I like mine a lot but it is a lot of work, especially on thicker Bermuda grass and our entire lawn is on a pretty steep incline.

I used it for one season like it was on our 4500 Sq ft lawn. Good workout especially in the summer heat in SC.

My biggest issue was that I was getting washboarding at 1" HOC and I wasn't about to double or triple cut.

This year I didn't want to suffer anymore so I modified it with an electric motor. Now I get zero washboarding and what used to take me 2 hours takes me 1.

I still love it and it honestly kept me in shape last summer. It is just a lot of work.

 

@AbominableR that's incredible.

 

Drink plenty of water.

 

I got one when I first sodded my 4k backyard. I quickly saw the benefits of a powered reel mower haha. 8k+ is going to be brütal. As others have noted it’s a fair amount of work on thick grass. Not as much work once you get the grass where you want it height-wise if you can stay on top of mowing enough to just barely have to take anything off the top. Anything more than just a trim though is a lot of work and can lead to the washboarding effect others have mentioned.
I still have mine as a just in case mower if my powered reel goes down and it’s an emergency, just really hoping that day never comes.

 

I am glad someone made this post, I was also thinking about this. I have 1/3 of an acre of Yukon Bermuda, and my yard is not very even. It was a new construction, and it's got some dips, and the backyard has a hill that slopes from the house to a drainage area. I have plenty of pictures in my lawn journal during my reno. I currently mow with a 21" Toro Super Recycler, set on the 3rd notch (should be 2.25). The mower itself goes to 1.25, but I cannot set the deck below 2.25 as I snag on the ground or super scalp. Right now I tried mowing down to 2nd notch 1.75, and I am scalping bad enough to stall the mower. I really want to take one cut reset below 2 inches, and then maintain it. Right now I am stuck in the mode of mowing at 2.25, and then seeing the slight scalping in spots but I don't want it to grow back to using 2.25 as the reset, and 2.75 as the standard HOC.

I wanted to see if I might be able to take it down lower using a reel mower, and was thinking I could use the Toro to do the heavy lifting if the lawn gets a bit overgrown, and use the Fiskars for during the week maintenance mows. I generally mow twice a week, let's say Saturday/Wednesday and adjusting days if there is excessive rain or heat. I am not opposed to hot and humid work living in Kansas, but of course there are limits to it. Especially with this week coming up with every day near or above 100.

For the guys who have used them, do you think this idea could work, or should I just stick to what I am using and if I do decide to go reel, go for a powered one?

 

Don't waste your money on a manual if a powered one is on the horizon for you. Fix other stuff in the lawn first (level it especially). The difference in but quality isn't that huge at the taller heights anyway.

 

You can always find a used fiskars for less than 100$.

 

dont do it, it's garbage. I grabbed one cheap on marketplace thinking it would easily work on 2k front lawn. Forget about it. Couldn't give the damn thing away.

 

Do you have the plans for this? I have that motor but didn't realize you could mount it that way. How did it hold up?