when I was 8 or so and would go visit my grandmother, I would break out her old push reel mower. I would have to get a running start down the concrete side walk to get the reel going as fast as possible and turn into the grass. After about two feet into the grass it would stall out. Go forward 40 years after thinking for all those years that reel mowers suck unless powered by a great big internal combustion engine, I came across one at an auction...gave it a slight push and whoosh right through the grass it went. Everybody thought I was nuts as I mowed out a sizable patch of grass just testing out a push reel mower that actually worked. :-))