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Healthy Helper Reel Mower

By Frederick Corrigan

A large majority of home owners mow their lawns with a riding lawn mower, or at the very least, a power walk behind lawn mower.

Some people mow their lawn because they have to and others LOVE to mow their lawns.

Granted, if you don’t love it, you’re going to buy a riding mower, put a cold drink in your hand and circle the yard until the job is done.

On the other hand, if you love and respect your lawn, you mow with great care, set the mower blades high enough to leave a plush lawn and you’ll mow in a different direction each time you mow. You’ll also keep your mower blades sharp and pay attention to the edging around the shrub and flower beds.

My plan is a little different, as I try to stay healthy, in addition to keeping the lawn looking good.

We live in a senior citizen community and our lawns are small. However, there are over 400 lawns in this community and most people hire landscapers to take care of their property.

I use a 16 inch wide push reel lawn mower for a number of reasons.

If you look at the cut of the grass on a golf putting green, it is very even. This is because the greens are mowed with a reel mower. A rotary type mower will cut or tear the blades of grass on an angle, due in part to the wind created by the blade rotation.

However, the cut of the grass is not what makes my push reel mower my healthy helper. Remember, I said that our lawn was small but it still takes over an hour to mow the lawn. This is one hour of walking in the fresh air. In addition, I don’t have to smell the gasoline engine exhaust fumes, I’m not polluting the environment and I’m not using gasoline.

I wear a Mio Sport Watch and this gives me the ability to monitor my heart rate, when I work, play or exercise. When I start mowing, my heart rate is around 85 beats per minute. During the one hour time frame to mow the lawn, my heart rate will increase to 116 beats per minute. This is good cardiovascular exercise---no pollution!

EDGING

I edge the flower beds using a hand held edging tool. This tool has a sharp blade, a long handle and you step on the top of the blade to cut through the sod. This tool is also healthy, as most landscapers use gas powered edgers and trimmers.

The top soil that I remove while edging isn’t wasted. I carefully pile the top soil behind my storage shed and when we need dirt for planters or raised beds, we have it.

Once again, I’m not doing my job for money, so time is not the important factor.

By keeping active, senior citizens can help the environment by using tools that aren’t gas powered, get the job done and improve their health.

One last reminder: We only have ONE EARTH, so don’t forget to celebrate the 40th anniversary of EARTH DAY on April 22nd, 2010. We can all recycle our trash properly, carry our groceries home in reusable bags and stop throwing plastic into our landfills.

Some folks might call it work, but I call it exercise with a purpose!

Contributor's Note

Keep your body moving with a purpose and your body will move you on purpose!

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Very Right! I don't use a reel mower and I never knew why it did a better job on lawns but I've considered buying and using one. I do use reusable grocery bags though and recycle extensively. So I guess I doing thing half right!

Thank you for visiting and for your positive comments, Wynn. If everyone did what your doing, we would have a handle on saving our environment.
Best wishes.
Frederick

I live in an apartment, but I think you make an excellent argument for doing chores by hand. One of the reasons we are so out of shape is because use so many labour saving devices.

I appreciate your stopping by and your helpful comments, June. Maybe our forefathers were in better shape, because they did more physical work.
Best to you.
Frederick

I am assuming that by 'reel' you are referring to what we Brits call a 'cylinder' mower with rotating blades. These are by far the best mowers because they cut the grass with a scissors like action.

My own preference is to use a scythe - that lazy side to side swing is like a full body massage.

Yes, I remember the scythe very well, Arthur. I was introduced to it when I was 10 and my grandfather was 80. He insisted the we keep the tall grass and brush mowed down next to the stone walls. It didn't feel like a massage to me, but I could have used one on my aching muscles at the end of the day.
Best wishes.
Frederick

This sounds like a good workout. I used to mow my lawn with a push mower when I had a 1/3 acre lot. Now with more than 1 acre I just don't have that kind of time, so the riding mower it is. If we had more trees, I would be more than happy to just let it go! But I certainly do all my landscaping work and so forth by hand myself.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, Christina.
Being able to get outdoors and taking advantage of our good health while we can is important.
Best to you.
Frederick

looking at what you call a reel mower made me nostalgic.
I remember such a lawn cutter. An old photo of it shows my toddler kids who played with it at the time. My idea was also to use it for mowing grass instead of using an electric mower. However, one day, it didn't want to work for some reason and I didn't know how to fix it.
Therefore, one has to have some technical knowledge to be able to do garden workouts with a reel mower. That fact as well as your Bio watch are proof that health comes with a price nowadays. I would love to know the name of your biowatch and where to get it.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, Gabriele.
I purchased my Mio Sport Watch at a drug store. They do have a website: http://www.miowatch.com
Best to you.
Frederick

I thought that you knew that clothes don't the man make.
Thanks for your visit and support, Franklyn.
Best wishes.
Frederick

thanks for the Mio sport watch web. I am not sure any more if this would be what I want. I must not lose weight. Pulse and blood pressure readings would also matter more.

Your certainly welcome, Gabriele.
Hope you feel better,soon.
Best to you.
Frederick

You always post great intel... thanks!
I love reduce, reuse, recycle!
Beautiful green lawn! :)

Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments, Diana.
Best to you.
Frederick

We have half an acre on a hill and helping hubby keep it looking good was just about the only exercise I got. I'd love to say that we use a reel push mower, like we used to when I was a girl growing up in the South, but we don't, because we would like to get the lawn finished in under 3 hours.

We do use a scythe on the bushes, and my most productive day was the one I shouted out ... "I'm cutting down that tree, honey." And did so with a hand saw before he woke up enough to realize I wasn't joking.

Spending time outside used to be great, but between the airplanes, (local and Newark airport traffic,) motorcycles and power tools, we're beginning to miss the relative quiet of the city.

Thank you for stopping by and for your support, Marsha.
Time and size of the jobs, does have to be considered.
Glad I could bring you Memories.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Thank you for the visit, Sandy.
Just tell your husband that you're trying to keep him healthy.
Couch potato's tend to get obese!
Best wishes.
Frederick

Outstanding frederick. It is almost impossible to buy cylinder mowers in the UK except possibly at a yard sale.
I remember them well, my Dad had one and the finish was striped and looked great.
As for the exercise, you will remember I have AF and it is medicated with Amiodarone which keeps my heart rate below 50-60 per min. With that if I were to exceed 120 bpm my heart would probably be dancing a jig in my chest.
Consequently it is extremely difficult to get up a decent walking pace, so I just trudge along behind my wife.
Feels very odd, but I just swallow my pride and follow instead of setting the pace.
In my case the problems is hereditary, with my mum and one of my 3 brothers having the same condition.
I just have to manage.
Good luck to you Frederick, you are always a great source of practical knowledge.

Thanks for your support and your comments, Damien. Those of us who enjoy good health, need to count our blessings.
Those of us with good friends, are blessed.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Its great that you are mowing and exercising at the same time. we too use a push mower but our lawn is teeny tiny. Its nice not to have the pollution associated with a power mower and to enjoy being outside while you mow instead of all that noise and soot.

Thank you for stopping by and for your support, Eliza.
We had 2 acre lawns for years and I was one of those guys creating the noise,soot, dust and wasting gas. It's nice to get away from that process.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Nice to hear from you again, Peter. Thank you for your support.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Nice lawn and bed there, Frederick. (I am sooooooo behind on my correspondence -- again.)

I have a 1/4 acre lawn. If I used one of those things, it would take me 3 days to mow the lawn -- then I'd have to turn around and start all over again. I'm younger than you, but I'll bet that you're in better shape than me.
Regards,
Jim

Thanks for your visit and for your comments, James. Welcome to the far behind club!
Best wishes.
Frederick

I was looking at your pictures again and couldn't help noticing that you missed a spot.

I double checked and found out that it was a spot on the camera lens, Franklyn.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Best wishes.
Frederick

I agree reel lawn mower makes a far better job of your lawn. When I lived in the UK I used to enjoy caring for my lawn, but since moving to Spain 10 years ago I haven't had a lawn to mow. My garden was converted to a concrete desert long before I moved in.

AH, for the easy life. Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, Keith. Did they paint it green or brown?
Best wishes.
Frederick

I remember the reel mower when I was a kid. We had a small flat yard in the back and in the front of the house. The yard we have now is rather large and has a big hill on the one side, so the power mower it is. I did however plant a row of flowers in a 3 foot by over 100 foot stretch of the yard. It adds to the scenery and reduced the amount to be mowed. My husband says it's so much easier now that I've also added yard edging - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNQHGM?ie=UTF8&tag=homelens-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1...

Thank you for your visit and for your comments, Cheryl.
It's great fun to use our yards like a canvas and add color with different types of shrubs and flowers.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Thanks again, Cheryl.
As a Child, I wanted to be an artist so I"m self taught and do some painting and wood carving. I've written a few intels on some of my work.
I hope that you will follow me as I appreciate you comments very much.
Best to you.
Frederick

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