The difficult part is finding a real quality push reel mower these days. Almost all are flimsy things, with little heft. They bog down when you hit a dense patch. The real thing, of cast iron (extra points for a wooden roller and wood handle ans shaft), has enough weight to keep spinning. The zoop-whir of an old push mower and the smell of new cut grass untainted by gasoline fumes is the original neighborhood essence of summer.
And it’s not just nostalgia. Most folks have never seen a lawn cut with a reel mower, aside from a golf course. The grass is sliced cleanly, not raggedly torn by a horizontal blade power mower. Living in the country, I’m not a lawn fanatic, but no man is really serious about his lawn who doesn’t cut with a reel mower, especially if you have what seems to pass for a “yard” in new urban houses. .
The difficult part is finding a real quality push reel mower these days. Almost all are flimsy things, with little heft. They bog down when you hit a dense patch. The real thing, of cast iron (extra points for a wooden roller and wood handle ans shaft), has enough weight to keep spinning. The zoop-whir of an old push mower and the smell of new cut grass untainted by gasoline fumes is the original neighborhood essence of summer.
And it’s not just nostalgia. Most folks have never seen a lawn cut with a reel mower, aside from a golf course. The grass is sliced cleanly, not raggedly torn by a horizontal blade power mower. Living in the country, I’m not a lawn fanatic, but no man is really serious about his lawn who doesn’t cut with a reel mower, especially if you have what seems to pass for a “yard” in new urban houses. .