LawnMaster LMRM1801 Push Reel Lawn Mower 18-Inch 5-Blade

Quick points:

Pros:

-easy to use

-easy to handle and pick up

-easy to maintain

-maneuvers well

-somewhat adequate instructions for setup

-super fun

-successful at cutting grass

-gives a good ab and glute workout if using proper balance and body mechanics

-convenient

-successfully meets all the reasons for why I bought it

-no loud machine noise

-gives a healthy, beautiful lawn.

-checks all the boxes

-as pictured

Cons:

-does not come with a cover case for safe storage

-some noise when using it that could wake a neighbor up

-may need professional conditioning later on b/c it started to squeak after one month when driving it on concrete

-best for people who want to keep their lawn healthy and low maintenance

Not good for:

-people who want to give their grass a cut so short that it ruins the health of the grass by drying it out and exposing its roots to the sun. If that’s you, you won’t enjoy this. Because the short cutting lengths cut a lot of grass, it stalls easily and will need to be emptied out every 2 feet of grass.

-Yards covered with sticks and twigs to the point where you can’t walk on it without stepping on a twig: twigs and sticks and fallen fruit pits will block the blades. It’s an easy fix. All you do is remove it, but if it happens every foot of grass, you won’t like this. A possible solution is to use a leaf blower to clear your grass of debris before using this.

-Lawns covered with holes: if your lawn has so many holes that it’s a hazard and constantly causing sprained ankles, you won’t like this. I do manage to cut the grass in these areas by setting it to the lower settings, but I can’t imagine having to mow any lawn all uneven and hole-y with any kind of lawn mower for that matter.

-People who crave perfection: obviously a lawn mowing machine is going to give you that perfectly tailored look, like a perfect buzz cut. My lawn still looks gorgeous and super healthy and even more nutritious after using this on the tallest cut setting, but if you want to see those perfect lanes of grass on your lawn, this won’t do that like lawn mowing machine does.

-People who like to use the force of a superhero when carrying out any duties with their hands. This invention moves easy when you’re not pushing down on it. You push it forward, not down. Like pushing a stroller or shopping cart, you need some might, but not loads. If you put that much force/ weight into, you’ll weight it down and cause it to stall/ stop suddenly.

-People who have limited physical capabilities: You will need to be able to move to use this similar to using a mop but with both hands. Unlike a gas or electric lawn mower, you will actually be putting in work to use this. It’s not a high intensity (HIT) workout, but it’s still a workout and you might sweat a little. It’s as rigorous as using a vacuum for a long time or a mop to scrub floors. In fact, house cleaning is more rigorous and harder on the back than this.

-People who get embarrassed easily: so this makes noise and you won’t look as suave as the person using modern-day machines. If you care about how you look, you probably will be too embarrassed to use this.

Tips:

-use the shortest length/ lowest setting for the edges of the lawn

-use the shorter or lower settings to get weeds (pulling out weeds is easy too if you can’t cut it)

-when setting up, you will need 2 people for the final bits of assembly.

-To remove piles of grass shavings, turn it over or on its side, shake it a bit, and leave the grass shavings on your lawn for its health.

-is often easier to use move around with one hand instead of 2

-the package when delivered will be heavy to carry

I love my manual Lawn Master lawn mower! I am so happy I made this purchase!!! Like many, we originally outsourced our landscaping responsibilities to businesses. After numerous problems, we decided to terminate the business relationship. Due to a lack of respectful business standards in our area from this type of profession, I decided to try a DIY approach. Problem was the loud noises of landscaping machines. I am so exhausted from the noise pollution they cause that it’s actually making me nauseous. I couldn’t stand the idea of standing next to one for 30 minutes. Plus, you can never truly proper clean appliances. That always creeps me out and they are dependent on some power source, ie gas or electricity. The fiercely independent and survivalist-me doesn’t like that. I saw an actor use a manual lawn machine in a historical movie. This inspired me to look into it further. I am so glad I did and so glad companies like lawn master continue to improve and sell this product! It’s so fun to use and is actually improving my relationship with nature! I don’t know why our society ditched these in favor of machines. I love its tallest cutting lengths, too. My grass is finally staying green- no more buzz cuts! I’ve been using it for a few months now. Worth the price so far. To clean, I use a broom with long bristles like you would with a razor brush. Getting my hands close to the blades with a towel worries me. Probably could use a keyboard cleaner to blow out the grass in the tighter spaces. Moving forward, I would like to see a sturdy case sold to cover the blades for safe storage, wheels free of Prop 68 warning, some kind of conditioner for the metal to avoid squeaking and rust as the metals age, better instructions for setup, instructions and manual written by someone who has actually assembled and used this before, and a similar tool to get the grass on the edges of the lawn near borders.

This...is an amazing manual mower. I went through most reviews of most manual mowers, and decided on this one. Thou hast chosen wisely. Super easy tool free assembly, came on time, looks good, and.....cuts well. It pushed through my 5" grass with ease, and looks good. Less effort pushing than my now broken 150cc mower, and I can listen to my music easily while I do so. Includes sharpening instructions. Assembly in 5 mins, no tools needed at all. Full disclosure, I am 190 5'7, little body fat. 47 years old. My daughter, 8 years old 50 pounds, was able to easily cut the not too overgrown areas. Also, neighbor was intrigued, and gave it a push. Good vibes all around . One more thing, I had one of these years ago...this one, when you pull backwards, the blades are stationary, they don't go backwards. Very nice plus.

Ok, saw someone say something about attaching the whole handle assembly to the mower. I just figured this out myself. Assemble the lower portion first...then attach to mower. The pressure is much easier. Then attach the top portion. That will be awkward, but much less effort than attaching the whole assembly:)

This thing is pretty light and easy to push especially if your grass is short to begin with. Now if you have what we call highway grass down south when the seed sprout comes up and it's more than 2 in long it is not cutting that. But if it's already mowed fresh to begin with then this thing will handle it all. But be careful for running over little sticks it jams it up and then you got to stop and back up and then take the stick out and then continue and I'm talking about a twig the thickness of a pencil. Other than that so far I've done a half acre and it just shreds all the grass but you can't just push and push and push you actually have to stop yank back a little bit to empty out the base and then continue but it's pretty light and easy to push a lot easier then a gas-powered push mower. It was pretty simple to put together so there's that. The blades are actually a 90° flat metal. So it's not like you just sharpen them you kind of have to make sure that it has that 90° on each edge similar to like a Bushcraft knife where it has a 90° edge so you can activate your ferroseum rod. In fact striking my rod on it creates way more Sparks than my Bushcraft knife which I paid $180 for. But really it's not hard to push and really chops it up.

I'm considering attaching it to my electric bicycle and just tool around the yard having fun while mowing the lawn LOL!

Beyond what's advertised I've noticed that there's different configurations you can put it in if you explore it take it apart you can get it higher and lower than what just the bar handle will do. And there might be a little bit more you can do with it if you're an engineering kind of person. But it's lightweight and it does its chop really well.

I would give it five stars but I reserve five stars for The Best of the Best of the Best sir!

But it is as advertised at least the one I got. But do not try to cut three to five inch grass because you will be so wore out and it'll take hours to cut one strip. But once it's been freshly mowed if you use that thing every week you shouldn't have a problem.

And now I don't got to buy expensive gas for my other mowers I can just push this around and it's not that loud I don't know how late at night you can do it but you might could do it around 9:00 p.m. maybe 10:00 depending on your neighborhood it's really not super loud. It was 93° today and I was able to do it so not too bad.

Probably worth the purchase if you're looking for something that's EMP proof that doesn't take external fuel other than the human body and doesn't contribute to emissions other than the way it's manufactured of course there's emissions and all that but after you buy it I can't say it'll last forever but at least if in the Apocalypse it would be pretty good. Except why would you be mowing your grass in the Apocalypse lmao!

I did write a bit of research and have been trying with this idea for years. I'm tired of mowers to that break down even with maintenance, forgetting it didn't have gas and having to run to the store... I wanted something that was going to be little maintenance, and keep the lawn cut once we got it good and manicured.

This thing was great. It was delivered at 4, and we just finished the main part of the yard about 5:30. It took about 5 minutes for our 2 kids under 12 to assemble. Make sure that you attach the handle to the mower before fully tightening as that was the thing that took me a minute. It's held by tension.

I could hear everything around me it was so quiet.

We have a big yard in the Midwest that hasn't been cut yet this season so the grass is high and the weeds are thick.

I put up some after pictures because our yard isn't pretty or well manicured. I thought it might be helpful for people to see what the results might look like if you're busy and aren't great at lawn care like me.

We bought the 16" because I wanted the kids to be about to use it. We finished what we could do of the yard in about 30- 45 minutes (the kids were fighting about wise turn it was). The size make it easy to fit in the shed.

I've we get the weeds cut and sprayed it is going to be perfect for the kids to learn on and to maintain the yard. It works great and I'm so happy I made this purchase.

From assembly to review I would say it was about an hour and a half.

Limitations:

- it isn't going to cut your weeds... That's not what it is designed for. use a weed eater, grass whipper, or scythe.

- it is only going to cut with the power and speed that you put behind it

- it doesn't go in reverse

- grass gets caught in the sides of you have long stuff so keep an eye on it or it'll make you job that much harder.

- like any took it will require maintenance so research what you need to keep it in good shape

Very simple to put together. Do not recommend for grass taller than 3 to 4 inches. If it’s long then the cut will be patchy. Also will get stick with any small twigs. If you use it on we grass, it will then make loud squeaks, which can be annoying. I would only recommend it if you already have the perfect lawn and want to mow every week. I would not purchase if you have more than 1/4 of an acre property.

I was looking for a small lightweight mower to manage a postage stamp-sized yard. For the size, a gas powered mower was not worth the maintenance costs, so the choice was between an electric mower and a push mower. After reading about a few products, blade servicing, etc., I was ready to buy electric. However, under duress from my spouse (who, in hindisght, is unlikely to ever use the mower...) I purchased the LawnMaster and stand before you now, a broken and humbled man.

The light weight, lack of motive power and narrow 16" width sounded like an efficient package for my small yard. Shipping and delivery were prompt, and assembly took only minutes. The mower ships mostly assembled, so all that remains for the customer is to connect the handlebar.

Excited to take my new mower for a test run, I rolled it to the front yard, set the cutting height to the highest setting and let her rip. I proceeded about 1.5 steps before the blade siezed - yep, a small piece of mulch stuck between the blade and cutting deck. No worries - read about that in the manual. I backed up the mower, tapped out the mulch and pressed on. Got about 3 steps this time (progress!) before a dried grass stem was enough to bring things to another halt. Now things were getting aggravating! According to the manual, sticks, stems, undulating terrain - you know, features of a standard lawn - are enough to jam the cutting reel. Heck, even a stern glance toward the blades was enough to lock it up, in my experience.

The LawnMaster may be a master of its lawn domain in laser-leveled yards with sushi-grade fescue, but for my coarse St. Augustine, with rhizomes that put the Stranger Things vines to shame, it is ineffective. At least you get exercise using this mower! The cutting reel is slow to engage, so pushing the mower feels like using a blocking sled with none of the machismo bragging rights. Despite the heavy feel of the cutter, the LawnMaster struggles to cut anything over 3". Using it is good for back flexibility, though, since, I eventually just give up and bend down to pick the grass this is incapable of cutting. Since the lawn mower struggles to, you know, mow grass, I wind up doubling back to cut from a different angle. This prolongs my mowing time, but it also gives me a chance to engage with the local wildlife, as I feed dozens of mosquitos. The best part? The manual states that mowing with a reel mower should occur more frequently than mowing with powered counterparts, so I'll be back out there soon...all too soon, really.

So, who is this mower for? If you hate your partner, despise the concept of free time, or are just plain cheap, then this mower is for you. If you miss using your grandparent's old reel mower and can do without the excitement of a teatanus booster, this is for you. If you previously used a bubble mower, and want something just as effective at cutting grass with less overall functionality, you've found your mower. In sum, I will be trading this master-of-none for that electric mower and advise you to steer clear.

I waited until I had used this mower a few times before leaving this review. This is my take on this mower. This goes in the top five greatest purchases I have made on Amazon. I never buy an important item online without a lot of research. I read every review like this one, so I will do my best to provide details. This mower works really well and is exactly as described. If it is used properly.

You can’t use this on grass that is completely out of control and overgrown. My recommendation is to have a professional do a one time cut and groom of your lawn to very short. You have to mow more often at first. It works best and is physically easiest on less growth. I usually run over each area twice to even out the cut. It does not work well on an incline. My plot is level except for one dip in front. I can mow it, but it is very physically taxing. Remember, YOU are the power in this device. The faster you go the better it cuts. Really thick grass gives more resistance. I recommend policing the area to be mowed for sticks and twigs that can get jammed in the rotor or rocks that can damage the blades. Best on small lawns. It is somewhat of a mild workout. I got the 16 inch and I’m glad I did. It is lighter than the big one. The big one has a plastic cover instead of metal for weight purposes. I carry mine up my steps and store it on my porch.

This is a precision instrument and should be maintained. I’m a fencer so I know blades. I wipe the blades clean and dry after each mow and use WD40 to prevent rust. Rust and build up is the enemy. You might not see it but the edge feels it. Also cleaning any build up on the cut plate is important. The manual explains oiling the gears. Read the manual carefully on operation. It’s pretty slick how it works. Do it! This will last and work great for years if you take care of it. If you’ve ever tried and failed to use an old fashioned rusty one sitting in grandad’s shed you know what I mean.

I’m old with arthritis and am skin and bones. If I keep control of the lawn it is easier to use than a big mower and exactly the exercise I need. Not having to get gas or charge batteries or lug around a beast with a motor is a blessing. And it is much safer than a motorized spinning blade that doesn’t stop when it cuts something other than grass.

Overall, I highly recommend the purchase of this item. The price is very good compared to expensive gas and undependable costly electric mowers. My neighbors are all jealous. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars

I use this mainly for a large shady backyard that does not have a manicured lawn. Yes, sticks do jam it but is easy to clear and just remember to pick up the larger sticks before mowing. I get this out and cut until I get tired. Works well and I can cut anytime of day because no noise. I have used it a few times on my smaller more manicured front lawn and does get the job done but I like to bag the grass clippings and that is easier with my electric mower