/diy/ — what's been your experience with a push mower?

>>2986892 (OP)
They barely cut the grass and need constant sharpening. Just get some shears if you want to do it manually.

>>2986892 (OP)
Use a scythe. Seriously.

You can cut an acre with a regular push mower for less than a gallon of gas and exponentially less pain in the ass

>>2986892 (OP)
If your yard is not very hilly with decent grass these work well. You can't let the grass get out of control or you are in for some pain. These are easy to sharpen, you just put grinding compound on the bedknife and use a drill to run them backwards. That being said, if your yard is irregular, or you don't have much time for leisure, just buy a gas or electric mower.

>>2986892 (OP)
Business idea: build a hybrid version of these, both manual and electric assisted power, with the battery pack in a backpack.

File: fiskars mower.jpg (366 KB, 1160x870)

>>2986892 (OP)

The one like in OP's picture will work, but it' not great.

I now use a Fiskars reel mower (my picture).
IMHO it's the best reel mower that exists, so long as you remember to mow twice a week and you only have a moderately sized city lot.

You can find a Fiskars mower on FB marketplace for like $50

>>2986892 (OP)
They are fine for small even lawns, but you still have to cut it regularly or it gets complicated.

>>2986893
> bunch of nonsense
I’ve had a push mower like picrel for 25 years now.
I used to wd40 the blades after cutting but haven’t bothered for the last 15 years. Everything is still fine.
Never sharpened them. Still cuts like it was when new.
Wife ran over it in the car. Straightened out the wheel and still works fine.
The one thing it simply will not do very well is cut long grass, so you have to keep up with the growth.
There’s a reason professionals use the same technology to cut golf courses. The reel mowers are a rare opportunity to buy into pro-grade technology instead of retail, disposable, money-intensive bullshit.

>>2986892 (OP)
I vaguely remember using one when I was a kid back in the late 70's and that it sucked, but then I was a little kid, and it had been abused. never used one since.

>>2986892 (OP)
When I lived in Indiana I had an antique one that worked really well. I liked it because I hate noise. Now I live in Arizona so I don't have a lawn.

I have awful memories of using a push mower as a kid. Then I got a free one from craigslists and it was almost as bad as I remember.

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>>2986931
Gardena already makes a reel mower with battery power that also still works as manual

I have one like this, it's very nice

i have seen them behind glass.

>>2986892 (OP)
I have a Gardena 400C
- If I need to remove more than 1” it can be done in two passes
- If the grass is more to than 1” over the highest setting, it sucks
- Grass needs to be absolutely free of twigs and rocks or it jams
- Haven’t had to sharpen it in 2 years

I combine it with a battery edge trimmer that I use as a mower and that goes fine. Go over the tall grass once in spring than maintain with the push mower

>>2986892 (OP)
They build character which many people lack these days

>>2987055
You mean suffering right?

>>2986934
*Fiskers

>>2986892 (OP)
takes a bit of effort on tall grass

>>2986934
I have this same mower or a similar one I think. I only use it for touch-ups and as a back up for my regular mower. The thing I don't like about it is that the orange chute isn't reversible so it only throws grass forward and it builds up and clogs faster. From what I've seen the forward-throwing ones are made with a bag in front to catch the grass. I just took the chute off completely; it's a little messier throwing the grass everywhere but it's a lot easier to push.

>>2986892 (OP)
in america i believe the standard is a gas mower that it pulls itself along?
here the standard is electric (wheel or hover) which you have to push yourself.
the fully manual push mower is not really any different to an electric mower in the energy you have to use to push it around in my opinion, but i have family who complain about a manual push saying its too hard. yes if you don't understand the technique and get the blades jammed up it will refuse to move.
i can't imagine an american being able to push either a cylinder or even an electric mower. in fact i'm surprised all americans dont use ride on tractor mowers how lazy and violent they are as a people.

the cylinder mowers are apparently much better for your grass in the cutting action, and if you care about your lawn you will either cut regularly with a cylinder mower and leave the cuttings to feed the lawn for a short lawn or not cut it at all for a wild garden.

a petrol mower is an absurd idea, the small engine of a mower is also extremely inefficient and dreadful for the environment. i don't believe in global warming but i do like breathing clean air.

>>2988349
The signal to seethe ratio is really low on this bong post. Maybe your reel mowers should be able to pull themselves now you're out of the EU.

>>2986892 (OP)
If you have sticks or pinecones that fall in your yard you'll have to pick them up and when you hit then regardless they'll jam the mower up and piss you off to no end. They're pretty good for a small flat yard with no trees howeverbeittho

>>2986892 (OP)
One twig will ruin your whole life

do they still make these in indiana or is it all china now

>>2989073
all china
I don't know why anyone with a decent size lawn wouldn't just get something halfway decent used nowadays
there's plenty of honda or decent kohler/briggs self propelled mowers out there for under 100 bucks that will run forever with a modicum of maintenence and knowledge

You need a very specialized machine to sharpen them, if you sharpet it by hand then it won't work any more.

>>2989100
whats the machine

>>2986892 (OP)
Fucking terrible, the fixed blade is never straight enough to cut cleanly along the whole length and it's only good for very short grass which means you have to cut every couple of days in the spring or when it rains.

Miss a cut and let the grass get taller than a few inches and the spinning reel will smash the grash down and prevent it from being cut. You're fucked after that. I threw mine out after trying it for one summer.

>>2986892 (OP)
>what's been your experience with a push mower?
You have to use it more often because it can't cut anything taller than 2 inches in height. But it bypasses the issues or avenues for procrastination that you have with running any other kind of mower. You just pull it out of the shed and mow immediately, so I just use it bi-weekly instead of monthly. Very expedient, and very maneuverable.
Used one for 4 years now. Never had to sharpen it, but have had to realign the shear once.

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>>2986902

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>>2986893
>>2989100
What sharpening?
You adjust the knobs to bring the bottom bar in contact with the cutter without binding and it just works

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>>2990395
The blades rust and get dinged up or aren't made precisely enough from the factory so some blades rub too hard while others don't touch. You have to use grinding compound and sharpen them against the bottom bar by spinning it so all the blades become even.

It's just shitty old technology, what I don't understand is why no one has made a mower with reciprocating blades like a hair trimmer. Other than the obvious safety issues, but all cutting equipment is unsafe.

>>2986911
Meh. Rotary cutters do a good job and are just as easy to use (unless you have self-propelled which definitely makes a difference). The only real negatives are that they do not handle stuff taller than your ankle for shit, so you need to cut the yard more frequently.

If you got an acre or less and don't mind just hitting that bitch twice a week? They are fine. If you got more than an acre? Go with a motor driven mower because odds are high you only got once a week in you to cut it. If you got two acres or more? Riding mower is your best option.

bad
get goats

>>2990594
They have, it’s called a sickle-bar mower, they are/were made as tractor attachments, standalone push versions, or horse-drawn. The ‘problem’ is that they don’t chop up and destroy the grass, they leave it whole, which is why they’re used to cut hay. Unfortunately, retards are allowed to own land, so rather than harvesting and using their grass, they prefer to destroy it and go eat some mcdonalds to replenish the calories it took them to sit down on their lawn mower.

>>2991329
>so rather than harvesting and using their grass
most municipalities wouldnt let you grow your grass long enough to be useful before theyd send out their own mowing crew in the interests of 'public health'

>>2986892 (OP)
I've got an electric version of this and it's great, but my lawn is tiny. like uhh poggers small

>>2986902
seconding this

I have computer/aBMS job so using a push mower is my happy place. No wires to keep away and no neighbor who freaks out. Its not much area to cover, just 300 sqft. But i did 3 of those as kid to earn money and i was flexible. Mow your grass every 4 days and you can have one of those hobbit/golf course lawns. I just upgraded my gardena with a basket to collects all the cut grass. By the way the mower is 30 years old and still sharp. Like self sharpening scissors. I used a scythe once but to keep the grass even is hard.

>>2986934
Does that need sharpening? I see a lot of brown tips. Otherwise looks decent for what it is.

>>2991856
1) I've never sharpened it,maybe could do it.
2)picture was during a mild drought last year, so probably why it was a bit brown
3) I don't have good grass.

Why is mowing grass such a fucking pain.

>>2991450
Scything is extremely based and great exercise. It's quite fast if the grass and ground is good. I keep my property mowed with a scythe and use the cut grass to feed my animals and/or provide good bedding for them.

https://youtu.be/URJ31uqH07E?si=IShiEr1T1vCHFsMV

>>2992169
get a robot

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>>2986892 (OP)
I used one growing up and I got one again this spring. I only have maybe 1000 sqft of grass so I like it. It's a pretty basic tool but I only use it for a basic job. I never have to charge it, never have to fuel it, maybe once a year it needs sharpened but oh well. Sticks can clog it but it takes 2 seconds to unclog. It doesn't save any time compared to a gas or electric mower but it doesn't add any either and it's a lot cheaper. It takes up a small amount of space in my shed.

I wouldn't recommend unless you have a small amount of grass but I'm pretty happy with it.

>>2992169
auto mower
neighbours kid
replace with native garden

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>>2992355
>never have to charge it

>>2986892 (OP)
they can't cut anything taller than a pair of Chuck Taylors. I live in the tropics and the species of grass my lawn is will shoot up these knee-height seedling things practically overnight after a good rainstorm, and my reel mower would just knock them over because they were too tall to feed into the blades. my grass would be short but there'd be the seedlings and weeds and anything else more than about 5 inches standing up. maybe if I sat there rolling over the same spot over and over for a few minutes eventually it would feed in, but fuck that

Used one for a few seasons. Eventually wound up buying into a battery system for a drill, and then it just made more sense to get a 40V mower when I saw one cheap.

Battery mowers are the perfect middle ground between a push mower and a gas mower, in my opinion. Good enough to handle tall grass, nice and light so I can do an incline with no real issues.

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>>2986892 (OP)
Grass is fucking dumb and humiliating

>live in America
>Lawns everywhere of non native grass
>Don't cut grass, get fines, don't pay, become scofflaw
>treat it, water it, aerate it, just so you can do a weekly humiliation ritual
>Single biggest waste of water in the US, 9 billion gallons per day
>Muh AI data centers use too much water! Meanwhile it's 5 billion gallons per year, grass is double that per day.

Fuck lawns.

I'm renting a Sod cutter in the fall, flipping the sod to use as mulch and killing my lawn. I've already started planting a ton of shit that spreads and thrives in my area that I have to cut once a year.

Lawns and the maintenance of them is so insanely wasteful and stupid. Hopefully next year I can get rid of my mower for good.