GreenerGreenGrass Organic Lawn Care Blog

Do you really want a reel mower, but think your yard is too big to mow manually?  Think again!  The Zool Yard Tool is a bike and mower all in one.  I love this thing.

The Zool Yard Tool redefines manual reel mowers.

Invented by Matt Langley (who is a cool guy I met this weekend), and engineered by Ted Wojcik, the Zool Yard Tool makes manual mowing a much more pleasant experience than the standard push mower, especially if you have a lot of ground to cover.

Manual reel mowers, as opposed to gas-powered rotary mowers, are better for your natural lawn for two reasons.

1. Reel mowers have curved blades that rotate in a spiral around a stationary plate.  As the cutting edges pass the plate, they cut the grass blades cleanly, without leaving jagged edges.  Rotary mowers have a single blade that rotates horizontally, whipping past the grass and essentially ripping the blade, which leaves behind jagged edges.  Not only does this not look as nice, but jagged edges will actually cause stress on the grass plant – it will require energy to heal the cut edge, will lose moisture, and is more susceptible to disease.
2. Gas-powered motors use, um, gas.  It’s a combustion engine, so you’ll have nasty exhaust.  Plus, you have to pay for the gas.  Check out the EPA’s calculator to determine your emissions reductions and cost savings if you switch to a reel mower.
   Oh yeah, there’s a number three I just thought of…
3. Reel mowers are significantly quieter than gas-powered mowers, so you can cut down on your noise pollution, too!

The Zool Yard Tool isn’t available for purchase yet. But, I think demand will be high since there aren’t a lot of other alternatives for people with who are committed to natural lawn care.  I know I want one!