# Are Manual(Push) Reel mowers a waste of time?



## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

So im interested in trying my PRG/KBG lawn cut short, after this last scalp for overseed its actually looking pretty damn good at 1.5" with my standard Rotary mower.

That said, i dont have a big yard, maybe 2500sqft of grass so getting buy off to buy a $800 reel mower likely isnt in the cards anytime soon and honestly I still feel like they are way overkill for such a small yard.

Can the manual reel mowers get the yard as low and good looking as the motorized ones? Obviously its a lot more work, but like i said its a small yard and only takes me 15 minutes to mow as is with my current rotary mower.

If they are any good, brands/model recommendations would be appreciated. All i can seem to find online are people using them for 'organic' lawns whatever that means, maybe no devices with oil or gas are allowed on their lawn i dont know. :lol:


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

They won't go as low or as produce as solid of a cut as a powered unit, but they can get close. A lot of them can go down to 0.5" and the normal issue you see on warm season grass (washboarding) may not be applicable on KBG, although I'm not sure how thick it can get. I would recommend the Earthwise 16" 7-blade model if your grass is quite dense. If not, you can drop down to a 5-blade and go with a wider deck (Earthwise, Great States, American Lawn Mower, and Scotts manual reels are all made by the same company).


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## mattw10517 (Oct 22, 2017)

Rather than pay a lawn service earlier this summer while my mower was in the shop, I picked up a Fiskars reel on Craigslist for $20. It was a workout to cut my thick 6,000 square feet, but it did a pretty decent job. I wouldn't dream of taking it from 4" to 1.5" with it, but if you're already at that level it should do well.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

smurg said:


> They won't go as low or as produce as solid of a cut as a powered unit, but they can get close. A lot of them can go down to 0.5" and the normal issue you see on warm season grass (washboarding) may not be applicable on KBG, although I'm not sure how thick it can get. I would recommend the Earthwise 16" 7-blade model if your grass is quite dense. If not, you can drop down to a 5-blade and go with a wider deck (Earthwise, Great States, American Lawn Mower, and Scotts manual reels are all made by the same company).


Very Good Advice.

I dont like Fiskar not sure if they can cut as low as the others mentioned


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## Paul (Jul 17, 2017)

If I was going to commit to a manual reel I would by a 7 blade push reel. Anything less and you will get the wash board effect. I have a 10 blade McLane greens push mower that will cut down to 1/4" inch if needed. Unfortunately they are not very popular for all the reasons you are thinking about.
I think the only 10 blade push reel is a Mclane as far as I know.


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## Cjames1603 (Jul 25, 2018)

my first reel was a manual. If you don't stay on top of your lawn it can be a "reel" booger. If you get level enough on a small yard I would say that a rotary as low as you could get might be a better option. Maybe if you wanna go lower than that next year you could get a reel.


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## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Cjames1603 said:


> my first reel was a manual. If you don't stay on top of your lawn it can be a "reel" booger. If you get level enough on a small yard I would say that a rotary as low as you could get might be a better option. Maybe if you wanna go lower than that next year you could get a reel.


Thanks everyone for the input I'll probably put one in my Christmas list. I didn't realize how dense parts of my yard from my spring reno were until I scalped it for over seed tomorrow and loved how it looked.


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