Right now I think the lower end electric reel market is DIY or kit conversions for the earthwise or scotts pro manual reel mowers. Probably $400 - $800 depending on how you go about it.

reelCNC and Home - Reel Mower Mods look to be the 2 that offer conversion kits.

 

Right now I think the lower end electric reel market is DIY or kit conversions for the earthwise or scotts pro manual reel mowers. Probably $400 - $800 depending on how you go about it.

reelCNC and Home - Reel Mower Mods look to be the 2 that offer conversion kits.

Honestly didn’t know this existed. I’ll check more into it. All of the conversions I had seen were definitely DIY, I didn’t realize there were kits available. Could be enticing depending

 

There's two Facebook groups that have a lot of information as well

https://m.facebook.com/groups/reelmowers/

https://m.facebook.com/groups/828412258605895/

 

I think the lower-mid end in this price range is simply used mowers from the $2k+ price range. E.g., my McLane was $150 and non-functional; add a predator engine and a front roller and it's a pretty capable reel mower for a total of ~$600.

I think this also applies to the next price range, which is ~$1-3k for a used greensmower with 500-1500 hrs on it.

I'm not sure there's really a good business case trying to sell a new mower in the sub-$1k price range, because it's typically harder to sell on Amazon (the only place that can deliver the sales scale required to make a manufacturing run in China worth doing with margins this thin) with an item that is truly better than the low-end version since customers can't usually tell the difference (or don't trust it). This is also why very few mechanical things >$500 or so are sold on Amazon.

 

Totally agree with you. But I still think that applies to the gas mower segment in particular, right? Battery powered ones seems to be a desert wasteland in between the two polar ends. Perhaps just a byproduct of there not being a lot of second hand availability of nicer battery reels. And gas reels have been around A LOT longer.

 

I noticed the same thing a couple of years ago and honestly has not gotten any better.

I was mowing at 1” with a Fisker ever-sharp. There were some who lowered their Fisker, but was already washboarding at that HOC and no way to add blades.

I went ahead and purchased a Swardsman Electra 45 and have been pleased thus far.
Verticut & rotary brush attachments are easy to change over.
Can just send the reel to get sharpened without having to send the entire mower.
HOC 1/2”

 

I think that will be the more likely answer eventually for me - just bite the bullet. The Swardman is still a lot heavier than I’d like for my little space. The Allett Liberty at 85lbs makes more sense. But great looking lawn there!

 

If I wanted an electric mower, I would buy a Jacobsen Eclipse and convert to fully battery. You get the convenience of commercial build for half of what it would cost to buy a new, residential electric reel mower. Luckily, I love the smell of gas. So, I am sticking to the Baroness.

 

Wait wait wait - my math isn’t mathing here. How can a Jacobsen be half the price of a residential electric reel which are usually around ~$2500? If that’s the case we’re going into business

 

Im with you. I have no interest in going back to gas machines. Just from the standpoint of maintenance, storage, gas runs, garage smell. But at the same time I haven't committed to dropping $2k plus on an electric reel.

I had the sun joe for a bit. It was trash and the reel blade bent within a few weeks of ownership.

Cali trimmer at some point will launch theirs. But similar price point. I doubt we'll ever see a decent quality electric reel thats sub 2k. I'll probably pull the the trigger next year.

 

CROSSOVER

caltrimmer.com

They still say coming soon, but when???
If the price of the gas models are any indication, should be in that $1,500 to $2,000 range.
The weight and amount of metal used to build a quality reel, I don’t think we’ll see them under $1k new.

 

Im with you. I have no interest in going back to gas machines. Just from the standpoint of maintenance, storage, gas runs, garage smell. But at the same time I haven't committed to dropping $2k plus on an electric reel.

I had the sun joe for a bit. It was trash and the reel blade bent within a few weeks of ownership.

Cali trimmer at some point will launch theirs. But similar price point. I doubt we'll ever see a decent quality electric reel thats sub 2k. I'll probably pull the the trigger next year.

CROSSOVER

caltrimmer.com

They still say coming soon, but when???
If the price of the gas models are any indication, should be in that $1,500 to $2,000 range.
The weight and amount of metal used to build a quality reel, I don’t think we’ll see them under $1k new.

I called Cal Trimmer last week. I believe they are fulfilling pre-order requests in batches as they come in. You can call or email them to get on the list. From when I talked to them last week, seemed like you’d be able to get one in the next month or two. Didn’t quote me a hard number because tariffs are in flux, but they said it should be right about $2500

 

I actually had emailed them last week just because I still hadn't see the main thread updated. Here's what they sent me:

Thanks for your inquiry and interest in our products.



The Crossover went through a couple extensive battery certification processes and is expected to be ready for order fulfillment starting next month. We currently have a waitlist that we anticipate being able to get through chronologically in a few weeks. Having said that, due to the current tariff situation, the batch we’re expecting is the only batch we’re expecting for a while longer and is already sold out. We can add you to the list in case some people drop off, but we want to manage expectations – we will reach out when inventory becomes available, likely not for about 45-60 days when the next batch of batteries arrive.


Right now the pricing is centering around $2,300-2,500 depending on the configurations/add-on options.

 

Swardman 1st gen Electra is now 49% off

Reel Mowers | SWARDMAN

High quality reel mowers for residential use. Gas powered and battery powered model. Garden tools for your lawn. Fork aerator, sprinkler head trimmer and soil probe.

www.swardman.com

Delivered in 2 weeks.

 

I like the looks - in terms of quality etc. - of the Hudson Star and the Falkenstein. But for 2500 for a manual push, why would anyone not just get the Allett, Swardman, or Crossover? If those manuals were $1k then MAYBE. But I’d still be hesitant to lean on them as a one-tool-to-it-all. I want something to use for regular cuts and for those periodic reno/scalps.

The more I look at the conversion options for manual to battery, the more I think that’s not for me. Too deep of a rabbit hole for a Frankenstein machine that doesn’t seem to have as established of an ecosystem as buying from a bigger company.

 

Yep, there’s a huge gap in the electric reel mower market.

If I had more garage space and wife wouldn’t mind gas in the garage, I’d certainly consider a greens mower (JD, Toro, Jacobsen, Rolux).

 

There is a gap for a reason. I dont think all the money is in the engine. If you can buy a replacement Predator engine for about $150 how much could the OEM part of been. There are a lot of other parts in a quality reel mower that make up the price.

You can ask ReelRollers or Rolux if they will sell you mower without an engine (I doubt they will but you can ask). Then convert it to electric.

There is a thread somewhere here on a guy that converted an RR26 to electric, but no idea what those parts cost.

 

There is certainly a gap in the market, feel that it has to do with research. The battery technology and integration into the already small market of home use reel mowers is not economical.
Example: California Trimmer gas model is $1,350. Let’s take off $150 for the motor. Then add a Ryobi 40V mower at $500. This would be $1,700 out the door.
-California trimmer is looking like $2,500
-Allett Liberty 43 is sold out at $2,789 (40V)
-Swardman Electra 45 2.0 $3,700
So if you can even get a battery powered California Trimmer between $2,400 to $2,500, the next available is over 2X of where an entry level battery powered reel mower should be.

 

All fair assessments! I may have glossed over it before as the conversion from manual to battery powered didn’t seem appealing to me. But it clicked today when I saw this video that converting a gas machine to battery might be the ticket. I already have a McLane (Craftsman) and looks like this guy converted for roughly $500 in parts. Considering I got my McLane for $75.

The important criteria to me are maneuverability and height adjustment flexibility. My sunjoe is light and maneuverable, but the height adjustment jumps from .6” to 1.0” which essentially doesn’t ever allow for a small HOC reset. The McLane as is is just overkill for my small lawn. Too heavy and cumbersome with drive assist. But manual reels on the flip side don’t allow me to cut down under 1.0” without washboarding.

 

Check out this company!!

Home - Reel Mower Mods

reelmowermods.com

 

Put me in the “there’s a definite gap” crowd. The gap in my mind would be something like a moderately better build quality Sun Joe type reel mower, with front and back rollers, for less than $1k. Big companies probably wouldn’t waste their time with it, but a small company or kickstarter entrepreneur could probably make a nice profit.

 

Check out this company!!

Home - Reel Mower Mods

reelmowermods.com

Cool stuff! I’d like to see some support for converting gas mowers in addition to converting manual mowers

Put me in the “there’s a definite gap” crowd. The gap in my mind would be something like a moderately better build quality Sun Joe type reel mower, with front and back rollers, for less than $1k. Big companies probably wouldn’t waste their time with it, but a small company or kickstarter entrepreneur could probably make a nice profit.

Exactly this. Sign me up.

 

It has sold. I believe he had it listed for quite some time.

 

I sent a message to Reel Rollers to ask about an electric Revolution 20/26, and they responded “We are definitely looking into it.”.

So if anyone out there is interested in seeing that, then you should definitely let them know.