Should You Switch to a Reel Mower? Fiskars StaySharp Max Review 

Cool video, I’m 52 years old and I’ve been using my Fiskars mower for a month now and I love the way my grass looks and I’m getting a great cardio workout at the same time.

I’m about to buy the same machine on craigslist for $75. Not having to store gasoline, oil, or sharpen blades all the time, breathe the awful exhaust... I’m certainly happy to give this a try! My grandfather never had a motorized lawnmower. He lived to be 93 ! I’ve used real mowers in the past, but they were very old and not well maintained, which made them super hard to use, especially in tall or wet grass. But this Fiskars model seems to have solved all of those problems, especially with the height adjustment going so high! Regarding your having to double mow each pass : Check online, there are videos that show how to adjust the reel blades on this unit. I’m pretty sure this will resolve that issue. Thanks for the well thought out video! Go green! #do1thingtoday

i've used a manual reel mower for 6 years now. it is great exercise.

Its a great mower, I've had one for five years. One thing I've learned was that I need to sharpen it every season, and regularly adjust the blades, maybe once every couple weeks. Otherwise, over the years the blades get dull beyond repair. Basically this mower requires a lot of maintenance and babysitting to stay sharp over the years.

Great video. I'm 60 years old and the older reel mowers I used as a kid were hard to push. This one looks much more mechanically efficient. One the other hand, I can appreciate the exercise this mower would provide. The reel mower I used as a kid had duller blades. Fiskars is a great brand for scissors, so I assume the blades are excellent. This one has 4 wheels, the one I used just had 2 wheels. Great idea for a video.

I qualify as an older person that grew up pushing a reel mower while everyone else in the world had a gas mower. The multiple passes sucked. If we got several days of rain and the grass grew like crazy between cuttings it was really hard. My daughter brought home a $.50 fiskars from a yard sale. Works beautifully! Much, much nicer than the mower of my youth. There was one problem that I brought to my daughter's attention. People that use the word "acre" in the description of their lawn rarely buy manual reel mowers, no matter what the price :-). I'll stick to my garden tractor with a nice cigar!

Mine comes in Monday, I just put down some nice pgf fertilizer and watered it in tonight. So excited

This is a good review. I’m in my late 60’s yes as a kid I used a reel push mower, it was tough work. Recently I was planning to buy a Fiskars like yours for my 5000 sq ft yard in NE Ohio. I liked the idea of a quiet mower to use early in the day when it’s cooler. Also would cut the front and back at different times to divide the work. No one stocked them locally but if I found a used one like you did I would have bought it so I’m still using a gas rotary mower.😕

Awesome review I have a Scotts 16" reel mower and an earth wise 7 blade reel mower they both cut pretty sweet

Check reel to bed knife every couple mows. You'd probably have a friction issue and she'd be really tough to push at 36 inches. I just struggle with Fiskars specifically being twice the price of all the other available options for manual reels. Glad to have us both joining the reel mower club here though recently.

Yes we need it wider absolutely

I love mowing with this machine. It cuts great. It’s a nice mild workout.

I have an 18in Earthwise and love it. Looking to maybe upgrade to a Fiskars next year.

I got a reel mower 5 years ago because I have a small yard and I hate dealing with small engines. I've since landscaped away most of my yard into garden beds, wildflower beds, rock beds, and hedges. There's still a 20'x25' block of mostly grass that I cut with the reel. I've never sharpened mine, so it takes a few passes to knock everything down. When I let it get taller than 4", I knock most of it down with a weed cutter (blade on a stick) first. I really enjoy doing things manually though. I never make it to the gym 😋

This was interesting. I've been wanting one for years---just because of the noise. I hate power mowers. Thanks for your honest review---even the downsides.

I have a tiny yard, and debated getting this one. But I have little time and I read if the grass gets too long it doesn’t cut well. I have a battery mower that is also lighter and quieter than gas. In a few years when my life calms down, I hope to get a reel mower!

I have a rotary model from Scotts, and my experience has been pretty similar to yours: though if anything, I'm almost the perfect reel-mower customer, as our plot is only about 0.15 acre (and, I'm happy to say, the lawn space is slowly shrinking as we expand our garden area. My biggest complaint is, as you mentioned, they really don't like sticks, and they don't do well with tall grass. However, even having to stop to clear a stick jam is an improvement over a rotary mower spewing out shards of wood at velocities of "accidentally murder your neighbor" per hour, and it also doesn't choke on the tall grass, which my old gas-powered rotary would do all the time. And you may be better off with the leaves than you think! I've gone over leaves with my (much smaller) reel mower, and it chews them up quite happily!

Thanks for the review. I just bought a house do not own a lawn mover and yard is very small. Buying a gas mower would be an overkill. I think I will buy one used and give it a go.

Nice video. I like my Fiskars reel mower. You mentioned many things but one thing you did not speak about is that they are quiet. I like that there is no engine noise and you do not have to feel guilty about cutting the grass real early or when the sun is getting low. I just sharpened mine today after about 4 1/2 years of use. They do require the occasional sharpening.

Had to buy a new mower because we sold our house (with an acre of lawn) and my ride on mower. New house with a small lawn. Decided on the Dewalt battery powered system because the batteries matched my leaf blower and drills. Light, no gas or oil and batteries last for two mows.

Cool vid! Love the way it looks. We just made a reel mower vid as well. Keep up the good work.

Nice video. Despite watering my yard to the point that it financially hurts, the grass here in Colorado doesn't grow that quickly, Thsi might work here but I'll stick with my gas mower. Thanks for making this video.

Good review!

Thank you for the info.

This was a great, and relaxing video. Explained the device very well in a young whippersnapper Mr. Rogers sort of voice cadence. I have one of these mowers ordered and I feel as I watch these reviews that I made the right choice even though these cost more than the average reel mower. Thanks for the honest and straightforward information.

Hi, it looks like all the other push movers I have had, I have had a few “stay sharp mowers also and they do need sharpening from time to time. I had not realised how expensive they are now, I always got mine at boot sales and usually paid between £2:00 and £2:50 for them if they were in a very good state and with grass boxes. I too like the smell of newly mow grass and I have never had a mower that you did not get that, it could be the height is too high.

The sharpening kit from Fiskars that I've seen makes sense, cause they sell a lot of knives. But maybe you saw one that's specifically for the mower.

I have grass pathways between my hugelkultur garden beds. The gas Honda mower is hard to fit down the paths and turn at the ends, I think this will be much better

Sharpen and adjust the blades...one pass on that lawn should leave a very clean cut. It's not a very good lawn mower for knocking down tall(5"+) grass but it'll tackle anything shorter without much effort.

Great video. Is this hard to put together?

Have you tried the grass catcher that is available?

I wonder if there any features on your mower that you really like that are not on the Fiskars most basic model . Great video , especially like the lack of loud obnoxious music .

Did you ever sharpen the blades? Did it change the experience much?

Cutting with a manual mower is healthier for your grass because it cuts cleanly. The power mower blades whip and slap the grass creating the 'spit ends' you were talking about which is bad for the plant and the grass tips get a burned (brown) look, especially if the blades are dull. That also creates the smell of freshly cut grass you were missing. I have a really small plot and getting out a power mower and checking the fuel and oil would take almost as much time as cutting the grass. So lawn size does matter. Also if your lawn is not flat, a manual mower is a pain so take that into consideration.

Problem is returning over the same path. You need to mow opposite

Intelligent humor......

other benefits - you can mow in the rain, you can mow at 5am not not piss off the neighbors!

Yeah, reel mowers won’t cut grass much higher than the setting, has to be even before the cut

Bruv, you have a massive clover and crabgrass problem. How about applying weed N feed and direct weed killer to your lawn?

That price for a Fiskars is quite a prize!

Reel 4 life

hmm older person vs new age push reel mower old weighed more it cut better you felt like death warmed over after mowing 2 acres not sure the width was wider thou think you mentioned that . but when you made a pass on the older mower it cut it first pass provided your speed was consistent . it hugged the ground better at work we use to have gang reel mowers pulled by a tractor one pass and done . this fiskars mower is as we know lighter it cuts the grass more passes than grandpas old wooden roller reel mower dearly miss grandmas cold ice tea and oatmeal cookie s waiting on us when we kids finished cutting there yard with 2 reel mowers we d trade off not sure 4 grand kid s to 2 acres of yard was fair to compare but it take from 9 am to 11 am on Saturday mornings i ran the fiskars last summer on a 96 x 250 lot myself roughly hour half but i'm also a biker who peddles 4k miles a year my legs are strong mowing is my warm up to my sunday bike ride of 20 to 30 miles i ride bike almost every day except less in winter normal day is 16 to 21 after work no grandkids to mow my yard unless there fish or cats great video and you got a great deal i tried the scotts reel mower found it a headache compared to fiskars it was a freebie from a co worker who was trashing it thats were i put it

na, cutting height is to high, i like it cut down to 10 to 12mm

5:10 Half an acre is not a small yard, OMG! Yo da man!!

If you have big lawn and have no time - buy robot instead :) it will take care of it...

2:24 Kristopher: You've got 1...2...3...4...5 turbines on a mower, Turbines which mark the difference Between a gentleman and a bum, With a capitol "B," And that rhymes with "P," and that stands for 'Pool!"

every time i hear you say "reel mower" i think "real mower" i.e. powered. haha.

The taller you cut with a reel mower the worse it cuts

The answer is NO. Returned two of them, finally settled on one but too was not great, the stationary blade was not true, the sides didn't cut well, and the centre made contact with the reel. No one services them, and good luck doing it yourself. Next time, I'm buying a cheap reel mower and tossing it when it needs service.