Earthwise 1715-16EW 16-Inch 7-Blade Push Reel Lawn Mower, Grey

I bought this to mow my new installed Bermuda turf... (It's hard to crank though... LOL!) it was extremely easy to assemble and the blades were sharp from the factory. I found it very addictive to mow with despite having an expensive Zero Turn mower and a new rotary mower. Obviously the noise level is much lower than a motorized mower and the gas savings are a plus. It is light weight which was perfect for my newly installed turf. I am mowing approximately 3200 sq ft around our house (I use my Zero Turn for the rest of my 3 acres). I have yet to have to sharpen the blades or to adjust the bed knife. IF it ever wears out, I would buy another one immediately!!! My wife is 5'2" and barely 100 lbs and she has NO PROBLEM mowing with it... it is easy to push. When I finish mowing, I WD-40 the bed knife and then run the blades over it by pulling it along my concrete drive to distribute the WD-40 on all the blades. Great mower for the price!!!

I call it the Caveman mower, but my husband loves this ninja quiet mower. So much, he takes it out a couple times a week. It was easy to assemble - I didn’t even see him read any directions. Cutting power? Our grass is the nicest in the neighborhood and people stop to talk to my husband. Our grass now lives in fear and keeps itself short out of respect. It mulches well, easy to push, and no gas fumes.

I waited an entire season to review this reel mower. I used to mow grass for a living and I have cut a lot, A LOT of grass. But, I had never touched a reel mower. I have run some really nice mowers. Deere, Scag, Toro, all rotary mowers, but high end commercial equipment. My house has a small yard maybe 2000sqft. I saw some guys on the YouTube using reel mowers and I thought for the price of a manual push reel, why not give it a try? My yard is Bermuda grass that I would cut at 2” in the spring and 2.5” in the dead of summer 100degrees. So I chose the seven blade. Less dense turfs would need a 5 blade. First off, this mower is really light. Too light. I ended up pulling the rollers, filling with fine sand and sealing the ends. All in an attempt To keep the mower from bouncing around. I am contemplating steel rollers for next year. The mower came out of the box adjusted properly. I checked it but it was spot on even contact all the way across the knife. The other adjust Kent I made was to straighten the handle bars. They came at a weird inward angle that was just not comfortable. Put a pipe on the end of the bars and bent theM flat to 90. The other thing that needs to be done each time is just a little oil or grease across the knife edge. It quiets the operation. Using the reel mower has some reel advantages. (Sorry, has to do it.). The first, is that it is super light. My toro 21” commercial is self propelled but At 110 lbs, turning it around is a workout. This reel is nothing to push. Even in my really dense, healthy bermuda it is a dream to push. Second, there isn’t a bunch of dirt and glass flying around. Something to appreciate in the dry days of summer where a rotary mower creates a dust plume. Third, no gassing up, forgetting to buy gas and having to run and get it before you mow. Just grab the reel, shot some oil on it and mow. No pulling the cord, no adjust carbs, spark plugs filters....oil it and mow. Now, on to the cut. This is where the reel shines. A rotary mower spinning at 30000rpm, no matter how sharp, beats the lives ng heck out of grass. A real mower makes one nice scissor like snip and moves on. The greatest surprise of switches ng yo a reel mower has been the health of my turf. It is night and day. I kept the exact same feeding and weed prevention and my lawn went from a patchy weedy struggle to keep to looking like a fairway in one season. I dropped the height from 2-2 1/2 down to 1- 1-1/2” even in the dead of summer. I was blown away. The grass is just flat out healthier, stronger and able to choke out the weeds. A little push reel like this is big for everyone. But anyone who wants a to cut maintenance and improve the health of their lawn, switch to a reel mower. I can think of several improvements that would make this particular mower much better, but for the money, it’s a good little reel. Happy mowing!

I really wanted to do a review on the Earthwise 1715-16EW 7-blade push reel mower because it works so well. I have been mowing this year with the Fiskars 18 inch stay sharp max reel mower, and I have had some problems with it. The way the front wheels are so far in front of the cutting bed with the rear wheels so far behind it can make it an issue when mowing on even a gentle hill; the bed drags on the ground and the mower scalps. I also had a problem with any little debris in the yard catching in the reel and stopping the mower. When I purchased the sharpening kit, the first time I received a kit without a crank handle. Had to go through the return process and finally received the full kit. But then when I went to remove the small gear on the reel shaft, I torqued my allen wrench 90* trying to break loose the set screw before the bolt hole finally stripped out. Don't know if they loc-tited the screw or if it was installed with an impact wrench at too high a torque setting. I ended up having to drill/tap the opposite end of the shaft for a 10mm bolt so I could attach a nut driver to backlap and resharpen the "non-contact" blades. Overall the Fiskars is not a bad machine, but for the price it has serious drawbacks. This Earthwise 7-blade mower is superior to the Fiskars at less than half the price (I paid $87 for it - was on sale - suh-weet deal). Took me about 10 minutes to attach the handles and set the height for my yard (I mow at 1.5") and I was out and mowing. The reel turns much faster for the same walking pace than the Fiskars reel and that and the fact that it has 7 blades made mowing today a single-pass effort where previously I would have to pass over the same lane 2x with the Fiskars. The rollers on the back also help keep the Earthwise level when mowing uneven areas as well as far superior when overhanging the landscape edging. Because the cutting bed is centered under the wheels, I do not have any problem with the bed contacting the ground at any location in my yard, which was definitely not the case with the Fiskars.Time will tell if this mower is long-term reliable, but the reel and the bed look and feel well-made, the handles are sturdy and the 10" wheels had no problem with slipping (which I was originally a bit worried about).The only minor gripe I would have is that I would prefer the handles be slightly wider and straight vs angled, but I can rig up something for my comfort very easily (perhaps some bicycle bar-ends or some such thing).I have a residential yard and it takes me about 30 minutes to push mow. It is not a high level of exertion, just a little push with a walk.I was worried about this purchase based on other reviews, but I am pleased that I own this mower and also that it works better than the more expensive one I previously purchased. Anyone want to buy my old Fiskars? lol.