Product Description

5 Blade 16" Ball Bearing Reel Mower, Standard Light, 4 Spider, Tempered Alloy Steel Reel & Bed Knife Blade, Unbreakable Steel Side Plate, 3/4" Formed Torsion Tube, 10" Durable Composite Wheels With Radial Tread Tires, Cutting Height 1/2" To 1-3/4" With Adjustable 4 Section Roller, Corrosion Resistant, Zinc Plated Handle With Plastic Grips.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57697 in Home Improvement
• Brand: Great States
• Model: 404-16
• Dimensions: 23.00" h x 13.80" w x 10.20" l, 24.00 pounds

Features

• 16-inch cutting width
• 10-inch composite wheels
• Easy height adjust from 1/2-inch to 1-3/4-inch
• Corrosion resistant, zinc-plated handle with plastic grips

From the Manufacturer
The power source behind our mowers hasn't changed much in 100 years. It's still readily available on demand. You can still fuel it for the price of a banana and a glass of milk. It always works when you want it to, and it doesn't leave any residue for the environment to absorb other than a couple of foot prints in a perfectly cut lawn. People- the power behind our mowers in 1895, and the power behind them today. What has changed is the product available to the people. At Great States, we've applied a century of technology to a good old fashioned idea: the reel lawn mower. Today's reel mowers are lightweight and easy to maneuver. They're ideal for today's smaller lawns, and today's hectic lifestyles. They're always ready when you're ready, and they're almost maintenance free with no spark plugs to foul or engines to clog up. They're good to the environment and they're good to the lawn, snipping the grass for a clean, precise cut. A cut that's helped us carve our niche as the nation's largest manufacturer of in-demand, on-demand reel mowers. We've spent 100 years of perfecting our reel mower designs, streamlining our production processes and searching for the best possible materials to build the best reel mowers possible. And we're proud of all that. But more important still, we've spent the last 100 years, and we'll spend the next 100 more, keeping America Green. Great States 16-inch cutting width reel lawn mower. 4 spider 5 blade ball bearing reel. Heat treated alloy steel blades and cutter bar. 10-inch composite wheels with radial tread tires. Easy height adjustment 1/2-inch to 1-3/4-inch. T style handle

Customer Reviews

Great Mower, better than expected
I recently moved to a rental house from an apartment building. There was no sheltered outside space to store a gas mower, and after reading reviews on Amazon, I got this one. After mowing, I just carry it down to the basement.

Set up is a snap. It took me literally 5 minutes and then....thats it! Just mow!

If your grass is rather long, you will have to do it twice the first time to get everything. The cut is not a perfect uniform cut, as you would expect from a gas powered mower. When done, the lawn looks like it was mowed a couple days ago. As other reviewers said, you will have to do some trimming, as the mower leaves about a 2 inch gap between the wheel and the cutting reel. I picked up a little cordless electric trimmer for that duty.

Beware! If you do not want attention from your neighbors don't buy this mower!!! Within 2 times mowing, I had met most of my neighbors, and also figured out which ones were jerks and who the unruly kids in the area were. You will attract attention with your brand new "antique" mower.

Reel Mower
Great product. Had been using an old Black and Decker reel. This one is MUCH lighter. I don't have a garage or tool shed so mower must be hauled up and down the basement stairs. I can lift this with one hand and easily transport it. I am a total ding-bat with written directions and was able to assemble this in about 10 minutes which means the average person could do it in 5 minutes or less. Mows well and makes a crisp, happy sound. I am now mowing my grass twice a week instead of once because it is so pleasant with this tidy mower.

Good, but has some limitations. I'd recommend another model.
I bought a home a few months ago and only had the chance to mow a few times with my gas mower a before the motor went on it. It was about 20 years old, so no real surprise, but obviously I needed to get my lawn mowed. I ran out to a local supply store, and decided on a reel mower since this way my girlfriend would be able to carry it up the steps from the back of my house where the garage is to the front lawn just in case I was away.

This was the only reel mower that they had, and being impatient that day as the lawn was about 6" long, I just purchased it and went on my way. After using it for about 10 mows, I've noticed some good and bad...

Good:
-Blades seem VERY sharp. I've even dinged a couple large rocks with it and they still cut evenly.
-I've had no problems with an "uneven mow" as the other reviewers noted. My strategy for this is to re-mow about 1/2 the track that I've already mowed. My lawn looks beautifully freshly cut using this method.
-Lightweight is great. I was away on business for 2 weeks and my ~110lb girlfriend had no problems carrying it up the 8 steps from my garage to the front yard. That being said, all reel mowers are lightweight, so I don't think that this is particularly good or bad for this model.

Bad:
-The 3+" gap that doesn't get mowed between the wheel and the blade is definitely annoying. I used to bring out the weed-wacker about every 3rd mow just to edge the sidewalks, while I now have to just about every mow since the uncut gap between the rocks around my landscaping and the rest of the lawn is so obvious. Admittedly, I don't know if this is a standard issue with reel mowers or not.
-You can only raise the mower to about 1.5-1.75". I never considered this before, but after doing resarch, regularly mowing your grass to under 2-2.5" promotes clover and weed growth. When I first got the mower, my lawn had a clover patch here or there, and a few random weeds. Now they're much more prevalent. I'm also not sure if it's actually possible to get it up to the 1.75" mark. The way that you raise and lower it depends on two plastic pieces holding the "adjustable roller" in place, and when I adjusted them out to the furthest they would go, the roller fell off a couple times in the middle of mowing. I have them set to one mark in now, which holds the roller steadily in place, but I have a feeling it's only at 1.5" now.

Everything considered, it seems like the mower has high quality parts, but there are just a few design considerations that were made on it that would push me to recommend a higher model. If I were to purchase a new one, I'd probably go with the 815-18 for the whopping $20 more. I have a feeling by the end of the summer I'll be buying the 815 and selling the 404-16 on Craigslist.



Update - After 2 more weeks of use, I now have crabgrass all over the place, almost covering my entire lawn. Research tells me that it is crabgrass "germination season" and one of the best things you can do to prevent it is to cut your lawn 2.5-3", so I blame the mower. If you're in the North East where crab grass and clover are problems, I definitely wouldn't recommend this mower.