"Green" mowers like the human-powered Mow Cycle are great for keeping that well manicured lawn along with a clear conscience. But there’s always the chance of running into a patch of particularly thick grass that makes push mowers that little bit less attractive. The Momentum Reel Mower tackles this shortcoming in an ingenious way - its InertiaDrive Technology (patent pending) stores energy like a flywheel to unleash a burst of extra cutting power when required.
The InertiaDrive combines a large diameter cutting reel and heavy cutting reel blades to store energy expended while mowing less troublesome areas. When a tough spot is encountered the InertiaDrive delivers twice the energy to power through small twigs, weeds, or dense grass that would jam other reel mowers. The mower’s large diameter cutting reel and heavy cutting blades allow it to power through obstructions that would cause the small diameter cutting reels and thin blades of standard reel mowers to a standstill.
Made by Finnish company Fiskars, the Momentum Reel Mower also features the company’s StaySharp Cutting System and VersaCut Design that it says makes the mower 30 percent easier to push in long grass.
StaySharp Cutting System
Standard reel mowers rely on contact between the cutting reel and stationary blade for cutting. The steel on steel contact that is produced creates friction & causes blade wear. As a result, the blades on standard reel mowers dull quickly and require annual sharpening to prevent cutting performance degradation. The StaySharp Cutting System uses precision ground hardened steel blades engineered to cut grass without actually touching. To do this, the cutting reel and stationary blade are separated by about 0.003 inches – less than the thickness of a blade of grass. This means friction and blade wear are greatly reduced.
VersaCut Design
Traditional reel mowers place the cutting reel between the two large drive wheels. This design creates a 3-inch wide no-cut zone under each wheel, making close edging impossible. It also requires undesirable blade positioning, limiting both the maximum cut height and range of cut height adjustment possible.Fiskars’ VersaCut (also patent pending naturally) extends the cutting blades across the entire width of the mower and uses a long wheelbase to optimize blade positioning. This eliminates uncut strips from under the wheels and allows three times closer edging than other reel mowers. The mower’s long wheelbase allows it to deliver a greater cut range with height settings from 1 to 4-inches.
The Momentum Reel Mower also features an ergonomic height adjustable handle with a padded grip, a one-touch cut height adjustment system and a forward throw grass discharge chute for mess-free operation.
It’s almost enough to make me think I’d actually want to mow the lawn if I had one of these babies.
The Momentum Reel Mower from Fiskars sells for US$249.99 through the company's website, but shipping is limited to the US at this time.
- As an interesting sidenote Fiskars is apparently the oldest company in Finland (established in 1649) and were responsible for launching the world’s first plastic-handled scissors in 1967. Since then the company’s iconic orange scissors have sold more than 1 billion pieces worldwide.
Via Craziest Gadgets.