Experience with Reel Mowers

Zoysia - sodding in march

I used to mow my lawn with a reel mower. It was great exercise. If you have the right mower and the right grass, your lawn will look like a well manicured golf course.

You need to mow often. Also, if you have pine cones, sweet gum seeds or pods (or whatever they are called), or Magnolia seed pods, they will jam up the mower.

Fiskar's StaySharp is a really good reel mower.

If your yard is "lumpy" or uneven you may not want one.

I had a 27" tru-cut with 5.5 Honda. It was the commercial level; dual rear wheels,etc. Very well built, no issues. However, I've had 28 pallets worth of emerald zoysia since 2005, that I've expanded some by punching and transplanting plugs. Emerald zoysia is an older variety. It is very fine, but wiry and stiff. Cutting that grass, the reel would dull to where it tore and frayed the tips within just a few weeks of being professionally sharpened. I tried lapping it myself, and afterwards you could cut a sheet of paper no problem. But that wasn't good enough to cut grass cleanly. I was driving an hour and paying $80 per sharpening. The result of the professional sharpening was a reel lapped so tight, that it was hard to turn by hand. But that's what it took to cut my grass cleanly, and it would only last a few weeks. There's also an alignment for the reel-to-bedknife of the sharpening process, which is also tricky. For my application, it required ridiculous precision. That got old. After a few years, I pushed it to the side for about 10 years. Then I sold it and put that money into a dethatcher, which I found much more useful with what I have, as finding a rental was always a pain. Since then I just cut with a regular rotary riding mower with bagger. It frays and tears, but I've accepted that that's just the way it is with Emerald Zoysia without a professionally outfitted means of sharpening the reel. I cut on Sunday or Monday evening and it looks good again by Friday for the weekend. The reel mower failure (not the mower's fault) is the one thing I never read in all the research I did before getting Emerald Zoysia. But it's the biggest issue I've encountered. I think a reel would be much better on bermuda, or maybe other types of zoysia that may be softer or less dense than emerald, or show fraying less.

There was a guy who operated out of a mini storage off of Florida Blvd in Baton Rouge that I used to go to. I think his name was Ronnie. He was mostly a mobile service type of business, serving school ball fields and golf courses. But that was over 10 years ago. Don't remember how I came across him, and haven't run across anything like that since.

Edit: This is the name of the business I used to use. 31 yrs in business would align as well. Address given is residential, and websites by that name aren't him. I'd try giving the number a call if you need a reel sharpened. The phone number is probably correct.

Reel World

edit again: this is definitely him - Ronald Bernard (Ronnie)-Reel World Inc. Don't know what to make of this posting. He was a nice guy and knew his stuff and was always straight with me. Wouldn't hurt to call the number if you need that service.
Reel World Inc

I went all in last summer and went with a used greens mower. Unless you are cutting a small area, I've seen many on the lawnfourm and youtube etc recommend this route over the trucuts, cal trimmers and others.

It's more of a hobby than just getting the lawn cut short. And you'll certainly still need a working rotary mower.

Centipede @ 5/8"