Scotts 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower #2000-20

Pluses:
1. Safer: no flying rocks or other projectiles, your kids won't sneak up on you and get extremities caught in the blade the way they do with gas mowers. As an ED physician, this is an especially important observation that I don't think had been pointed out before.
2. Quieter: my neighbors are thankful, as are my ears
3. No smoke, no gas fumes
4. Easier handling than gas mower, lighter, can get in crevices more easily and safely
5. Better for environment, save on gas, oil.
6. Easier to start-up; I'm more likely to cut the grass with this mower
7. Doesn't take any longer to mow then lawn vs. a gas mower (and if you gas mower is finicky, will probalby be faster).

Negatives:
1. Requires a bit more elbow grease with thick grass, especially on hills. Not a lot more, but a bit more (good exercise though).
2. Tall grass/weeds will not be easily cut with this; anything taller than 6-8 inches probably won't spring back up in time for the blades to cut them
3. 20" cutting swath a bit more narrow than your average gas mower, so you may need a few more passes. On flat land, it's no problem whatsoever.

I'm happy with this mower, how well it holds up remains to be seen. Construction quality is decent, the price and free shipping can't be beat. Haven't tried the $200+ models of reel mowers, so I can't comment.

If you have a smaller (< 0.5 acre), relatively flat yard, what are you waiting for?! If you like to think of mowing the lawn as exercise and have a bit larger yard, this may also be for you. Lastly, if you have kids and safety is a concern, (yes, you Volvo all-wheel-drive owners out there), a reel mower is also the way to go.


The Lawns of Kilimanjaro   July 2, 2005
M. Allen Greenbaum (California)
145 out of 176 found this review helpful

Recently, the act of mowing the lawn has been viewed as one of "lost" manly virtues. It's as if Hemingway had written about taming the savage rye instead of hunting lions. Reclaiming this technique, along with trimming the turkey and cleaning one's pipe, etc., may stem from a need to reassert one's mastery at a time when all seems digitalized.

Know Your Limits
Whether the quest is for knightly skill, a quieter, energy-efficient, and resourceful return to self-reliance, or simply saving a few bucks, non-powered lawn mowers are the new thing. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that a person-powered (man-powered, if you must) mower will never cut as fast or as close as a gas-powered machine. You will inevitably find long stringy blades that refuse cutting, no matter how many times you go over it. Others, more cooperative, will yield only after at least a couple of tries, perhaps from different angles. Diligence is also required. The owner of a reel mower can expect to mow the lawn once a week during the growing season-wait longer and you will work much harder. That's one reason why I recommend the Scott mower: It forgives you if you go two weeks without a mow because you were catching swordfish in the Gulf.

Know Your Tool
The Scott mower is a beast, a beautiful beast, a powerful beast; one that needs patience, proper technique, and sometimes sheer muscle. In reality, however, I found the 2000-20 20" (so named because it cuts a 20" swath; I don't know what the "2000-20" stands for) easy to operate, almost tapping into some raw mine of id and instinct. In most situations, the mower needs but one push over the lawn. It's light, and therefore can be turned (for the next 20"swath) quickly and precisely and easily. The trailing wheels may add some stability-they seem like they should-but their primary benefit is for wheeling the mower from one location to another (e.g., the front to the back). I was pleased with how easily it rolled; although you may not want to disclose this, navigating the mower over dirt or cement or brick requires little or no training.

As mentioned above, long blades about to go to seed and certain species such as the awful fiscue left by a previous landowner are difficult to cut. In these instances, one resorts to one's bare hands and pulls out the long, tough blade or the thin, wiry clump, staining the fingers and palm a pale chlorophyllic green. Otherwise, the Scott 20-2000 does a superb job of it. It's big enough for a small or medium sized lawn, it spreads the cut lawn around and in back of you as you mow (some will argue that this has a mulching/composting quality and is therefore beneficial; there is another camp, personified by my gas-mowered neighbor, that claims the scattered cuttings store heat, etc. Here in California, after a few months of mowing, I have encountered no problems.

The matter of how closely one should cut one's lawn is another area of controversy. If you believe a very close, manicured cut looks more proper and encourages growth, then you're better off with a power mower. However, there is some room for individual preferences, the mower adjusts up or down with equal ease. I tend to put it on the lowest setting (although the manufacturers mismatched the up-down arrow labels on the left and right rear wheels); you can drop if further by disassembling the axle section and lowering the blades even more. Scott comes out clearly for the "easy does it" boosters (as do most of the reviewers here), cutting it too close risks damaging your crop. That said, you will probably never need to take the mower apart. I also did not have a problem with the mower leaving a large "frame" of uncut lawn around the perimeter, but then I don't have many plants that get in the way of cutting with half of the mower off the lawn's edge. For tight edges, stubborn clumps, and for an enviably neat border, you would do well to get an edger/trimmer.

Installation and Maintenance
It took me about an hour to assemble the mower, much of this consisted of getting the Styrofoam out of the way. There was absolutely no difficulty in moving the handle cover up over the handle, as others have reported. The only difficult part was clamping the final assembly over the axle; this required a heavy push and some pliers for added force. You might want to do this step with a good friend. I definitely recommend the lawn mower cover; without it the foamy black handle cover began to disintegrate within a matter of weeks. Also, the manufacturers recommend drying and lubricating the axle assembly after every use. I spray it in open air with WD-40, which is a good but smelly thing, and I don't dry and spray it after every use, and it seems, once again, to forgive this lack of discipline.

The Beauty of It All
Everyone will derive his or her own kind of satisfaction with the mower: It may be the feeling of saving energy and not fouling your neighbors serenity, the sense of accomplishment when you see your lawn cut to the desired height, the surge of endorphins after light but continuous exercise (results will vary), or the sublime and private thoughts that well inside--observing the sounds and smells of lawn cutting memory. I highly recommend this mower, over gas powered, over electric (a nice alternative if your cord situation is manageable), and over other brands; it's difficult to imagine that another mower could beat this for price, ease of use, and overall quality.


Concerned about reel mowers? Don't be.   October 25, 2002
skst (Arlington Hts., IL USA)
50 out of 52 found this review helpful

I own a John Deere 4.5 hp 22" gas-powered (4-stroke) self-propelled mulching mower. I think it retailed for about $600-700 ten years ago. It's performed very well, but it needs annual service; it needs to be cleaned, and it clogs if the grass is damp or too tall.

I'm not sure what made me look at reel mowers on Amazon. Maybe it was wondering how I was going to transport my gas-powered mower to John Deere for service this year. Maybe it was my surprise when I saw I'd have to buy gas twice in one season this year. Having to tune the carburetor almost every week this season? Breathing in unfiltered exhaust?

Whatever the reason, I found this mower on Amazon and was intrigued by the idea of a clean, quiet mower. The fact that its cutting method might be better for my lawn was just a bonus. No gas or tune-ups? Even better.

The reviews on Amazon were encouraging, but I did a lot more research than that. I looked at the Brill Luxus, but it has a maximum cutting height of 1.8". I don't know about you, but my lawn is definitely not a golf course. This Scotts mower is the only one with a maximum 3" cutting height, and I use it at about 2.5".

Price: Amazon also has the best deal I found, especially with free shipping. Other sites are charging $180 and up, plus shipping.

Research: Amazon asks people not to enter URLs, but a quick Google for "scotts classic reel" will display all of the sites I used in my research.

Assembly: It sounds crazy, but you should definitely pour about a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid inside the foam pad to help it slide onto the handle. Try to spread it around the inside of the foam as much as possible. You can wipe off any excess after installation. Other than that, assembly is a snap. (A 30-minute snap.)

First impressions: My 8-year-old son mowed the lawn the first time. The grass was probably 5" tall and slightly damp, but this mower went right through it. There were some spots that needed another pass, but that's because the grass was too long.

Leaves: The second weekend, the leaves had started to fall. I experimented and found that this reel mower can handle white birch leaves, which are small enough that the mower just tosses them out of the way. However, my 5-year-old son and I had to rake up the larger leaves (such as maple).

Now that the leaves have started to fall in earnest, I'm just going to pull out the gas mower to mulch them, rather than rake. However, I'm looking forward to doing a final pass with the reel, and of course, I can't wait until spring.

Simple. Quiet. Inexpensive. It just works.


You gotta try this!   April 24, 2007
D. Watson
49 out of 51 found this review helpful

Everyone I know advised me against getting a reel mower. I was cautioned that they don't cut well and they're hard to push. But I didn't consider a gas mower an option (too expensive, noisy, hard to maintain, and dangerous), a corded electric would be too cumbersome, and a rechargeable would be impractical because there is not a convenient place for me to charge it. So I took the plunge and bought this one.

I'm completely intimidated by all things mechanical, so I was worried about assembling this mower, but it really is easy. The only thing you have to do is screw the five sections of the handle together, then clip it onto the mower body. The instructions were adequate (3.5 stars there), even for an assembly-phobe like me. The current configuration does not require any tools for assembly, but there was an add-on bag of washers and nuts included with my mower that are recommended for a more securely assembled handle. If you opt to use the new nuts instead of the original wingnuts, you'll need a wrench.

After just fifteen minutes or so, I was up and running. To my delight, the mower pushes easily, even through long grass. And it's very entertaining to watch the grass being rapidly snipped off. I felt like Edward Scissorhands. Who would have thought mowing grass would be so fun? I was a little tired and winded when I finished (in a good way), but I had been practically running with this thing because I enjoyed it so much. I kept looking for stray patches to go over again, but, alas, the mower did such a good job, when I was finished, my yard looked like a golf course.

A few facts about me and my lawn to see if my wholehearted recommendation will apply to you: I'm female, plus-sized, totally out of shape, and usually quite sedentary (one reason I thought this would be a good idea). I had never mowed grass before in my life (didn't have a yard before last summer, and then I accepted the fine services of a neighborhood girl with a ride-on mower who worked cheap). My yard is about 6500 square feet, level, fairly flat, and covered with long pine needles all over the place (the mower didn't even notice them).

Some older reviews address a couple of problems that are no longer an issue: Scotts now (late April 2007) packages the mower with the cushioned handgrip already on, and the apparently easily loosened wingnuts (as already mentioned) can now be replaced with regular nuts (not mentioned in the current manual, but included in the box with a note). Scotts should have included shorter bolts with the new nuts (since you now don't need the extra length the wingnuts required), but this is a trivial point. Put your wingnuts on after the new nuts for a more "finished" appearance.

A reel mower might not be suitable for everyone and every yard, but for me, it's fantastic. It's quiet, easy to maneuver, non-intimidating, good exercise, fun, environmentally sound, and inexpensive. I couldn't be happier with this mower.