Reel Mower

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Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower

$138 at amazon Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower

The Original Mechanic youtube How to sharpen a Scott's reel mower

Turbo231 youtube Maintenance for my Scotts Classic 20" reel mower

Turbo231 youtube How a push reel mower works - Scotts Classic 20" example

The Original Mechanic youtube How to sharpen a Scott's reel mower

Robert Gipson youtube How to Sharpen a Lawnmower Blade - Backlapping an early English Qualcast reel push mower

Ed Humble youtube Sharpening a Reel Mower

valve lapping compound

Reviews

thesweethome.com/reviews The Best Reel Mower for Your (Small) Lawn

The Scotts makes the cleanest cut, has the widest cutting path, and jams the least of any reel mower, and its unusually tall 3-inch max cutting height makes it more versatile for different grass types.

We eliminated about 90 percent of the mowers based on insufficient maximum cut height alone. Models by Mascot and Gardena, as well as the Remington RM3000, the 16-inch Weed Eater, the 18-inch and 20-inch Greenworks models, and the 18-inch ProMow all failed to meet our minimum 2½-inch max cut height. We didn’t bother to test any of these mowers, since they couldn’t cut high enough to avoid potentially damaging your lawn.

The Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower is the reel mower to get. Of the tested mowers, it offered the cleanest cut and the easiest adjustments, and it was the only one that didn’t jam. It also has a wide, 20-inch cutting swath—the widest we found—as well as height adjustments between 1 and 3 inches, which is a more versatile range than we saw on almost all of the other available reel mowers. At 34 pounds, it’s light and easy to turn around at the end of each mowing row, but it’s heavy enough that it doesn’t bounce around on slightly uneven turf.

In addition, all of the adjustments on the Scotts mower are easy to make. For cutting height, it has two levers, one for each wheel. One other model we tested, the 16-inch Great States 415-16, required us to unbolt it each time we wanted to change the cutting height. Also, the height settings on the Scotts model are accurate; the 1-inch setting on the Fiskars, in contrast, actually cut much lower, practically scalping the lawn, before we readjusted it to a higher setting.

Care and maintenance

One of the advantages of a reel mower is that it doesn’t require much maintenance. After each mow, just hose off any stray grass and grime, and let it dry in the sun.

It isn’t a bad idea to wipe down the blades with a rag moistened with household oil once a season to prevent rust.

You also have to pay attention to the blade adjustment, because it can shift over time. With most reel mowers, the spinning blades pass over a stationary bed knife, which is where the cutting happens. If the blades are too far from the bed knife, they won’t cut grass. If they move too close, they’ll hit the bed knife harder, making the mower difficult to push and rapidly dulling the blades. The adjustment, usually involving a couple of set screws, is easy.

Even with proper adjustment, the blades will need sharpening after a few seasons (American Lawn Mower sells a sharpening kit).

Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower

$14 at amazon American Lawn Mower SK-1 Reel Mower Sharpening Kit

artofmanliness.com/2013/06/28 How to Sharpen a Reel Mower by Darren Bush

practicalmachinist.com thread OT - sharpening push reel mower with lapping compound - what grit?

I used automotive valve grinding compound the last time I did it. medium grit worked ok, but if you want to do it twice & then use a finer grit, that would work too.

Not sure what videos you watched. 240 grit (medium) works fine. Don’t forget you’re rotating the reel backwards so you don’t round off the cutting edges. You can look at the reel and the bedknife wear pattern now and see what condition they’re in. If the reel blades are worn completely cylindrical you’re not going to get much from lapping. You want a small land and a relief just like a primary and secondary on a milling cutter on the reel blade and just a small land on the bedknife for the best cutting action without undue effort.

OzarkNick youtube How to sharpen a reel mower