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Sun Joe FBA MJ502M 20-Inch Manual Reel Mower w/ 8.5-Gallon Grass Catcher, 9-Position Height Adjustment, Foam Grip, Compact Design, Green
$99.00
Last updated on June 18, 2024 12:50 am Details
$99.00
Kelly Poole –
I had been hiring someone with a big, noisy gas mower to mow my lawn. I decided to start doing it myself to save money and be kinder to my neighbors ears. This was easy to assemble. It is small, which was necessary to fit in the small garden shed I have. Because it’s small I did have to do more passes than when I borrowed my neighbors gas mower a few times last summer. More passes not withstanding, it did the job fine. The blades are very, very sharp. The total area I have to mow is about 1800 square feet. I needed to empty the grass catcher about 3 times. To get the grass catcher to the right height – not dragging on the ground – I had to adjust the strap on it by quite a bit. Since the experts say to mow high I left it on the height setting that it was on right out of the box. That setting was fine for my purposes. It’s basic, it’s small, but it does the job. I am a 65 year old woman who is happy with a small, easy to push, easy to use, easy to lift mower.
DEP –
This is all you will ever need in a 1/4 acre or smaller yard. No more gas fumes, oil changes, gas station trips, hard starts. My 8 year old can push this no problem. Before using this pick up rocks, sticks, trash, ect… just like stated in all motorized lawn mowers user manuals (this is standard mowing procedure no matter what kind of lawn mower you are using) and you will be fine. If it gets too hard to push raise the blade height in less then 10 seconds with the levers close to the wheels. If you didn’t pick up rocks and sticks then be ready to not like this. I feel like following this simple instruction is well worth how great this mower is when used properly. mowing is a weekly joy now. Before with my old Murray I waited 2 to 3 weeks because of the hassle. This mower and a battery powered weed eater has changed my life. I love being able to breath the clean air as I work outside I didn’t realize what I was missing till this. The only reason someone would not like this is because they don’t follow directions.
Amazon Customer –
The mower arrived a few months back and it took less than 10 minutes to assemble.
So I’ve had it now since the beginning of the summer 2019 and I’ve used it 2-3 per week. It’s fantastic and does the job well.
I have no issues with this product however I am going to point out some suggestions for manufacturing.
From the edge of the blade to the outside of the wheel there is almost 4″ of empty space, making edging difficult.
The wheels are also quite thick and will push grass down and avoiding the blade.
For consumers, I would recommend this mower, it’s easy to assemble and maintain.
I would also recommend the user to wear eye protection or sunglasses while operating this device, when rolling over twigs the can launch quite far!
Amazon Customer –
Extremely disappointed! In this period of COVID related risks, I just received what was to be a new push mower from Sun Joe. The pics shown are exactly how I received this item. Old grass clippings, rusted blades, parts were worn as they had previously been installed & the foam handle was pierced. Would have through that if trying to send me a used mower they would have had the decency to clean this before shipping this dirty product to me. Incredible.
Kelly Poole –
I’ve seen complaints about this mower but it didn’t stop me from giving the Sun Joe a chance, and I’m really glad I did. Our lawn mower broke down so in a pinch we needed a fast, temporary solution. This mower was super easy to assemble, and will cut just about any kind of grass. It has a harder time with taller grasses, but I’ve figured out a trick that I think is helpful. If you push it forward making the blade spin and then pick up on it (moving forward with that momentum) the blade continues to spin off the ground and cuts whatever is in front of it. I think most of the complaints about this mower has less to do with the mower itself and more to do with the fear of hard work. Do not expect a manual mower to do all the work for you. It’s still work. The photos I’ve included clearly show what this mower is capable of. I suggest for bigger jobs to just remove the catcher bag and plow forward.
clmpdx –
I was worried to buy this product because there was a lot of bad reviews about this. My review maybe little premature since I just got this unit and only used it once. And I will update if I change my mind later but this thing works as expected and accomplishes a good job for small grass yard I have. Assembly is easy enough and mowing process is fairly simple. However it does require some power behind pushing especially at the initial push of each time. I would say this will be a good, light workout. Once it goes, It goes fairly well from one end to the other. While you cannot really turn it well to go different direction. Also when you are an uneven ground or if ground is slippery, the wheel might not catch on very well. On those spots, you just have to go back little bit and start their like you would with the mud or snow when driving. At the end of the day, this is manual push unit and you should not expect this to behave like motorized one. Only thing I’m not super happy about is the fact the grass flies around everywhere during cutting process and it does not really fall in the bag. What’s the product video on this and you will see it’s flying around and that’s exactly what you got. There are times when Wheels get stuck. I had it one stop by little cable ties That was laying on the ground. The other time it was just a ball of mud. So you just reverse the blade little bit and shake the machine for mud to fall off then you go ahead again. Most of negative stuff I mentioned here are things that I expected from manual mowing unit and I think those are reasonable, expected downside, that’s why I give this a full five star.
Kimberly –
I have a small back yard and am paying a yard man to come mow every two weeks and sometimes they don’t do a good job. They finish in less than 15 minutes and charge me. So…. I bought this manual mower thinking it would be great to be able to do my own yard and get exercise as well. My sister-in-law put it together for me and we mowed the lawn together the first time. The grass was a bit higher than normal due to yard man not coming for over 2 weeks. But if you push and pull through the tall grass it gets through it and on the shorter grass works great! Like taking a brisk walk. The grass catcher does not work well. Was in the way and first time we took it off to dump it came loose and dumped the grass on the ground. From that point on didn’t use the grass catcher and that is better. Just order a manual edger to go with it! If us feeble “old ladies” can do it anybody can!
Donna –
I really like this mower. It is well built from quality materials.
Pros:
Environmentally friendly
Quality materials so you don’t have to fight with the mechanisms.
Easy to assemble
The clipping bag works well
Cons:
Does require effort but nothing too strenuous
Now this is not like a powered mower. It does not have motorized wheels to pull it along. It does require some effort to use but I like using it and I hated mowing my lawn before.
I am also a 5’4” average-strength woman. I find this mower easy to use.
I have a 40’ by 30’ back yard with a little bit of grass on the sides of the house and it takes maybe 30-45 minutes by the time I wrestle it out of my over-packed shed, mow and put it back. My lawn is 5 years old in a new neighbourhood so my landscaping is new and smooth with the appropriate drainage sloping required by the city. It mows the slopes (15 degrees max.) pretty good.
It does an ok job along the fence however I still need to use the weed-whacker to trim up the areas along the fence, deck and garden. More than with my old gas powered mower.
It does an ok job at mowing over dandelions hower with the thicker stalked weeds you do need to go ever the area a few times or just pull them out by hand.
The grass clipping basket works better than I thought it would. I was impressed with how much grass it caught and I do use it more than I thought I would.
This mower was a little harder to use when I first purchased it however after about 3 uses it broke in nicely and is easier to push.
It stopped working the second time I used it however a little clump or hard dirt got jammed between the blades and the guard on the back so I put on some leather gloves, spun the blade the other way and it came out. It worked perfect after that.
It works pretty good on grass that is 4” tall. I have it set to the lowest setting. Sometime if there is too mch grass clipping on top of the reel it will not properly cut the lawn but I brush it off and it works good. Be careful though, the blades are sharp.
I really like this mower. I have used it for two months now (June and July). And I do recommend it.
nic –
Llegó con algunos rasguños y un un defecto en un orificio de ensamble, nada que impida su correcto funcionamiento… Muy buena, tiene varias alturas de corte y recolecta perfectamente el 90% del pasto cortado… No es muy ligera, pero sin dudas lo deja mucho mejor que una desbrozadora y sin el trabajo de recolectar el pasto cortado…
DEP –
My yard slopes, it has rabbit holes, is uneven, has a few twigs and the grass was over a foot high. After asking the men in my family to use the gas mower to mow the lawn, I got frustrated brought the Sun Joe mower and did it myself. I am not mechanically inclined. It was very easy to put together. It did get stuck on a few twigs which were easy to clear. Most annoying was the grass catcher, it filled fast and if not emptied feeds back into the mower and jammed it, again even that was easy to clear. Overall the Sun Joe did an excellent job and I got a really good work out!
Amazon Customer –
I’ve cut my 3300 sq ft lawn about 5 times with this mower and once you understand it and learn to use it properly, it does a pretty good job. In the spring, I have to cut the grass every 5-7 days to make sure it doesn’t get too long as reel mowers don’t handle long grass well. Don’t expect perfection…reel mowers often miss some blades…and you will be happy with this mower.
Definitely take the time to adjust the blades before first use and you’ll save yourself a lot of grief. A quick shot of WD40 on the blades before you take it out for a mow will also help keep it moving smoothly and quietly. The blades do get stuck on the occasional twig but its not a big deal to reach down and reverse the blade to remove it.
The grass catcher manages to catch about 60-70% of the clippings and I have no problem with that as it leaves just enough behind to recycle some of the nutrients back into the soil. One thing I’ve learned is that there is an optimal speed to push this mower. Too slow and the clippings bunch up and block the catcher forcing you to reach down and pull the clippings back into the catcher every 30 steps or so. Move a little faster and the clippings are thrown up and into the catcher and less apt to bunch up. The speed you push makes a big difference.
All in all this doesn’t save me any time vs my old electric mower…the time I save not fooling with cords is made up by having to empty the grass catcher several times. But it gives a great little workout which I definitely need and honestly, its kind of fun. And I appreciate being able to mow my lawn without using any energy except my own. I don’t think I’d go back to a gas or electric after this unless I had a really big lawn.