From David Beaulieu,
Your Guide to Landscaping.
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A. The type of lawn mower that has become the standard is the rotary lawn mower. But the first lawn mowers were not rotary mowers, but rather reel lawn mowers. Edwin Budding invented the reel lawn mower in 1830.

Unlike the rotary mowers you’re used to, reel lawn mowers don’t have an engine, relying instead merely on sharp blades and the muscle-power of the operator. Their blades also spin differently than those of a rotary mower. While a rotary mower’s blades spin on a plane parallel to the ground, the blades of a reel lawn mower spin at an angle perpendicular to the ground. The environmentally conscious extol reel lawn mowers as a pollution-free alternative to gas-powered rotary mowers. Reel lawn mowers offer many benefits in addition to being easy on the environment, including benefits in safety, noise-level, maintenance and cost. Today’s reel lawn mowers are easier to use than older models, because lightweight plastics and alloys incorporated into their construction have made them easier to maneuver.

There are, however, some drawbacks to using reel lawn mowers. Reel lawn mowers don’t chop up twigs as do rotary mowers (twigs get stuck in the blades and you’ll have to remove them by hand). Nor can reel lawn mowers be used in fall to shred leaves for the compost pile. Rotary mowers are also better at cutting tall grass, an important consideration for those who don’t mow the lawn religiously. These limitations argue that, for all but the most industrious and idealistic, reel mowers may be most suitable for those who tend small urban lots.

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