Don't want to start a holy war on rec.gardening.lawns.anal-retentive

Just got a LVT Garden Wagon, WOW that thing is "serious"... built beefy
indeed, VERY impressed, sorry I didn't buy one sooner. it will come into
great use around the house worksheet, and I'm sure when SWMBO gets here
she'll find it suitable for it's intended purpose as a garden wagon.

Looking to get a new Reel Mower for the yard at the new house I wanted a
Brill, fell in love with them while working on a golf course in FL but
$300 is kinda spendy. I'm strongly considering the 18" Lee Valley
Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does your SWMBO manage
with pushing it?

--
John G. in Memphis, TN Have a nice......... night.
http://www.shavings.net/images/Memphis/reflect_john.jpg

In article ,
JG wrote:

Looking to get a new Reel Mower for the yard at the new house I wanted a
Brill, fell in love with them while working on a golf course in FL but
$300 is kinda spendy. I'm strongly considering the 18" Lee Valley
Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does your SWMBO manage
with pushing it?

I've got a reel mower. Works great. My yard is pretty small (maybe
1500 sq feet total). If I had a half-acre of lawn, I'd probably want
something powered, but for what I've got it works just fine. My
next-door neighbor on one side bought one too, and my neighbor on the
other side borrows mine once in a while.

It's not real good at getting close into edges, but I've got an electric
weed-wacker for that.

I'm reasonably sure that most of the reel mowers sold under various
house names (like Lee Valley and Sears) are made by American Lawn Mower
Company (http://www.reelin.com/).

In article , JG
wrote:

I'm strongly considering the 18" Lee Valley
Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does your SWMBO manage
with pushing it?

I picked one up last year at a yard sale for $10 CDN. neener (I even
told the seller what it was worth new, but they stuck to their guns)

It's superb. My 14 yo daughter asks if she can mow the lawn so she can
use it.

djb

JG wrote in message ...

Looking to get a new Reel Mower for the yard at the new house I wanted a
Brill, fell in love with them while working on a golf course in FL but
$300 is kinda spendy. I'm strongly considering the 18" Lee Valley
Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does your SWMBO manage
with pushing it?

The bigger question, John, is how do you manage to get SWMBO to
push it in the first place? :-)


Chuck Vance

Chuck Vance asks:

Looking to get a new Reel Mower for the yard at the new house I wanted a
Brill, fell in love with them while working on a golf course in FL but
$300 is kinda spendy. I'm strongly considering the 18" Lee Valley
Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does your SWMBO manage
with pushing it?

The bigger question, John, is how do you manage to get SWMBO to
push it in the first place? :-)


Nah. My wife does the push mower, I do the riding mower (but our push mower has
a motor: I did my time with a reel type more than 50 years ago, and it's not
likely to happen again). She KNOWS my knees are too bad for me to do too much.
I hope she keeps on knowing such things.

Grass cutting has become the biggest energy waster in most lives today, IMHO.

Charlie Self
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose Bierce, The
Devil's Dictionary

otforme (Charlie Self) wrote:

Looking to get a new Reel Mower for the yard at the new house I
wanted a Brill, fell in love with them while working on a golf
course in FL but $300 is kinda spendy. I'm strongly considering the
18" Lee Valley Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does
your SWMBO manage with pushing it?

The bigger question, John, is how do you manage to get SWMBO to
push it in the first place? :-)


Nah. My wife does the push mower, I do the riding mower (but our push
mower has a motor: I did my time with a reel type more than 50 years
ago, and it's not likely to happen again). She KNOWS my knees are too
bad for me to do too much. I hope she keeps on knowing such things.

Grass cutting has become the biggest energy waster in most lives
today, IMHO.

LOML has been using a reel mower on our lawn for about 5 years now.
If the LV mower is as good as our generic reel mower, and I'm sure it is,
she'll have no trouble with it. I sharpen it every two years, and it cuts
as nicely and q u i e t l y as you could ask. The only time we fire up
the power mower is if the lawn has gone too long without a mowing (the reel
mower works best at keeping a neat lawn trimmed). There's something very
satisfying about listening to the whirring and clicking of the lawn being
mowed this way - especially when I'm sitting on the porch with a cold
fermented beverage while she's doing the work.

Scott

Scott Cramer responds:
My wife does the push mower, I do the riding mower (but our push
mower has a motor: I did my time with a reel type more than 50 years
ago, and it's not likely to happen again). She KNOWS my knees are too
bad for me to do too much. I hope she keeps on knowing such things.

Grass cutting has become the biggest energy waster in most lives
today, IMHO.

LOML has been using a reel mower on our lawn for about 5 years now.
If the LV mower is as good as our generic reel mower, and I'm sure it is,
she'll have no trouble with it. I sharpen it every two years, and it cuts
as nicely and q u i e t l y as you could ask. The only time we fire up
the power mower is if the lawn has gone too long without a mowing (the reel
mower works best at keeping a neat lawn trimmed). There's something very
satisfying about listening to the whirring and clicking of the lawn being
mowed this way - especially when I'm sitting on the porch with a cold
fermented beverage while she's doing the work.


Yes, well, that's great for a small lawn, but we're going to be cutting
something on the order of 1-3/4 acres when we move back to Virginia mid-June.
Reel mowers don't work too well on that size lawn...actually, I'd guess they'd
work fine, but we do have other things to do during the week.

Charlie Self
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose Bierce, The
Devil's Dictionary

I shouldn't start it, but do you remember when the power mowers were reel
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in
'48, and one of the kids in the neighborhood had one. Actually it was his
dad's, but dad never had to mow the lawn again. We used to fight over who
would get to run it. The owner would contract to cut lawns in the
neighborhood and never have to leave the shade of a tree.

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I wouldn't be
what you want for big lawns, but for a small front yard, the lawn would be
well manicured.



"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...
Scott Cramer responds:
My wife does the push mower, I do the riding mower (but our push
mower has a motor: I did my time with a reel type more than 50 years
ago, and it's not likely to happen again). She KNOWS my knees are too
bad for me to do too much. I hope she keeps on knowing such things.

Grass cutting has become the biggest energy waster in most lives
today, IMHO.

LOML has been using a reel mower on our lawn for about 5 years now.
If the LV mower is as good as our generic reel mower, and I'm sure it is,
she'll have no trouble with it. I sharpen it every two years, and it
cuts
as nicely and q u i e t l y as you could ask. The only time we fire
up
the power mower is if the lawn has gone too long without a mowing (the
reel
mower works best at keeping a neat lawn trimmed). There's something very
satisfying about listening to the whirring and clicking of the lawn being
mowed this way - especially when I'm sitting on the porch with a cold
fermented beverage while she's doing the work.


Yes, well, that's great for a small lawn, but we're going to be cutting
something on the order of 1-3/4 acres when we move back to Virginia
mid-June.
Reel mowers don't work too well on that size lawn...actually, I'd guess
they'd
work fine, but we do have other things to do during the week.

Charlie Self
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose
Bierce, The
Devil's Dictionary

Lowell Holmes writes:

I shouldn't start it, but do you remember when the power mowers were reel
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in
'48, and one of the kids in the neighborhood had one. Actually it was his
dad's, but dad never had to mow the lawn again. We used to fight over who
would get to run it. The owner would contract to cut lawns in the
neighborhood and never have to leave the shade of a tree.

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I wouldn't be
what you want for big lawns, but for a small front yard, the lawn would be
well manicured.


I remembered that earlier today. One guy had one. They cost the earth, or as a
character in a John D. MacDonald novel once said, "...costs an ass and a half,
sport". We had the typical small in-city yard, but after I'd cut it a few times
with our rather crappy reel type, I envied the kid who had a shot at his dad's
reel type with motor. Thing was also a bitch to start, IIRC. I sometimes had
half our lawn done by the time he got that thing running. He'd finish first
most of the time.

Another point: Reel type mowers cut the grass more cleanly, leave a MUCH neater
looking lawn, if you don't let the grass get too high.

Charlie Self
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose Bierce, The
Devil's Dictionary

Guy next door was a "progressive" type who got one of the reel-power TORO
mowers. Unlike most today, it was a power drive.

Now the one I miss is the half mower we used to have for trimming around
close to the house and borders. Had a steel plate on one end, wheel on the
other, and cut slicker'n goose goo.

"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...
Lowell Holmes writes:

I shouldn't start it, but do you remember when the power mowers were reel
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in
'48, and one of the kids in the neighborhood had one.

Another point: Reel type mowers cut the grass more cleanly, leave a MUCH
neater
looking lawn, if you don't let the grass get too high.

type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I wouldn't be
what you want for big lawns,

http://www.composters.com/gr/brill_cordless.jpg

So indeed, they have. I wonder what the cost Is?, I guess I'll do a Google.

:-)


"JG" wrote in message ...
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I wouldn't
be
what you want for big lawns,

http://www.composters.com/gr/brill_cordless.jpg

Less than $300. Hmm. . . . ..
"Lowell Holmes" wrote in message
...
So indeed, they have. I wonder what the cost Is?, I guess I'll do a
Google.

:-)


"JG" wrote in message
...
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid
in

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I
wouldn't
be
what you want for big lawns,

http://www.composters.com/gr/brill_cordless.jpg

"Lowell Holmes" writes:
I shouldn't start it, but do you remember when the power mowers were reel
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in
'48, and one of the kids in the neighborhood had one. Actually it was his
dad's, but dad never had to mow the lawn again. We used to fight over who
would get to run it. The owner would contract to cut lawns in the
neighborhood and never have to leave the shade of a tree.

The motors make great go-cart motors, too, as the power takeoff is
on the side, not the bottom and they already had a clutch.

scott

I have an Agri-Fab 18" Silent Reel Mower. It seems to me that it's much
better made than the American Lawn Mower Company (who also make Great States
and Scotts). It cuts the grass really well. After three years I had it
sharpened by a guy who works at a golf course and sharpens reel mowers for a
living. He said the adjustment mechanism on it is really, really good
compared to the American Lawn Mower adjustment.

The Brill is also well made, but it's expensive (as you mentioned), and it
has a much more limited height adjustment, which is important for St.
Augustine grass (which I have). (St. Augustine likes it best when it's
tall.)

You used to be able to buy it at acehardware.com, but it doesn't look like
they carry it any more. Do a Google Search and you can find an online
retailer that carries it.

Mark

"Lowell Holmes" wrote in message
...
Less than $300. Hmm. . . . ..
"Lowell Holmes" wrote in message
...
So indeed, they have. I wonder what the cost Is?, I guess I'll do a
Google.

:-)


"JG" wrote in message
...
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a
kid
in

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I
wouldn't
be
what you want for big lawns,

http://www.composters.com/gr/brill_cordless.jpg

On Mon, 24 May 2004 10:15:36 -0500, "Lowell Holmes"
wrote:

I shouldn't start it, but do you remember when the power mowers were reel
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in
'48, and one of the kids in the neighborhood had one. Actually it was his
dad's, but dad never had to mow the lawn again. We used to fight over who
would get to run it. The owner would contract to cut lawns in the
neighborhood and never have to leave the shade of a tree.

That was the first power mower my folks bought. They refused to buy a
rotary motor because of reports where flying debris from rotary mowers
killed bystanders. Thus, we had to have a reel mower. When it became my
job to mow the lawn, I got to where I didn't care what the dangers of a
rotary were -- I'd have settled for something that left radioactive waste
compared to that reel-mower. On the plus side, it was self propelled, so
the effort to push it wasn't too bad. On the down side, that @#$% Briggs &
Stratton engine took forever to start. I would spend half an hour cranking
and choking and cranking and throttling before it would finally cough to
life. Then there was the case where one would run over a stick any larger
than one's pinkie (that one being 11 years old or so). It would cause the
reel to jam, necessitating stopping, shutting off the engine and backing
the stick out of the reel.



I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I wouldn't be
what you want for big lawns, but for a small front yard, the lawn would be
well manicured.



"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...
Scott Cramer responds:
My wife does the push mower, I do the riding mower (but our push
mower has a motor: I did my time with a reel type more than 50 years
ago, and it's not likely to happen again). She KNOWS my knees are too
bad for me to do too much. I hope she keeps on knowing such things.

Grass cutting has become the biggest energy waster in most lives
today, IMHO.

LOML has been using a reel mower on our lawn for about 5 years now.
If the LV mower is as good as our generic reel mower, and I'm sure it is,
she'll have no trouble with it. I sharpen it every two years, and it
cuts
as nicely and q u i e t l y as you could ask. The only time we fire
up
the power mower is if the lawn has gone too long without a mowing (the
reel
mower works best at keeping a neat lawn trimmed). There's something very
satisfying about listening to the whirring and clicking of the lawn being
mowed this way - especially when I'm sitting on the porch with a cold
fermented beverage while she's doing the work.


Yes, well, that's great for a small lawn, but we're going to be cutting
something on the order of 1-3/4 acres when we move back to Virginia
mid-June.
Reel mowers don't work too well on that size lawn...actually, I'd guess
they'd
work fine, but we do have other things to do during the week.

Charlie Self
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose
Bierce, The
Devil's Dictionary

In article . net,
"Mark Wells" wrote:

The Brill is also well made, but it's expensive (as you mentioned), and it
has a much more limited height adjustment, which is important for St.
Augustine grass (which I have). (St. Augustine likes it best when it's
tall.)

I have something that looks identical to the Brill 'cept it isn't
powered. It may even be a Brill...manufactured in Europe. Its problem is
that indeed that it does not go high enough. I lean towards the
"organic" care of my lawn (somewhat to my neighbors dismay I detect)
and it simply does not go high enough.

In article ,
"Lowell Holmes" wrote:

I shouldn't start it, but do you remember when the power mowers were reel
type mowers with a small gasoline engine mounted on them. I was a kid in
'48, and one of the kids in the neighborhood had one. Actually it was his
dad's, but dad never had to mow the lawn again. We used to fight over who
would get to run it. The owner would contract to cut lawns in the
neighborhood and never have to leave the shade of a tree.

I'm surprise that some one hasn't re-introduced that design. I wouldn't be
what you want for big lawns, but for a small front yard, the lawn would be
well manicured.

Most of the big power mowers I see used by highway maintenance crews or
the parks department are reel mowers. They're pulled behind tractors
with shaft drives and hydraulic height adjustments and cut 8 foot wide
swaths.

The highway guys sometimes don't get back to a spot until the grass is 3
feet tall. The reel mowers seem to handle it just fine.

Roy Smith wrote:

The highway guys sometimes don't get back to a spot until the grass
is 3 feet tall. The reel mowers seem to handle it just fine.

Pun (?) intended. Some people insist on calling them "real mowers."

-- Mark

You must have some neat highways. Hereabouts they whack away at weeds and
mixed brush with whirling chain. The rocks, bones and bottles would eat
reel mowers for lunch.

Now golf courses love "finishing mowers" like that.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...

Most of the big power mowers I see used by highway maintenance crews or
the parks department are reel mowers. They're pulled behind tractors
with shaft drives and hydraulic height adjustments and cut 8 foot wide
swaths.

The highway guys sometimes don't get back to a spot until the grass is 3
feet tall. The reel mowers seem to handle it just fine.

I still have a "reel" mower like was discussed. It is about 35 years old, and
runs like a top. I think there would be safety concerns with the open spinning
blades, and they take a person who know what he is doing to sharpen them. They
also don't mulch, so there is more visible grass, and they don't work very well
with long grass, nor do they grind up dandelions. They do cut very nice
though, and are very easy to turn. I use to be able to operate it at full
throttle all the time, but it must have gotten faster, because I can't do that
any more!

otforme (Charlie Self) wrote in message ...
Chuck Vance asks:

snip

Grass cutting has become the biggest energy waster in most lives today, IMHO.

Charlie Self
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose Bierce, The
Devil's Dictionary

I used to hate mowing but I now see it as a great way to exercise and
get something done at the same time. At my weight, using a reel mower,
I burn about 400 calories/hour, which is about the time it takes to
mow my lawn. This translates into a couple of bottles of fine Czech
beer which I consume during my cool down period. (Brill's website has
a chart showing calorie burn while mowing.)

JG wrote in message ...
Don't want to start a holy war on rec.gardening.lawns.anal-retentive

Just got a LVT Garden Wagon, WOW that thing is "serious"... built beefy
indeed, VERY impressed, sorry I didn't buy one sooner. it will come into
great use around the house worksheet, and I'm sure when SWMBO gets here
she'll find it suitable for it's intended purpose as a garden wagon.

Looking to get a new Reel Mower for the yard at the new house I wanted a
Brill, fell in love with them while working on a golf course in FL but
$300 is kinda spendy. I'm strongly considering the 18" Lee Valley
Traditional Mower. does anybody have one? How does your SWMBO manage
with pushing it?

I just bought a Gardena 6000SM reel mower. It appears to be a Brill
Luxus 38, but with the handle from the one of Brill's Classic line.
Beats me. Cost me $219 CDN at Home Depot.

It kicks butt, and flings grass everywhere if you hit it at a good
clip; it was coming up to my waist! It had also just finished
raining. Yes, I know they say not to cut in the rain but read on.

My grass had to be something like 17cm in places with an average of
15cm. My grass is nice and healthy and thick, and covers
approximately 1200 sq/ft. It's true that the max height is 45mm (1
3/4 in?), but my neighbours (I live in townhouse) just cut their grass
with rotary mowers and when I had finished the height looked to be
pretty much the same. I used 45mm for this run. It's worth mentioning
that the manual says that it'll handle 14cm grass. I didn't have a
_hard_ time but it definitely needed some effort. There is a bit of a
trick to it. Basically, don't let the handle rest on it's stops when
pushing, bring the bar up till it is pushing in the middle between the
reel and the guide wheels at the back. This way there is equal
pressure pushing the mower equally into the ground. The other thing I
did, when it got tough, was to grab the middle bar of the handle (this
'bar' doesn't come with the Luxus 38 as the handle is more 'stylish'.
Check out http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortmen...rtment=primary
to see the handle I have) and push down on it as well. This let me,
literally, get the grass flying with little problems with the results.

The Gardena/Brill mowers are really, really good as far as I can tell.
I think mine was a smidge (and I mean a little) off for blade
adjustment as the metal feeler gauge that comes with it seemed a wee
tiny bit loose when inserted. Didn't seem to stop it from cutting
though. It did seem to leave a single blade uncut once in a while but
the grass was REALLY long, and it had just finished raining.

I also cut my front lawn which had been cut by my neighbours rotary
mower about 5 days ago. With this the reel mower was a joke. My
daughter did half of it and she's only 10. You simply walked along,
holding the handle properly of course, and it snipped the grass.
Piece of cake. I Mom even grabbed it from me just for old times sake.
She told me that the Gardena was very different experience then the
one she used as a kid.

I think it's light weight (17 lbs) and non-contact blade (you
shouldn't have to sharpen the blade for 6 - 10 years apparently),
sealed bearings, and simple height adjusters (a couple of knobs, and
there is a clear height measurement per wheel) are what make this such
a great machine. You can really wing it around.

Don't even look at other reel mowers, I tried the Scotts one in the
store and the resistance from the contact blades, with no grass, was
the same as the Gardena cutting the grass. You really have to try one
to see how good it is.

If you get it from Home Depot there is a no questions asked return
policy. Or so they told me.