Push reel mowers weren’t too common in the 1990s when I was looking for lawn-mowing options. I was a teenager and — yes — wanted to mow the yard surrounding our half of the rented duplex we had called home for years. I was lucky enough that our landlord allowed me to convert a portion of our yard into a garden space. He was a real angel of a guy — his wife, too. They were so supportive of my goals and dreams.

I’m thankful our landlord let me tend to my love of gardening (and a little bit of landscape design) on our rented spread. But there was a problem. My family didn’t have a lawn mower! So, I placed a lawn mower on my Christmas list one year. Much to my joy it was delivered – a beautiful Craftsman push reel mower from Sears.

Why I Loved My Push Reel Mower

I’ve got to tell you, that reel mower was one of my favorite toys. And our little duplex yard was really the perfect place to use it. The grass was not too thick. It had a mix of Bahia, St. Augustine, some low-growing weeds. (Hey, they were green and grew in the yard, so I mowed them!). Every winter the landlord overseeded the yard with rye grass to keep things looking green. Because even in Central Florida we have some chilly weather.

I had maybe a thousand square feet to mow — I could knock out the “whole yard” in maybe 10 or 15 minutes if I kept at it. For me, it was a nice little workout, and I got to the enjoy some time out in the yard while getting some exercise in, too.

Overall, it was just the right mower for our little yard.

Advantages & Disadvantages Of Push Reel Mowers

Are you considering buying a push reel mower and aren’t sure if it’s the right choice for you? Before going out and buying a push reel mower, you’ll need to consider the advantages and disadvantages to using one.

Here’s my list of push reel mower pros and cons that might help you make the right decision.

Advantages

• Push reel mowers are relatively quiet — I want to stress the relatively adverb here. These manual mowers are not, I repeat not, quiet — and certainly not silent — in the absolute sense. They do make a whirring, grating noise when in use. But the noise isn’t nearly as loud and disruptive as the chugging din of a gas mower.
• Using a push reel mower uses no fuel and leaves zero emissions — Push reel mowers don’t use gas, so you don’t have to worry about buying gas or contending with rising gas prices. Also, while gas mowers burn fossil fuel and even battery-powered mowers leave a carbon footprint in production in during charging, you are the power source of a push reel mower.
• The grass is healthier with a manual mower — Push reel mowers cut grass in an action similar to how scissors work. This means you’re actually shearing the grass with a push reel mower rather than tearing it, like rotary blades on a gas or electric mower do. This keeps the grass growing more healthfully and makes the grass look better after being cut.
• I’m helping save pollinators and other beneficial creatures — Push reel mowers unfortunately do some damage to insects. But they inflict far less damage on pollinators and other helpful insects (that can more easily escape a rambling push reel mower) than rotary mowers. Those can kill many more creatures much more quickly.

Disadvantages

• Push reel mowers don’t do well in tall grass — I’ve had to make several passes over grass that was more than 3 or 4 inches tall. I therefore had to mow the grass more frequently during peak growth season to make it easier to keep the lawn mown.
• The also don’t do well with thick grass — Thicker grasses and robust weeds were especially tough to shear with the push reel mower. Sometimes the mower would simply crimp the thick growth but not rally cut it. So, I had to snip down the mangled tall growth with bypass pruners or gardening shears to finish the job.
• Push reel mowers don’t cut twigs, tree nuts, or other woody material — If a hidden twig or branch popped up, forget it. The mower jammed, and I’d grind to a sudden halt. Ditto for acorns, which were plentiful on our “back 40” (square yards — ha ha) under a live oak. More than once I nearly gave myself the Heimlich maneuver as my tummy rammed into the upright handles of the mower!
• You need to frequently sharpen the blades — This isn’t a huge deal to me… But push reel mowers require some maintenance on the blades to keep them cutting correctly. The goal is that when you test the sharpness of the push reel mower blades, they should be able to cut paper. You’ll need to buy and periodically use a push reel blade sharpening kit. You’ll also want to keep moving mechanical parts lubricated so your push reel mower works more smoothly and lasts longer.

Here’s Why I Love Using A Push Reel Mower

I was happy mowing the duplex lawn with the push reel mower, and the grass seemed happy, too. I was helping keep the lawn looking maintained without spending money on grass, waking up my neighbors in the morning, killing way too many beneficial insects, or emitting a bunch of carbon dioxide. And I got to enjoy a short but invigorating workout in the yard!

These are things I came to miss after moving out of that duplex and buying the house where my wife and I live now. Our place is more than a quarter of an acre including the county’s strip of right of way, which is our responsibility to mow. Don’t get me wrong — we love our house! But our yard is simply too big to efficiently mow with my old Craftsman push reel mower, which I will always keep. But now I use it only for mowing short swaths of the yard that might need extra attention between regular mowings with our Craftsman gas mower.

And with our gas mower comes the expected dyad of advantages and disadvantages of using it. Mainly it’s efficiency and speed coupled with noise and emissions. Ugh… There’s really no such thing as the perfect lawn mower, is there?

And that’s what I want you to know about using a push reel mower. It’s the ideal lawn mower for small yards with short grass and little yard debris. It does the job with simple and inexpensive upkeep. Sharpening blades and keeping moving parts lubricated are the main extent of maintenance.

All things considered, I’ll go right back to using my Craftsman push reel mower regularly if my wife and I ever end up living with a smaller yard. There’s just something satisfying about mowing your lawn with a manual push mower that helps save our planet in the process.