Cylinder & Rotary Mowers
Cylinder mower
Rotary mower
Cylinder vs Rotary Lawn Mowers
For the moment we will ignore the power source of the lawnmower and concentrate on the cutting systems as this is the most important for lawn quality. In general there are two different types of cutting systems for lawn mowers.
A cylinder lawn mower or reel mower has anywhere between five to twelve exposed blades at the front of the mower that rotate trapping and slicing the grass blades against a fixed bottom plate like a pair of scissors. The more blades there are the better the cut. The grass box is at the front.
Rotary lawn mowers have one very high speed rotating blade underneath. The blade 'chops' the grass on impact due to its very high speed. Most rotary mowers have the grass box behind with a few having an integral grass box.
You can get variations on these such as ride on mowers or tractor mowers which are just larger ride on versions. The hover mower is very common domestically and are similar to rotary mowers but without wheels. Some people still use hand mowers which are similar to cylinder mowers with you as the power source.
Quality of Grass Cutting
The quality of cut due to the slicing ‘scissor’ type action of the cylinder lawn mower, if maintained correctly, is superior to that of the 'chopping' or ‘smashing’ action of a rotary mower. However, a rotary mower with sharp blades and sufficient power produces a sufficiently good cut that most people would not know the difference; particularly when you take into account all the other imperfections that exist in a lawn.
The best way to explain the ‘quality of cut thing’ is to think about a bottle of wine. A very good wine might cost £15 to £20 a bottle. An extra-ordinary wine might cost £200 a bottle. How many of us could tell the difference? It’s no different with a good quality rotary versus a good cylinder mower.
Mower Maintenance
In addition, the blades of a cylinder mower need periodic and precise adjustment to maintain the quality of cut. If this is not done properly it will cause the mower to ‘chew’ the grass producing an exceptionally poor cut - far worse than a blunt rotary mower! If you don't want to fiddle or are not mechanically minded this is as good a reason as any to stay away from cylinder mowers.
