# Canadian friends



## Chilly (May 18, 2020)

Hey guys,

New to the forum but have decided to purchase my first reel mower this spring. 
Or.. At least that's what I thought...

Reached out to Swardman direct for a Canadian dealer as I originally wanted the Electra model. No Canadian dealer, only USA. 
Reached out to USA rep and they won't have stock till fall 2021. Super bummer....

Looked around locally and found a used electric 2100 Toro Greensmaster, but it doesn't have replaceable cartridges and only comes with 11 blade cutting edge. Another bummer...

Found an Allett dealer in Canada, but they don't sell the electric version of the Kensington because the batteries cannot come through the Canadian boarder due to a patent. 
I would have to smuggle some across the boarder or find another alternative... 
My solution to this was to buy a Canadian 40V Greenworks battery and change the plugs on both. 
Asked dealer about delivery time and again am looking at fall 2021. Ughhhh another loss...

Found another dealer for Dennis reel mowers in Canada, but they are 2x the price and again do not offer an electric model at this time..

So, I am basically stuck with the Allett Kensington 17B. I have no problem with purchasing this. The Canadian dealer was more than pleasant to deal with, got back very promptly and the price is good. Just the noise factor with the gasoline model. 
I really wanted an electric version as my yard is around 1600sq' total. I do majority of my mowing very early or very late when the kids are in bed.

Do I wait for Swardman to release a Canadian dealer and look at purchasing an Electra come 2022 basically?
Should I bite the bullet and order in an electric version of the Allett Kensington 17B and figure out the battery situation? 
Or, should I just get the gas Allett Kensington 17B?
USA distributor doesn't seem to keen on selling the Swardman over the boarder. I have to pay additional duty and shipping all the way from the south east USA.

Do the electric mowers have pretty good jam with the verticutter, de-thatch cartridges? 
Some say they are just as strong as gas, minus the range. Other say they bog down... 
The noise of the gasoline models is a huge turn off for me. Others say the decibel readings are only slightly higher with the gasoline model...

Should I bite the bullet and go for the Allett Kensington 17B which I can get my hands on this spring.. Or should I hold out for fall 2021/early 2022 for an electric model?

Thanks,


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Hi!! Welcome the to forum.

With the lawn the size you indicate, why not go with a push reel. Before I got my Flex 21 I used a Fiskars push reel on 8,000 sqft. It was a workout, but on 1,600 sqft it would take 15 minutes.


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## Chilly (May 18, 2020)

Your crazy! 15 minutes... haha

It takes me about 30mins front and back to mow with my electric rotary mower. 
I have some leveling to do, so I wanted the brush attachment. I also wanted the attachments to de-thatch and verticut.

Maybe I will consider a push reel until I can get my hands on an electric cylinder mower.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Go for the same width push reel mower as the reel mower your after.

So you can get used to the manuvering and cutting around stuff.

And you can work out if you need to N or S on one lawn. E or W on the other, vise versa


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I think there is a gardena electric reel mower available in canada but not in the usa. For 1600sqft, a push reel with a full width roller should work just fine. What hoc is your target?


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## Chilly (May 18, 2020)

Just starting out with my first reel mower so haven't quite nailed down my HOC yet. 
I have very dense blue grass in the front and fine fescue in the back, due to some large trees we have (a little more shady). I get compliments on the lawn frequently with my rotary on the lowest setting.

Come spring I wanted to air-rate, scalp/de-thatch, apply top dressing and level. Once that fills in nicely I was going to start throwing down some sand. 
I've been leveling every spring with top soil which has been working great. 
Just wanted a nice reel mower to start taking it to the next level. 
I'm looking at around $5K cnd, for the mower and some additional cartridges. 
How much is a decent manual reel mower with roller going to set me back? 
I would rather just put that money towards the electric unit...

Just not sure I have the patience to wait another year for an electric unit, and I don't want to be disappointed with how loud the gasoline version is...


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

For the most part a lot of gas reel mowers are not that loud. A powered reel will always give a better cut than a push reel. I'd buy a gas reel mower over a electric. Does swardman have the regular Edwin in stock? Or all swardman not available until fall?


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## Allett Canada (Oct 13, 2020)

Hi @Chilly ,

Welcome to the forum! It was great talking to you and I appreciate your due-diligence. This is a big purchase that will last you a long time. I want you want to get the right machine even if it's not an Allett. Thanks for posting that I was pleasant to deal with! I take customer experience seriously!

I figured I would break the bad news to you, and the rest of the forum, so we can all grieve together.
There will be no Liberty Machines in Canada this season. I am not comfortable giving a timeline as to when this might be solved, because I have not been provided with one. I have exhausted all possible battery opportunities, including importing directly from Greenworks, Global Tools, In China. It's not happening. I don't know the exact details, but there is an intellectual property issue here in Canada surrounding the batteries.

If I could bring Liberties in and support the product properly they would be on the container coming in march. I would likely have sold them all by now as well. Liberty machines are the most popular and demanded models in the Allett Range.

Mark my words, I will bring battery operated machines in when I can support them properly and ensure the world class customer experience I intend to provide for Canadians.

Now for the GOOD NEWS! I _can_ guarantee world class customer service for the Kensington 14/17/20B range. They were commissioned last year. My time in the Regal House production schedule is baked in. We are guaranteed delivery for March to Canada and homeowners will get them right on time for Spring 2021.

Yes, the Kensington is louder than Liberty, but not as much as you'd think. The Briggs muffler is very good, and I would bargain that it is comparable, if not quieter then a battery operated rotary. Rotary mowers are notoriously loud, and a lot of that noise actually comes from the blades spinning.

A gas powered rotary will always be louder than a gas powered cylinder mower.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,



Chilly said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> New to the forum but have decided to purchase my first reel mower this spring.
> Or.. At least that's what I thought...
> ...


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

For 1600 sq ft, I'd go for whatever battery powered reel you can get you hands on and seek out alternate (hand?) tools for the rest. Keep it simple and cheap, upgrade to the Allett Liberty or the Swardman Electra when they are available. The Toro Flex 2100 you mention is a dedicated greens mower and a big step up in build quality from machines like the Liberty/Kensington or the Swardman. Overkill for the 1,600 sq ft for sure. All machines in this range, gas or electric, are going to be expensive.


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## TheCanuc (Jul 19, 2020)

Honestly My experience of Swardman is that they aren't interested in selling their mowers in Canada. I have reached out to multiple people directly at Swardman and got no answer until I basically CC'd every sales management person in the company on an email asking how to buy a mower, that email chain went dead without me getting a price to buy a mower or getting timeline for a Canadian dealer. They also basically told me I couldn't buy from Reel Rollers because Canada wasn't in their distribution area...

It shouldn't be hard work to buy a company's product from them.

Then to add insult to injury it I get an email today that appears to make it look like there will be a Canadian dealer... who will be located in the UK, what a joke. I wanted a Swardman, but when a company makes it this hard to buy their product I almost can't justify it...

'Canadian' Swardman Dealer email:
https://i.imgur.com/1GcD0yP.png


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## Allett Canada (Oct 13, 2020)

Hi @TheCanuc ,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

If you want a cylinder mower for this season I have a few Kensington's left for sale. they are coming on the shipment to Canada this month they will arrive and clear customs any week now. We offer white glove freight delivery to any location in Canada. We also have spare parts, a number where you can reach me, and tons of homeowner support for the DIY enthusiast. Most cartridges are still available in all 3 sizes.

www.allett.ca



TheCanuc said:


> Honestly My experience of Swardman is that they aren't interested in selling their mowers in Canada. I have reached out to multiple people directly at Swardman and got no answer until I basically CC'd every sales management person in the company on an email asking how to buy a mower, that email chain went dead without me getting a price to buy a mower or getting timeline for a Canadian dealer. They also basically told me I couldn't buy from Reel Rollers because Canada wasn't in their distribution area...
> 
> It shouldn't be hard work to buy a company's product from them.
> 
> ...


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## Allett Canada (Oct 13, 2020)

Hi Folks,

Scratch that commentary. We figured out the battery issue and are able to co-operate with GreenWorks Tools. The Allett Liberty Range, batteries, and chargers are now all available on www.allett.ca

Cheers,



Allett Canada said:


> Hi @Chilly ,
> 
> Welcome to the forum! It was great talking to you and I appreciate your due-diligence. This is a big purchase that will last you a long time. I want you want to get the right machine even if it's not an Allett. Thanks for posting that I was pleasant to deal with! I take customer experience seriously!
> 
> ...


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