# Reel mowing



## RadTherapist1 (Nov 7, 2021)

Hello everyone. I live outside city limits and we have a culvert in front of our house. I want to get into reel mowing, but don't know if it will be possible to reel mowing the culvert. Anybody else have a culvert and reel mow it? Thanks-


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

There are a few guys on here that have ditches and mow them. Check out @Cory 's lawn journal. 
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3860&start=500

His is the first lawn that comes to mind, but there are others.. Pictures would help too.


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## RadTherapist1 (Nov 7, 2021)

@rjw0283 thank you for the response. I will take a pic tomorrow. The user you sent in the previous message has something similar to what I have though, so makes me think it's possible.


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## raymond (May 4, 2018)

If you look at @Ware's journal he also has a culvert/ditch and I think Mows it with a rotary mower

Video about this on his YT channel:


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

raymond said:


> If you look at @Ware's journal he also has a culvert/ditch and I think Mows it with a rotary mower
> 
> Video about this on his YT channel:


Just FYI, Ware no longer has that ditch as he sold that house and now lives on 3.5 acres :thumbup:


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I don't think he was ever satisfied with the results either. I think his last attempt was to plant some ground cover but never fully finished before the move.


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## raymond (May 4, 2018)

Last idea… and you wouldn't want to do this without consent and approval of the city/county… fill in the culvert like @wardconnor and make it flat


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

raymond said:


> Last idea… and you wouldn't want to do this without consent and approval of the city/county… fill in the culvert like @wardconnor and make it flat


I wanted to do this SOOOO MUCH but the county engineers here are straight up idiots who don't understand basic physics of water.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Redtwin said:


> raymond said:
> 
> 
> > Last idea… and you wouldn't want to do this without consent and approval of the city/county… fill in the culvert like @wardconnor and make it flat
> ...


I still think what you did was one of the best solutions to making a culvert in your lawn aesthetically pleasing and functional. :thumbup:


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

Id say the only problem youre going to run into is if you want to mow low (which you likely are if you are looking at a reel mower), you run the risk of the mower bottoming out and scalping.
I used to reel mow but I mowed higher and it really wasnt an issue. I could see it being a major issue if you were mowing low.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Retromower said:


> Id say the only problem youre going to run into is if you want to mow low (which you likely are if you are looking at a reel mower), you run the risk of the mower bottoming out and scalping.
> I used to reel mow but I mowed higher and it really wasnt an issue. I could see it being a major issue if you were mowing low.


I've got some pretty extreme mini-swales in my backyard that I can mow through just fine as long as I'm running perpendicular. The biggest issue I have with them is when mowing parallel, I have to mow "on the contour" or else I get varying heights since nobody has designed a flexible reel yet.


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

MasterMech said:


> Retromower said:
> 
> 
> > Id say the only problem youre going to run into is if you want to mow low (which you likely are if you are looking at a reel mower), you run the risk of the mower bottoming out and scalping.
> ...


Yeah, Id say thats the way youd want to do it. That kind of goes the same for a rotary though. Any time that you can let the wheels take the slope, its going to give you more consistent results. Trying to sidehill mow at the top of a hill always runs you the risk of scalping.


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