Push Mower - 17" Cut Width Manual Reel Mower with No Motor - Grass Cutter with Steel Blades that Stay Sharp - Eco-Friendly Cordless Grass Trimmer for Lawn Care

Bought this a little more than a month ago. The blades required adjustment right out of the box with no adjustment needed, since. I've cut the front and back yards at least 4 or 5 times each. The front looks better than ever. The back, which is ALL crabgrass, looks great, but requires extra cutting (the dogs take priority so we don't use any chemicals back there). You won’t believe how this gobbles up the thickest, squirreliest, grass. BUT, you’re the engine; the thick crabgrass will slow you down. However, typical grass is no problem. The chain driven blades are remarkable. This week we had rain from Saturday to Wednesday; heavy downpours. I cut the backyard yesterday, Thursday, and although it was very wet, it looks great. I love this machine. I grew up working on golf courses. We cut everything with reel mowers, which is why I wanted to try this mower. It exceeds all expectations. There are things it has a slightly hard time with, i.e., tall blades, especially the harder, brittle ones that have gone to seed. But, if you run the mower to those and stop above them, the blades continue to spin and with a little experience and finesse, it will eat these up easily. What I find works best is cutting twice, in 2 directions; perpendicular cuts. The 2nd gets what the 1st didn't. I know what you're thinking, "TWICE?" You don't have to cut everything twice; only where it counts, high visibility areas. Trust me, your neighbors will be jealous. What I like best about this mower: NO gas, NO oil, NO stink, NO noise. With my battery powered weed eater, I'm the greenest guy on the street. And, I'm happier for it. FYI: I spray everything, as recommended, with SILICON lubricant before and after each cut. When I finish cutting I put the mower on the deck. in the sun. It dries out in no time. I clean off the cuttings and put it in the shed. Deficiencies: It really has none, but one design flaw is: the height adjustment knob is detached when you receive your mower. It screws onto the adjustment lever. BUT, if you have a yard like mine, i.e., bumpy and large, it will vibrate off, which is what happened to mine. I've walked the yard half a dozen times and can't find it. This morning I called Fiskars Cust. Svc. and they immediately finished my sentence for me, followed by: "give me your name and address and I'll send one out." When the new one arrives, I'll put some plumbers tape on the shaft before installing it. Conclusion: You can't get a better mower for under $200, anywhere. Weird as it sounds, I look forward to cutting the grass. That never happened, before... Update: Got the replacement knob this morning, 8/3. Great product, great company... Update 2.0 (4/28/19): Second season cutting with this mower. Got it out, cleaned and lub'd the whole mower about 2 weeks ago. 2nd cut of the season this morning @7am; it's so quiet nobody in the neighborhood knew I was out there.. The grass looks so nice that I actually stop and look at it every time I walk thru the living room. I believe the grass has changed since I got this; the grass stands up now, and the texture has changed (it's softer and seems to have adjusted to the mower), even the mess in the backyard. I'm sure if/when the rain decreases the grass'll get more brittle, but because this mower throws the moist cuttings back into the lawn that should be minimal. After reading some of the other reviews, I can understand why some have had a less-than-positive experience with this mower. First, the front wheels don't pivot. If you wanna turn, YOU have to turn the mower. It's not hard. I go around the beds and trees with no problem. And, as long as you cut regularly and don't let the grass get too long, this'll cut it, nicely. As I said in my original review, I cut the front yard in both directions. Even then there are some irregular cuts, but unless you look for it, you'll never notice or care. For those who might worry about the blades getting dull, don't. They kinda take care of themselves. You might have to adjust the blades, but sharpening should only be done when/if the mower is not cutting. That said, you need to take care of the blades. Any branches or twigs that fall into the yard should be picked up. They'll dull your blades if you keep cutting them; you'll know when you've cut one because you'll hear the blade kind of ring each time you do. If anything big enough to stop the reel from spinning, that's bad, too. Leaves aren't as bad, but you should avoid cutting anything that isn't grass. For what it's worth, mine sat in the shed all winter and it got pretty cold. I removed the orange top shield and chain guard, cleaned everything, including the blades and lub'd all the bearings and chain. There's no difference in cutting from last year. I've pretty much decided that if/when this mower wears out, I'm buyin' another one. I still think it's the best mower you can buy for under $200.

I've owned this model for about ten years now. Things I regard as positives - (1) It costs less than most quality gas or electric mowers. (2) Burn more calories cutting the grass. (3) It is environmentally friendly. (4) It costs much less to maintain compared to gas mowers - no need to purchase gas or oil. (5) This design seems to spin and generate more power than just my manual push, probably related to how they have the chain linked to the wheels to blades. (6) Lasted ten years before any part broke (7) Can direct the cut grass to be thrown front or back - I prefer front so it sort of gets that double cut into smaller pieces (not mulching though) (8) It has a pretty good cut on the grass, not as good as gas powered mowers if you are looking for that manicured, picture perfect lawn shown in real estate ads, BUT, cuts well for a functional, nice lawn. So over-all, the last ten years I've saved money, burned more calories, and helped the environment..., that's a win, win, win.. :) For negatives, which don't really bother me, but could for others: (1)Takes longer to cut the grass than all powered mowers. (2) For a really nice cut, you need to cut one way, then turn around and cut the other way over the same space. (3) I have somewhat steep hills in my yard, and you will definitely get a workout, especially if the grass is thicker or taller. (4) In some case, similar to gas powered mowers which will clog with thick, tall, or wet grass, you'll need to cut once at a raised blade setting, then again at the lower height. (5) You will need to muscle it to get through thicker grass, but I view that as a good workout. (6) It will not cut TALL grass, so you'll need to weed whack those extra tall stragglers after you do the level cut for the full lawn. (7) Unlike gas powered mowers, you can't just place it over a tight spot, such as a corner of a yard gate to cut the grass. You need movement to roll/cut the grass. Again, I need to weed whack a little more to cut grass in tight corners. I'm 55 and healthy, so I don't mind a little extra muscle work and time in cutting the lawn, plus I'm frugal, so I don't mind the negatives and really like the positives. BUT, if I was older, not steady on my feet, didn't have the time (like I used to with my previous long commuting job), have a lot of hills in a much larger yard, or if I really wanted that perfectly manicured lawn in one mowing, then the negatives would weigh much heavier.

Here's the review I wish I'd read when I bought this a year ago. My yard has a lot of weeds and crabgrass and who knows what. People who have that fine, thick grass like a golf green won't need this review. (I have that in one part of my yard and this cuts it perfectly.) 1. This mower is quiet, it smells nice when I mow, and it's actually a little easier to mow with than with my old gas mower. It also cost me less than my old mower did. I'm glad I got it, and hope I never have to go back to a gas mower. 2. Used correctly, this mower will cut about 99% of the lawn very nicely. If you're a perfectionist this might drive you crazy, but in no circumstance will you cut every blade of grass in a yard like mine. The reason for that is what I would consider a design flaw. The mower pushes over anything over about 6" in height and won't cut it--at all. When you have weeds in your yard and other non-ideal grasses, some of those will get over 6" before the lawn really needs mowing. For me that's about 1% of my lawn that I need to go back and manually cut. The bigger problem with this is if you go on vacation or it rains for two weeks straight, you might not be able to mow at all. 3. This thing handles hills with no problem. It's considerably lighter than my older gas-powered mower and a lot less dangerous going up and down a steep hill in my backyard. (My yard has no flat spots.) Yeah, it's a workout, but not as bad as a gas mower. (Self-propelled mower burned out the drive belt in less than one season on that hill.) 4. After 30 years of mowing with gas mowers, this was a learning curve. It's hard to retrain your brain that you'll only cut going directly forward (think: mowing around bushes). With gas if you miss a narrow strip you'll get it next time you mow--but not with this mower, because then the grass is too tall to cut. I could go on. It's a lot of little things that you just have to get used to. 5. I can't mow in direct sunlight, or I won't be able to tell where I've been. I don't know why but it's harder to tell with this mower than a gas mower. Late afternoon shade seems to take care of that problem. It also helps to keep the mower no higher than halfway. 6. It looks cool to push the clippings forward, but it works better if you tilt the shield up and let the clippings come out the back. Unlike a gas mower, this one won't throw clippings on your sidewalk or in your beds if you use it this way. 7. Don't stress about sticks in your yard. Unless you're sprinting or are super strong, the mower will just stop, you'll pull it back to clear the stick, and on you go. BOTTOM LINE: I'm glad I bought this mower. It was a learning curve, but I'm stubborn and figured out how to use it correctly. I can't say whether my lawn has improved, but the experience has.

I had purchased a brill but had to send back due to defective handle. I researched all the newer type of reel mowers. First I should tell you we wanted a reel mower. We have a fairly small yard less than 500 ft/2 and the back is the same. Mostly landscape, flowers and various plants we really don't need the big gas mower. WE had a very good Neuton battery mower for several years but it too finally gave up. We wanted to leave a smaller carbon footprint hence the manual reel mower. And the extra exercise is good too. Since our mower went out and we had a bit of a struggle getting the right mower our grass had grown a bit high. This afternoon we received the Fiskars mower in great condition packaged very well. Put it together requiring only a couple of tools. The only fall back that we had experienced was the grass catcher, and the blade sharpener that was part of a multi order from the middle of the page that Amazon has for many products, had the wrong grass catcher bag and the wrong blade adjustment /sharpener tool.So beware when looking at the 3 pack order that is on the page. The items are wrong, you will need to order each item separately from the respective page. The Mower ran like glass, no sound other than the movement of the earth, the sky and the birds. Just kidding, but the mower is extremely quiet. Even the action of the no contact blades is unbelievably quiet. The mower due to the action of its wheels and the blade that spins quit fast compared to the motion of the wheels is really something to be experienced. I started to cut the front yard, then the wife took the mower and cut the rest of the yard and then went to the back yard. I got some sweet tea and sat down in the patio, work really fascinates me, I could watch it for hours. I took out the new Black and Decker cordless weed eater and had a blast with it. I am really sold on the new style reel mowers. This one is easy to push, quiet, cuts even over grown grass with just a bit more force, but if kept down , which we always do anyway, it will be an absolute joy to cut. One big difference I would like to mention here, is the reel mower actually cuts grass, like scissors at a much slower pace than rotary mowers. Lawn mowers beat the hell out of the grass bruising it and leaving frayed tips. This is an opening for disease and browning of the grass. I expect to have a greener lawn with less water usage, and less feeding. I will update this review as we use the mower and have more experience with the unit. Have had the mower for a bit now, and it is still going strong. We had quite a windy couple of months so there were lots of tree branches and stuff on the ground but it cut it all like it was nothing. The blades are still sharp, wheels are still firm and the blade rotates with little effort. I have cleaned the mower a bit taking the grass stain off the blade. I did not realize the blade is so sharp. Be aware that you can and will cut out a chunk of skin of you don't wear gloves. Had to have a few stitches. Of course my doctor laughed at me cause I am always hurting myself, and paying for his Cabo vacation. All in all the mower performed beyond expectations, will never go back to a power mower again. Many thanks to Fiskars for producing a mower that outperformed the German design. joe

First I’ll start with that I have an older reel mower. And that I have stepped away from gas powered push mowers for some time now to reduce our carbon foot print. I mow about a 1/2 acre 2 -3 times a week depending on rain. Which is honestly the same amount of times I did with a gas powered mower. I don’t like ticks or fleas so I prefer my yard short. It is easier to push and cuts the grass like butter compared to the other one I have (different brand antique style) I can’t tell you the brand of the other one because it’s worn and tattered. But it is easier to push than the smaller one I have. This reel mower is heavier than my older one. But I don’t think that it’s any heavier than a gas powered push mower, full of gas. It maneuvers around better than the older reel mower, about the same as a gas powered one. Obviously you’ll still have some weed whipping to do. Things like sticks don’t get lodged in the reel. It just kicks them out. It cuts the grass nicely. It cuts crab grass and the buck weeds we have here. Something the gas powered never did. My grass is healthier than my neighbors yards. They wished theirs looked like ours, except they are scared to work hard by using a reel mower. We also don’t use chemicals or pesticides here so I don’t know that the reel mower is solely responsible for the health of the grass. I honestly like it better to use than the old reel mower and even better that I don’t have to fiddle with anything to use it. The adjustments are easy to use for the grass height. The older reel mower I needed a screw driver and had to adjust both sides. The gas powered mower I’d have to adjust the front wheels and back wheels and hope they were even. Maintenance is fairy easy a couple sweeps with a dollar store broom and it’s clean. Gas powered required me to scrape the plastered grass out with a putty knife or hose. No thank you. I would purchase this again. It’s a great reel mower. It’s a really great design and very user friendly. If you new to a reel mower it is different, entirely you’ll have to keep up with the yard. Tall grass isn’t great to cut with these. So if you slack and cut the grass after it’s about 4-6 inches high your not going to love it at all. For a reel mower this is probably the best on the market today.

Let me start this off by saying that this mower isn't for everyone - if you're buying it expecting it to replace your self-propel gas mower, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. If you legitimately enjoy mowing and you don't have too big of a yard, I HIGHLY recommend getting this and enjoying your time outside as I have. To begin with, getting this mower to work was a labor of love. When my mower first arrived, I immediately noticed that the plastic chain guard was cracked and broken right out of the box. Then, when I took it out to try mowing with it, I found it was almost impossible to push through my grass. I compared the height with my other reel mower and while the other one would cut like a breeze, the Fiskars was almost impossible to push. I still had faith in the brand so I requested a replacement. When the replacement arrived, it had a different issue - one of the bolts holding on the reel blades was improperly assembled, creating a snag point where I could only lower the cutting blades to a certain point. With a little help from my hammer I was able to get the height lowered, but lo and behold I ran into the same issue where it required Herculean strength to push. I had my wife come out and help and I had my father try when he was over - all three of us complained that it was nearly impossible to push through grass that wasn't terribly long nor thick. Running out of patience but willing to give it one more go-round, I opted for another replacement. Once this one arrived, I was immediately optimistic because this one had no damage on it at all. I pulled it out of the box, set the height to about two inches and took off. This thing cut through my grass like a dream. I've held off on reviewing it to see if it would remain a great mower and a few months later it still hasn't let me down. Because of the shade in my back yard, my grass tends to grow extremely fast and thick but this mower hasn't complained once. When I try using my electric (13-amp corded) mower, I continually have to stop and lift the blades off the ground to let some of the clippings drop if I'm not using a bag. With the StaySharp Max I just power through with minimal effort. The InertaDrive really makes a difference as my grass gets thicker and allows me to cut it down with ease. Pros: InertaDrive makes pushing through grass effortless InertaDrive also matches your speed - if you feel like sprinting back and forth, the blades will match your speed and cut the grass accordingly This thing weighs quite a bit and makes it easy to follow the lines in the grass Super quiet - I barely need to turn up the volume on my music when I mow 18" cutting width means fewer passes compared to my old 16" wide reel mower Disperses grass clippings somewhat more evenly than the clumps left by my old standard mower No need for gas, oil, batteries, or cords The height adjustment lever makes changes quick and painless Cons: The weight can be problematic if you have a hill like the one in my back yard - the InertaDrive really exists to keep the blades spinning faster, not to act as a drive train to help push the mower It doesn't mulch, but I can't imagine how you would do that in any real sense with a reel mower Like all reel mowers, a woodchip or a stick will bring you to an immediate halt. Make sure your yard is clear of debris Once I finally got a fully-working mower, I could not have been more pleased with my purchase. No one in my family believes me, but it used to take approximately 75 minutes to cut both my front and my back yard with my old, corded 21" mower, and I can cut everything in less than an hour with this. It has a narrower cutting deck but it makes up for it with the simplicity of turning and going instead of struggling with the cord. Some other pros that might be specific to me because I'm me - it's much more beneficial to the wildlife in my back yard. Since I've moved to this house, I have dozens of these little tiny frogs that are constantly jumping around in my grass. Because of the mechanics for reel mowers, there is only one cutting surface - a horizontal line where the spinning blades contact the cutting surface that cuts the grass down. Outside of extremely poor planning, I can rather safely push the mower throughout my grass without having to worry about them getting sucked up, "mulched," and wetly deposited in my yard. Like I alluded to earlier, I rather enjoy mowing my yard, and push mowers make the whole process feel more natural. My wife has commented that our yard looks better with this mower and it's made me a happier person, so if you think that using a push reel mower is for you, this should be your ultimate destination. For me, I started off with a much cheaper version and tested it out to see if this style of mower was for me. Once I agreed that reel mowers would be my mower model of choice, I decided I wanted to upgrade to whatever would give me the best-in-class experience and the Fiskars StaySharp Max has not disappointed.

UPDATED REVIEW - Dropped from 4 stars to 1 star. After using the mower for 2 months, it is jamming up today and getting caught + exponentially harder to push. I've tried a number of things to assess and correct the issue. Update again: I've attempted to contact support using the online form. I've tried twice and it just never submits. Will have to call support and see if that works better. If I can resolve with support, will raise up to 3 stars, but honestly it shouldn't be having problems after 2 months. For reference, If I raise it up one setting the mower operates with ease. As soon as I drop 1 setting (quarter-inch) - the mower becomes unusable. I've mowed down some dense and tall grass with ease on this mower, so I'm not sure why this quarter inch is causing trouble. The only thing I can tell is that when I drop it that one setting, the bottom back of the mower frame is pushing on the grass/dragging. I'm wondering if this is a design flaw instead of a problem with the mower. Then again, it was mowing reasonably a couple days ago, so I have no idea. I'm just starting to regret trying to use a reel mower and should have just opted for gas/electric. The idea of a reel mower is that I don't have to deal w/ gas / electric /problems due to simplicity, but that seems to be unavoidable. I'm a reasonably average guy (6'1") and I used to work out, so I'm not weak. The best analogy to my experience trying to cut the grass today is I felt like those football players trying to push those sleds on the grass. The only problem is I'm not built like a football player / viking, and I shouldn't need to be in order to use this reel mower. Notes: Stored in a garage, used for 2 months, cutting a lawn in Alabama. I cut the grass weekly. ORIGINAL REVIEW Overall a great mower. I used a reel growing up and this felt almost effortless In comparison. Does require some work to get started to get momentum. Pros: -very easy to push once you are moving -almost silent (I can now mow early AM with no worries) -forward grass toss -cuts nicely -simple device -easy storage -can keep grass at a taller height -was able to cut tall overgrown grass (instructions say max is 6” but a couple passes makes short work of taller grass). (I Haven’t tried grass over 8”) Where it could improve (cons): -it’s heavy when stopped -very hard to maneuver around fences -Very hard to turn quickly or sharply. I usually swing around Wide and have to do an odd pattern for lines -the height settings Seem to work for people shorter than 6’2; I find it tolerable. -assembly for the handle seemed a bit tough for how simple it really should be. I had to use a couple tools simultaneously to assemble the handlebars And the height settings weren’t intuitive. Overall I’m very pleased but with some minor improvements this would be the best mower ever.

I am giving this, overall, 4 stars. It cuts the grass, and it is not difficult to push it on totally straight lawns. If you have even the slightest of inclines, if you have a slight dip, if you have a lot of uneven lawn - this will be a workout. If it gets to be over 90 degrees where you live, it will be a challenge. If you have mulch and it escapes the garden beds into the grass, this will jam with every piece of mulch. This will sometimes even jam if too much clover gets stuck between the blade and the guard. In fact, that is one thing that should be improved on - it's very difficult to get grass clippings or clover out from the bottom guard. If your grass is damp, good luck. The plastic on the side of the lawnmower is not very durable - it protects the chain, and I noticed the plastic is cracking around where it's bolted. Even though I am very careful to not bang it on anything. It's not that easy to turn with this. Going in a straight line on a flat surface - surprisingly easy. But, turning, especially tight turns - not easy at all. It is definitely far quieter than any other lawnmower. And you could listen to music/audio books without issues. Overall - if you want to get in shape, this is the lawnmower for you. I don't hate it. I get this weird satisfaction from having mowed the lawn manually. And it's a fantastic workout. But, there are things that could definitely be improved, like a better quality cover for where the chain is and an easier way of clearing out the bottom guard from grass clippings.