Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower

A wide cutting path, quick adjustment, and dual tracking wheels make mowing easy. View larger.

Wider Cutting Width Reduces Time and Effort
The Scotts 2000-20 Classic Push Reel Lawnmower features a wider-than-average 20-inch cutting width that reduces time and effort on your part. A wide 20-inch cutting path will reduce the number of passes required to cut your lawn, so you will get the job done more quickly and more efficiently.

Quick-Snap Height Adjusters Mean Easy Custom Control
Get complete control over the height of your lawn. The easy-to-use quick-snap height adjusters provide fingertip control over your blade height for precision cuts. Adjustable from one to three inches, they easily fit into nine different height slots and stay securely locked in place thanks to quick-snap technology.

Precision Blade Technology and Ball Bearing Reel
The five-spider, five-blade reel features five heat-treated steel blades for accurate cuts every time. Designed with smooth ball bearings, the blades spin efficiently as you push the mower. Each blade slices through grass with extreme precision, leaving behind fine mulch, which is essential for a healthy lawn. The five-blade cutting action is designed to provide precision performance over the life of the mower, and its tough, heavy-duty steel design is built to last.

Dual Wheel Tracking for Maneuverability
The Scotts Classic Push Reel Lawnmower features two 10-inch composite wheels with radial tires plus two six-inch tracking wheels for added maneuverability. This innovative dual wheel tracking technology eliminates drag and makes it easier to push the Scotts 2000-20 mower over even the toughest terrain. The loop-style handle with foam grip provides added comfort during operation and also enhances the mower's maneuverability.

The Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawnmower weighs approximately 34 pounds (shipping weight) and is backed by a two-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Scotts 2000-20 Classic Push Reel Lawnmower, handle, and composite wheels.

I'm not sure what made me look at reel mowers on Amazon. Maybe it was wondering how I was going to transport my gas-powered mower to John Deere for service this year. Maybe it was my surprise when I saw I'd have to buy gas twice in one season this year. Having to tune the carburetor almost every week this season? Breathing in unfiltered exhaust?

Whatever the reason, I found this mower on Amazon and was intrigued by the idea of a clean, quiet mower. The fact that its cutting method might be better for my lawn was just a bonus. No gas or tune-ups? Even better.

The reviews on Amazon were encouraging, but I did a lot more research than that. I looked at the Brill Luxus, but it has a maximum cutting height of 1.8". I don't know about you, but my lawn is definitely not a golf course. This Scotts mower is the only one with a maximum 3" cutting height, and I use it at about 2.5".

Price: Amazon also has the best deal I found, especially with free shipping. Other sites are charging $180 and up, plus shipping.

Research: Amazon asks people not to enter URLs, but a quick Google for "scotts classic reel" will display all of the sites I used in my research.

Assembly: It sounds crazy, but you should definitely pour about a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid inside the foam pad to help it slide onto the handle. Try to spread it around the inside of the foam as much as possible. You can wipe off any excess after installation. Other than that, assembly is a snap. (A 30-minute snap.)

First impressions: My 8-year-old son mowed the lawn the first time. The grass was probably 5" tall and slightly damp, but this mower went right through it. There were some spots that needed another pass, but that's because the grass was too long.

Leaves: The second weekend, the leaves had started to fall. I experimented and found that this reel mower can handle white birch leaves, which are small enough that the mower just tosses them out of the way. However, my 5-year-old son and I had to rake up the larger leaves (such as maple).

Now that the leaves have started to fall in earnest, I'm just going to pull out the gas mower to mulch them, rather than rake. However, I'm looking forward to doing a final pass with the reel, and of course, I can't wait until spring.

Simple. Quiet. Inexpensive. It just works.


You gotta try this!   April 24, 2007
D. Watson
97 out of 101 found this review helpful

Everyone I know advised me against getting a reel mower. I was cautioned that they don't cut well and they're hard to push. But I didn't consider a gas mower an option (too expensive, noisy, hard to maintain, and dangerous), a corded electric would be too cumbersome, and a rechargeable would be impractical because there is not a convenient place for me to charge it. So I took the plunge and bought this one.

I'm completely intimidated by all things mechanical, so I was worried about assembling this mower, but it really is easy. The only thing you have to do is screw the five sections of the handle together, then clip it onto the mower body. The instructions were adequate (3.5 stars there), even for an assembly-phobe like me. The current configuration does not require any tools for assembly, but there was an add-on bag of washers and nuts included with my mower that are recommended for a more securely assembled handle. If you opt to use the new nuts instead of the original wingnuts, you'll need a wrench.

After just fifteen minutes or so, I was up and running. To my delight, the mower pushes easily, even through long grass. And it's very entertaining to watch the grass being rapidly snipped off. I felt like Edward Scissorhands. Who would have thought mowing grass would be so fun? I was a little tired and winded when I finished (in a good way), but I had been practically running with this thing because I enjoyed it so much. I kept looking for stray patches to go over again, but, alas, the mower did such a good job, when I was finished, my yard looked like a golf course.

A few facts about me and my lawn to see if my wholehearted recommendation will apply to you: I'm female, plus-sized, totally out of shape, and usually quite sedentary (one reason I thought this would be a good idea). I had never mowed grass before in my life (didn't have a yard before last summer, and then I accepted the fine services of a neighborhood girl with a ride-on mower who worked cheap). My yard is about 6500 square feet, level, fairly flat, and covered with long pine needles all over the place (the mower didn't even notice them).

Some older reviews address a couple of problems that are no longer an issue: Scotts now (late April 2007) packages the mower with the cushioned handgrip already on, and the apparently easily loosened wingnuts (as already mentioned) can now be replaced with regular nuts (not mentioned in the current manual, but included in the box with a note). Scotts should have included shorter bolts with the new nuts (since you now don't need the extra length the wingnuts required), but this is a trivial point. Put your wingnuts on after the new nuts for a more "finished" appearance.

A reel mower might not be suitable for everyone and every yard, but for me, it's fantastic. It's quiet, easy to maneuver, non-intimidating, good exercise, fun, environmentally sound, and inexpensive. I couldn't be happier with this mower.


The Second Best Machine Available   August 6, 2003
Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA)
55 out of 57 found this review helpful

I am a great fan of manual mowers for small yards, although that wasn't always the case. When I was a small lad one fo my shores was to mow a double lot with an old, heavy manual mower, something that soured me on manual mowers for decades. But a few years ago I discovered the new generation of manual mowers, and now I mow my lawn in about the time it took with my gas mower, but without the noise, the vibrations or the fumes. I can mow at 7 in the morning, or 9 at night without bothering the neighbors, too.

The Scott has a number of good things going for it: It's light, easy to push, fairly easy to adjust, and you can sharpen it yourself with a simple kit. That alone will save a bit of money. It's my favorite unit in its price class. (My favorite mower is the Brill, from Germany, which is even lighter and easier to push than the Scott and doesn't require sharpening for 8 years, but which Amazon doesn't carry... yet.)

If you do buy the Scott, get the sharpening kit, as when you do need it you'll want to have it on hand. And get a can of Boeshield protectant spray (also available from Amazon). A quick once over with the Boeshield from time to time will greatly extend the life of your mower and keep it easy to push.


Better than a gas push mower ... and green too.   April 24, 2007
Stiegler (North Carolina)
42 out of 44 found this review helpful

I grew up on a lawn mower like other kids grow up on go-carts. I drove a Massey-Ferguson tractor with gang mowers on the back for a half-dozen years before I ever drove a car. The sight of a Gravely makes me wistful. The roar of a lawnmower engine and smell of cut grass and gas on my hands is the smell of summer, in my book. So when it comes to a rinky-dink unpowered lawn mower, I was a tough sell.

Three things made me buy one to give it a try. (1) Global warming seems like a lousy thing to do to my kids and theirs, and I read that gas lawnmowers produce something like 7 times as much pollution as cars per hour. (2) The online reviews I saw were very encouraging. (3) They're cheap -- I got mine (a Sears Craftsman that's made in the same plant as this Scotts and is identical except two inches narrower and gray) for a hundred bucks, and I could always return it if I wasn't satisfied.

Frankly, despite the good reviews, I suspected I wouldn't be satisfied with it. I was ready to make some sacrifice for the environment, but it couldn't be a major hassle and it couldn't do a lousy job. And judging from the other reviews here, my 2/10ths of an acre of lawn has all the red flags for reel mowers: lots of weeds, lots of fallen twigs and pinecones, lots of uneven spots, and two sloping embankments. For the past few years, I've used a gas push mower and been basically satisfied, although pushing it up the embankments is hard and awkward work for me and pretty much a deal-breaker for my wife.

The verdict on the reel mower: environmental considerations completely aside, I like it better than my gas push mower. Here's how I compare the two:

Cutting performance: about the same. My gas mower does a somewhat better job of getting every blade on the first pass. The reel mower has a short wheelbase so it does much better with the grass at the base of a rise (which any standard mower leaves too long) or the top of a rise (too short). For anyone whose yard has embankments (and that's a lot of people), this is a major advantage; I couldn't disagree more with the reviewers who say a reel mower is only for folks with flat lawns. Once weeds get above maybe 8 inches, the reel mower won't cut them while a gas mower still can.

Total cutting time: slightly faster. What I occasionally lose going back over the same spots twice I gain back by being able to walk faster. I was surprised by that, but it's true; with a gas mower, you have to walk slowly if the grass is at all high or damp or else it will leave grass sticking up; with the reel mower, you could sprint around the yard if you wanted. The twig issue other reviewers mentioned has been a total non-issue for me; maybe if I were cutting my lawn to putting-green length I'd notice them, but on the 3" setting I use I have no problems at all.

Physical exertion: much less. The effort involved is significantly less than with my gas push mower, due to the lower weight. People who talk about their reel mower giving them a workout must not be comparing it to a push mower. Any lawn small enough for a push mower or a walk-behind is small enough for a reel mower.

Convenience: significantly easier. No fresh gas to buy, no oil to check, no tune-ups, no pull cord starts. Less that can go wrong with it. Easier to store, easier to transport. I found assembly to be a snap despite lack of helpful directions; Craftsman uses lock washers instead of wingnuts.

Other factors: I don't mind the sound of mowers like others seem to, but I have to admit that quieter mowing is more pleasant. Being able to hear my cell phone has come in handy. I suppose it's slightly safer, both because you hear people around you and because there isn't a steel blade revolving faster than the eye can see. It's helped me meet more of my neighbors, because everyone who walks by wants to ask about it.

If you drive a Hummer and think President Bush is too much of a tree hugger, is a reel mower for you? Unless your lawn is big enough for a riding mower, I think the answer is yes. A reel mower isn't a compromise for liberals and hippies, it's just a superior product. It's for anyone who wants cutting the grass to be easier, cheaper, and more pleasant. The benefits to the environment are just icing on the cake.