Fiskars Push Reel Lawn Mower Blade Maintenance Kit, Lawn and Yard Tools

Works well, easy to push and not terribly heavy. Most cons below are just the nature of real mowers, but useful to know if you haven't used one.Cons:*Struggles with tall thick grass, and weeds that are taller and have either reedy stems or soft bendy stems like dandalions. It tends to push them over and you will probably need to pull or weedwhack those.*Not great at leaf mulching*The blade adjustment bolts were incredibly difficult to loosen at first. I had to put a pipe over my wrench to get more leverage. Drill might have worked better.* sharpening is a chore. If you can set it up with a drill, do. Or see if your local hardware store does it.* can jam with twigs, but easy to unjam. Stay away from or clean up wood chip mulch.Pros:* Works great for my small shady yard* easy to push in most conditions* because it struggles with tall, thick grass, you have good motivation to get it done and not procrastinate* low maintenance. Most cutting problems can be resolved with adjusting the blade. So far I have not needed to sharpen in at least 3 seasons, although I did once to learn how.* doesn't take up much storage space* very little assembly.If you don't mind the limitations of reel mowers, this is a good product.

I watched a few videos online and realized that I wanted to buy this kit rather than McGuyver my own method of turning the blades on my Fiskars mower (people use short pieces of rubber hose + hose clamps to attach to a drill, or they reposition the chain so you push the mower around to make the blades go backwards and sharpen themselves). My blades were pretty dull, so I had to do the process twice before they would cut strips of paper. Sharpening your own reel mower's blades is certainly do-able, though you may have a learning curve like I did that involved attending a bit of The University of YouTube on the subject. It may seem like a lot of money for a handle, a paintbrush, and some lapping compound, but the handle is made for my particular mower by Fiskars, and it was convenient to wait a few days to get everything I needed in one box rather than have to run to three different stores.I have heard that the lapping compound may dry out if you don't seal it up well; I put it in a ziploc bag and hope that'll do the trick.Another tip: put some newspaper down to catch splattered lapping compound, wear clothes you don't care about, and wear eye protection for sure. I also wore some hearing protection, as the scraping sound is pretty loud and harsh. I also took the opportunity to clean and oil / use BreakFree CLP on the chain and other moving mechanicals on the mower.My mower is now sharp and properly adjusted, and does a great job. I like that I am holding out and using my body to drive the mower instead of stinky, dangerous fossil fuels, and making a loud noise in my neighborhood. I can't imagine an electric mower doing a better job than my properly-maintained Fiskars reel mower.

I bought this as a like new open box. I presume it was a return. It worked exactly as it was supposed to. My mower was in essence locked up. I thought it was ruined by years of being rode hard, put away wet and no maintenance. The wheels and reel would barely turn and it would choke on the clippings. I was at the point of leaving it on the curb and buying a new one when I noticed this kit. What the h***, It's cheap, it has the needed instructions and if it didn't work I would still have it as a maintenance kit for the new one which I wouldn't let get so far gone.I broke the mower down as per the instructions, cleaning and lubing all the bearings and the chain as I went. I lapped the wheel, again as per instructions. I put the mower back together as checked it on the overgrown lawn. SUCCESS! I had forgotten how well these cut and I saved the $200 for a new one. If you have the few tools needed: phillips, wrenches or sockets and the hex key and have ever successfully put together an Ikea piece, then you already have the skill set to do this on your own Fiskars mower.

This did an excellent job of sharpening my mower. The mower was a few years old, and was knocking down more grass than it cut. I tried adjusting it and even tried sharpening the blades by hand. This didn't do much. The kit seems a little overpriced to me, but it works very well. By the time it was finished, the blades consistently snipped paper without effort. (Cutting paper is test recommended in the instructions.) It took, overall, about half an hour.When finished, I had used maybe 10% of the lapping compound, so the kit should last for years if I don't lose it :-)