American Lawn Mower Company 1304-14GC Reel Mower Mint

It does a threat job of cutting the grass blades sharply but I’d say sometimes you need to take a couple of passes to get the right cut. I bought the 14-inch 5 blade with bag as a deal but I think the bag does not serve its purpose at all. The rotary action of the blade reel goes from right to left and so as you walk the clippings collect only to the left edge of the bag. This results in a lot of space unused in the bag tray. Plus the bag tray is doesn’t mount well but just hooked on. So, you have to balance it from tipping over. Lastly, I thought these are American made but they are Made in China like any other.

I think if you go into this with reasonable expectations you’ll be pleased. It doesn’t give the same crisp cut look that a gas-powered mower would. You need to go over your rows a couple times and you’ll have rogue grass blades that don’t get cut. Doesn’t corner easily, we eventually learned to turn you need to push up on the mower to balance it on the wheels. But this works for us—we just have a 180 sq ft patch of lawn so we wanted something simple and portable. This was easy to assemble (according to husband) and relatively lightweight. I was initially concerned about storing the mower in our garage because it doesn’t have a guard over the blades. But they aren’t razor sharp. We are definitely glad we went with one that has a bag! You’ll still have some spillage, but it catches most of the cut grass.

Reason I took one star away is the grass catcher is made for this model and a larger one. Therefore it is wider and doesn't fit as well as it could. The front edge of the catcher also sits too low to the ground (vs being even all the way across - it kinda sags on the side closest to the blades). This sometimes causes the catcher to get caught on twigs/sticks, etc. or get displaced when I'm mowing some uneven ground in my yard. On to the good stuff. Love the color! Easy to assemble. Lightweight and very maneuverable. Cuts grass nicely. Has adjustment settings on how short to cut grass as well. And . . . Excellent Customer Service. Had a problem with the mower blade getting stuck every so often. Rep explained to me what was happening and that solved the problem. Too much stuff on bar behind the blades. Need to empty catcher more often and not let the grass build up. Probably not explaining this well, but he understood and helped me solve the problem. As you can tell, I'm not familiar with mowing the lawn - ha! Using our power mower was out of the question as I am a petite woman and do not have the strength to pull the cord to start the darn thing! Let alone control it on the big hill section of our yard. Sooo, this manual mower is just what I needed. Just need that grass catcher to fit a little better and it would be perfect. I DO recommend this mower

So I'm in my early 60's and I'm a little widow woman. I had no idea how closely my neighbors have been watching me, but since I bought this thing, they have been coming over to mow my lawn and and the front area by the street, which is strange because this little mower is great! Is my lawn level? No! But this really does a nice job. I read the reviews where people said it gets hung up and you have to stop, etc. I haven't experienced this, or really very little of it. The few times it hung up, if I pulled it backwards for a sec, it cleared itself. It's not hard to push at all, and really goes through what I consider pretty thick grass. It's quiet and I dont feel like I'm waking the neighbors early on the weekends when I use it. I purchased this because I dont want to fool with gas cans or electric cords, and I'm not disappointed at all!

I really like this manual mower. The only complaint I have is even when it hits the smallest of twigs. It will stop you in your tracks. It does cut the grass nicely and I feel like it’s a great alternative to battery or motor powered mowers. If you are one that likes to catch the grass clippings, the bag does fill up rather fast. If you’re looking to get in lots of steps, this is the mower for you.