Cylinder lawn mowers provide us with that lovely flat bowling green finish to our lawns that so many of us may find desirable. Cylinder lawn mowers utilise a setup consisting of a spinning reel with multiple blades which pass by a lower stationary blade which is often called a knife, or sheer blade, or bottom blade. The cutting action created with this layout is similar to that of a pair of scissors, whereby the scissors pass two blades past each other to cut, so too does the spinning reel with multiple blades passing by a stationary lower blade create the same cutting action.
A cylinder lawn mower can be something which many of us would like to have in our own garden sheds for use on our own lawns, for they really are something special and they give us something very unique when it comes to the finish of our lawns.
And in saying these things I really would like to outline that these lawn mowers are specialty machines, which may not be suitable for everyone for the following reasons.
Having a cylinder mower as our primary lawn mower requires that we mow our lawns often and regularly, if this is something you do already or would like to do, then a cylinder lawn mower is perfectly suited for you and your needs. If however you only want the mow the lawn when it becomes absolutely necessary, then a rotary lawn mower would be best suited for your needs.
Cylinder lawn mowers will cost more to maintain, specifically when it comes to blade sharpening which needs to be done at a lawn mower shop, and there is a marked difference between the cost of a set of rotary mower blades that we can install ourselves, and the cost of dropping off our reel mower for sharpening at the shop. Which is entirely expected and understandable when we own and use a specialty piece of equipment like this.
Maintenance of a cylinder mower will include adjusting tolerance between the reel and lower blades every so often, which is usually done with adjusting a nut. Other maintenance which is different to a rotary mower may include perhaps adjusting a belt every so often, and perhaps lubing bearings, all dependent on the type and brand of cylinder mower we own.
Once again I want to stipulate with this article that I seek only to fully explore the differences between cylinder mowers and rotary mowers, and that while many may desire all the benefits of a cylinder mower, that this is turn comes with requirements which are unique to these machines, and that these lawn mowers are not the go-to lawn mower type for many of us.
Is My Lawn Suitable For A Cylinder Mowing Cut?
Many lawns are not suitable to be cut with a cylinder lawn mower, so even though many of us love the idea of having a nice flat cylinder mower finish to our lawns, we should accept that it may not be the right solution for our lawn’s needs.
Uneven lawns can result in the cylinder mower cutting the top off both lawn and soil of any raised areas in the lawn. This will leave bare lawn patches of just soil that look ugly amidst the rest of the lawn. This will keep happening for as long as a cylinder mower continues to be used on that lawn. Remember also that the cylinder lawn mower cutting action is much like a pair of scissors with two blades spinning at high speed in very tight proximity to each other, so for as long as we continue to scalp both lawn and soil this way, we will be blunting our blades repeatedly at cost to resharpen. Cylinder mowers need a flat lawn surface to ensure a great finish to the lawn and to ensure the lawn and mower blades are not damaged during mowing of uneven lawns.
Irregularly cut or neglected lawns are also unsuitable for cylinder lawn mowing.
Some lawn types are best not cut with a cylinder lawn mower.
Regular Lawn Mowing Required
Cylinder lawn mowers are designed specifically to be used on lawns which are mowed regularly, and so only a small amount of leaf material is removed in any one cutting. When lawns are mowed regularly in matching with their growth rates of any given time of the year, then we can and should expect a beautiful lawn mowing finish at every cut, and yes we can achieve a near bowling green finish to our lawns while keeping them green and healthy.
Leaving lawns to become too long in-between cuts is never a good idea for cylinder lawn mowing. Firstly we run the risk of the cylinder mower becoming clogged often even if the lawn is only moderately overgrown, which can mean stopping the lawn mower every metre or so to unclog it. This is because there is only limited space between the spinning reel blade (or cylinder) and the deflector guard which sits around the blade, and so it can clog easily. Best to mow regularly when cylinder lawn mowing.
Also because most cylinder lawn mowers do cut lawns quite low, moderate overgrowing of lawns followed by the low cutting height of a cylinder lawn mower can leave some brown patches behind after mowing. This can occur if the thatch layer of the lawn is allowed to raise over time between infrequent cuts.
Lawn Types Suitable For Cylinder Lawn Mowing
Far and away the very best types of lawns that are suitable for cylinder lawn mowing are the fine leaf warm season grasses. Couch grass being number one by a country mile, Couch is the predominant lawn variety used on bowling greens and which lawn is most particularly suited to cylinder lawn mowing.
Queensland Blue lawns are also a fine leaf grass variety and is a lawn which will also come up an absolute treat with regular lawn mowing with a cylinder lawn mower.
Zoysia is another fine leaf warm season grass which can do very well with cylinder lawn mowing, also providing a lovely flat finish to a properly laid lawn and even lawn surface.
Keep in mind once again though that lawn mowing regularity must match the growth rates of these lawns, especially when mowing at reduced lawn mowing heights to which cylinder mowers are best suited to produce the finish that we all find so desirable.
Buffalo And Kikuyu Lawns And Cylinder Mowers
Buffalo lawns really are best suited to being mowed with a rotary mower and not a cylinder mower, though it can be possible these days to cut a Buffalo lawn with the right cylinder mower.
When we talk about Kikuyu lawns we are referring to the modern Male Sterile Kikuyu (MSK) lawns such as Village Green, which are a substantial improvement over the old style common Kikuyu lawns from years past. A modern MSK lawn may be able to be mowed successfully with a regular cylinder mower at low heights as long as it is mowed frequently at those heights. Though in reality it may be best to mow a MSK at increased heights regardless of whether we use a cylinder or rotary mower, though it most likely would probably be best to mow these lawn types with a rotary mower as being the most suitable option.
Many modern commercial grade cylinder mowers can now be purchased with two modifications built in which can make them suitable for use on some Buffalo and Male Sterile Kikuyu lawns.
The first is pretty much an industry standard now, which is the fingertip height adjuster, which can very quickly raise or lower the cutting heights on cylinder lawn mowers, this would be essential when raising cutting heights for either Buffalo grass or Male Sterile Kikuyu grass lawns.
The second modification which makes cylinder lawn mowers more suited to mowing both Buffalo and MSK is the segmented front roller on some of these mowers, keeping in mind that these roller types are not the standard but the exception. This segmented front roller allows the machine to cross over Buffalo or Kikuyu lawns without pushing down the lawn leaf before cutting, which in turn keeps the majority of lawn leaf upright as the blades pass over the lawn, this provides for a much better cut quality with these two lawn types.
This is in opposition to a regular cylinder mower front roller which is usually entirely smooth like a rolling pin, and which is suitable for Couch, Queensland Blue and Zoysia lawns which are being cut at much lower heights. And in saying this, the segmented front rollers are also very suitable for use on Couch, Queensland Blue and Zoysia lawns.
If you own or want to purchase a domestic quality cylinder mower, then aftermarket segmented front rollers, suitable for use on Buffalo and Kikuyu lawns, may be available to purchase and fit to your machine. Use your favourite search engine to try and track one down if interested.
Conclusion
Cylinder lawn mowers truly are wonderful machines, giving lawns a cut quality and finish which is unrivalled amongst other lawn mower types, though they are not suitable for everyone and not suitable for all lawn conditions.
The hope with this article was simply to provide all pertinent information about these specialty machines so we can all make informed choices when considering them for our own lawns.
The author has owned and used commercial grade cylinder lawn mowers for twenty years.
Quick Facts
Also called: roller mowers, reel mowers.
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