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The weather is growing warmer, the days longer, and the grass higher…and you know what that means right?
Yardwork.
Maybe yard work isn’t exactly your favorite thing to do (or maybe it is), but a reel mower might be just the thing to inspire a new-found love for mowing that lawn.
We’ve talked about eco-friendly ways to cut keep a lush and quoft lawn before, but reel mowers and electric push mowers always seem to have a fair amount of cons to their pros.
This new reel mower from Fiskars, however, makes many of those negatives a thing of the past.
The Momentum reel mower is the product of the Finland based Fiskars company.
It seems like the Fiskars company fixed all of the most common complaints with reel mowers in their cross hairs and pulled the proverbial trigger.
First, Momentum Reel Mower Specs
Clean Air Gardening has a great breakdown of all of the features and specs that make up the Momentum:
- 4-year manufacturer warranty
- Weighs 53 pounds
- Sealed ball bearings
- Durable steel gears
- Range of cutting height settings from 1″ to 4″
- 18-inch cutting width
- Features greatest cutting range of any reel mower on the market
- Cutting blades extended across the entire length of mower
- 5 blades are thick, wide, and sharp for extra cutting power
- Twice the cutting power enables it to blast through twigs or high grass with ease
- Cutting set up is simple due to top mount blade adjustment dials
- No need for annual sharpening
- Padded three dimensional grip handle can adjust to different heights
- Adjusts height with one touch
- Lifting handle makes transportation easier
- Long wheel base results in a level cut
- Close edging possible due to inset wheels and a forward position reel
- Uncut strips of grass under wheels eliminated due to inset rear wheels
- Grass clippings thrown forward instead of backward, eliminating mess
The Momentum also features a new patent pending technology that Fiskars calls “InertiaDrive”. This technology combines the large diameter cutting reel and heavy blades to store energy (like a flywheel) until a burst of extra cutting power is needed.
Fiskars claims that this results in:
- 2X More Cutting Power: Delivers twice the energy to power through small twigs, weeds, or dense grass that would jam other reel mowers.
- 30% Easier to Push: Advanced technologies reduce cutting system friction, provide optimal blade positioning and deliver extra cutting power to reduce push force by 30% in long grass.
How The Momentum Overcomes Annoyances
Without question, the 2 biggest knocks against reel mowers is:
- Their inability to tackle tall grass or weeds; and
- Their frequent jamming when rolling over small twigs or rouge bits of mulch.
Fiskars appears to have addressed the jamming issue through the InertiaDrive technology.
To deal with the irritation of a required low cutting height, Fiskars outfitted the Momentum with a one-touch height adjustment that allows for a max setting of 4” high. If your grass is any higher than that, you’ve got your laziness to blame, not your mower.
Like Fiskars says, “The 4” maximum cut height is vital when you miss a week of mowing.”
It seems like the Momentum reel mower is the real deal indeed. We’ll see if we can’t get our hands on one to knock out a real life review for you.
Have you ever tried a reel mower or electric push mower? Did it work out well or were the cons just overpower the pros?
I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I'm here.
I love my electric mower, but when it dies I’ll definitely look for one of these. I’ve always loved Fiskar scissors, so I’m sure this mower is awesome.
Currently mow a fairly large yard with a 20″ reel mower (Scotts Classic). Initially, it takes a bit of fussing to get the cutting bar properly aligned to the reel, with a heavy hammer needed for the final tweaking. The wheels do push down the grass and it “pops” back up a day later, but most of that can be eliminated by keeping the mower height set nice and close to the ground. I knock over half an hour off my mowing time with a gas mower (1.25 hrs opposed to 1.45 or longer) and there’s no dust, grass juices all over my shoes, and no exhaust and used oil to deal with. It does require a certain amount of enthusiasm, it can be a “reel” workout if the grass is long (sorry, couldn’t resist). I’m skeptical of some of the Momentum’s claims but would love to take one for a test-drive.