The reel lawn mower normally comes with 3 to 7 blades (typically 5), and is manually pushed around the lawn. The 6-7 blade ones are used to cut low grasses like Bermuda grass. How they cut grass is when they are being moved forward; the blades rotate downward and cut the grass in a scissor-like fashion by wedging them between a stationary bar located underneath the reel mower. In battery powered reel lawn mowers, there is an engine that drives the wheels/blades, making uphill cutting easier.

You don’t have to worry about diesel spills or engine maintenance, as in the case of rotary lawn mowers. It could cost anywhere between $5-10 a week to buy fuel for the rotary mower, whereas for reel mowers, it’s totally free.

The push reel lawn mower might seem heavy to push around, but in fact it is surprisingly lightweight. For lawns below 8000 sq feet in size, push reel mowers are ideal; larger lawns may require battery powered reel mowers because of the time and energy savings they afford. Nonetheless, manual reel mowers are light enough even for older kids to push around the yard.

Reel mowers are of course much safer than rotary mowers too; you can control the pace and direction of the mowing, but with a rotary mower, it takes strength to hold it steady and control its direction. Gas powered rotary mowers are dangerous; make no mistake. The stones and wood chips thrown out by them can easily cause injuries, even fatal ones. Also the sound emitted by all these powerful lawn mowers may damage hearing, but not so with the manually pushed reel mowers.

Reel lawn mowers do not damage the environment because they emit no carbon dioxide or any fumes, and pushing them around the yard is one sure way of getting exercise and a breath of the fresh outdoors.

A few tips on using manual reel lawn mowers

• Push the mower at a steady, but comfortable pace. Not too slow or too fast.
• Reel lawn mowers are not too good for cutting tall grass, so if you want to mow down an abandoned yard full of tall weeds, use a small grass cutter/motor scythe instead.
• Practice with different grass heights to get a feel for your reel mower’s capabilities
• Practice with different patterns for mowing, because all grasses have different growth, root, and stem patterns.
• Each time you mow, alternate the routes or directions; that may help you find out which route gives the best results and least amount of clipped grass.
• The best time to mow the lawn is during the evening or on cloudy days, when the grass is dry, and nobody is around.
• The “ideal” grass height to mow is something between 2.5 – 3 inches, and they should be trimmed around 1/3 the height of the grass blade. Don’t cut the grass too short, as it tends to weaken the existing crop and will encourage weeds to take over.

Let’s have a look at the two traditional lawn mower variants.

Reel mowers

Reel lawn mowers are inexpensive, and safe to operate for those without much experience. Reel mowers have between 3-7 blades for cutting low grass. The typical reel mower has 5 blades, and they all cut in a forward direction, the blades rotating in a downward fashion while cutting. Power driven reel mowers are good for mowing lawns on slopes because their motors power both the wheels as well as the blades, minimizing effort and energy when cutting up a slope.

Manual reel mowers are pushed by hand or in the case of the the gang reel mowers, pulled by tractors to mow large golf courses. The push mowers are the most basic lawn mowers, having no motor and powered by the action of their wheels driving gears which in turn spin the wheels.

Reel mowers are lightweight, quiet, and precise in their cutting of grass, enabling many people to take up lawn mowing as an exercise routine. Environmentally friendly, they don’t emit carbon dioxide either, and being easy to maintain, are easy on your pocket both in the short and long run.

Rotary mowers

Rotary lawn mowers are powered by engines that run on gasoline, other liquid fuels, or electricity. Rotary mowers will not cut down as low as reel mowers do, but they can cut higher up. They are robust, and can eject rocks, pebbles, or sticks; being preferred over reel mowers when cutting unknown, and overgrown territory.

Gasoline powered rotary mowers do chalk up bills as much as $10 per week, and they can cost as much as $1000. There are lots of second hand, reconditioned rotary mowers sold through discount stores though, these are a lot cheaper. Rotary mowers can last many years if taken care of, and are good for mowing large lawns – quickly.

The downsides of rotary mowers are mainly, their noise, pollution, and safety hazards. Some findings suggest rotary mowers pump out enough pollution in one hour equivalent to driving a car for hundreds of miles! And anyone who uses them often enough can attest to the oft hazardous sticks and stones being spewed by them.