We happily used the Fiskars reel mower for 11 years. it uses a chain, the chain eventually broke, and I borrowed our neighbor's Scotts 20-inch reel mower while trying to figure out how to fix the Fiskars chain. Our neighbor's Scotts mower worked so well and was so much lighter than the Fiskars that I decided to replace the Fiskars with the Scotts. I bought the the 7-blade 18" Scotts, the one I am reviewing, rather than the 20" Scotts reel mower my neighbor has, thinking, "Why not - that sounds like maybe Scotts' most recent model, maybe an improvement." But it has been an utter disappointment. First, it is NOT easy to assemble. Hint: don't put the handle together first, as the directions say to do. Assemble the lower part of the handle to the body first. That's the only way that most of us will get enough leverage to "snap" (i.e. force) the handle to the body. OK, then ready to mow. I followed all the directions in the manual, careful to do everything just right, and even called the manufacturer's number twice for advice (and yes, to complain. But nicely, I thought.). Sstarted high and went low, added WD40, mowed more frequently than usual, etc. And at this point, I am sorry to say -- but want others to be aware -- that this mower not only mows poorly but also is loud as heck for a reel mower. I have to make at least three passes to get any kind of decent cut, and in many places, I have to go at the grass repeatedly from different directions. Even then, there is a shaggy, unkempt look to the lawn. So even though this mower is very lightweight -- its one virtue, as far as I can see -- it takes at least three times the work of the Fiskars, which is indeed heavier. Personally I'm fine with the Fiskars' relative workout, especially when the results are so superior. Note that our lawn is composed of mixed grasses, with seemingly all varieties needing this quadruple-at-least mowing by the Scotts. Second issue: noise. The Scotts has a loud, unpleasant grating sound -- yes, even with WD40 applied. The customer rep said that this is to be expected, and that it isn't due to a blade-sharpening function. It's just how the Scotts mower works. I have no idea how my neighbor's 20" Scotts reel mower didn't have this sound and also cut the lawn well. My neighbor later told me that he made an adjustment to get rid of the noise, but he is a mechanic, and I think that you have to really know what you're doing if you want to both reduce noise and still cut the lawn. Or maybe the 20" is simply better in this way than this 7-blade model. In any case, at this point, I can only say that I feel I've given this lawn mower mire than a generous chance, and it is so inferior to the Fiskars in two very important ways, that I am going to go to the trouble of returning the thing and trying again to get our old Fiskars chain fixed. Someone suggested that a bicycle shop might be able to help, so that is my next step.
