I have owned this mower for almost two full seasons now and I sure have mixed feelings about it. The reason is that I have two very distinct lawns. My shady lawn is bluegrass, but my sunny lawn is Bermuda grass. I live in the desert, so if one is going to have a lawn in a sunny area, Bermuda grass is very heat-tolerant and a good choice.

I purchased a reel mower because I hate the noise and gas fumes that come with a gas mower, and I am trying to be a good citizen of the earth. OK, I know that I shouldn't have a lawn at all in the desert but it was there when I moved in and I have to water my huge shade tree, anyway, which keeps me from having to use the AC, which is a good thing. But I digress. . .

In the bluegrass, this mower works great. It cuts the grass cleanly and leaves no ugly wheel marks. It is a breeze to operate and my only complaint is that this mower will come to a dead stop if there is a twig as small as a pencil in the blades. Given that I have a big tree in this yard, twigs can be an issue. Other than that, I highly recommend it.

In my sunny lawn it is a different story. Bermuda grass is very dense, forming almost a small forest of fibrous stems with an interlocked green canopy. When you walk on it, it feels springy. The Brill mower is too lightweight to use on this dense lawn, and its highest blade setting is only 2" and this type of grass is best left 3" long in the summer. The mower is very hard to push through this grass, and it leaves ugly, uneven chop marks, kind if like when one kid cuts another one's hair.

I also own the grass catcher for this mower, which is just a plastic pan. It works fine, but it doesn't hold much. It cost an extra $30, which was a lot of money for something so basic.

If you are having trouble with one of these mowers, try adjusting the blades so that they touch slightly when you mow, rather than leaving the blades at the factory setting. This makes quite a racket when you push the mower, but it makes a huge difference in the mower's ability to cut. Even after having done this, I still have great difficulty in the Bermuda grass.

Just for the record, I am no wimp. I work out, I'm in great shape, I split firewood, I garden, and I go on 40-mile bike rides just for fun. But using this mower is tough, and I have the blisters to prove it.

So, here is my rating: I give it five stars if you have bluegrass, fescue, or any other "normal" type of lawn. I give it one star if you have Bermuda grass. So I'll have to compromise and rate it 3 stars.

Am I going to get rid of it? I just can't decide. I really love the no-gas part.

Update: It's July of 2004. I got rid of it. I now own a Sears Craftsman 4.5 horse gas mower and mowing the lawn now takes 25 minutes instead of 45 and I don't have sore wrists afterward. I had forgotten how nice it is to be able to mow close to fences and bushes by just easing the mower up to the objects, rather than having to maintain speed to keep the blades turning. My lawn is now free of small sticks and other debris and looks much better. I tried with the Brill - I really tried, but when it's 100 degrees in the morning and you're trying to force a reel mower through a Bermuda-grass jungle you reach the point where you just can't take it anymore.



Recommended: Yes