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Post from William Greene's Blog:
Push Reel Lawn Mower
By Will Greene - Jun 22, 2008 2:01:51 AM ET
Also listed in: The Evergreen State for an Evergreen World
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Tags: push reel lawn mower
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I recently went to my local Ace Hardware looking for an electric lawn mower, and decided I would try their $90 push reel instead. I have been thrilled with it! I know push reels come with a terrible stigma, but I have been using it for 2 months now and it has been far easier than my old gas mower. Gas mowers are absolutely filthy. A single gas mower emits 80 pounds of carbon dioxide each year (EPA). No more tune-ups, no more yanking on that string, no more disgusting fuel smell, no more extremely loud buzzing, no more having to buy gas and oil, no more fuel guzzling gas mower!

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Don't forget the person benefit.
By Joshua Van Dyk, Jun 22, 2008 at 3:55:33 PM ET
Man I don't remember the last time I had a push mower, but what I can remember from it, besides getting away from the loud noise, the fuel smell, and the damned string to pull, was that it definitely gave you a work out. Not only are you helping the environment by not polluting but you're helping yourself as well. I've been thinking of getting an electric mower myself, but with this, I may go for the push reel instead.
Re: Don't forget the person benefit.
By Will Greene, Jun 22, 2008 at 4:42:08 PM ET
I always appreciate a free workout, but honestly I haven't noticed much difference in how much work the push reel is compared to the gas. The trick with the push reel is you really do have to cut your grass every weekend (during the spring only, when the grass is exploding). This spring I skipped one weekend of mowing, and I had a lot of trouble cutting it the next weekend. I think the reason we stopped using push reels was because people were getting lazy and didn't cut their grass every weekend in the spring. Also the only other problem I've had is sticks or even small twigs easily jam the blade rotation. It's an easy fix though, just get out there with a rake if you have apple trees or something or just lean down and remove the obstacle.