Scotts Outdoor Power Tools 2000-20S 20-Inch 5-Blade Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower, Green

As much as I love gardening, I hate mowing the lawn. I hate lugging my power mower out of the garage and maneuvering it around our cars and all my husband's junk. I hate the noise it makes. It's heavy to push and hard to get it into tight spaces. I thought I was at least avoiding the hassle and environmental issues of gasoline by buying an electric rechargeable one. But after a few years the battery stopped holding a charge and they discontinued the replacement batteries, so the whole thing is a giant piece of e-waste now. I didn't want to buy another one, so I decided to try an old-fashioned reel mower instead.Some of the reviews on this product had me worried. Some people found them hard to push, some said they get caught up on every little tough weed and twig, etc. After using my new Scotts reel mower for the first time, I really don't understand what those people were talking about. Maybe they were using it on super-high grass, or on wet grass. But the first time I used mine, I found it WAY easier to use than a power mower. It takes up much less space in the garage, and I can just pick it up with one arm and carry it outside. You walk up and down the yard with it, you're done in a few minutes, and that's it.I like that this particular model allows you to adjust the height to a maximum of 3 inches. (That's the height that's supposed to be healthier for your lawn and better for water conservation, but most reel mowers don't adjust that high.)There are a few caveats. If you look at my picture where I've used the 3" setting, you'll see that it doesn't chop every single blade of grass to a uniform height, like a carpet. Any grass or weeds that grow sideways, or that are tall and flimsy, don't get trimmed. I did have to bend down to pick a few dandelions it didn't get. But overall, considering it took me all of 10 minutes to cut it, and without breaking a sweat, I'm pretty thrilled with it.The other thing is that it does not eliminate the need for an edger/trimmer. You can see I had to leave some taller grass at the base of the trees. The one tree has a ring of rocks around it, and I was afraid of damaging the blades. I got closer to the other tree, but I'll still have to go back and use the weedeater around the base. But then, you'd have the same issue with any other mower as well.Some people complained it gets stuck on sticks and rocks. We had a wind storm the day before I mowed, and I did take a couple of minutes to go out and pick up any sticks that were big enough to stick up out of the lawn. But I certainly didn't pick up every little twig and seedpod. You can see quite a few of them still in the grass, and the mower didn't get stuck on any of them. I did have to bend down to pluck up a few dandelions by hand, though, as the mower just bent them over and didn't cut them. And there were a couple of little spots where I had to go over them a second time, because a few random blades were still sticking up.When I cut my lawn, it had only been about a week since the last trim, so I didn't have to cut off a lot of length. But if you let your grass get high, the mower is going to be harder to push. And if your grass is REALLY high, the mower might just sort of push it all over instead of cutting it. But that was also true with my old power mower. If you let the grass get really long, you need to go over it with a weedeater, then mow at the highest setting, and then lower it and go over it again. Obviously, it's better not to let your grass get that long in the first place. But the great thing about the reel mower is that it's so much easier to use than my power mower, I won't be nearly as lazy about pulling it out of the garage to use it more often. In fact, as much as cutting the grass can be fun, it was sort of fun.If you're wondering whether the grass catcher attachment is worthwhile... not really. The trimmings just sort of fly up in the air, and the open-topped bag picks up whatever happens to land in it, but a lot of trimmings still end up in the grass. The trimmings will help mulch your lawn and keep it healthy anyway. I only bought the grass catcher because I was hoping I wouldn't have to sweep the sidewalk. There was less to sweep up, but I still had to make a quick pass with a broom. I probably won't return the grass catcher, but if I had it to do over I probably wouldn't bother with it.Reel mowers are available in a lot of different widths, with this 20" one being one of the widest available. If you're wondering what width you should get, the wider they are, the more grass you can cut at once, which means they're also harder to push because there's more resistance. That said, I didn't find the 20" to be remotely hard to push. (The claims about it being a "good workout" are a bit overblown.) The only reason I could see for getting a narrower one is if you have a lot of really tight spaces in your yard that require some tricky maneuvering. The mower also works better if you are walking quickly, because that makes the blades turn faster. So you have strength or mobility issues that might make it harder for you to push it quickly, that might also be a reason to get one of the narrower models.

It would be great for curated lawn grass. It doesn't work so well for my wild Texas grass, it doesn't cut the stiff seed shoots. It was easy to put together, it's easy to use. Its noisier than I expected but still quieter than an engine lawn mower. I like that I wouldn't need to buy gas or change the oil.

We bought this mower on recommendation from a friend who knew we were having issue with are motorized push mower. We'd never tried a motor-less one before and our yard isn't overly big (maybe like a 1/4 acre) and for the most part I was pleasantly surprised. I will however add some notes of things to know before buying:1. The blades are turned by your momentum. If you try and walk too slow, the blades won't move fast enough to cut the grass. You by no means have to run, but you have to keep a decent pace. This also means you want to start a few feet before the grassline and stop a few feet after the end of your line to ensure all grass is cut. This makes turns a little more tedious, but I didn't find it to be that big of an issue.2. This mower WILL NOT cut really thick weeds/really tall grass. This is a mower for a fairly simple yard that just has basic grass and is going to be regularly maintained.3. This mower WILL get stuck on sticks. All sticks. EVERY stick that you have in your yard. And I'm talking even twigs. It will not cut it and the blade will stop, making you have to pick the stick out. If you have a ton of trees and don't plan to pick up every single piece of wood, I'd just say pass on this mower. If you don't have trees or plan to pick up the sticks, it'll be just fine.4. The mower does not cut grass in reverse. It cuts grass when you walk forward and that's it. Which in some ways can be helpful like if you're trying to put it away when you're done, you can just push it backwards (the handle will go either way) and don't have to worry about the blades hitting anything. There are times that I'd wished it would have mow backwards, but it certainly wasn't a deal breaker for me either.5. Ease of use/assembly. The mower is very simple to put together. You simply have to put in a few bolts (included) to assemble the handle pieces and the pop the handle on to attach it to the base. The instructions are easy to follow and won't take more than 15 minutes.6. Convenience. It is very light weight compared to regular mowers. It's also easy to store because the handle isn't in a fixed angle and can be lifted into a standing position or even turn the opposite direction to push the mower in reverse.I believe that was all of the points I wanted to hit on. So to sum it up, this mower isn't for a yard with sticks in it. It is for a basic yard with little to no thick weeds. And it is for a yard that is regularly maintained. If you're a person with thick weeds, sticks, or just don't like to mow every single week, then I'd pass on this. Overall I really do like this mower and would recommend, especially if you pair it with a weed eater.