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Me last night.

http://www.penick.net/digging/images/Reel%20mower.JPG

To keep the cage spinning, I was moving it like a vacuum cleaner.

Still need to get a weed eater.

Still need to get a weed eater.

Here you go
http://www.twinmaplefarms.com/images/grazing_sheep.jpg

Sheeple :p

I just let the moss take over most of my lawn. Its nice and green and doesn't need to be cut. Yeah, I suppose its kind of *ghetto* but I don't mind. Its not that I'm trying to be green or anything, I just got tired of scraping it up with a rake and re-seeding.

Kinda like it now :)

I like my reel mower. It's less noisy than the gas one. You can mow when the grass is wet and still get a good cut.
The first cut in the spring is the worst.
Easy to sharpen too.

...The first cut in the spring is the worst.
Easy to sharpen too.
You got that right, I just did the first spring mow today with my reel mower. The grass was so tall. I hurt like heck.
Do you sharpen it yourself? Mine has needed sharpening for some time now, but I don't know where to take it, or if this is something I can do myself.

Ugh. I've had reel mowers and decided that I hate them unless the lawn area is really small. Even the widest ones have a narrow track and don't cut anywhere near as cleanly as power mowers, requiring MANY more passes across the lawn. Reel mowers also push down tall grass and weeds instead of cutting them. At the rate my grass grows this time of year I would have to mow at least twice a week per week to stay ahead of the growth, or else dig out the power mower anyway to catch up again. When the grass slows down by summertime but the weeds don't, that means a lot of post-mow "cleanup" with the weedwhacker.

No thanks. Reel mowers are fine if you have less than 1000sf to mow, but I have 4-5x that much. I'll take an electric mower any day. My B&D does the job in a fraction of the time, only demands mowing half as often, requires less frequent blade sharpening and lubrication, and is still very nearly pollution free.

You got that right, I just did the first spring mow today with my reel mower. The grass was so tall. I hurt like heck.
Do you sharpen it yourself? Mine has needed sharpening for some time now, but I don't know where to take it, or if this is something I can do myself.You might check with a local hardware store if one still exists near you. Mine was able to send mine out to a local guy who specializes in this service ... for about $50.

Nice, Chuck, but not for me. 3 acres.

I do mow infrequently - once a month or so for half, even less for the other half. I have a 48" 24hp rider, and even it bogs down sometimes. I have a lot of really tough grass.

Nice, Chuck, but not for me. 3 acres.

I do mow infrequently - once a month or so for half, even less for the other half. I have a 48" 24hp rider, and even it bogs down sometimes. I have a lot of really tough grass.Andrew,

You have 15x more to mow. :eek:

One the other hand, you could save gas and a gym membership. :D

You might check with a local hardware store if one still exists near you. Mine was able to send mine out to a local guy who specializes in this service ... for about $50.
We do still have a hardware store in town. I'll have to stop in and ask about it. Thanks.

Today was "harvest the compost" day. I dug out about 6 gallons of compost from the bin and spread it over the area where the garden will be. The birds went nuts eating the bugs in the compost.
Then I took a drive to the garden center to get some stuff. On the way I passed an '03 Civic hybrid, same color as mine. I think it was a fleet car, judging from the bumper sticker. The driver tooted their horn and I tooted back. Every now & then someone with the same car still does that. I also noticed that the driver seemed to be doing a pretty decent job of hypermiling.

Despite all the hard work, the lawn does look much better.

I have a lot of really tough grass.

Do you have a lot of clover as well? I have found that to the the WORST parts of the lawn. That stuff is thick and tough. And it keeps water around longer after rain or dew making it even worse.

I just finished the first mow of the year on ~3 of our 5.5 acres. I only have about 1/2 an acre left of what I keep mowed.

I have a honda gas mower works great but i was interested in getting a reel mower so i went to the local flea market and talked a guy down to 7 dollars on one. I put schwinn bike grips on it and have used it since last spring.I take the gas one out now and then to keep the motor running good but the reel mower is my main mower..I love mowing later at night works better when the kids go to bed and its quiet so the people around in town don't even know I'm mowing! Only bad thing about it is on its highest setting it cuts really short and when we don't get much rain I let it grow and then use the gas mower and leave it higher... Love my reel mower though ,wonder what the brand is?

I LOVE clover! Stays green longer than grass in our dry summers, grows slower than grass, is soft underfoot, and attracts lots of pollinators!

I LOVE clover! Stays green longer than grass in our dry summers, grows slower than grass, is soft underfoot, and attracts lots of pollinators!

Stays green longer: Yes
Grows slower: I have two types in my yard. One grows a little slower, the other a little faster.
Soft underfoot: Yes
Attracts pollinators: Yes

It's also really tough to mow. The two types of clover I have:
The slower growing one has a very high foliage density.
The faster growing one is very woody.

I really do love the stuff, I just hate mowing it.

We have some Crimson Clover in the yard. It grows about a foot high in the spring, flowers, then dies. It's no problem to mow.

The summertime drought-hardy native grass is the tough one. Bahia, I think it's called. It just lays down and laughs at the mower, or tangles the blades. Its natural habit is to be about a foot high. If I try to make a lawn out of it, I'll be mowing every day. If I let it stay about 6" high, it's not such a problem. My solution is to mow it high, and only about monthly. Saves me a lot of time, too.