Customer Reviews for Scotts 20 in. Manual Walk Behind Reel Lawn Mower, Includes Grass Catcher

The wheel height adjusters are weak and don’t want to stay. The main handle is wobbly, not connected well. Only the center 8-12 inches of my blades are wearing off the factory paint because the outer portions don’t cut. (The blades aren't well balanced?) I do like how it does cut in the middle portion! Just needs to made quality, otherwise it’s a piece of junk and will probably end up in a landfill, because I’ll probably pass it along to some sucker while I look for one of better quality.

I love my energy independent lawn mower!! Make sure your lawn is free of sticks and other debris that may prevent the blades from spinning. And that your lawn is mostly level. Areas like this I can just use my weed wacker for. It is great exercise with very little effort exerted if you start with short grass and keep it maintained. I can not speak for long grass. I find most people will look at you strangely when using, but the fact that I can quietly cut my grass at 6:00 am before the heat starts or 8:30 pm at sunset is reason enough for me to not be a follower.

This is the 3rd Scott's push mower I've bought and the 3rd time the handles have broken mid-job. I love the way my lawn looks after this mower but, the parts are just cheaper and as a result, they aren't built to last. I'll mow my 9,000 square/ft lawn both directions every time I mow, which is about every 3-4 days or risk letting it get too long to cut and you'll be weed-eating most of your lawn. It's perfect for a Bermuda lawn or something like that, not ideal for a fescue heavy lawn. It's short length means beautiful articulation and it's perfect for a lot things but durable it's not.

I just bought this today, 09/05/2020 to reel mow my lawn that I over-seeded a couple of weeks ago. My battery/gas lawnmowers are too heavy for the job and might trample the young grass. So, using a manual reel mower is the way to go. I'm not expecting a quality cut on this reel mower. All I want is to cut the young grass. To my surprise, this mower did a pretty good job. Yes, there are stragglers. I simply ran it twice. Perfect? No but manageable, as far as I can tell. Please take note that I used the lowest setting for the height of cut. And my grass is more or less 3.0" tall. Overall, I'm happy to have this reel mower. And definitely of great use to my renovated backyard seeded with Kentucky Blue Grass.

Perfect for small lawns. Cuts extremely sharp right out of the box. Very comfortable grip. The height adjustments work very well too. The grass catcher is very simple to put on and take off. This mower went beyond my expectations.

Economical, Quality Product! There is a little assembly involved in attaching the handle and grass catcher. For the technically challenged people, I would recommend that Scotts put together a simple, short, video, that includes how to attach the grass catcher, as I found the written instructions somewhat confusing. This is a sturdy little mower that I feel would be ideal for those with small, level lawns. I purchased this mower with the intention of using it to supplement my riding lawnmower, hoping that it would be easier to manipulate around some of my landscaping, but due to the fact that my lawn is not level and consists of a lot of dips and lumps and bumps, it is not ideal for my situation. It is, however, a good backup mower to have on hand to cut the towering grass on the high points, and good for exercise!

Lately I hear homeowners engaged in a torturous debate: should I keep using my gas mower? Or should I get an electric mower? If electric, which one? Corded or battery-powered? The simple answer: None of these!! Instead get yourself a Scotts 20" reel mower. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear ya. Who wants to work so hard to mow a lawn. It turns out that some PR firms have done a number on the reel mower, probably to get homeowners to buy expensive powered mowers and tractors. The PR firms completely extinguished the memory of how great reel mowers are. Here are the PRO's: (1) Reel mowers are really light, which translates into !! a lot less !! effort, energy and time. When I used to use an allegedly "self-propelled" gas mower, it took nearly twice the time to mow my lawn as it does with the reel mower. The reason: "self-propelled" does not help you to turn your mower, especially 180 degrees. You end up effectively weightlifting with a substantial chunk of cast iron each time you make a significant turn. The end result is slower progress and more physical energy expended. I find now that I mow my lawn several times a week because the time and effort is so minimal. I can even push the reel mower with one hand, and hold a cup of coffee in the other, even when turning 180 degrees. Try that with your power mower. (2) Reel mowers are better for your grass. Power mowers effectively rip the tops of your grass blades, which also yanks on their roots and damages your grass, even if you blade is razor sharp (show of hands: Who regularly sharpens their mower blade? Who has **ever** sharpened their mower blade? I rest my case.). The telltale sign you are damaging your grass is the fibers that stick out from the top of the grass after it is mowed with a power mower. Reel mowers use a scissors action that clips the grass without yanking on it. My lawn is much healthier and looks like a golf course green now that I have been using a reel mower. (3) Reel mowers do not leave clods of mashed up grass that power mowers do. If you don't go back and remove these clods, they cover spots on your lawn and kill grass (since the grass is already badly wounded, it does not have much of a chance against the clods). With a reel mower, all the clippings are single strands that just fall down among the blades of grass, where they dry up and/or decay and feed your lawn. If you want, you can use a grass catcher so you can discard the grass clippings, but in my case I have not found it necessary to do this. (4) Reel mowers are fun! I was surprised to find how much fun it was to use a reel mower. (Like you, I was expecting to expend a lot more effort and time and drudgery. It turns out using a power mower is a lot more drudgery.). Besides being quick and easy, reel mowers provide a certain satisfying entertainment as you watch the clippings shoot up behind the mower (maybe it's just me...). (5) Reel mowers don't leave you covered in grass spatter and breathing dust and toxic gases and particulates. A primary reason I switched to a reel mower is that it became necessary to wear a surgical mask when mowing with a power mower. The dust and pollen had become unbearable, and even in the best of circumstances, my shoes and pants would be covered in grass bits. Not any more. After I use my reel mower, I can walk into the house with nary a snide comment from the wife regarding the trail of grass blobs. (6) Reel mowers are very quiet. No more need to wear headphones, although I do put on a pair to listen to music or the radio (which does not have to be turned up to hearing-damaging volumes to hear over the sound of a gas engine). The lack of noise is only a slight benefit to neighbors, since they've all have become accustomed to the sound of power mowers, which they now find is "normal". But try using a power mower at 7am on a Sunday morning... A reel mower -- no noise, no problem! (7) Reel mowers are good for the environment... and you.. A gallon of gas becomes about 20 lbs of carbon dioxide when it is burned. Over the course of a mowing season, you'll burn how much gasoline? And unbeknownst to you, you are breathing in a bunch of toxic and carcinogenic exhaust as you walk behind your gas mower / drive your tractor. (8) Maintenance is easy. Every once in a while, the cutting edges need to be sharpened a bit. The process? Just use a bit of lapping compound, spin the blades a few times, and voila! sharp as a razor. Compare that to pouring gas, changing oil (show of hands: Who regularly changes their mower oil? Who has **ever** changed their mower oil? ), sharpening the blade (show of hands...). A few con's: (1) You need to make sure to first pick up twigs and branches littering your lawn under trees, as reel mowers cut grass, not wood of any significant dimension. (2) Reel mowers tend to not cut really tall blades, so you might find some tall stalks still standing after you've finished mowing. My solution? Just clip them with grass clippers. (3) You get weird looks from your neighbors who are still deep in the trance they were put in by the PR firms pushing power mowers. As you might have sensed, I really like using a reel mower. My bet is that you think you won't, and that when you try one, you'll never go back to gas. And you'll forget about your debate with yourself about whether to get a corded or battery-powered electric mower, and you will mow happily ever after with a reel mower.

Whatever you do, don't have this shipped, because cheap plastic does have a tendency to crack. I had this shipped because I don't have a vehicle. It arrived with one wheel cracked around the nut, so I contacted Home Depot and they send me two gray wheels. Of course, the new wheels look and feel like much better quality than the original orange wheel, too bad they didn't use this quality plastic the first time around... then again when the original wheels are made like crap, there's big profit in replacements, no? Sort of reminds me of my phone charger. So anyway, I can take it apart, pack it up in a box, ship it back and let the grass grow while I wait for a new one. Or, I can just keep going until the wheel falls off, while I come to terms with having a brand new mower that appears patched together with random spare parts. Which gets me to thinking... why are the spare wheels gray, when they only sell green and orange mowers?

The mower was easy to assemble, although some of the drawings didn't quite look like the actual product. I ended up not using the grass catcher. The way it hangs, I kept kicking it and knocking it loose. Maybe if it hooked to the handle on either side in two spots, instead of just one hook in the middle of the crossbar, it might stay in place better.I love the weight of the machine; it's a lot easier to push than my "walk-behind self-propelled" gas mower had become. Plus, it's a whole lot quieter. I wish it did a better job on some of the weeds, but overall it's great!

I really love this mower. I moved into a house in florida and was looking for a mower. My lawn is small (less than a 0.25 acres) so I thought a reel mower would be a good choice. Takes up less storage space and won't require fuel or charging. Not disappointed with my choice. this mower does a find and dandy job! Only issue is when I let the grass get a little tall or a stray weed grows faster than the grass. The blades wont get them. But it's not a big deal for me. I just quickly take my trimmer and cut high spots. this only happens a couple times a year when i'm busy and not able to keep up with the mowing. I could see this mower not being suitable for some people. Those with a big yard or sloped yard. You'll have trouble. But if youre like me and have a small yard this'll do the trick. And you'll get comments from all your neighbors from going "old school" with the reel lawn mower. A lot of fun to use. I don't use the grass catcher as it's a little clumsy but I prefer to mulch the clippings anyway. Also, another reason why i love this mower is the storage profile. Doesnt take up all the space of a gas or electric mower. But that's true for all reel mowers.

It's difficult for me to recommend, but I do like the mower. However, on it's maiden voyage, after 20 minutes of mowing, one of the small wheels came loose. That part of the mower comes pre-assembled, so I wasn't concerned. I got this mower because I prefer a reel mower and now that I am retired, I hate to have my husband come home after a hard day at work and have to mow. So today, he came home and had to fix my new mower. That being said, once it was fixed, it worked great.

This reel mower we purchased is awesome! No fumes from gas, no residues from pollen, grass or sticks flying up hitting us or getting into our nose. No loud annoying noises or vibrations from this Scott's mower! Only one con and not even one to really affect the outstanding quality of none pollution & no noise pollution which outweighs the fact that little sticks do get stuck in the blade and it won't mow until the little stick is removed. However we have a lot of trees so this is to be expected. I highly recommend this product!

This destroyed the weeds and clover i had in my yard. Unfortunately, it was ineffective on the long grass.

I have a very large yard which is all Bermuda. We have always cut our lawn with a large rider but never liked the heavy mower on the yard. We purchased this reel mower and love it! It took me several passes to learn the feel and to keep a good pace but love the finished product. It will be my bi-weekly workout for the summer!

The mower is very easy to assemble. The mower cuts the grass very well unless the grass is very tall. My problem was that I bought this mower with the idea to collect all grass clippings with the grass catcher. But the grass catcher catches only around 75% of the grass clippings.

I'm not one to compare, but I like to think I have an above average sized lawn with fairly thick grass and this mower does a good job at keeping up with it. For a little wild look I'll pass one time over with the mower, for a well kept and properly groomed lawn I'll pass over a second time and if you think you may get lucky, go for a third. An added plus, this will give you a good work out once a week. Not for the weak willed though, takes a good amount of effort and each lawn is different. Would recommend to take a rake and combing out as many twigs as possible before mowing. The smallest of twigs will bring you to an abrupt stop.

Just brought home the 20" Scotts reel mower. Put it to the test on my average size lawn. I would say my yard has serious issues. Matter of fact, its a disgrace. Rental property. Severe nasty weed patches, and 40% dry/dead, due to CA drought. The problem is, between the severe weed patches and the dry stuff, there is some actual decent grass, now grown to about 7 inches due to my recent gas mower failure. No sticks or debris.But the ground is bumpy and uneven, with a hill in the middle. What I found was, in a nutshell, that anything longer than approximately 4 inches will not be cut, or at least not in one pass. I have the mower set to max height, which is 3 inches. The mechanics of the mower basically cant handle a full pass of lawn at 5 or six inches. It will take approximately a 30% hack off the top, and will not be even at all. Then you have to take another pass, and bring it down again. Then probably a third pass to get it to look normal, or even. possibly a fourth pass. When it comes to weeds, I have a beautiful variety. I have the long, thin grassy shoots that extend roughly a foot, even though they look like grass. The mower wont touch these AT ALL, BECAUSE THEY WONT ENTER THE BLADES DUE TO THE LENGTH AND THE ANGLE. THIS MOWER IS MADE FOR THINGS TO ENTER THE CUTTERS VERTICALLY. ANY OTHER ANGLE WILL MOST LIKELY NOT BE CUT. They just get ran over, and over, and over. Like magic, the mower will not cut these weeds. I also have the longer, tougher spindley kind of weeds which are about a foot long, and grow in a big patch. Despite probably 6 passes from all directions, the mower basically wont cut these either due to length. The blades will definitely handle the material, just not the length. I have the bag removed from the mower. In the few places where my lawn is actually normal length, just dry, the mower made nice work of it, in one pass. Grass was probably 3 1/2-4 in long. The mover makes a fairly quiet hissing sound when pushed. Effort required-Average. I had been using a standard push gas mower prior to this, and the amount of force is about the same. Forget the nightmare stories. It does, however, take a little getting used to holding it in the correct position for the wheels to track effectively, thereby spinning the blades well. Bottom line is If you have a wild lawn situation and you are looking to own a reel mower, they are not made for wild stuff. Use a gas mower to knock it down, then bring in a reel mower. If anything, it has encouraged me to pay more attention to my lawn by letting me know how bad my weed problem/dry problem is. I will be purchasing weed killer, and starting to take better care of my lawn, because I actually enjoy using the mower, despite repeated passes for now. I feel good knowing I dont have to worry about gas, oil, spark plugs, carburetor problems, exhaust, waking neighbors at 7am,etc.. The ideal situation for this lawn mower is a manicured lawn maintained regularly. One pass, quick, easy, and neat.

Nice wide cutting area makes mowing my small lawn go much faster than with my old antique real mower. The cutting height controls are simple and allow for a taller cut than other reel mowers I looked into.The smaller wheels are not as heavy duty as I'd like to see...have to make turns carefully as I'm afraid they might bend or fall off as I read in other reviews. Comes with a grass catcher, but I just let my clippings lie on the lawn so I don't use it. So far so good after several uses. Cuts well even on wet grass, but It does not cut some of the taller weed stems...this is typical of reel mowers.

This lightweight yet sturdy reel mower cuts cleanly and evenly with modest effort. The frame/guard prevent taller stray grass blades or weeds from entering the cutting cylinder, so you have to keep up with your lawn. . Maneuvering around our landscaping isn't easy, since the blades only turn when the wheels do, but I enjoy not smelling of exhaust when I finish the lawn. Based only on the half dozen times I've used it, I'd recommend the mower for small front and back yards like our own.

Just what I needed for my dogs yard! My BF thought it was somewhat difficult to assemble. It is easy for me to use and keep the grass nice and short. Short grass makes finding dog "diamonds" much easier!

Great product. Grass catcher holds plenty so it doesn't have to be emptied as much. Just what I was looking for!!

Incredibly loud for a push mower.

The mower itself deserves a better rating. It is a utilitarian, light weight and sturdy-enough mower. It does require re-mowing occasional spots of thick grass, but push type reel mowers have always been like that. (Look at the expensive, powered reel mowers - they have at least two rows of blades, just for that reason) What hurts the rating is that I paid extra to get the "Grass Catcher". It does not catch grass although some grass will get in it by chance. Most of the grass clippings fly far to the left and land on the ground. They may as well have sold me a picture of a grass catcher. It would be just as effective.

We have not been able to put the handle on. 2 weks. Looks like 2 clips may be missing that could be used to hold the handle on

It's not bad not as perfect as a motorized mower. It does the job