Lowe’s or Home Depot usually carries at least one model. Since it seems like you have some time before you need it, you might try checking out yard sales, Craigslist, or Freecycle.

I have this one
http://www.amazon.com/Scotts-2000-20-Push-Reel-Mower/dp/B00004RA3E/sr=8-1/qid=1158234967/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9800441-3432618?ie=UTF8&s=hi

Very good, not to hard to “push around”. And it’s a free workout in adition to mowing the lawn. I’m very happy with it, been using it for 5 months.

If you have larger lawn that would just about have you considering a rider, get the self-propelled push mower, some of them will nearly pull you along. By mid summer stores are starting to discount mowers to clear inventory, so buy now or wait until July.

I like this suggestion because my mower started acting up this last time and I’m not very mechanically inclined to figure out the problem. I’ll probably pay almost as much to have it repaired as it would cost to get one of these manual items. I started looking and found the following:

Home Depot (1 of 2 products):
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=100019470

Lowes (1 of 3 products):
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=227681-53393-26033&lpage=none

I only listed the cheapest ones from their sites… I’ll still look elsewhere before I go by one of these places… but I do need the exercise too.

Gas lawn mower blades are easy to replace, what do you do with a dull reel type push mower blade? It would take longer to sharpen them that it would to cut the grass.

When I was a kid I had to mow our lawn with a push mower. I hated it. But I think if I had a yard and it wasn’t too big I’d use one. Save money and get a bit of exercise. It really is more tiring than a power mower.

using a push mower is easy if used in the early morning or late afternoon. it can get brutal if the sun is out and the temperatures are rising. got to be mindful of adjusting the blades to maintain the cutting edge. i use my manual mower weekly for 20 years in a very small yard and never had to sharpen the blades. it would seem to me that the blades sharpen themselves in the manner like a knife and a rod sharpener.

would your neighbor mind sharing the rider for gas and the lawn mowing duties?

would your neighbor mind sharing the rider for gas and the lawn mowing duties?

Our yard it too small for the rider - I’d feel ridiculous on it. Plus I know that the rider mower is out neighbors stature symbol…he wouldn’t want anyone else doing it.

I have heard that push mowers do not work if your lawn is too high, since I procrastinate, I am not going to manage with one I also tend to fail to do the whole thing, some kid will wake up in the middle or something….

but you are a bit more responsible than I am…..

I would prefer one though, I hate having to gas mine up.

I had and used a reel type push mower for 3 or 4 years. Over all I liked using it. Key factors for me and like the low maintenance (no checking oil and filling gas, sharpening was not bad and only every 2 years or so for me), it was quite and environmentally friendly.

It was difficult but not impossible when the grass got long, but I just tried to mow a few times a week to keep up with the grass when it was growing fast.

Another reason manual reel mowers are recommended is that they are a lot less likely to remove a finger or toe in the case of a fall on or hill or whatever.

I got mine at the local home store, and might get one again when I have a smaller grass area or more time.

I tend to only cut the grass (can’t really call it a “lawn”) once a month during the growing season, and not at all for six months of the year. I’ve used a push mower before, and it’s really brutal in full sun, especially if the grass is a bit long. I now use a petrol (gas) mower, and it’s well worth the money.

I bought the Scott’s reel lawnmower as mentioned above last year. I have a good-sized yard and my grass was way too healthy what with the amount of rain we had this year. Anyway, the blade needed sharpening very quickly and it’s sitting in my garage. I’m back with my gas-powered mower. I’ve gone ahead and sown a lot of white clover seed as an alternative and will see what happens this next spring. I’ve been told the clover is a good alternative, no need to fertilize, stays green, chokes out other weeds (hoping this is all true). Would really like to get away from the mowing so much if possible.