5.0 out of 5 stars All the POSITIVES & NEGATIVES

D. · May 22, 2025

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } I've owned this model for about ten years now. Things I regard as positives - (1) It costs less than most quality gas or electric mowers. (2) Burn more calories cutting the grass. (3) It is environmentally friendly. (4) It costs much less to maintain compared to gas mowers - no need to purchase gas or oil. (5) This design seems to spin and generate more power than just my manual push, probably related to how they have the chain linked to the wheels to blades. (6) Lasted ten years before any part broke (7) Can direct the cut grass to be thrown front or back - I prefer front so it sort of gets that double cut into smaller pieces (not mulching though) (8) It has a pretty good cut on the grass, not as good as gas powered mowers if you are looking for that manicured, picture perfect lawn shown in real estate ads, BUT, cuts well for a functional, nice lawn. So over-all, the last ten years I've saved money, burned more calories, and helped the environment..., that's a win, win, win.. :)For negatives, which don't really bother me, but could for others: (1)Takes longer to cut the grass than all powered mowers. (2) For a really nice cut, you need to cut one way, then turn around and cut the other way over the same space. (3) I have somewhat steep hills in my yard, and you will definitely get a workout, especially if the grass is thicker or taller. (4) In some case, similar to gas powered mowers which will clog with thick, tall, or wet grass, you'll need to cut once at a raised blade setting, then again at the lower height. (5) You will need to muscle it to get through thicker grass, but I view that as a good workout. (6) It will not cut TALL grass, so you'll need to weed whack those extra tall stragglers after you do the level cut for the full lawn. (7) Unlike gas powered mowers, you can't just place it over a tight spot, such as a corner of a yard gate to cut the grass. You need movement to roll/cut the grass. Again, I need to weed whack a little more to cut grass in tight corners.I'm 55 and healthy, so I don't mind a little extra muscle work and time in cutting the lawn, plus I'm frugal, so I don't mind the negatives and really like the positives. BUT, if I was older, not steady on my feet, didn't have the time (like I used to with my previous long commuting job), have a lot of hills in a much larger yard, or if I really wanted that perfectly manicured lawn in one mowing, then the negatives would weigh much heavier.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Reel Mower Available and a Great Piece of Exercise Equipment as Well

R. · March 12, 2013

I have been cutting my 1/2 acre lawn (19000 ft2 of actual grass) with reel mowers for 7 years now. Reel mowers make for a healthier lawn since the blades of grass are sheared off rather than bludgeoned off like with a standard gas powered rotorary mower. This results in thicker grass, fewer weeds and fewer bugs. This is why golf courses use reel mowers almost exclusively. I started with the standard Scott's 20" mower from the local hardware store. It worked OK, but it was hard to push because the blades are in contact resulting in a lot of drag even when not cutting grass. And it didn't cut very evenly with lots of little tufts of grass left uncut. The result is that I had to often cross-cut the yard if I wanted it to look good. With this big a yard, even with 20" width that was just not practical.Next I tried 16" Brill mowers from Germany. These used a non-contact cutting system that greatly reduced the resistance, one because there was no friction with the blades since they don't contact each other but two because the blades are made of harder material and stayed sharp longer. The Brills had two problems. One there were too narrow. They did cut well in one pass, but there were just a lot of passes. And two they didn't cut tall enough. If you have very rich deep soil with frequent rain or where you can water often, then the grass can do very well when cut to the 1"-1.5" height that the Brill can cut. My yard has neither of these things.Then Fiskar came out with the Momentum mowers (now StaySharp Max) and we got two (my wife and I mow together, which is how we manage such a large yard with push mowers, though I have done it myself on occasion, so it is possible for one person to do it all). These mowers are unique in that they throw the grass clipping forward where they were cut and recut until they were cut into very fine pieces and fall below the level of the cut grass. The Momentum has a non-contact cutting system like the Brill, but it had a much heavier reel which resulted in higher momentum in the reel (hence the original name). This allowed more energy to be stored in the reel which keeps the mower from bogging down in a spot of heavy grass or stalling on a tiny twig. Also this mower adjusted for cutting heights up to 4"! Finally I could cut my grass at the 2" - 2 1/2" it does best at. But, and sadly there is a but, I came to not like the fact that the clippings were being thrown forward. First it tended to mat down the uncut grass resulting is some unevenness in the resulting cut, and two in thick grass it could be very hard to push since you were cutting new grass and recutting previously cut grass several more times. I think that all the recutting of clippings as well as the very large size of my yard resulted in the blades of these mowers becoming dull after just two years. When they first came out Fiskar didn't make a grass catcher for this mower, though there is one now. I am sure that with a smaller yard and the use of the catcher when the grass is very tall or especially thick that the mowers would have gone more than two seasons before becoming dull.So finally at the start of last year we bought two of these 17" StaySharp mowers. They use the same high momentum reel of the original Momentum, but these discharge the clippings to the rear. The maximum cutting height is 3 1/2" rather than 4", but truth be told I never cut at 4" with the Momentum because the clippings pushed the uncut grass down below the 4" cutting height resulting in many places not getting cut! The 3 1/2" maximum cutting height on the StaySharp should be just fine. I find the mowing effort to be much lower than the Momentum because the clippings are only being cut once and then discharged. Plus the clippings are falling on already cut grass so there is no matting down of uncut grass. The result is more visible clippings on the surface of the grass as one would expect. My solution if the clippings are too thick for my tastes is to take an electric leaf blower and just sweep the airstream over the surface of the lawn. This causes the little clumps of clippings to be broken up and *all* of the clippings magically disappear below the surface of the lawn. I can sweep in 10' - 12' wide swaths, so this doesn't take very long. But I only do this because I am fussy. The clippings for the most part dry up and then disappear below the surface in no more than a day on their own. And lastly if the trick with the leaf blower doesn't work I have a 36" manual yard sweeper that has rotating bristles that sweep the recalcitrant clippings off the lawn and into a catcher. This also fluffs up the wheel marks so I can catch them when I cross-cut if I want a perfectly manicured lawn.Based on all of this experience, I very highly recommend the StaySharp reel mower.One last word on reel mowers, I think that anybody without a clear physical disability or more than a 1/2 acre of grass (and really do you need to keep so much in grass? let some of it become meadow) should be cutting their lawn with a reel mower. We all need more exercise. My wife and I try to mow a 1/3 of the yard at a time (about 5000 ft2). For our sized yard and with two of us doing it only takes 20-30 minutes for each 1/3. So at a minimum we get 3 really good aerobic workouts a week. Since there is no fueling or starting, we can just come home from work, jump into our lawn clothes and grab a mower and go. So it isn't hard at all to get in a little mowing each day. In the spring when the grass "explodes" out of the ground, we often need to cut each section twice a week, so our workouts increase to 6 a week. But this is just in time to blow off the rust that has accumulated all winter and lets us get our "beach bodies" back. The best thing is that at the end of our workout we also have our yard cut. If instead we went to the gym and made a treadmill go round and round 3-4 times a week, we would still need to spend 3+ hours on the weekend guiding a hugely noisy gas mower over the yard. So with reel mowers you get the exercise we all really need more of and you don't "harsh the calm" of your neighbors. Viewed as a piece of exercise equipment, the $150 StaySharp is a very cheap investment in your health.

4.0 out of 5 stars You will probably need to lookup videos on how to adjust the blades properly.

A. · May 22, 2025

Review is for the 18 inch. Combining reviews for different products is retarded.I love it. Take the orange shield off to make cutting easier.I took away a star because there was no manual for how to adjust the blades. They will probably need to be adjusted out of the box (mine did).Also, even the video from the company is inaccurate.Adjust the blades until it cuts paper AND the blades spin resistance free... If the blade are immediately stopping after you stop moving they are too tight.Trying to adjust by noise the blades make isn't going to work. (Even though the official video by the company tells you to try to do it by sound)

Easy to use, well-built reel mower

K.L. · February 18, 2020

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } We used the reel mower for the first time today and we were pleased with the results. The overall built feels sturdy and assembly was surprisingly easy. It might be more expensive than other brands but it does feel like this will last for a while.

Excelente Cortacésped

P. · August 2, 2023

Encantado, muy contento con la compra, corta el pasto como las tijeras al papel, ni bien llego la probé cortando mi pasto y funciona genial.Su sistema de Cuchillas de corte sin contacto hace que sea realmente silenciosa y no me cuesta casi nada de trabajo empujarla, cualquier persona podría hacerlo. Después de cada uso la limpio con una brocha sin poner mucho empeño y le pongo silicona en spray para evitar corrosión y que quede lista para el siguiente uso.Hay que armarla y ajustar un poco pero no es nada del otro mundo. El único pero que le pongo es el plástico de las llantas de atrás, siento están algo débiles, ojalá me equivoque. Fuera de eso, LA RECOMIENDO 100%, hay una versión un poco más grande y el pasto lo tira hacia enfrente, creo que es mejor modelo, pero bueno esta que compré cumple con creces.

Llego golpeada y con una pieza rota

C.d.A. · October 24, 2019

Buenas tardes, mi producto llego golpeado, llego con esta pieza rota, me pueden mandar la pieza?Nunca me dieron respuesta y no hay dónde reportar el problema.

Excellent

L.H. · May 5, 2020

I love this reel mower. It has great instruction and many setting adjustments for cut heights and operator. I am 5’2” and often need to go on my tippy toes to push other mowers especially if the grass is tall. This one allows me to adjust the handle to my height. It adjust to taller grass 3 1/2”. Its a bit heavier than many newer reel mowers but similar in weight of older styles which I needed as my new turf was very tall and very thick. To push it is easy but if you need to pack it around a yard with stairs and so forth it may be a bit cumbersome. It’s more quite than previous ones and does a great job.

ES UNA HERRAMIENTA DE TRABAJO VERDADERAMENTE EXCELENTE

C.E.V. · August 16, 2022

ME AGRADA MUCHO LA FACULIDAD CON LA QUE SE CORTA EL PASTO.GENIAL.