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My "new" form of "reel" exercise I got a "new" piece of exercise equipment last week. Remember my query about reel lawn mowers? Well, it hasn't rained much since then and when the grass finally got tall enough to need mowing, I got a call from someone alerting me to a second-hand reel mower for sale. We drove 10 miles to look at it, and I probably over-paid, but saving the earth's landfills sometimes means we buy old junk from retired folks, right? ;)  Just kidding. The guy assurred us that there was enough scrap metal in the mower that we couldn't lose money. And I don't think he was exaggerating, because "light" and "easy to push" aren't what come to mind when I mow with this thing. Especially since our lawn was/is 6 inches tall and full of little sticks. Oh, and the guy said he had never needed to sharpen the blade. You all warned me about tall grass and sticks, but where there's a will there's a way. During my first mowing attempt, Yehoshua said to me "Mommy! You can take a picture of this for your website." and I laughed! After forty-five minutes spent pushing through 6-inch tall-and-very-thick grassthe last thing I planned to do was blog about it!!  It's too dark in this picture to tell, but tonight I went back over some of what I had initially mowed and it went pretty well! Over short grass, this mower pushes about as hard as our old push mower did through really tall grass, so I think I can handle pushing it. The "woooosssshhhhh!" of the grass being cut is a really lovely sound, too. Every time I came past Ruth, she did this:  And I could actually hear her squeal as I mowed! I'll post an update next summer when I'm having to mow all the time. :) I would LOVE to have a reel mower. However, my husband says I'm out of my mind because it takes him nearly two hours just to use the gas mower on our lawn as it is. I just think it would be fabulous exercise and take less gas. Do you think it too longer, or just burned more calories?  Mowing short grass with the reel mower won't take me longer than with our small push mower. Mowing extremely tall grass (like I am doing to get through the lawn for the first time!) takes LOTS longer. I am working on it a little each day... I have about half of the lawn short now. I re-mow what's already been cut and then work on sections that are still tall. :) We have one, and before the foxtails took over the yard, we used it every time. The thing to remember about reel cut mowers is they must be used more frequently as they don't cut as much off. During the growing season, I mowed 2x a week with it. It is good exercise :) I also like the fact that younger than teenaged children can push it and help mow. I don't have to worry about my kid cutting off her foot with it or damaging her hearing. We just got ours about a month ago. Our grass hadn't been mowed since early summer (no shed, mudroom, or garage at present, so if we got a mower it had to be store in the trunk of our car), and it did okay minus the really tall weeds. We did get ours new (only $50), and we really like it. We put our 8 month girl in the baby carrier and mow along with her in tow! I had been thinking about posting on our blog about it, too! :) Keren That is so cool. I would love to have one of those mowers for the small part of our yard inside the fence. It's hard to get to that with the riding mower. We have so much land there is no way I could use this kind of mower on the whole thing though. I got one in early June and love it! It is great exercise. It's quiet and my kids can play outside while I mow. If you let the grass go, then it does become A LOT harder! We have used our gas mower in between maybe 2 or 3 times this summer, but still a lot better than the once a week my husband used to mow the lawn with the gas mower. The reel mower is better for the lawn, better for us, and better for the environment! It's a win-win-win! I've been thinking about finding one of these because I'm afraid to mow our lawn with a regular mower lol. (I've never used a lawnmower. My husband tried to show me but I didn't want any part of it, even though our 11-year-old neighbor girl mows her parents' lawn) I wouldn't mind trying one out, to see if I can handle it. Sounds like a great workout! You rock... girl:) That mower is a keeper. It must have been worth all the hard work just to hear your daugther cheering,and squealing Kristen We have a reel mower too. I like it, but don't let the grass get too high. It takes us probably 5 times (or more) as long to mow when we wait too long. Why doesn't your husband mow the lawn? Just wondering. I used to cut the grass before kids, but now it's is 100% Nathan's job. My yard is very different, though... I can't let the kids out of my sight and it isn't fenced in. Do most moms mow their lawns? It seem very foreign to me that the wife would mow the lawn. I never can remember my mom ever mowing the lawn. NEVER! -Zan My mother-in-law mows the lawn in her family lol. My father-in-law doesn't seem to like to do much of anything (so I'm told), so she's always the one that mows. They have a tiny yard though. She's mowed our yard before (which is about five times larger than hers), because my husband doesn't have time and I don't want to. Isn't it funny what is a different normal to different people? I don't ever remember my dad mowing the lawn--he farms so there was no, "after work" or "weekends off" for him to do it. Mostly us kids mowed it when we were old enough. My mom did otherwise, or my grandparents. I don't mow the lawn because we live in a unit and the landlord is responsible for having it done. But I actually like mowing the lawn so I wouldn't mind it at all. It's women's work to me, along with (wo)manning the barbecue.;-) (Just kidding, I don't really think of either of them as specifically one gender's job. I just have more experience with women doing both, myself included.) Joshua didn't mow the lawn because of his allergies, plus I actually really enjoy mowing. :) Now that we have the reel mower, he plans to use it some (it doesn't put as much grass in the air) although I will still probably do the majority of the mowing since I enjoy it and I need the exercise a lot more than he does! (He does manual labor at work every day and is in good shape!) Zan, When I was very young, my dad did all the mowing. Once I was about 10 years old, I started doing all the mowing because I wanted to! :) I don't remember the last time my dad mowed the grass. It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that I don't give him the chance. :) In fact I love doing any kind of yard work! -Elisabeth With that sweet baby doin' that with every pass....I'd have probably just sat down! ;-) my husband or my son always mow our yard, we have a riding mower and I wouldent mind doing it( Im home all day, they work) but my husband is a perfectionist with the grass, I guess. He never liked the way I did it. He always plows the garden in the spring, but after that, its my job to keep up with working in it, so I guess its kind of even. Wow, your grass is still that green? Ours is still green, but has slowed down in growing so much! It is raking leaves time here! I never have used a lawn mower......I have used a weed eater! I think it is fun. My mom mowed the grass, only because it is good exercise and she enjoyed it. All the women I know who mow, do it because they enjoy it! it is really hard to mow it.Dh uses ours and some times the kids do.We love that we do not have to buy gas to run it. Several years ago we purchased a new Sears reel lawn mower for me to use. I wanted the exercise, liked the idea of saving gas, and really liked the quiet. I'd mow the front lawn and my husband would mow the back, which had lots of trees and roots. I did this while pregnant (can't even imagine doing it now while pregnant). One day, while mowing, something thicker than grass came through the reel. It wasn't hard like a stick, but kind of soft. Hmm . . . Oh, that poor little toad. It makes me cringe every time I think about it. Susan Post new comment |
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Looks like fun!
Tereza