Rotating blade lawn mower. How Fast Does a Lawn Mower Blade Spin and How To Know Speed

How Fast Does a Lawn Mower Blade Spin and How To Know Speed

How fast does a lawn mower blade spin is a question most users ask if they notice something off with the speed of their lawn mower blade. Understanding a lawn mower’s blade speed is crucial because it might indicate whether a problem is occurring with the machine or whether you are using it dangerously and in violation of safety laws.

In this article, we’ll talk about what the appropriate speed rate should be, what factors can affect the speed, and ultimately, how your lawn mower blade works.

Continue reading to learn more about it and get your lawn mower blade speed at its most efficient rate.

• How Fast Does Your Lawn Mower Blade Spin?

• – Type of Lawn Mower
• – Length of the Blade
• – Height of Grass
• – Blades Are in Use (Actively Cutting Grass)
• – An Obstruction in the Blade
• – Engine Problem
• – Improper Maintenance and Repairs

• – Blade Spins Too Slow
• – Blade Spins Too Fast
• – Lawnmower Blades Operations

How Fast Does Your Lawn Mower Blade Spin?

Your lawn mower blade spins at about 3,000 revolutions per minute to cut grass effectively, slicing the grass as it moves over it. Blade tips at either end do all the cutting, regardless of whether the blade is straight or curved.

However, the speed depends on the model of the lawn mower and its blade specifications. The tip of a lawnmower blade frequently turns faster. The speed range can be between 200 and 250 miles per hour, but for safety reasons, the blade’s tip should not rotate faster than 216 miles per hour. However, there are no restrictions on the RPM of the mower.

Now, there are several factors that can affect the speed of your mower blade. Below are some of these factors:

– Type of Lawn Mower

The speed of a spinning lawn mower blade depends on whether you are using a riding lawn mower or a push lawn mower. Small mowers often have higher RPMs, but large-deck single-blade mowers typically have slightly lower RPMs.

While riding mowers operate at somewhat higher speeds of 3,200 RPM to 3,600 RPM, push mowers typically remain at or around 3,000 RPM. The majority of four-stroke lawnmowers run in the 2,800 RPM to 3,600 RPM range.

– Length of the Blade

The cutting blade’s length plays a significant role in determining speed. Longer blades often turn more slowly than shorter ones when all other variables, such as mower power, grass density, and others, are held constant.

A 19-inch blade doesn’t necessarily need to spin as swiftly as a 14-inch blade with a comparable degree of sharpness to have the same cutting quality.

– Height of Grass

Long, thick grass will typically be difficult for a lawn mower to trim; thus, it can affect the rate at which the blade spins. Maintaining the blades at their ideal pace requires matching your expectations to what your lawn mower can actually do.

– Blades Are in Use (Actively Cutting Grass)

Similarly, the blade speed differs if your mower is actively cutting grass compared to when it is not. Typically, when the mower is cutting grass, the RPM of the majority of mowers drops to approximately 3000 RPM. Some even operate at speeds below 2,500 RPM but can still produce good cuts.

When the blades are not cutting the grass, the majority of walk-behind and ride-on mowers operate at 3200 RPM to 3600 RPM.

– An Obstruction in the Blade

The blade’s ability to freely spin can be hampered by excessive grass growth and wrapped objects.

Having these obstructions in your mower deck will cause the RPM of the lawn mower blade to decrease.

– Engine Problem

The engine torque and power can also affect the rotation of a mower blade. The higher these values are, the more quickly the blade is expected to spin because greater torque will result in faster mower blades. However, regardless of how powerful the mower is, some manufacturers may purposefully make the blades spin more slowly for reasons of safety, noise, or the environment.

Engine speed can be incorrectly adjusted using the throttle cable connection. The engine RPM will rise if the cable is adjusted too much in relation to the carburetor. Additionally, the blade speed can’t be achieved if the cable adjustment is set too low.

– Improper Maintenance and Repairs

The performance of the lawn mower will decline over time if it is neglected. The mower’s performance may decline, and its blade speed will slow down if regular maintenance and repairs are neglected. If you are encountering incorrect blade speed, you may want to check the problems below that may have an impact on the speed of your lawn mower blade.

• Bad gasoline
• Blunt blades
• Damaged pulley
• Defective tension spring
• Dirty air filter
• Dirty fuel filter
• Faulty spark plug
• Loose deck or blade belt
• Obstructed fuel line

How Can You Check Your Lawn Mower Blade’s RPM?

To check your lawn mower blade’s RPM, you can look at the mower handbook — the engine and blade speed are listed there. However, if you do not have it and you want to know the RPM of your lawnmower, you only need one tool: a tachometer.

If you do not have regular access to a tachometer, you can see how the grass looks after you cut it. Slow blades shred and damage grass rather than accurately and successfully cutting it. However, if your blades are moving too quickly, you’ll waste gasoline and endanger yourself.

The blade speed of lawnmowers ranges from 2800 to 3600 RPM. Even though the range will drop by a few hundred RPM once it is actively cutting the grass, there is still a required speed to efficiently cut the grass. There are only two possible outcomes: the lawn mower blade spins too slowly or too quickly.

– Blade Spins Too Slow

If your lawn mower’s blade rotates slower than what is required, it will become less effective at mowing grass. The grass will be torn, and the cuts will be sloppy when a blade rotates at a lesser pace than it was designed to.

The results are similar to cutting grass with dull blades. A weak blade will also make it difficult for the mower to clear the grass out of the way, which will slow it down. Despite the fact that mowing slowly is preferred, a mower occasionally starts off too slowly or takes a while to start.

This can be a sign that your mower needs maintenance or that something is wrong with it. It can be attributed to a dirty air filter, a carburetor, a faulty spark plug, clogged blades, and poor-quality fuel.

– Blade Spins Too Fast

Most restrictions governing the tip speed of lawn mowers are put in place for security reasons. To ensure that a blade won’t be able to go all the way through and become a dangerous projectile even if it comes loose, lawn mower decks are put through a lot of testing throughout the design phase.

The blade tip speed formula is governed by safety regulations and capped at 216 mph. Each part of the lawn mower has a maximum operating speed that has been determined. Exceeding these limitations will result in the failure of the lawn mower.

In a situation like this, it is always advised to get your mower examined by a licensed mechanic because the issue is likely mechanical. The majority of the time, a mechanic can tell whether there is a problem by merely listening to the engine.

In the long run, hiring a pro to inspect your lawnmower is probably going to save you time and money without putting you in a lot of danger.

– Lawnmower Blades Operations

With all the details about the speed of the lawnmower blade rotation, we can briefly discuss how it works and why the speed can differ depending on many factors. Old mowers do not operate like modern mowers. In the past, the lawnmowers that were used were pushed through the yard by the user. These kinds of mowers had blades that were effectively scissors attached beneath the mower.

Most lawnmowers on the market today are rotary mowers powered by gasoline or electricity. In contrast to earlier mowers, rotary mowers slice at the grass with rotating blades rather than snipping it.

Conclusion

The speed at which the lawn mower blade spins greatly affects the efficiency of a lawn mower. Many factors can affect the speed of the mower blade, and understanding all of them will be a big help, especially if you encounter problems with your lawnmower blade’s speed.

Here is a summary of what we have discussed.

• Most rotary lawnmowers work by using fuel. These commercial mower blade rpm typically ranges from 2800 to 3600 revolutions per minute, translating to around 200 mph. According to ANSI requirements, the allowable speed that is deemed safe is only up to 216 mph.
• The blade length has a big impact on the speed at which it rotates. The shorter the lawnmower blades, the faster they can spin, and vice versa. Similarly, the height of the grass to be mowed can affect the speed at which the blade spins, as can the presence of clogging or obstructions such as damp grass.
• If the blade is freely moving, meaning it is not yet actively cutting the grass, the average speed is 3000 RPM. However, once the blade touches the grass, the speed will decrease by a few hundred RPMs. Typically, it will be at 2800 to 2500 revolutions.
• Engine problems resulting from a lack of proper maintenance can also be the reason why the lawnmower blade does not have the required speed. It can be attributed to faulty or worn-out machine parts and poor-quality fuel as well.
• You can always see the blade speed in the manual of your mower. If this is not available, you can check the actual speed by using a handheld device called a tachometer. It is used to measure the engine’s operation speed in revolutions per minute or RPM.

Now that you know the recommended, average, and allowed speed rate of your lawn mower blade’s rotation, you can include it in your maintenance checklist to keep your trusty lawn mower in tip-top shape all the time.

In Praise of the Push Reel Mower

I recently became a homeowner and along with my first house came another first: my very own little piece of land to tend. And since Kate and I had been living in apartments for all our married life, I needed to buy a mower to take care of our lawn. Like most Americans, I grew up using and being surrounded by gas-powered mowers. The sound of two-stroke engines firing up around the neighborhood was the unofficial soundtrack of my boyhood summers.

But despite my immersion in the cult of Lawn Boy, I’ve always been intrigued by old-fashioned manual/push reel mowers. Maybe my curiosity about them came from flipping through old magazines depicting a happy 1950s suburban dad mowing his small patch of green heaven. Or maybe it was from watching groundskeepers use giant reel mowers to mow the infield at baseball stadiums.

Whatever the reason for my lifelong pull towards the manual reel mower, when I was in the market for my own mower, I decided to look into whether the old-fashioned push reel mower was a viable option for my lawn mowing needs. To my great surprise, I discovered that the reel mower isn’t just a viable option, but is in some instances superior to its gas-powered cousins.

How a Push Reel Mower Works

Your typical power rotary mower has a spinning blade that chops off the top of the grass as it rotates like a helicopter, resulting in torn and shredded turf. Instead of tearing and chopping your grass, a reel mower cuts your grass just like a pair of scissors. It’s easier to understand how this works when you can see the mower, rather than just describing it, so check out the video below for a full explanation:

Oh, and it goes without saying, but unlike a power mower that requires gas or electricity to work, you provide the power to your manual reel mower.

Choosing a Push Reel Mower

Mowing with my Fiskars Push Reel

The basic construction of a reel mower is pretty much the same across brands. They mainly vary in characteristics like:

• Weight. How heavy will it be when you’re pushing it?
• Cutting width. The longer and bigger the mower is, the heavier it will be, but the less passes you’ll have to make back and forth on your lawn, and thus the faster you’ll get the job done.
• Cutting heights. What’s the range of heights you can adjust the blades up and down?
• Direction of grass spray. Does the grass spray behind the mower or out in front? Obviously the latter has an advantage in not covering your feet with clippings.

When I was looking for a reel mower, I did a lot of research and finally brought home the Fiskars Staysharp Max Push Reel Lawn Mower. This thing isn’t your grandpa’s heavy old contraption. The folks at Fiskars have taken the old manual reel mower design and updated it for the 21st century: it’s 60% easier to push than other manual mowers, boasts twice the cutting power of competitors, sprays the grass out in front of you, and the blades only need sharpening every 5-10 years (that’s the “StaySharp” bit). It’s fast, powerful, and maneuverable. Not to mention kind of fun to use. After mowing with my Fiskars for nearly two months, I can confidently say that it’s given me the best mowing experience I’ve ever had. Kate and I even fight over who gets to mow the lawn now (the compromise: I mow the front; she mows the back). I can’t sing the mower’s praises highly enough ( and I don’t have any affiliation with the company whatsoever, by the way–just a very happy customer ).

Look at that beautiful cascade of grass.

If your only experience with a push reel mower was using a heavy clunker in your youth, I highly recommend giving the Fiskars a try. It will change your mind about manual mowers.

The Benefits of a Push Reel Mower

Push reel mowers are better for your grass’ health. This was my biggest motivating factor for purchasing a push reel mower as opposed to a power rotary mower. As mentioned above, power rotary mowers cut the grass by chopping and tearing your grass, while reel mowers cut the grass by snipping it cleanly like a pair of scissors. Torn and shredded grass leaves your lawn vulnerable to disease and insect attacks; grass that is cleanly cut with a reel mower heals faster and is less vulnerable to those maladies.

Push reel mowers make your lawn look nicer. Not only are reel mowers better for your grass’ health, they leave your lawn looking professionally manicured. Again, it all goes back to the scissor-like way the reel mower cuts the grass. Clean and even cuts make for a clean and even-looking lawn. The reel mower’s superior cut is the reason why groundskeepers at professional baseball stadiums and golf courses use large reel mowers pulled by tractors. The reel cut makes the grass look purty.

Push reel mowers are quiet. One of the things I hated the most about the old gas-powered Lawn Boy of my youth was the noise. First, it’s just grating to have to listen to a loud and obnoxious two-stroke engine for extended periods of time. Second, because the thing was so stinking loud, I couldn’t mow the grass too early or too late in the evening, lest I disturb the neighbors. That’s not a problem if you live in, say, Vermont, where summer days are pleasantly warm and idyllic (if it’s not raining). When you live in hot and humid Oklahoma, however, mowing your yard during the day with the sun beating down on you is downright miserable.

The push reel mower solves both of those noise-related problems. The only sound it makes is a satisfyingly quiet “snip-snip-snip” as the mower cuts the grass. I love hearing that sound. It’s actually rather soothing. And because my manual reel mower is so darn quiet, I can mow my lawn early in the morning without waking up the neighbors. Goodbye 107-degrees-with-a-heat-index-of-a-115 lawn mowing sessions!

Push reel mowers don’t emit pollution. Don’t let the smallness of your power lawn mower engine deceive you. That sucker spits out a crap load of air pollution. If you let a typical gas-powered lawn mower run for an hour, it will produce as much air pollution as a sedan running for two hundred miles. Jeez-um!

The amount of pollution a push reel mower produces? Zilch. Unless of course you count the relaxing farts you rip as you cut the grass.

If you’re an environmentally-conscious guy, the choice is clear between power and manual. You gotta go manual.

Push reel mowers are hassle-free. Push reel mowers are simple machines. You push it and blades spin around and cut your grass. That’s it. No pulling starter cords or priming the engine before you can mow. Just start walking and–bam!–you’re cutting the grass. Also, you’ll never have to buy gas, oil, or spark plugs ever again. About the only maintenance you’ll have with your manual reel mower is blade sharpening, and some folks think that’s more of an enjoyable, mind-settling task than a chore. And again, with the Fiskars, you’ll only have to sharpen the blades every half decade or so.

Push reel mowers are cheaper. Even a “top-of-the-line” reel mower like the Fiskars costs less than most power mowers. And if you get one of the smaller, classic models, they can run you less than 100. Plus, there are no maintenance costs. With gas as high as they are, why waste a single drop tooling around your backyard?

Push reel mowers exercise your body. There’s no autodrive on a push reel mower. These bad boys are man-powered. The Fiskars is particularly heavy for a reel mower (52 lbs), but is designed in a way that makes it easier to push, and it gives me a nice bout of exercise; hard enough to work up a satisfying sweat, but not so hard it leaves me feeling exhausted. It’s kind of like pushing a Prowler Sled around your yard, except for that when you’re done, you’re in better shape and your lawn has been mowed.

Push reel mowers are safer than power mowers. In a careless moment a power mower can turn into a rolling death trap, or at least an appendage mauler. than 75,000 Americans, 10,000 of which are children, are injured in lawn mowing accidents annually, and, get this, 75 people die from lawn mowing accidents every year. Mowing over a grass-hidden rock can turn it into a projectile capable of traveling 200 mph and taking out someone’s eye, and the power mower’s fast-whirling blades have eaten up children’s toes and hands. And even if your power mower isn’t running, you’re still at risk for an accident. I burnt my hand on a hot lawn mower engine as a boy and still have the scar to prove it.

While some dangers still exist when using a reel mower, they’re much, much safer than power mowers. Unless I ran the thing right over someone Tom and Jerry-style, there’s little risk of it chewing up a limb. If you run over a rock, instead of shooting it out like a bullet, your mower just jams. Also, no hot engines to burn yourself on.

Push reel mowers make mowing a pleasure. As a young man, I saw lawn mowing as a chore that you had to do every week. I didn’t look forward to it. I just did it because I had to. Since I’ve started mowing with my Fiskars push reel mower, mowing the grass has turned from a chore into a pleasure. I actually look forward to lawn mowing day. Really! I love pushing it in the cool of the early morning as birds chirp at the day’s start. I love listening to the quiet “snip-snip-snip” of grass cutting. I love the physicality of it–how it feels a little like pushing a plow. I love watching tiny blades of cut grass spit out in front of my mower in a green cascade. Most of all, I love the satisfying feeling I get as I look over my cleanly cut lawn.

Is a Push Reel Mower Right For You?

In Gran Torino, Korean War vet Walt Kowalski calms his mind before confronting a violent gang by mowing his yard with a manual reel mower. Manly.

Now before you head to the home improvement store to pick up a push reel mower, you need to know that it’s not for everybody. Sometimes power or riding mowers are actually better, depending on a variety of factors. Below I highlight a few of these factors you should consider before switching to a push reel mower.

Your yard is a half-acre or smaller. Manual reel mowers are suited for small to medium-sized yards. Most experts agree that if you have to mow more than 8,000 square feet, you’re better off using a power push or riding mower. Although I will say that my yard is on the large end of a medium-sized yard, and it only takes me 45 minutes to mow with my manual mower. And if your yard is the size of most yards in suburban developments, there really isn’t any reason you shouldn’t use a push reel mower.

You can’t bag clippings. If you’re one of those folks who prefer to bag your clippings, then a push reel mower probably isn’t for you. While some push reel mowers have a basket that will catch your clippings, they don’t work very well, and many don’t offer any clipping catcher at all.

However, if you’re a devoted-bagger, you might reconsider your stance. Most lawn care experts agree that you shouldn’t bag your clippings and should just leave them in your grass. Grass clippings are fertilizer for your lawn. They provide the same beneficial nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium nutrients that are in commercial fertilizers, except they’re free.

Not great for excessively bumpy and overgrown yards. I’ve noticed that on areas of my lawn that have a lot of bumps, the reel mower doesn’t do a good job of cutting, mainly because the wheels can’t get good traction to move the blade. I’ll usually have to come back and trim that with my weed-wacker. It’s not a problem because there’s only one part in my lawn that gives me trouble.

Also, push reel mowers work best on yards that are already well-maintained. They don’t cut really long grass too well, so if you always let your grass get pretty long before you cut it, you’re better off using a power mower.

What sort of grass do you have? Manual reel mowers work better on some types of grass than others. Most reel mowers have a hard time handling extra thick grasses like Zoysia, St. Augustine, and Bermuda. Never fear. If you have a lawn that’s made completely of one of these grasses, you’re not necessarily relegated to just gas-powered mowers. Heavier, more powerful manual reel mowers like the Fiskars don’t have a problem with these types of grasses. Adjusting the height of the reel mower’s blades can also prevent the mower from getting bogged down in thick grass.

Shave Like Your Grandpa, Mow Like Your Grandpa

After a couple of months of using my push reel mower, I really don’t know why the manual mower isn’t more popular or why most folks get the gas-powered variety. It seems quite analogous to shaving. There are a few things where the classic turns out to do just as good a job (sometimes an even better one), and provides a more enjoyable and satisfying experience to boot. The safety razor is one of those things. And so is the push reel mower. Give it a try!

Rotary vs. Reel Mower – Everything You Need To Know To Mow Low

The rotary mower is the one you know and love. It is the typical walk behind mower from Honda or Toro that rotates a blade (or two) under a steel deck – like helicopter blades – to chop through grass like a machete.

Most homeowners choose the rotary mower because it deals with unkept long grass much easier and there are 100s of mowers to choose from in all price ranges.

The reel mower uses 5 spiral blades (more blades for cutting shorter) rotating around a drum/reel in combination with a low lying flat bed-knife to scissor cut the grass. The rotating blades capture and push the grass against the bed-knife to scissor cut it at your desired cut height.

Golf course groundkeepers choose reel mowers to keep their greens puttable because they can cut lower (below 1/2-inch) and have higher cut quality.

Today we are going to show you everything there is to know about rotary mowers vs. reel mowers.

Rotary vs. Reel Mower Pros and Cons

Rotary

• Pros: Cut high, tough grass with ease. Many affordable self propelled models available so you don’t have to push. Corded electric, battery powered and gas powered mower models readily available to choose from. You are likely experience using a rotary mower.
• Cons: Chop the grass (instead of scissor cut) leaving it vulnerable to disease and dehydration. Costs much more than a push reel mower.

Reel (Push Reel Not Gas Powered Reel)

• Pros: Simple and safe with no engine or motor to deal with. Cuts grass between spiral blades and bed-knife for a perfect scissor-like cut. Can cut low below 1-inch where rotary mowers can’t go below 1-inch. Low maintenance – you just have to sharpen the blades. Affordable – only costs 50 – 100. No noise. No fumes. No refuelling or recharging batteries – just human power.
• Cons: Must keep blades razor sharp to work properly. Won’t get through tough, high grass easily. It is human powered – the blades won’t rotate unless you push forward.

Cut Quality Comparison

A rotary mower is tearing the grass…

…Its blades are hitting and chopping the grass like a machete at high speed.

Here’s what a rotary mower grass cut looks like:

A reel cylinder mower is precision slicing…

…Or cutting the grass like you were cutting it with scissors.

Here’s what a high quality reel mower grass cut looks like:

3 Benefits of Precision Slicing vs. Tearing Grass

• The lawn looks cleaner and more manicured vs. the rough and rumble look of a rotary mower chopped lawn.
• A reel mower leaves the grass healthier and less prone to pests and disease because the inner cells of the grass are not exposed.
• Allows you to mow low – like a golf green. A rotary mower can’t go below 1″ because it will start pulling the grass from the roots. A reel mower cutting grass between the bedknife and spiral blades can get down to 1/4″ with a 10 blade setup.

Verdict

Reel mowers give your grass a better quality cut.

Mowing Low With a Rotary vs. Reel Mower – Which is Best

There is no doubt a reel mower can mow grass lower compared to a rotary mower.

This is the reason golf course groundskeepers use powered cylinder reel mowers to keep their greens tight to the ground.

A reel mower with 10 spiral blades can cut grass below 1/2″. A rotary mower can not cut grass lower than 1″.

Most people will not need to go lower than 1″.

However, there is no doubting the bedknife and rotating spiral blades combination gives you the tightest to the ground mow.

Safety of Rotary Mowers vs. Reel Mowers

Both rotary and reel mowers are using a rotating sharp blade to cut grass.

The reel mower is much safer because the blades are turning much slower than the RPMs of the rotary push mower.

The reel mower is human powered – as you push the blades turn – so the faster you push it the faster the blades turn.

A rotary mower uses a small engine or electric motor to rotate the blade(s) at 2,500 RPM.

Both can be dangerous in the wrong hands but there is no doubt a rotary mower has more risk due to the high speed blade.

Which is Expensive?

A normal push mower using a rotary blade will cost you between 200 and 1,000 depending on brand and features.

A top of the line reel mower won’t cost you more than 150. And you can find good quality ones for 75.

Verdict

Reel mowers are more affordable.

Rotary vs. Reel Mower Maintenance Needs

The only maintenance a reel mower needs is sharpening the blades and bedknife.

A walk behind rotary mower using a gas engine will require regular maintenance – including:

Verdict

Reel mower requires less maintenance than a rotary mower.

Noise They Make

Rotary mowers are much louder because they use an engine or motor to power the blades.

A reel motor is human powered and is quiet – you don’t even need hearing protection headphones to listen to music when mowing.

Verdict

Reel mowers are quieter than rotary mowers.

Convenience (Or…Why Rotary Mowers Are Popular)

A reel mower requires you to push it for it to work. And it isn’t a walk in the park. You are pushing it hard through your grass. It burns double the calories as walking behind a rotary mower.

A rotary mower powered by a gas engine or electric motor is more convenient than a reel mower because you just turn it on and walk behind it. And it goes through tough, thick grass with ease.

If you get a reel mower you will need to keep the grass short and mow it at least once a week. Otherwise it will be too hard to push the reel mower through the longer grass.

If you get a rotary mower you don’t need to have a mowing schedule – you just mow as you feel like it. This is why rotary mowers are more popular… Despite being louder, requiring maintenance and costing more – they are more convenient because they mow tough grass and they require little effort compared to a reel mower.

Verdict

A rotary mower is more convenient.

How To Start Mowing With a Reel Mower

There’s nothing special you need to do to start mowing with a reel mower.

First, you will need to buy a push reel mower from Amazon, The Home Depot, Lowe’s or your local mower centre.

Then, you will need to mow your lawn and keep it below 2″ so pushing the reel mower isn’t too much effort each time.

From there: Keep a regular mowing schedule and sharpen the blades every season.

What About Powered Cylinder Reel Mowers?

To combine the amazing cut quality of a reel mower with the convenience of powered rotary motor you can get a powered cylinder reel mower. It is a reel mower setup powered by a gas engine or electric motor instead of you walking/pushing.

These lawn mowers are used by professional sports field maintenance crews around the world. From baseball field grass to soccer fields to football fields to golf greens – powered reel mowers are the greens equipment of choice.

Let’s have a look at the gas powered and battery powered reel mowers on the market.

Gas Powered

A gas powered cylinder reel mower uses a small gas engine to turn the spiral blades at speed. They have self propelled options and combine the best of rotary and reel mowing.

You will pay 1,000s for the convenience and mow quality, which is out of reach for most.

Battery Powered (Allett Stirling)

The first battery powered cylinder mower is the one pictured below by Allett Stirling.

It uses the 56V EGO Power battery system and comes with various cartridges to go from mowing to aerating to de-thatching in under 1minute.

This cylinder reel mower is the best of the best and will not be ideal for most homeowners because it costs 7,000.

The Bottom Line

If you want the best quality mow for your lawn grass then the reel mower is better than the rotary mower. But you will work for the highest quality cut by powering the reel mower yourself (pushing it).

If you want the most convenience, including a self propelled mower, then you will want to buy a Honda or Toro rotary mower.

About your guide: Jamey Kramar is a certified Lawn Care Manager (NALP) and a Mechanical Engineer by trade. He has been writing about outdoor power equipment for 11 years and has been quoted in NYTimes, Popular Mechanics, HowStuffWorks, iFixit, Realtor.com, and more. He spends his spare time disassembling things and also building an off-grid cabin at his 200-acre property.

You may be surprised by the variety of reel lawn mowers on the market. Consider their key features to find the best reel mower for your lawn.

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Buying a Reel Mower

A traditional rotary lawn mower uses a flat, spinning blade that cuts grass the way a machete chops tall grass in a field. By contrast, a reel mower (sometimes called a cylinder mower) functions more like a pair of scissors. Blades of grass are caught and cut between the spinning reel (the curved metal that resembles a strand of DNA) and a fixed horizontal blade called the cutting bar.

The resulting clean, precise snip makes for healthier, more attractive lawns. That’s why reel mowers are frequently the machines of choice for golf courses. Reel mowers also require more lawn prep before mowing. Manual and electric models in particular don’t have the force required to cut small sticks and twigs that a rotary mower can easily grind up.

If you’re considering a reel mower purchase, here are some key factors to keep in mind:

Power source. Many people associate reel mowers with manual, push-driven mowers. While these make up the vast majority of reel mowers targeted at residential homeowners, there are also gas-powered, corded electric and cordless electric reel mowers.

Cutting width. Wider reels make big jobs go faster, but make navigating tight spaces more difficult. Keep in mind that on manual reel mowers, the wheelbase is larger than the reel width. You’ll need to overlap your passes slightly and may need a touch-up pass with a trimmer for the edges.

Cutting height. Almost every mower has an adjustable cutting height, but not all have the same range. If you prefer a short or longer lawn, be sure to check the mower’s maximum and minimum height. Reel mowers are most effective when cutting lawns two inches tall or less.

Weight/maneuverability. Lighter mowers are more mobile, but also more likely to react to bumps and divots. That bouncing can result in an uneven cut. The average weight for a manual reel mower is around 20 pounds.

Accessories. Some reel mowers have everything from cup holders to bagging accessories.

Sharpening the blades. Reel mowers need to be sharpened occasionally. For homeowners with smaller yards, a sharpening every year or so might be fine. But if you’re planning on keeping a larger yard trimmed especially short, you may need to sharpen the mower blades a few times each season. You can take the mower to a mower service center for sharpening or DIY it. Always check what kind of sharpening the mower manufacturer recommends.

Via Merchant

Best All-Around Reel Mower

For the best balance between price and performance, turn to a familiar brand: the Scotts 15-16S Reel Mower. With a 16-in. reel width and a cutting height of 1/2- to 2-1/2-inches, this model is sized just right to tackle large and small yards and a wide range of cutting heights. There are no frills and no shortcuts in quality. It’s simply a well-built mower at a competitive price.