Reel Mower Resource Guide | Push, Gang & ATV Tow-Behind Reel Mowers

Traditional Reel Mowers for Small Lawns to Large Properties

Reel mowers have been maintaining lawns for generations because of their mechanically simple design and precise cutting action.

Instead of using a high-speed horizontal rotary blade, a reel mower rotates a series of spiral blades past a stationary bed knife. The grass enters the reel and is cut between the reel blade and bed knife.

That same basic cutting principle can be used in a small hand-push mower or scaled into a multi-reel gang mower pulled behind a tractor, ATV, or UTV.

Cottage Craft Works offers both ends of that spectrum, including manual Mascot and USA-made Clipper push reel mowers, single tow-behind reels, 3-gang systems, lever-lift gang mowers, and 5-gang reel mower systems.

Two Different Push Reel Mower Choices: Mascot and Clipper

One of the most important decisions for a Cottage Craft Works customer is whether to choose a Mascot or Clipper reel mower.

If you set the two mowers side by side, other than the color, you would say they are the same mower. Mascot has made significant gains to compete with the Clipper.

Both are traditional, manually powered reel mowers, but they serve different buyers.

Rather than presenting one as simply better than the other, it is more useful to understand what each mower is designed to offer.

Both Mascot and Clipper offer much more value and durability over cheaper lightweight reel mowers sold at box stores. Both the Mascot and Clipper mowers are born and bred in Amish communities that depend on high-quality products for their off-grid, self-sustaining lifestyle. These are all heavy-duty mowers made with metal parts, with no plastic parts or housings.

Mascot Reel Mowers — Heavy-Duty Value

Mascot is the more economical of the two primary mower families.

The current Mascot push mowers use six spiral, heat-treated blades, a heavy steel frame, traditional reel-and-bed-knife cutting construction, and fine adjustment of the cutting system. Cottage Craft Works also provides replacement parts for both 18-inch and 21-inch Mascot configurations.

The 21-inch Mascot has also received design refinements, including a more spiralized reel, riveted rather than welded reel blades, improved bed-knife adjustment components, and segmented rear rollers to improve turning.

Mascot uses a single metal bar sharpened as the cutting bar.

Mascot also uses rivets in the housing. This should not discourage buyers, as airplanes have been flying for decades, held together with rivets. Rivets provide a significant labor savings over nuts and bolts.

Mascot is particularly attractive to someone looking for:

Heavy-duty mechanical construction.

Traditional reel mower operation.

A lower purchase price than the premium Clipper.

Available replacement parts.

18-inch and 21-inch push-mower options.

Compatibility with Cottage Craft Works gang mower systems.

USA Clipper Reel Mowers — Premium American-Made Option

The Clipper occupies a different position.

Cottage Craft Works describes the Clipper as USA-made by the Amish using USA-made parts. Current Clipper push mowers are available in 17-inch, 19-inch, and 21-inch widths and carry a 10-year warranty.

The Clipper uses six riveted reel blades and a high-quality U.S.-steel bed knife that Cottage Craft Works describes as extra tempered for long-lasting cutting sharpness. Its reel-and-bed-knife design was patterned after vintage Scotts Silent reel mowers.

Clipper takes the cutting bar one step further and bolts on a highly tempered, heat-treated cutting knife blade that lasts longer between sharpenings.

The housing is still bolted together.

The Clipper is positioned as the premium choice for customers who place a high priority on:

USA manufacture.

USA-made parts.

Premium cutting components.

A longer warranty.

Traditional heavy-duty construction.

Long-term serviceability.

The Clipper is also important because it is not limited to push mowing. Cottage Craft Works offers Clipper reel heads as a premium option on its gang reel mowing systems.

Mascot vs. Clipper at a Glance

Feature	Mascot	Clipper
Position	Heavy-duty value	Premium
Manufacture	Imported components/assembly with Cottage Craft Works/Amish distribution and setup	All USA-made
Reel Blades	Six-blade spiral reel	Six-blade spiral reel
Reel Construction	Riveted blades	Riveted blades
Push Mower Widths	18" and 21"	17", 19", and 21"
Bed Knife	Heat-treated/hardened	High-quality U.S. steel, extra tempered
Warranty	Current Mascot listing states 5 years	Current Clipper listing states 10 years
Parts Support	Available	Available
Gang Mower Use	Standard/value option	Premium upgrade option
Best For	Customer seeking heavy-duty performance at lower initial cost	Customer prioritizing USA manufacture and premium construction

Current product specifications should always be confirmed on the individual mower page before purchase.

Which Push Reel Mower Should I Choose?

The decision is less about whether reel mowing works and more about what you value in the equipment.

Choose a Mascot when you want a traditional, heavy-duty reel mower and want to keep the purchase price lower.

Choose a Clipper when USA manufacture, USA-made parts, premium construction, and its longer warranty are major priorities.

Both require the same fundamental mowing habits: keep the lawn maintained, avoid sticks and debris, maintain proper reel-to-bed-knife adjustment, and sharpen the cutting surfaces when necessary.

Push Reel Mowers for Smaller and Medium Lawns

A manual reel mower works particularly well for regularly maintained smaller and medium lawns.

The operator supplies the power by pushing the mower forward. The wheels mechanically rotate the reel, eliminating the need for a gasoline engine, battery, electric motor, or extension cord.

For someone who wants a simple mower with very few systems to maintain, this can be one of the major attractions of reel mowing.

But manual reel mowing also provides physical exercise. Lawn size, terrain, turf thickness, and mowing frequency should therefore be considered before choosing a push mower.

Reel Mowers Are Maintenance Mowers

Reel mowers should not be used on wet grass or left out in the elements.The bare metal edges on the reel and the bedknife will rust where they touch, quickly dulling the cutting surfaces. 

For the above reason, if they are washed off with a garden hose, they should be quickly dried with a leaf blower and have a thin coat of WD-40 applied to the bare metal surfaces.

At the end of the season, the wheels should be removed, the built-up grass clippings should be removed, and the pinion gear should be lubricated. Cottage Craft Works provides a video on routine maintenance.

Reel mowers perform best when the grass is cut regularly.

They are not designed to replace a brush mower or rough-cut mower.

Tall grass can bend ahead of the reel rather than entering the cutting system correctly. Thick weed stems, twigs, rocks, leaves, and other debris can also interfere with the close relationship between the reel and bed knife.

Cottage Craft Works specifically warns that its gang reel mowers can bog down in grass deeper than approximately 3 inches and are not designed for heavy weed or debris-filled mowing conditions.

Reel Mowers Are Not for Everyone or Every Yard.

Understanding the limitations on grass height and keeping the yard level and clean of sticks, twigs, and leaves will determine your overall satisfaction.

Human nature tends to dream and exaggerate what we are actually capable of doing. Reel mowers provide an intense workout, and the wider the model, the greater the resistance. It's one thing to use a reel mower to build strength compared to not being physically able to do this type of activity.

This is one reason Cottage Craft Works has such an extreme restocking fee for returned mowers. They simply don't want people buying one just to take a test drive and then returning it as a pair of shoes. They want customers well educated about the limitations and what they are purchasing. Getting returned reel mowers creates a real dilemma because once they are used, they become used mowers. The next customer who considers purchasing a returned used item will expect a substantial discount. The Amish focus more on quality and therefore don't offer the wholesale discounts common in retail, so the restocking fee has to be substantial in order to resell a used discounted  mower.

Understanding Cutting Height

Not every reel mower is intended solely for extremely short turf.

Wheel diameter, roller position, and mower geometry determine the available cutting-height range.

For example, Cottage Craft Works offers both 9-inch and 10-inch wheel assemblies for compatible 18-inch Mascot mower applications. Clipper has split the difference and offers only one option for a 9-5/8" wheel.

Some customers will obsess over the cutting height, thinking a 10" will give a 1" advantage over the 9" size. The fact is, the only difference between the two sizes is what touches the ground, meaning there is only a 1/2" difference.

Other customers will obsess over going beyond the 3" cutting height to make their grass more resistant to drought and heat. The fact is, reel mowers are designed for shorter grasses such as Bermuda, and they become difficult to use when the grass reaches over 3" because it rolls down under the reel and does not reach the cutting bar.

Customers should choose a mower based on the height at which they intend to maintain their lawn rather than simply selecting the lowest or highest possible cutting position.

From a Push Mower to a Tow-Behind Reel Mower

The traditional hand-push reel mower isn't the only way to use reel mowing technology.

For larger lawns and estates, Cottage Craft Works offers ground-driven reel mower heads that can be pulled behind tractors, ATVs, and UTVs.

The towing vehicle supplies forward motion.

The mower wheels supply the mechanical motion that turns the reels.

This means the cutting reels do not require a mower engine or PTO.

Single Tow-Behind Reel Mower

The current Cottage Craft Works single tow-behind mower uses a 21-inch reel head and is based on the same general mower heads used in its gang systems.

A single reel can be useful for smaller applications, trimming areas, horse-drawn applications, or customers interested in developing their own gang arrangement.

3-Gang Tractor, ATV & UTV Reel Mowers

Three reel heads expand the cutting width to approximately 58 inches on the current Cottage Craft Works 3-gang system.

The mower is designed for suitable tractors, ATVs, UTVs, and similar tow applications. Current product information describes an approximate 0.5-inch to 3-inch cutting-height adjustment range.

Importantly, customers can choose between Mascot reels as the value configuration and USA-made Clipper reels as the premium configuration.

Lever-Lift Gang Reel Mowers

Ground-driven reel mowing creates a transport issue.

If a reel mower's drive wheels are rolling on the ground, the reel is operating.

That is fine on the lawn but undesirable when crossing gravel, sticks, leaves, rough terrain, or other areas that should not be mowed.

The Cottage Craft Works lever-lift system allows the mower heads to be physically raised for transport.

The current lever-lift model is also available with either Mascot or premium USA-made Clipper reel heads.

5-Gang Reel Mowers for Large Lawns

The current five-gang Cottage Craft Works system further expands the concept, using five floating reel heads to achieve an approximately 92-inch cutting path.

It is designed for tractors, ATVs, and UTVs and also offers the choice between Mascot and Clipper mower heads.

For large maintained lawns, estates, institutions, and similar turf areas, the wider cutting path can dramatically reduce the number of passes required compared with a hand-push reel mower.

Why Reel Adjustment Matters

Whether the mower is a 17-inch Clipper push mower or a 92-inch five-gang system, every individual reel depends upon the same basic relationship between the rotating reel and stationary bed knife.

If the gap or relationship is incorrect, the mower may:

Push grass over.

Leave uncut strips.

Cut on one side but not the other.

Become unnecessarily difficult to push.

Wear the cutting surfaces prematurely.

Adjustment therefore becomes one of the most important skills for long-term reel mower ownership.

Sharpening and Honing

Reel mower sharpening is different from sharpening a conventional rotary blade.

The reel and bed knife work together as a cutting system.

Cottage Craft Works offers a sharpening and honing kit designed for touch-up maintenance of reel mower cutting surfaces. The kit includes the reel-turning equipment, lapping compound, application brush, and related tools.

Backlapping or honing can help maintain serviceable cutting surfaces, while severely worn or damaged reels and bed knives may require professional grinding or replacement.

Replacement Parts and Long-Term Ownership

One of the strengths of traditional mechanical reel mowers is that they can often be repaired rather than discarded.

Cottage Craft Works currently provides replacement parts listings for Mascot/Agri-Fab 18-inch and 21-inch mowers, as well as dedicated Clipper replacement parts.

This makes parts availability an important consideration when comparing a heavy-duty traditional reel mower with inexpensive disposable lawn equipment.

Choosing the Right Reel Mower

For a smaller lawn and lower initial investment, consider the Mascot push mower.

For a customer specifically seeking premium USA-made construction, consider the Clipper.

For a larger maintained lawn, consider moving from a push mower to a single- or three-reel tow-behind system.

For properties that require travel between the lawn and the storage area, consider a lift-frame system.

For extensively maintained turf, a five-gang mower provides the greatest cutting width at Cottage Craft Works.

And for the gang systems, remember that the choice continues:

Mascot reels for value or USA-made Clipper reels for premium construction.

Disclaimer

This information is provided for general educational purposes. Always follow the mower manufacturer's instructions and appropriate blade, towing, and operating safety practices.