Reel Mowers for Real People

According to the most recent EPA estimates, there are about 60 million gas-powered lawn mowers in operation in the U.S.—40 million push mowers and 20 million riding tractors. These small spark-ignition engines generate 2.5% of total national summertime hydrocarbon and nitrous oxide pollution. Is there a reasonable alternative?

The new reel mowers will surprise you—they are light (as little as 17 pounds, or 7.7 kg!), quiet, fume-free, and cut rather than tear your grass. For those of us who are old enough to have experienced the more primitive versions of the reel mower, it is hard to overcome those sweaty, blade-jamming nightmares. Today’s reel mowers, however, are precision equipment that require no more—and perhaps less—effort to operate than a standard gas-powered push mower. And since reel mowers are now designed to self-sharpen, they are virtually maintenance-free.

You do have to be diligent about grass length—the level of effort goes up quite a bit if the grass length exceeds 4–6” (100–150 mm) and the thin wiry seed stalks are allowed to mature (they tend to bend easily and spring back up after the reel passes). The Scott reel mower, for one, does a fine job—a