Fiskars Push Mower - 18" Cut Width Manual Reel Mower with No Motor - Grass Cutter with Steel Blades that Stay Sharp - Eco-Friendly Lawn Care

I had purchased a brill but had to send back due to defective handle. I researched all the newer type of reel mowers. First I should tell you we wanted a reel mower. We have a fairly small yard less than 500 ft/2 and the back is the same. Mostly landscape, flowers and various plants we really don't need the big gas mower. WE had a very good Neuton battery mower for several years but it too finally gave up. We wanted to leave a smaller carbon footprint hence the manual reel mower. And the extra exercise is good too. Since our mower went out and we had a bit of a struggle getting the right mower our grass had grown a bit high.This afternoon we received the Fiskars mower in great condition packaged very well. Put it together requiring only a couple of tools.The only fall back that we had experienced was the grass catcher, and the blade sharpener that was part of a multi order from the middle of the page that Amazon has for many products, had the wrong grass catcher bag and the wrong blade adjustment /sharpener tool.So beware when looking at the 3 pack order that is on the page. The items are wrong, you will need to order each item separately from the respective page.The Mower ran like glass, no sound other than the movement of the earth, the sky and the birds.Just kidding, but the mower is extremely quiet. Even the action of the no contact blades is unbelievably quiet.The mower due to the action of its wheels and the blade that spins quit fast compared to the motion of the wheels is really something to be experienced. I started to cut the front yard, then the wife took the mower and cut the rest of the yard and then went to the back yard. I got some sweet tea and sat down in the patio, work really fascinates me, I could watch it for hours. I took out the new Black and Decker cordless weed eater and had a blast with it.I am really sold on the new style reel mowers. This one is easy to push, quiet, cuts even over grown grass with just a bit more force, but if kept down , which we always do anyway, it will be an absolute joy to cut. One big difference I would like to mention here, is the reel mower actually cuts grass, like scissors at a much slower pace than rotary mowers. Lawn mowers beat the hell out of the grass bruising it and leaving frayed tips. This is an opening for disease and browning of the grass. I expect to have a greener lawn with less water usage, and less feeding. I will update this review as we use the mower and have more experience with the unit.Have had the mower for a bit now, and it is still going strong. We had quite a windy couple of months so there were lots of tree branchesand stuff on the ground but it cut it all like it was nothing. The blades are still sharp, wheels are still firm and the blade rotates with little effort. I have cleaned the mower a bit taking the grass stain off the blade. I did not realize the blade is so sharp. Be aware that you can and will cut out a chunk of skin of you don't wear gloves. Had to have a few stitches. Of course my doctor laughed at me cause I am always hurting myself, and paying for his Cabo vacation. All in all the mower performed beyond expectations, will never go back to a power mower again.Many thanks to Fiskars for producing a mower that outperformed the German design.joe

I bought this mower 3 years ago & it's still going strong, a little banged up because my yard is no picnic to mow. I'll admit, i haven't even sharpened it, though i bought the kit, because i just haven't needed to. I also bought the basket for catching grass clipping if i ever need to add them to my compost.Down to the specifics.This mower is not hard to push but you can't let your grass get very high. They say in the booklet about 6 inches. I'd agree with that. It also will not cut certain kinds of grass well, like crabgrass or plantain. The first year i used it, i had to trim those with clippers.Your lawn changes, however, as the result of using this mower. You are not burning or twisting the grass. You are simply giving it a haircut so the grass gets much healthier & weeds do not grow as well in your lawn. I do very little clipping anymore. My grass looks better than other lawns because it is not being constantly burnt. Even in late summer, it doesn't look dried out.I set my level to 3, just over violets & clover, so those are there for the bees. One nice feature of this is the ease at which you can adjust the height. Just lean over & quickly raise or lower it for special needs. If you like clover, which I do, this acts like a reseeder. Anything a little higher than 3" disperses. It's very nice, a little shower of clover you move through.I wouldn't call my lawn small. It has some 4 foot hills & this is easier to do than the regular mower I used to use because it is lightweight & can easily be pushed. I can even do some patches with one hand. It's nice to be able to control exactly what i want to cut.One of the main reasons I bought this was that I wanted something that wasn't loud & didn't sell like gas. I have mowed the lawn since I turned 12 & hated that part. This makes mowing a pleasant experience I look forward to each week. I put on headphones & listen to great music or an audiobook. It's enjoyable.I'm also an environmentalist. It uses no gas. The pamphlet says "All it takes is you." The first time I used this, the grass was too high because the shipment was delayed & I just about killed myself. I saw that on the side of the box & laughed "I am not enough", but I was. I'm not that young, late middle age & a woman. I plan to use this for many years & will probably buy a spare for future use.People have seen me mow & comment that they couldn't work that hard. I know I do sweat. It is a workout. It's comparable to the way i feel biking, a low level aerobic activity. It takes me an hour or hour & a half to finish my lawn depending on heat & condition of the grass, more in spring when things are lush. You have to have the ability to push something forward. For a small flat yard, this would be barely any effort. My yard is much larger than that. I think people may not realize how lightweight the mower is. My grandpa had a reel mower that was much harder than this because it didn't have the drive train.Another thing I like is that I can mow any time I want & as early/late as I want. This makes very little noise & will not disturb the neighbors. It makes a pleasant whack whack sound I can't even hear over my music. You do have to watch out for insects because the noise doesn't scare them away. I try to not mow over them. It is also often hard to see what you're already mowed if the grass isn't too high because you are not burning the grass. It's quite the difference.If anyone has questions, I'll be glad to answer. I hope they continue making this model well into the future. They are really onto something. I've been stopped by people while mowing who reminisce that their grandparents used to have one of these, especially kids. They are making a comeback.