Mowing the yard with a "reel" push mower

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Hi MyLot! One of the things I do for my parents is mow the yard. This is actually a task that I don't mind. It's outdoors, a chance to get sun, and great exercise. Since they have a small town yard - this is done with a walk behind mower. Until, one day, I "killed" the mower. It took my parents a month to check about getting the mower fixed, and - turns out it was some small part that could no longer be ordered. ** As a side note that is something else that irritates me greatly. The fact that you must often times throw away an item simply because you cannot get the one little piece that broke. But that's another post for another day ** So - realizing that - my folks realized that they must buy a different mower. Imagine my surprise when I came to mow - and instead of seeing a traditional gasoline engine push style lawn mower -- a "reel" mower like the ones mentioned in the article I posted a link to below. Well, I admit first I was a little irritated. I thought it would take a lot longer to mow and I thought it would be harder. By the end of the first mow -- I was pleasantly surprised. It does have advantages with it's drawbacks. I'll list some. Reel Mower Disadvantages- * Does not mow when you drag it backwards. (Apparently this is something I do a lot.) * Will not mulch leaves * Jams up with even the smallest twig or stick Reel Mower advantages - * Much lighter weight * Is not a "pull" start * Is not loud (though this is a disadvantage for me because sometimes my dad sees mowing time as a time to visit time.) * Does not take gas The width of the mower is only 1" smaller than the old gas mower I had used, so it doesn't make much of a difference. I've only used it twice now -- with the old gas mower the yard would take me 40-45 minutes , now it seems to take me 70 minutes. However I take more breaks with the reel mower... (I think because I don't have to pull start it.) Also I loved my little workaround - it was in the 90s when I mowed on Monday. So periodically I would pour water over my head to keep cool. To sum it up - the reel mower is not a bad choice, but not a great choice if you have lots of trees or want to mulch leaves. Is outdoor work some of your chores? Do you mow? Have you used a "reel" mower before?