When I was a kid I cut my grandmother’s lawn every week. She had an ancient reel mower, which was notorious for jamming. Just cutting her little strip lawn was a major chore and I grew to hate that reel mower.
Times have certainly changed. I was asked to review the new MOMENTUM Reel Mower from Fiskars, a company best known for any kind of high-quality tool that involves a blade (scissors, pruning saws, loppers, various other gardening tools, etc). The Fiskars MOMENTUM claims to be “The World’s Most Advanced Reel Mower”.
The upside of using a reel mower to cut your lawn is that it uses no gasoline, motor oil, air filters, oil filters, etc – it’s basically a sturdy handle connected to a set of rotating blades mounted on wheels. When the wheels move, a chain mechanism not unlike your bicycle’s rotates the blades. There is little to no maintenance outside of sharpening the blades and oiling the chain periodically. From an environmental standpoint, a reel mower is a beautiful thing – zero carbon output on the user end.
Easy assembly
The MOMENTUM lawn mower arrived in a surprisingly small box: 2’x2’x14″. It only took about 20 minutes to assemble, which was simply putting the handle together and then attaching it to the blade and wheel housing, which was in one piece. The Owners Manual was clear and I was impressed with the efficient design and the ergonomic handle. The reel mower was relatively light without feeling cheap – Fiskars has used a combination of high impact plastic and metal in all the right places. They also placed a handle on the bottom of the wheel and blades housing which makes for easy pick-up. The handle moves forward to create a low profile if you want to hang it on the wall of your shed or garage.
How well does the Momentum reel mower cut grass?
My yard offers a range of grass heights: Only about 1″ needs to be cut in the high traffic areas and usually 3″ at the edges where no one walks. I cut in the evening on a cool night – the grass was slightly damp.
The MOMENTUM really had a challenge in front of it, as my lawn had grown very long after ten days. I set the cutting height to three inches (you can set the cutting height from 1 inch to 4 inches) and started cutting.
The Fiskars MOMENTUM reel mower did an admirable job – almost as good as my gas-powered push mower. I was impressed with how the MOMENTUM threw the grass out of the front of the blades housing – these babies were sharp. The mower did an excellent job on the shortest grass, but I had to roll over the tall grass a couple of times to cut it all. To be fair, the owner’s manual warns about cutting when the lawn is too long and says that you shouldn’t cut more than one-third of your lawn’s length, which they are quite right about. Two days later when the grass was the normal height and dry, I went back over the entire lawn and the MOMENTUM did a very fine job. After that second cut, the lawn actually looked better than after cutting it with my oil and gas-powered mulching blade Craftsman mower.
MOMENTUM’s edging was excellent for a reel mower – it cut just as close as my Craftsman gasoline-powered lawn mower. It was also very easy to push – I barely broke a sweat. The faster you walk, the more efficient the cut, as a fast pace makes the blades rotate faster.
CONCLUSION: For me, the best thing about the Fiskars MOMENTUM reel mower was no motor noise and no pull start. All you hear is the sound of the blades spinning, which is very quiet. I’ve spent so many years cutting my lawn with gasoline mowers that this was a welcome change. My dog also loved it and trotted along with me the entire way. You could cut your front lawn with this mower while a party was going on in the backyard and no one would be the wiser.
The only downside is that while the MOMENTUM’s blades are plenty sharp, my gas lawn mower with a mulching blade chops up the cuttings, whereas the MOMENTUM will leave un-mulched cut grass on top of your lawn. This is not a problem if you cut frequently and on a regular schedule.
My wife absolutely loved this lawn mower because it was quiet and easy for her to push and she felt really great about using zero fossil fuels to cut the lawn.
WHY DO I KEEP GETTING DUDS??? I bought a Fiskars Reel Momentum mower a few months ago. I was very excited because I was looking for a solution that did not require gas or additional $$ to power. This mower seemed like a good solution and had great reviews. It didn’t take me long to put together (about 1/2 hour) before I was off to my 1st mow. The FIRST mow was good, but after hitting a small stone embedded in my lawn, that was that. The blade dislodged and was touching the back of the mower. Per instructions, you’re supposed to stop immediately and re-adjust the blade. I read the instructions on how to adjuct the mower, but the one that was sent to me had bolts that were too tight to loosen. The bolts began to strip and would not loosen. I called Fiskars, and for their repair help. They simply sent me a new one. Okay… no complaints there. I waited a few weeks before the next one came. It arrived and I switched out the handle like the Fiskars rep. suggested. The next lawn mower NEVER WORKED AT ALL!!! I don’t know if the thing was tossed around during delivery (the packaging was not very good) and caused it to re-adjust or what! Straight from the box the mover blade hit the steel back part of the mower. I have adjusted all the bolts and now the blade doesn’t touch, BUT it also DOES NOT TURN THE BLADE WHEN YOU PUSH IT!!! Even when I re-tighten everything! I’m so disgusted and no one knows how to fix the thing. PLEASE HELP!!! This experience has been far from hassle-free for me! I have 2 new mowers that between BOTH have only yeilded one cut! I’m back to paying someone to cut my lown and out almost $200.
GeorgiaGirl:
That is an unfortunate experience. You don’t mention if you called their customer service with the second complaint?
Great article. Many people don’t have much patience for a reel mower. I however loved the thing. No maintenance etc. Appreciate your review… I did a little review on it too.
Keith
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Many thanks
Well, I used the Momentum mower for the first time this past weekend.
Set-up was easy. I left the blades alone. The yard I was cutting is a typically thick grass and some weeds. The grass was at the most 6 inches high in spots. I set the cutting height at 3 inches. Not a problem cutting. It was weird seeing the grass fly out the front. I was flying along and then I caught a hidden piece of a branch. First I thought uh-oh. Then I just cleared the branch and kept going.
There’s a empty house with an unkept yard near by. The grass there was thick and 8-9 inches tall. (It would of bogged down my old Briggs lawn mower.) Just to try it in extreme grass, I set the cutting height at 4 inches. I made a pass or two, reset the cutting to 3 inches, went over the just cut area. No problems really.
If you make a few passes at each end yard for ‘turn around’, that makes it a bit easier, or just go around the yard, either way works.
One comment, that’s just an observation from a tool designer, I typically will place a washer between the retaining clip and a rotating/pivoting bracket. The handle does not have washers between the itself and the clip. Could be a wear issue later on.
I’ve been using a reel mower for many years now. It all started when I gave my mother one so she could cut her own small lot, without messing around with a gas powered mower. (Mom and motors don’t mix well.) She liked it so well, she went and bought another when she wore out the handle of the first one. She gave the first one back to me. Well, I repaired it and then started using it. I like mowing early in the morning, and with the cities ‘noise ordinance’ I can use any non-powered tool before 9:00am. Now I’m in the market for a new reel. My question is how tight of curved edging can you mow against with the Fiskar?
Mike:
Surprisingly, the Fiskars Momentum is pretty tight on the edging – comparable to a power mower. If you like reel mowers, this is the one to buy.
Thanks, I saw that our local ‘Lowes’ was supposed to be carrying them….however, when I stopped by to look at one, the clerk saw that nothing was listed on their shipping agenda.
Oh well, I might be a tad early.
Mike,
If you were not already sold, check out the video that Fiskars created outlining the benefits of the Momentum mower vs. gas mowers and other reel mowers.
I have the exact same problem you do, however I like mowing the lawn late at night and was never able to until I switched to a reel mower. It is nice to be able to mow and not worry about ruining the neighbor’s outdoor dinner with the noise and smell of a gas mower.
My company got its first shipment about 3 weeks ago so my guess is Lowes will have them by now or before long.
I was able to order one from Lowes’ and recieved it a week ago. After a quick assembly of mainly just the handle, it was ready to go. Blade gap was factory set.
I now see how it turns. By just pushing down slighty on the rear handle, the front wheels lift enough to turn.
I also like the front handle. It will make it easier to load in a vehicle. (I mow my mother-in-laws yard across town.)
Weird, but I can’t wait to mow.
I’ll let you know how the first mow goes.
Mike