. Modern models of reel mowers are lightweight and easy to push.
Reel mowers are ideal for small lawns with no trees, although pushing one across any sized lawn will still be a strenuous chore, lightweight or not. When you think of mowing your lawn, the mental image that comes to mind for most of us is that of a rotary machine, because this type of grass-cutting device has become the standard.
Instead, this 19th-century device, invented by Edwin Budding, cuts the grass using sharp blades that move as you push the device along.
This isn't merely a question of the machine being self-propelled vs not self-propelled , it is entirely human-powered. Still, despite the decidedly unmodern functionality, there are good reasons you might want to consider buying a reel mower. Environmentalists tout reel mowers as a clean alternative to polluting gas-powered rotary models. Reel mowers also reduce noise pollution. Over the next three hours, we pushed all four mowers back and forth on different-height grasses.
On hand were course superintendent Scott Dunbar, a member of the grounds crew, a mechanic who maintains the course equipment, and an equipment salesman who happened to be at the course that day. These guys are all turfgrass experts who deal with grass and mowing equipment every day. They really took to the task of comparing these mowers, examining every aspect closely and answering all our questions about turf and cut quality. We mowed tall, weedy grass, and recently cut grass that was already low, and mowed everything in between.
Choosing between the Scotts model made by the American Lawnmower Company and usually marketed under the Scotts name and the Fiskars mower made by the Finnish company known for its orange-handled bladed tools was initially quite difficult, as both did an excellent job cutting grass. But after a great deal of back and forth and discussing our options with Dunbar and the grounds crew, we came to an unanimous agreement on a pick.
It also has a wide, inch cutting swath—the widest we found—as well as height adjustments between 1 and 3 inches, which is a more versatile range than we saw on almost all of the other available reel mowers. The quality of the cut is where the Scotts excelled against the competition. When our lawn experts were going back and forth with the mowers on a variety of grasses and lengths, they noticed that the Scotts model would leave a swath of totally trimmed grass with each blade snipped evenly across, no ragged edges to be seen.
In contrast, the other mowers would leave a bunch of blades sticking up like chimneys after a house fire, requiring the testers to back up and go over the area again. The Scotts mower also never jammed up during testing, whereas all of the other mowers did. And not only was the cut quality good, but with each pass the Scotts also snipped a wider path than most of the others. The Scotts is a inch-wide mower, the widest size available the measurement refers to the blade width, not the overall width.
Our testers also gave the Scotts high marks for overall usability. At 34 pounds, it lands in the middle of our test group in weight but manages to hit the sweet spot between maneuverability and stability.
The Fiskars StaySharp Max is heavier and harder to turn around at the end of a mowing row; by contrast, the lighter Lee Valley model bounced around on uneven ground and left a ragged cut as a result. In addition, all of the adjustments on the Scotts mower are easy to make. For cutting height, it has two levers, one for each wheel.
One other model we tested, the inch Great States , required us to unbolt it each time we wanted to change the cutting height. Also, the height settings on the Scotts model are accurate; the 1-inch setting on the Fiskars, in contrast, actually cut much lower, practically scalping the lawn, before we readjusted it to a higher setting.
The Scotts has a cutting range of 1 to 3 inches. The vast majority of reel mowers top out around 2 inches, so we appreciated the ability to go taller, either for the health of the grass or for a less manicured look. A DIY Network article lists the ideal cutting heights for a variety of warm- and cool-weather grasses, and the capabilities of the Scotts land nicely in the strike zone for every grass mentioned.
The Scotts is easy to assemble, and doesn't require any tools—the bolts that attach the handle have large plastic wing nuts, so tightening by hand is simple. If you ever need to take your mower apart—to fit it into a compact space like a car trunk or a small storage area—we found that the Scotts was easy enough to disassemble, too. You might need pliers to remove the small C-clips that attach the handle to the body of the mower, but otherwise it shouldn't be a hassle. Senior Photo Editor Rozette Rago had never used a reel mower before picking up the Scotts for her small, flat yard in LA, and found it quick to get used to.
The Scotts is covered by a two-year warranty, and user reviews suggest that the manufacturer, American Lawn Mower, issues free replacement parts whenever a problem crops up. We investigated the plastic-gear complaint by removing the wheel of the Scotts mower and taking a look at the gear. The wheels turn as you push, and those teeth turn the plastic gear, which rotates the blades. And if it becomes one, replacing the gear is a minute repair job.
While it would be nice if both the wheel and the gear were made of metal, such a design would likely add money to the price tag and a significant amount of weight to the mower. One of our long-term testers also noted that when the Scotts arrived, many of the screws holding the handle together were loose and fell out within a month. Once they were replaced, no further problems surfaced.
A close reading of the user complaints suggests that owners who were using the Scotts mower on tall or tough Southern grass had the most problems, but such difficulties are likely to be common among all push mowers and not just the Scotts.
Ultimately, though, we preferred the consistency, weight, and lower price of the Scotts. We made this observation using an older version of the StaySharp that was capable of throwing grass out of only the front of the blades; however, the current version, which was released in spring , can throw the grass both forward and backward, so this may be less of a problem. The Fiskars reel mower has a more complicated mechanism than other models do, as it uses a chain drive to connect the turning of the wheels to the blades.
If you're looking for a straightforward lawn trim, then a traditional hand push mower could be the garden tool for you. With no battery, fuel or electricity to worry about, manual lawn mowers are a more environmentally-friendly option. These pedestrian powered machines are pushed along the lawn and the cylinder blades rotate to trim the grass as you move. They require a little more push power than automatic mowers but the exercise will help keep you fit and they are generally more of a budget option compared to their high-tech counterparts.
There are also electric lawn mowers , cordless lawn mowers and robotic lawn mowers to consider. In our guide below, we tested a range of push lawn mowers to provide a detailed round up of the best push mowers available. Each model has been reviewed by experts and includes a clear list of pros and cons so you can make the best choice for you.
For more detailed individual reviews of different models, take a look at our full list of lawn mower reviews. While there is more to assemble with the Gardena push mower, our tests found the instructions for putting it together clear to understand. The shaped handle was comfortable to use and folds down simply for easy storage. Our experts were impressed with the four easy to adjust cutting heights displayed on a clearly visible scale.
The grass collector has a 49 litre capacity but is sold separately. This mower is guaranteed for two years and we judged this as the best all round hand mower. Read the full Gardena push mower review. Our testers found the Cobra mower easy to put together with clear instructions. It's compact and lightweight making it easy to push and operate and the handle is padded for additional comfort. There are four cutting heights which can be simply adjusted.
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