Reasons To Buy A Reel Mower For Cutting Your Lawn
When you make the move from apartment living to your first home, one new thing you'll have to contend with is mowing the lawn. If your home is in the city and your yard is fairly small, you might want to consider buying a reel mower. Reel mowers were popular decades ago, before power mowers came along. They're becoming popular again, and the new versions are better than ever. Here's why you may want to consider buying this type of mower.
Reel Mowers Are Quiet
A power mower is loud. You won't be able to run it early in the morning or late in the evening, or your neighbors will complain. There may even be restrictions in your city's code against running noisy lawn equipment at certain times of the day. The problem is that the early and late hours are when it's the coolest. If you have a noisy mower, you have to mow during the hottest times of the day, which start pretty early in the summer. Since a reel mower is so quiet, you can use it any time you want, and you won't disturb anyone.
Reel Mowers Improve The Health Of Your Lawn
Reel mowers have a completely different design from power push mowers or riding mowers. The power mowers have rotating blades that chop off the grass. If the blades aren't kept sharp, the cuts leave the grass ragged. Ragged grass is more susceptible to disease, so your lawn may turn brown in spots or thin out. Reel mowers have blades on a cylinder that cross each other, so the result is like snipping the grass with scissors. The cuts are clean and leave no ragged edges behind. Over time, this should improve the health of your lawn.
Reel Mowers Are Eco-Friendly
If you're environmentally conscious, then you'll love a reel mower just because it is eco-friendly. It has no motor at all, so it does not pollute the environment. It is not powered by gas or electricity, so it is not expensive to use or maintain. A reel mower runs on 100% human power. This has the added benefit of giving you light exercise as you mow since there is no motor to help pull the mower along.
Reel Mowers Are Easy To Maintain
There's not much maintenance needed on modern reel mowers. The most important step is to keep the blades sharp. Some models are made with blades that stay sharp for years. Economy models may need to have the blades sharpened at the beginning of each season. This is a simple job you can do yourself, or you can take the mower into a shop to have the blades sharpened at a reasonable cost. Besides that, you'll need to clean the clippings off the blades and wheels after each use, and that's about it. There is no motor or other moving parts to try and maintain.
Reel Mowers Are Safer
The blades on a reel mower are sharp, so you want to be careful around them and keep kids away from them, but compared to a power mower, a reel mower is much safer. The mower won't move on its own and run over you if you get in the way. Because of the way the blades are designed, they won't throw rocks at your kids or pets. Instead, they'll jam the blades and stop the mower. Plus, there is no hot motor that could burn your hands or legs.
You can see there are several advantages to using a reel mower, but you'll get the best results if your yard is a good match. The ground should be level and free from thick weeds. A reel mower works best on healthy grass that is maintained regularly. For more information on lawn mowers, contact a company like Snappy's Outdoor Equipment Sales & Service LLC.