I bought a new mower last year. My gas push mower started having some issues, so I decided to by a Scott’s Classic 20″ Push Reel Mower. I bought it at a local True Value hardware for about $110.00 and I have gotten about a years worth of mowing out of it.
It is a decent mower. It requires a little bit of effort, but I think that the benefits are worth it. I have never seen one of these marketed. I have some marketing tips for Scott’s:
- Environmental – It is estimated that 1 hours worth of lawn mower engine exhaust is equivalent to 3 hours worth of car exhaust. This is terrible. The push reel mower does not polute.
- Environmental – This mower is quiet! My wife does not have close the windows when I mow. The mower does not wake up the kids if they are taking a nap.
- Environmental – This mower does not require gas or oil, and therefore you don’t need to store these things in your garage.
- Safety – The mower will not eject rocks or sticks across the yard. My kids can be outside playing when I am mowing.
- Health – Using this mower provides a little bit of a workout. We can all use more exercise. Some people may not be physically capable of using this mower, but the way I see it, people like me (30ish, male, healthy) have no excuse for not using this type of mower.
I think that Scott’s should work on a few improvements for this mower also. They need to figure out a way to make the grass directly in front of the mower stand up so that it is pulled into the blades. My grass likes to lay down in spots, and I end up having to go over it a few times. The bagger for this mower does not work at all. A catch bag would be nice.
If you have an acre+ sized lot, this is probably not for you, but if you have a lot like mine (60’x180′), this mower is a good alternative.