Reel lawn mower benefits. Pros And Cons Of Reel Mowers – Still A Viable Choice

Pros And Cons Of Reel Mowers – Still A Viable Choice?

In this article I want to talk about the pros and cons of reel mowers.

Slightly surprisingly, in this world of modern gadgets and ‘motorised everythings’, reel mowers seem to be making a bit of a comeback.

and more gardeners are turning away from the gas rotary mowers and the ride-ons, and going back to a more traditional way of knowing their lawns using human powered lawn mowers.

Reel mowers are appealing to a lot of people, from the health and wellbeing fanatic to the haters of noise pollution, to the haters of pollution in general….the environmentalist.

The frugal homesteader loves them, as do those (and I have to admit to falling into this category a bit) who have a romantic notion of the past, imagining pushing a manual lawn mower around a well manicured English garden, with cream teas on the patio and not a Cloud in the sky.

With a push reel mower, you have to be prepared to be the engine, the workhorse behind the motion.

You need to be prepared to mow when it NEEDS mowing, not when you just can’t avoid it any longer and your significant other is threatening divorce or battery if you don’t do something about the jungle outside.

If you have a small to moderate sized lawn, free of twigs and other stones that will stop you in your tracks, a push mower is actually a pretty good option. I have one, I use it, I love it. It’s replaced the electric rotary mower almost completely.

This review of the pros and cons is not based on some meta-analysis of Amazon reviews or a vague idea about what may or may not be good. It’s based on my personal experience with my Bosch lawn mower, bought just before the summer and used with excitement and vigor throughout the mowing season.

I’ve going to give my viewpoint as someone who owns two mowers. The reel mower vs rotary mower debate stirs up a lot of excitement on forums around the interwebz, and we all have a view.

As a prelude to this article, I’ll state the bleedin’ obvious right off the bat.

Reel mowers aren’t for you if you’re lazy, you have a massive lawn, you only mow when you can’t see the dog in the grass or if you hate the idea of using something that was designed in the 1800s.

If you don’t fit those blatant stereotypes, read on, let’s find out why the reel mower is making such a resurgence, and is this romantic connection with the past really warranted.

The Manual Push Reel Mower Defined

You may already know about reel mowers, but let me indulge myself for the reader who is in the dark. Most modern mowers are of the rotary type. The blade is attached to the engine/electric motor which is mounted on top of the mowing deck. The drive shaft goes through the center of the deck and the blade attaches to it.

You could almost think of it like an upside down helicopter, the blades chopping the grass off as they spin. Although the most purchased mower these days, the rotary system is actually pretty bad for you lawn. The blades are never razor sharp so chop and hack at the grass rather than cut it.

You grass ends up ripped and torn which is actually pretty bad for it.

The reel mower, although touted by the bigoted and ignorant as a tool of yesteryear, these mowers are actually pretty cool. The CUT the grass like you’d cut paper with a pair of scissors. No ripping, shredding, tearing or bruising, just clean cutting that leaves your grass healthy and looking amazing.

It’s sometimes easier to learn how something works with a visual guide. Check out this video for a fuller explanation on how they old-timer mowers work.

Understanding The Pros And Cons Of Reel Mowers

Every lawn mower, in fact every tool or item that you use to carry out a task has pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, benefits and limitations. It’s just the way it is. You wouldn’t use a ladle to cut a cheesecake (don’t, I’ve tried) and you wouldn’t use a reel mower to mower a 5 acre lawn.

Reel mowers have some incredibly good benefits, but they aren’t for everything. Here’s some pointers to help you decide if this is a mower for you

Pros And Benefits Of Reel Mowers

Push reel mowers are better for the health of your lawn. I never really considered it before looking into the push mower as an option. I just thought that mowers mowed grass and it was all good.

Once I read up a bit, it turns out that the tearing effect that rotary mowers have on the grass leaves it open to disease and also attack from insect pests. Grass that has been cleanly cut is far less vulnerable to these problems.

You lawn looks a lot nicer after being cut properly with a reel mower. My wife laughed when I bought my little Bosch mower, but I wiped that smile right off her face when she saw how awesome the lawn looked. Here it is after a few cuts, with our collie Jasper looking for trouble.

Once she learned how to mow a lawn with a self-propelled reel mower, she hasn’t used the rotary since.

Push mowers are super quiet. I love this. The noise of gas or electric mowers breaking the silence on a sunny Sunday afternoon in an English village is irritating.

The push mower isn’t silent, it omits this wonderful whirring noise as the cylinder spins, short perfectly cropped pieces of grass flying out the top. It really is like ‘giving the lawn a haircut’.

The lack of noise means you can mow early in the morning or later in the evening, there is no risk of annoying the neighbors with a manual mower.

Push mowers need little maintenance and are usually trouble free. The simplicity of the reel mower means that there is little ongoing maintenance to do, other than a drop of oil here and there and a simple blade sharpen once a season. This is actually really simple to do, no need to take an angle grinder to it.

And you don’t need to plug it in, fill the tank with fuel, spend 10 minutes sweating and cursing as it fail to start on the recoil starter. Nope, this mower is lightweight and gets to work in an instant.

Push mowers are non-polluting. Whether it’s electricity from coal-fired power stations, or gas/petrol from oil, there is no doubt that most powered things create pollution, or use polluting sources of energy.

The only pollution that comes from using a reel mower is possibly that from the owner, methane being a greenhouse gas as we know, but released in small, discreet quantities, I doubt you’ll effect the hole in the ozone layer too much.

Push reel mowers are cheap as chips. Relatively speaking, a push mower costs a fraction of the price of a powered lawn mower. Of course, there are some expensive models out there, but a typical model is going to cost less than 100, I bought mine in England for £56 GBP, which is around 85 USD. Here it is. Cheap but a beauty.

My Bosch reel mower before I mowed the lawn. It cut this grass with ease.

Reel mowers are good exercise, but not annoyingly so. I need to preface this before you start worrying about the hard work, grunting and sweating you will do with a manual mower. To be honest, I was pretty surprised at how easy it was to mow the lawn with it.

The are super lightweight, far lighter than my hover mower. There was no hard pushing, getting stuck, it really was just walking, nothing harder than that really. My wife, who habitually mowed the lawn, red in the face as she dragged the old mower back and forth, loved this new one. I loved it so much I used it every 2 days during the growing season, it was never a chore.

Which brings me on to my next point nicely.

Push reel mowers make mowing a pleasurable activity. Honest, I kid you not. Providing you mow regularly, don’t have a monstrous lawn and keep it clear of twigs and stones, the reel mower is a pleasure to use. There is something soothingly mesmerizing about the sound, the neat trimmings of grass flying though the air as if cut by a surgeon’s scalpel.

There’s a reward to seeing your lawn looking better than it ever has, neat rolled lines like a cricket pitch or bowling green. And you did that yourself, with just your own power and a bit of help from that simple design that has changed little in 150 years.

The day of the mow. I love the striped effect the reel mower gives with it’s integral roller.

Pretty nice huh? But as with everything, there are downsides too, although if I am honest, I haven’t experienced and yet. But I’m sure I will at some point.

Safety is much better with manual mowers. Unless you are able to find your fingers into the mower mechanism while you push it along, the chance of serious injury or accidental amputation are massively reduced with the reel mower.

In this study from the University of Missouri, statistics showed 75,000 Americans injured each year from mower accidents, 10,000 of them children. Flying debris was a major factor.

And get this! 600 children per year suffer mower related amputations. source.

Do the benefits outweigh the limitations? That’s for you to decide.

Cons And Limitations Of Reel Mowers

There are some limitations. I wouldn’t even really call them ‘cons’. There are circumstances this type of mower is not right for the job. Here are some things to consider.

Push mowers don’t like twigs and stones. If you have mature trees in your garden, that shed twigs all over the lawn, you’re going to be up against it as those twigs end up jammed between the mowing cylinder and the blades.

Leave the grass to grow too long and you’ll struggle. Not really a limitation of the mower, more a limitation of the homeowner. but let’s face it, reel mowers are incredible effective and cleanly cutting grass that hasn’t been allowed to grow too long.

You can still do it, but it will often take 2-3 passes over the same area to get it down to a reasonable length.

Mowing can take a little longer as the width of cut may not be as wide as on your usual mower, and you also need to overlap the mowing strip a little.

BUT, my personal experience is different. By the time we got the electric rotary mower out of the shed, then grabbed the extension cord, plugged it in and dragged the thing kicking and screaming over the lawn, we were hot, sweaty and red-faced.

The new reel mower was almost effortless and took only 8-10 minutes to mow the entire lawn. Much quicker when you take set up into account.

Is A Reel Mower The Right Choice For YOU?

Ok, we’ve covered the pros and cons, including little kids getting their fingers chopped off. ouch! But before you head off and grab a reel mower from the local store or from those nice folks at Amazon, it’s important to make sure your lawn fits some basic criteria that will ensure success.

Is your yard too big? A reel mower is totally fine for a relatively undulating lawn on a medium sized plot, say up to around 1/2 acre. Much bigger and you’re going to be taking a lot of time to get round it. Of course, there are powered reel mowers too, which is always worth considering.

Is your yard lumpy and excessively bumpy? The reel mower does a much better job on lawns that aren’t full of bumps and craters. It does not need to be like a golf course, but the wheels need to be in good contact with the ground as they drive the cutting cylinder.

If it’s just one part of your lawn, you can probably just use a weed whacker to tidy things up.

Do you hate to leave the clippings down? Grass clippings make a great fertilizer, and usually end up going back into the lawn within a few days. Leaving them down will do wonders for your lawn, but if you hate the idea, then the reel mower might not be your best choice.

Mine came with a grass box, but I haven’t used it and don’t want to. The clippings vanish in no time.

What type of grass do you have? Reel mowers may have a harder time on grasses like Bermuda, Zoysia and St Augustine. There are models out there like the Fiskars that are designed to deal with those tough grasses, but it’s worthing bearing in mind before you buy.

I love my reel mower, I really do. It’s strange how something that I used to see as a kid (when I went to my grandparents house) should end up in my garden some 45 years later. Not the same one of course, but little has changed design-wise.

Having used my little mower for a couple of seasons, I’m actually at a loss to understand why these mowers (and the people who use them) are considered quirky and fanciful. Mine has been a revelation, and it’s actually made me enjoy mowing.

The reel lawn mower might not have changed much in a century and a half, but it didn’t need to. It’s cutting grass as well now as when Edwin Budding designed in all those years ago.

I recommend you try it, you might just be surprised. in a good way.

Real Mowers Use Reel Mowers – The Pros Cons Of Using A Reel Mower

The reel mower of the 21st century — it definitely ain’t your grandad’s old rusted out, hard to push, doesn’t really work that well thing of the past.

Nope, reel mowers are the cleanest, greenest, most economically and environmentally savvy way to get that great green and nicely manicured lawn.

As with anything else, there are pros and cons.

So let’s explore them here and see if a reel mower might your next step towards a better lawn, thicker wallet, and cleaner earth.

L Hundley, Chief Gardening Evangelist at Clean Air Gardening says:

“There is a real element of pleasure to using a manual mower…Reel mowers are light, quiet, and virtually maintenance-free. The mowers are environmentally friendly, and also better for your grass.”

Wait, reel mowers are actually better for your grass?

Yup, powered rotary mowers really tear the grass, reel mowers actually cut it — like scissors.

Other Benefits To Using A Reel Mower

Just like with electric push mowers, there are a TON of benefits. Some include:

• You get to avoid the pollution equivalent to driving 350 miles in a car.
• You no longer have deal with the obnoxious and deafening noise.
• You save money by never having to buy gas, oil, filters, or spark plugs again.

Of Course, There Is Always A Downside

By the way, reel mowers have height adjustments that range between.4 to 2.8 inches. But don’t let that scare you. The cutting height chart for all of the popular grasses at Organic Lawn Care Tips clearly debunks the 3-inch myth.

In a conversation about reel mowers with one of my followers and blog buds, NashVeggie said that if you keep the blades on a reel mower sharp, the results are actually better than a gas powered mower!

The Bottom Line

A reel mower is cheaper than other electric and gas powered push mowers.

• Allow you the freedom to cut your grass at any time of day you choose.
• Spare your health and the environment by not spewing any toxic fumes from the inefficient 2 stroke engine.
• Save LOTS of money over the life of the mower (and immediately).
• Give better end results.

The tradeoff is that it will take a little bit longer to mow, and you’ll have to deal with the mower binding up (which is quickly and easily fixed) if attempting to cut tall grass or weeds or if running over twigs or mulch.

With this being the lawn mowing and buying season, would you consider a reel mower as your next mower? If you already have one, how do you like it?

I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I’m here.

Reel Mower vs Electric Mower: Features That You Must Know

Reel mower vs electric is a confusion of both mower models, and how they are both important pieces of equipment for our outdoor spaces, with their differences. Some homeowners often have a preference for one lawn mower over the other.

Let’s explore what features each model possesses, as well as the benefits and drawbacks.

Electric Mower

Manual operation and will require physical effort to push

Powered by an electric motor and will require less physical effort

Little maintenance is required

May require occasional blade, as well as battery replacement

Can be noisy, especially with corded models

environmentally friendly since it emits no pollutants

May contribute to pollution depending on the source of electricity

Generally less expensive in terms of the purchase price, as well as any ongoing maintenance costs

Generally more expensive in terms of the purchase price but may have lower ongoing maintenance costs

• Key Differences Between the Reel Mower and the Electric Mower
• What Are the Specifications of Reel Mowers?

• – Operation
• – Maintenance
• – Low In Noise
• – Environmental Impact
• – Cost

• – Operation
• – Maintenance
• – Excessive Noise
• – Environmental Impact
• – High in Cost
• – Used With Cautiousness

Key Differences Between the Reel Mower and the Electric Mower

The main difference between reel and electric mowers is that reel mowers, are lawn mowers that are operated manually, and less noisy. On the other hand, electric mowers use an electric motor to power their blades, and they make more noise.

A reel mower may be used to mow large lawns. However, it may consume more time and effort compared to an electric model. A small area is preferable for a reel mower unless you intentionally want to exert more physical effort and take more time to mow the lawn.

On the other hand, if you are motivated by environmental impact, then the reel mower may be a good choice. In the end, your lawn mower choice will depend mostly on the factors listed in the table above.

What Are the Specifications of Reel Mowers?

The specification of reel mowers is that they require more manual labor because they should be pushed, but little maintenance is required in the long run.

They also make less noise and are more environmentally friendly, and are less expensive than other mowers.

– Operation

Reel mowers are manual lawnmowers that require more physical effort to operate. As a result, homeowners find them to be less convenient. This mower type has a series of blades that rotate as the mower is pushed forward to cut the grass, and you would do this by pushing them, and it would work by manual labor.

These blades are attached to cylinders that spin as the wheels turn. At the same time, the cutting height can usually be adjusted by pressing a lever, which would be adjusted by the one doing the work. This type of rotary mower is better suited to flat lawns since they require more effort if the lawn is inclined or rough.

One advantage is that this type of lawn mower is quiet when in operation since it does not require electric engines to operate. At the same time, they do not emit pollutants into the air or contribute to pollution caused by electrical consumption.

– Maintenance

One of the biggest advantages of using reel mowers is that they require very little maintenance. Since the blades of a reel mower sharpen by themselves, they require sharpening rarely, and if they get dull, you should replace them.

In the event that the blades of the push reel mower become dull, they can be taken to a professional to be sharpened. Homeowners who have sharpening kits can use these to keep the blades of the rotary motors sharp.

Additionally, a reel lawn mower does not have any battery or engine. This makes the push reel mower preferable for homeowners looking to have a low-maintenance machine.

– Low In Noise

Reel mowers produce very little noise and are considered to be very quiet when in operation. The absence of engines or motors ensures that these types of lawn mowers do not produce unwanted noise.

This makes them preferable to electric models. Consequently, this rotary mower model is often used in urban areas or by homeowners who prefer a quiet mowing experience.

– Environmental Impact

A reel lawn mower model is considered more environmentally friendly compared to electric models. This is because this type of lawn mower does not emit harmful pollutants in the air, because you are using your force to move it; it is manual not automatic.

Homeowners who are concerned about their carbon footprint tend to use this type of mower. Even ordinary homeowners will find that their electrical bills are not affected by this particular type of this mower.

– Cost

This is the type of machine that tends to cost less than other types of models. This means that homeowners get the same result at less expensive prices. Being manually operated, the reel type of mower does not require maintenance or operational costs.

This makes it a good option for homeowners looking for a budget-friendly mower for their particular lawn care.

What Are the Specifications of Electric Mowers?

The specifications of electric mowers are that they run on battery, and would require maintenance every once in a while with blades or battery.

Also, they are loud when operating, and could have a range of that are often more costly.

– Operation

Electric mowers are powered by electric motors, making them easier to operate compared to manual mowers. There are two basic categories: the corded electric mower and the cordless electric model, and they are both machines that run on source of electricity.

Cordless models are more convenient since they do not have any attached cords that can get in the way of mowing activities, and they would be running on battery. Corded electric models may restrict homeowners when the area to be mown is large. Generally, electric mowers work well on all types of lawns.

Most electric mowers come with a mulching feature. This allows homeowners to mulch grass clippings and use these as fertilizer. If your electric model has this feature, this allows you to be more environmentally friendly compared to bagging and disposing of grass clippings.

– Maintenance

Electric mowers require occasional maintenance and repairs. These include blade sharpening as the blades can become dull over time. To sharpen them, homeowners can use sharpening kits or have them taken to a professional for a better sharpening experience.

Also, battery replacement is another factor that needs to be considered by homeowners. Cordless models require regular battery charging. Additionally, cordless models may need to have their batteries replaced every few years.

– Excessive Noise

Electric lawn mowers are noisier compared to manual lawnmowers due to their motors. The corded models are especially noisier than the cordless ones. This may be unappealing for homeowners who prefer a quieter mowing experience, this is due to their strong source of power.

– Environmental Impact

The environmental impact of electric mowers depends mostly on the source of electricity that is used to power them. The electricity of this machine is from non-renewable sources, which is why the gas lawn mower is not eco-friendly.

However, if the source of electricity comes from non-renewable sources, such as natural gas or coal, then electric models may add to the pollution. If homeowners are concerned about their carbon footprint, then they should opt to charge their electric mowers using renewable sources.

over, it is environmentally friendly only if it runs on a battery, which is source without any carbon emissions. The battery life of electric mowers depends largely on the model, and on a single charge, most batteries tend to last for up to an hour.

Some electric mowers may have longer battery lives while other models have shorter battery lives. To determine yours, check your owner’s manual from the manufacturer, and doing so will give you an idea of the operating time, as well as its overall battery life.

– High in Cost

Generally, electric mowers are more expensive than manual ones. In terms of the initial purchase price, the cost is higher. In terms of maintenance costs, the cost is also higher for electric mowers.

On the other side, electric models tend to be more efficient at cutting grass. Since they can handle larger lawns than manual mowers, homeowners can save more effort and time in the long run.

– Used With Cautiousness

In general, electric mowers are considered safe to be around children and pets. However, electric mowers still have parts that may cause accidents around children and pets, so it is best to exercise caution when using them.

Safety precautions can be found in the owner’s manual. The manufacturer should include safety guidelines to help homeowners supervise children and pets during mowing activities.

To avoid accidents, electric mowers should not be operated on wet grass or in the rain. Doing this can damage the mower and lead to serious and dangerous situations. If you are going to use electric mowers, always wait for the wet grass to dry or for the rain to let up.

Conclusion

You now have a better idea of what kind of lawn mower is more suitable for your lifestyle. Let’s do a quick recap on what we’ve learned so far:

• A reel model mower costs less, makes less noise, and requires less maintenance but will demand more physical effort.
• Electric mowers cost more, are noisier, and require more maintenance but will make your mowing experience easier.
• The most prominent feature of a reel mower is that it is manually operated and will require more physical effort.
• If you prefer electric models but are conscious of environmental impact, consider using renewable sources of electricity to charge your selected lawn mower.

Based on what you’ve learned, which one seems better for you? By measuring the right requirements that you need, you will be able to find the right type for you!

Reel Mower vs Electric: Which is Right for Your Lawn?

If your lawn is fairly small and you’re in the market for a new mower, out of the dozens of different options available, you have maybe narrowed it down to two; the reel mower vs electric. Both options are ideally suited to smaller lawns, so how do you make two become one and settle on a specific type of mower? I always think that in this situation it’s a good idea to make a simple list of pros and cons, and use this as a guide to figure out which type of mower would match up better to your yard, storage options and personal preferences.

But you don’t need to spend time putting together that list, as I’ve done it for you.

Reel Mower vs Electric: What’s the Difference?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s just take a top-level look at the reel mower vs electric mower. What exactly is the difference?

A reel mower is very simple in its design and is not motorized. It features a cylinder of blades, two wheels and a main shaft that has a handle attached to the end. That’s it! You push it forward, and the blades rotate to cut the grass. Some models do offer the option of attaching a grass catcher, but more often than not reel mowers are used without one.

Electric mowers by contrast are motorized and are powered by either the mains (corded electric) or a battery (cordless electric). If you look at a reel lawn mower vs electric, they do look quite different. An electric mower has a much bigger footprint, has 4 wheels, and uses a rotary blade that is located under the mower deck, out of sight.

If I had to sum up the main differences in one sentence, it’d be that a reel mower is not motorized and uses a cylinder blade, whereas an electric mower is motorized and uses a rotary cutting blade.

Comparing the Push Reel Mower vs Electric

I’ve given you the top-level overview of how these two types of mower differ, but I doubt that’ll be enough to help you figure out which is the best match for your particular requirements. So what I’m going to do below is look at a number of key areas and tell you how these mowers stack up against each other.

Power Mowing Conditions

There is quite a significant difference here. Remember, reel mowers are people-powered (no motor), while electric mowers are powered by an electric motor. This makes a difference when it comes to cutting power.

Electric mowers have the edge. A good electric mower will provide you with decent cutting power. Why is this important? Well, if you happen to let your lawn overgrow a bit, have some weeds growing in the lawn or maybe have a thicker grass variety, an electric mower is going to be more capable of doing the job. A reel mower, on the other hand, will likely struggle in such situations.

For this reason, it’s really, really important to keep on top of your mowing if you opt for a reel mower. I can tell you from experience that if you frequently let your grass grow long, mowing sessions are something you’re going to dread, as longer grass will just keep locking the blades up, and mowing the lawn will take much longer (if your reel mower is not spinning, this may be a very simple explanation as to why, although there are others). One reel mower I had when I was much younger would get jammed with thin twigs regularly. It was a pain to keep stopping to remove them!

Bottom Line: Electric mower has more power – reel mowers require you to mow more frequently.

The Blade

As I mentioned a little earlier, the two big differences when looking at a push reel mower vs electric mower are the motor and the blade. We’ve just discussed the motor, now let’s FOCUS on the blade.

With a reel mower, it’s a cylinder blade. And it’s not just one blade either. Depending on the model you buy, this cylinder will typically have 5 or 7 blades that spin forward as you push the mower. This motion results in the blade slicing through the grass (different to an electric mower as you’ll see), which is the best way to cut grass. By slicing the grass, the wound where the cut occurs at the end of the grass blade is minimal and the grass is able to heal faster.

Electric mowers on the other hand almost always feature a rotary blade that spins parallel to the ground, under the mower deck. If the blade is maintained in good condition – properly sharpened and balanced – it can still deliver a good cut, but it’ll never be quite as clean a cut as what a reel mower gives you.

Bottom Line: The cylinder blade on a reel mower provides a cleaner cut than the rotary blade on an electric mower.

Maintenance

This is where the reel mower vs electric mower debate starts to become more balanced as there’s really not a lot of difference. Both of these types of mowers are among the lowest maintenance, which is a big advantage in most people’s eyes.

With a reel mower, the design is so barebones that the only thing you really need to pay any attention to are the blades. Give them a sharpen 1-2 times per year, and you’ll be golden.

With the electric mower, the blade is also the main thing you will need to pay attention to. You’ll need to remove it to sharpen it. And then with a corded unit, the main other maintenance task you’ll need to take care of is cleaning the underside of the deck, which can get caked in old clippings if you’re not careful, which leads to poorer performance.

With a cordless electric mower, you also have battery maintenance. Following the correct processes for charging can have a big impact on battery life, especially when it comes to the end of the season when you’re not going to be using your mower for a while.

Bottom line: Both options are low maintenance, but the ultra-simplistic design of the reel mower just shades it, with the sharpening blades the only task to think about.

Storage Requirements

A lot of folks FOCUS only on the part where the lawn mower is going to be rolling over their lawn. But what about the rest of the time? Where are you going to store your lawn mower? The storage space you have available should also play a part in what you ultimately decide to buy.

The storage profile of a reel mower is very minimal, so if you have very little storage space – maybe your home is only small or is already overflowing with other stuff – this is a big plus. And not only is a reel mower small to store; it can also be hung on the wall. That is something I really, really like about reel lawn mowers. My gas mower definitely doesn’t hang on the wall and is fairly bulky!

Electric mowers can’t claim to store as well, but some models can be fairly lightweight to the point that they can be hung up too (hover mowers are a good example of this). But most electric mowers will require a bit more storage space. Lots of models do now allow you to fold over the handle completely to save some space though.

Bottom Line: You’ll need more space to store an electric mower than you will reel mower.

Noise

This may or may not be an important consideration for you. For the folks that do wonder “how loud is this lawn mower likely to be?” before they buy, you’ll be pleased to know that both reel mowers and electric mowers are on the quieter end of the spectrum.

Electric lawn mowers typically produce somewhere between 65 and 75 decibels, which is similar to normal conversation. Reel mowers, as they’re not motorized, are a bit quieter at 55 decibels. Neither of these options is going to annoy the neighbors, make you lose your hearing or scare your pets.

Bottom Line: Both electric mowers and reel mowers are relatively quiet, although reel motors produce less noise due to the lack of a motor.

Price

This is another area in which reel mowers and electric mowers are very similar. You can find options for both under the 100 mark, and if you have a very small lawn most of these options will work just fine.

You can find both reel and electric mowers that go up to several hundred dollars in price too. So I’m not saying that all reel mowers and all electric mowers are cheaper; they both run the whole range from budget to the very expensive. Some of the high-end cordless electric mowers are among the most expensive push mowers available (good battery technology is expensive).

What I would say is that if you pay 200-300 for a reel mower, the quality of the product is often better than an equivalent electric mower. The more basic design allows them to use better quality components.

Bottom Line: Pricing for both reel and electric mowers runs the whole gamut from very cheap to expensive, but in my experience, the cost-quality ratio is slightly better for reel mowers.

Running Costs

The upfront costs and the maintenance costs are not the only types of costs you need to consider when looking to buy a new lawn mower. There’s also the matter of the running costs. And there’s only one winner in that category if we’re comparing the reel lawn mower vs electric.

Reel mowers have no running costs! You are literally the fuel. You push them and they mow. This is a nice bonus, as once you’ve spent the money to purchase it, there’s really very little financial outlay with a reel mower. So when you factor in both the initial outlay plus the non-existent running costs, a reel mower is really the cheapest way to cut your grass.

Electric mowers on the other hand do require you to pay for, well, electric. Whether that’s to charge the batteries or to power it directly from the mains. This is still normally very economical, but it is an ongoing cost. Something to think about if you only have a small lawn!

Bottom Line: Reel mowers have no ongoing running costs – you can’t beat that – while the running cost of electric mowers is typically very affordable.

Quick Overview of Reel Mowers

There’s a lot to consider here. I’m now going to break down the pros and cons for you in some quick bullet points.

Here’s what’s to like and what’s not so good about reel mowers.

Pros of Reel Mowers

• Very affordable upfront costs
• Basic design and very simple operation
• Cylinder blades produce a clean, crisp cut that leaves grass healthy
• Very little noise (55 decibels)
• Super compact for storage and can be hung on a wall
• No ongoing running costs to worry about
• Maintenance requirements as simple as can be – just sharpen the blades

Cons of Reel Mowers

• You need to mow regularly as they do not cope with long grass well
• Will also struggle with weeds and thicker grass varieties
• Mowing large areas can take longer than with an electric mower

Quick Overview of Electric Mowers

The same thing for electric mowers. Here are the main points that I think you should pay attention to.

Pros of Electric Mowers

• Options available at all price points, from the very cheap to the expensive
• Maintenance requirements almost as minimal as with reel mowers
• Noise produced no louder than normal conversation
• Has more power than a reel mower, so more forgiving if grass is a little overgrown
• Thicker grass and weeds less of a problem

Cons of Electric Mowers

• Rotary blade is not as good for the health of your lawn
• Ongoing running costs – they are minimal, but they’re there
• Require more storage space than reel mowers

Final Thoughts on Reel Mowers vs Electric Mowers

I personally would only buy a reel mower if I had a very small lawn to take care of. One that I could mow completely in say 20 minutes max. In most other scenarios I would most likely recommend an electric mower as they offer a lot of the benefits that reel mowers offer, and the power provided by the motor means it can adapt a bit better to conditions that are not ideal (longer, thick grass weeds, for example).

About Tom Greene

I’ve always had a keen interest in lawn care as long as I can remember. Friends used to call me the lawn mower guru (hence the site name), but I’m anything but. I just enjoy cutting my lawn and spending time outdoors. I also love the well-deserved doughnuts and coffee afterward!

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