Great States304-14 14-Inch 5-Blade Push Reel Lawn Mower, Red

We have a lot of lawn to mow, but are not fussy about it being mowed every week or "perfectly". Use the gas mower for some of the big areas, but wanted to try and become more environmentally friendly and LESS NOISY! First, the assembly. Let me say that even tho' I am a 61 year old female, I am VERY handy. I gave 3 stars to ease of assembly. This is the biggest negative about the mower. I am not saying it is difficult exactly, just annoying at times. One good tip I got from reading the reviews was this: ASSEMBLY is a bit of a.....pain. There are 3 bits: the handle, the middle, and the reel. The handle assembles easily. You will have issues if you follow the instructions by attaching that to the middle part and then putting the entire assembly on the reel. The trick is to attach the middle part to the reel as you will have to push on it (compress it) to get it on the posts. That will be impossible if you've fully assembled the handle as it doesn't flex to fit. Once it's on the reel, bolt the handle to the middle bit. THAT reviewer knew what they were talking about! ALSO, regarding assembly I agree with this reviewer: BUILD quality seem acceptable for a 100 dollar piece of equipment. However, it's engineered terribly. They basically send you two left sides to a handle. And this is actually an issue if you want to fasten the wing nuts/bolt in the same direction on both sides of the handle. Because the left handle is basically the right handle upside down, the bolt no longer fits inside of a dimple in the handle frame. So you're left with two choices: bolting one bolt and wing nut upside down and one right side up, or muscling one of the wing nuts so hard that you make your own dimple in the frame. THIS IS TRUE! I did the former.I also found that altho' it is true that ideally one doesn't want to set the reel too low and cut too much height off the grass at any one time, the mower works WAY better if you adjust the blades close to ground. I have not found that doing so causes the usual problem of grass too short and "burning". Oh, the method for adjust reel / blades is just awkward. But, not too hard. Regarding trying to cut longer grass. I have found that the blades are so sharp that even letting the grass get rather long (say 6-7 inches!) is perfectly fine. It is true that it does a much better job on soft grass. If you have a lot of "straw", you will get frustrated; it will not cut this sort of grass. People commented that it is better to walk fast and get the reel turning faster...yes, definitely makes cutting easier. Sometimes you benefit by giving a spot a second swipe. I think no matter the type of mower that overlapping your "lanes" of mowing and essentially double mowing is beneficial. I don't know why, but I like the "cut' produced by this mower much better than the gas mower. It is much greener and thicker looking. If you want a reel type mower, this one is highly recommended. Oh, yes it only goes forward. Not really an issue. Sticks? Well, if they are small and flat on ground, not an issue. If one gets in the blades...it stops SUDDENLY. Just pick the stick out. Hardly an issue for me; most small twigs get mowed right over. Lastly, the best thing is you can quickly grab it, no gassing up, do a small area only if need be...sometimes there are patches that grew faster than the rest. I am glad I bought it. Get the wider one for a few more dollars.

This is my first push mower and I’m very pleased with the results. We have a smaller heard, front and back combined probably around 3,000-3,500 sqft. It was time for me to take over the yard maintenance from our gardeners (longer story here...) so i started researching mowers. Having grown up with gas mowers, i always bought quality machinery (snapper toro etc). I looked into cordless tech, which is much more advanced from when i last researched the options. The reel technology intrigued me mostly in the difference between cutting versus tearing. The reduced carbon footprint, lack of need to store gas, and getting a bit of exercise (always a good thing) sold me.I did more research on reel mowers and also looked around for used ones on Craigslist. The Craigslist research tells me how well the various models hold up. It’s a great way to see if a manufacturer’s product falls apart after a few years. After much consideration i picked up this model from Great States.I have used it a few times and i must say I’m impressed. It assembled super easy, so easy a caveman could do it. It’s lightweight and easy to push around. It has several adjustments for height which is nice. The rollers have three settings and also the front wheels have three height settings. That’s a nice feature so you can dial it in for not only the height but also the composition of your unique lawn (hard pack, spongy etc). It was fun to fiddle around with the different adjustments and see the differences.The quality of the cut is noticeable. Very noticeable! I have a smooth even cut across the entire lawn, almost like a visit to the barbershop. I believe my lawn is going to looks great this summer and will be much healthier than before. Plus i will have earned my obligatory beer when I’m done too. While it’s more work than a deck mower, it’s not crazy like doing Insanity or plyo intervals. It’s a bit of a push but once you are moving the blades do most of the work.Finally, i picked up the Great States catch bag for clippings. That fit nicely and was easily installed. I use the bag most of the time. About every three mows, i let the grass clippings fall back into the lawn to help feed the grass like a mulching mower would.In summary i am very pleased with the reel technology over a deck mower and the quality-to-price for the Great States is unbeatable.

The media could not be loaded.  Excelente desempeño, debo decir que el césped está limpio, es decir, no hay piedras ni ramas y eso ayuda mucho al desempeño de la podadora. Sin ningún problema, cuenta con 5 niveles de corte para regular el tamaño de corte deseado. La utilizo cada 5 días en promedio y lo único es que el hule espuma que está en el manubrio pues ya se rompió, las llantas son de un plástico duro y no de goma pero pues también considero el precio y me parece justo por lo que pagué, si la recomiendo! 👍🏻

I can't speak to the assembly, as I got my son & son-in-law to do it for me, but it only took them a few minutes & no cursing that I could hear, so I think it was pretty easy. It seems very sturdy & well-made.I find that mowing with this, as compared to my previous gas mower, is slower; it doesn't cut when pulled backwards, so the finicky bits around shrubs etc. take a little longer. I expect I will get more efficient with time to develop new mowing patterns. However, I think it is easier as well; this is so much lighter than the old one that pushing it is less work. And so much quieter, of course, that the whole job is much more pleasant for me.It does an adequate job of actually cutting the grass - my lawn is so full of bumps & weeds that it is not a fair example. I do have to go over some bits a second time in another direction if I want it to look perfectly mowed (which I don't, much, so that's not an issue for me). On a good lawn, that would probably not be a problem as it is rarely good grass left sticking up!Overall, I like the weight, the simplicity, the lack of gas cans, the quiet, and the price... it was the right choice for me.

Que podemos podar aún cuando el pasto y la hierva campestre están mojadas, solo se tiene que estudiarle el modo, porque pudimos podar todo en plena época de lluvias.

Quería comprar una podadora para un jardín mediano, la cual no quería gastar en una de gasolina por lo grande, pesada y ruidosa que es, encontré esta opción manual que tiene el tamaño y peso ideal para poder terminar el corte de mi jardín en menos de 1 hr incluyendo limpieza. Corta sin problemas el césped y no se tiene que aplicar una gran fuerza para empujarla.Es muy fácil de armar y no se requieren herramientas, la guardo en la lavandería sin ocupar mucho espacio. Haciéndola ideal para casas pequeñas a medianas en las cuales no se cuenta con grandes espacios de almacenamiento.Recomiendo que para mantenerla siempre libre de oxidación y un afilado ideal, limpiar con brocha la tierra y césped después de usarla, y posteriormente pasar un trapo impregnado de WD-40 sobre el filo de las cuchillas, haciendo esto tendrás una podadora siempre en buen estado por mucho tiempo sin necesidad de afilar o que sus cuchillas se llenen de oxido.Sin duda alguna la recomiendo para aquellos que les gusta mantener su césped siempre al 100 sin tener que gastar en jardineros cada 15 días.

Good quality, works perfect