Push powered lawn mowers, do they cut grass or tear grass?

You are talking about the reel type mowers, correct?

Actually they do a much better job at cutting grass than rotary mowers do, but he is right about one thing, you must have a sharp blade, and properly adjusted. The reel pulls the grass blades into the blade, so if it is dull it will tear instead of slicing, much like using a dull knife on a loaf of bread. The gap between the reel and the blade is also important, too close and the reel can jam, too far and the grass will tear, no matter how sharp the blade is.

 

Rotary mowers tend to tear. Reel type mowers shear. Both work better when sharp, but a dull reel push mower doesn't work at all.

Tom

 

I used a Brill reel mower for a couple of seasons, and the problem with it was that even on its highest setting the grass was cut way too short. I replaced it with a Black and Decker cordless electric mower, and the grass looks great again.

 

I've seen various kits to sharpen reel mowers, usually involving a strip of sandpaper and a tool to spin the reel backwards.

 

Lawns are a waste of resources, even if you use a push mower (the mower itself required material and energy to build). But, if your ego requires a lawn, my granddad used to sharpen his cast-iron push mower with a file about once a month. He seldom had to cut the lawn - us kids were so fascinated with the push mower we usually mowed the lawn for him just playing with it (amazing we didn't slice off some body parts - that thing had no safety systems at all, and was probably built in the early 1920's). I used a grinding wheel on a drill to sharpen my Husky push mower before we moved into our green townhome. Now I don't have enough grass to keep a small goat fed, and plan to replace even that with a patio.

 

Clean and oil the reel and static blade every time you use the reel mower once you have sharpened and correctly adjusted the blades and you only need to have them sharpened once a year if that. The trick is avoid rocks, other objects and minimise corrosion by oiling the blades after cleaning after every cut. Sharp blades will require less effort too! Spay with WD40 or RP7 every use, store in a dry place. Ask you local bowling green keeper of golf course keeper about their maintenance schedules and remember their stuff works harder than yours ever will.

 

Yep, What he said. The real trick(very punny) is to find someone who knows how to maintain the reel type to be able to properly give it the sharpening it needs.

 

Lawn mowers cut the grass if the blade is kept razor sharp. I sharpen the blade on my lawnmower at least every 2 weeks.

I know of folks who have NEVER sharpened their lawnmower blade. Their lawn looks like it too

 

I still remember my grandpa teaching me to use a scythe in the orchard. That was quite the weapon, and could cut overgrown grass faster than any mower or string trimmer. Things that would stall the machines, like blackberry brambles, were hardly even noticeable with a sharp scythe. I should find out what became of it.

 

Yellowing of the ends of the grass where it's been sheared off.

 

Torn off!
My grass is beautiful and green, due to lots of rain, sun and my mower is busted! My grass in 300mm high (1 foot)!

 

I have a knack for things like that. Not only can I sharpen chainsaw blades to be deadly razor sharp just by eyeballing it, I can also put a lawnmower blade in a vice and use an angle grinder to quickly get a razor sharp edge

Takes me under a minute with the grinder. Total time to remove blade, put on bench vice, put earplugs in, have a quick but satisfying shower of sparks, and put now deadly razor sharp blade back on lawnmower: usually under 5 mins

In high school, many many decades ago, I took a couple of years of machine shop to fill some time. I surprised myself at how naturally I took to using lathes, files, welders, torches, cutting threads, etc. Maybe that should have been my career, I found it very satisfying

Already answered. Since the top of the grass blade is mangled, it dies and turns yellow. The clippings from my lawn - of COURSE I mulch! - look as if they were cut off with a scalpel

 

I have one, must be 50 years old but in good shape. It came with the hobby farm, they had it sitting half buried in dried cow s*** in the barn

Once you get the hang of using a scythe, you can do a very good precision job on even tough nettles that would make a professional weed whipper choke.

Helps to keep that blade razor sharp. If you can't easily chop a human head off with a scythe, it's not sharp enough .... I mean, *imagine* chopping a head off

That is *not* a "thingy."



It's a doo-hickey

Correct! Though I am starting to find this "other" Jayman thing a bit creepy. I need a drink

 

Yep, I hadn't thought of that in years! As a kid in Oklahoma we had a scythe with the blade at the bottom of a loop of steel (a bit safer than a scythe). Locally it was called a "whim-wham." Boy, would that make short work of heavy overgrowth. Come to think of it, I need one for my tiny back yard which hasn't been cut this year and is waist high (not grass - some kind of high desert weeds we have here in Denver).

 

My unused pasture was like that last year, this year it looks horrible as the dead grass now choked most of the rest out. I have to run the dethatcher over it every other week so more grass can grow, otherwise it looks like a dried grass mat. I assume you are going to cut it down at some point.