Quick verdict
An 18-inch, five-blade push reel mower with nine height positions from 1.1 to 2.5 inches, 10-inch front wheels and a clip-on collection bag, with no motor, gas or battery to maintain. It suits a small, flat lawn that is cut every week. The caveat is the ceiling: a 2.5-inch maximum height and a reel that stalls in tall or seedy grass rule it out for lawns that get away from you.
Strengths
- 18-inch cut is wider than most push reel mowers
- Nine height positions between 1.1 and 2.5 inches
- Scissor-type cut that does not tear the grass tip
- No gas, battery, cord or engine maintenance
- 10-inch front wheels roll over uneven ground
- Collection bag included in the box
Weaknesses
- 2.5-inch maximum height is low for warm-season or shaded lawns
- Reel mowers bog down in tall, wet or seedy grass
- Weight is not stated by the maker
- Rear bag on a reel mower catches only part of the clippings
The overall YardToolLab Score is out of 100. Section scores are out of 10.
Who this reel mower is for
A small, flat front lawn, a townhouse strip or a patch behind a city house does not need an engine. It needs a mower that starts every time, stores on a hook and cuts cleanly. The LawnMaster LMRM1801 is a push reel mower built for exactly that lawn: an 18-inch, five-blade reel, nine height positions, 10-inch front wheels and a collection bag, with no gas, cord or battery anywhere on it.
This review is based on the maker’s published specifications and on recurring owner feedback. We have not run this product ourselves.
What you get
The box holds the mower and the collection bag; assembly is the usual handle bolts. The cutting width is 18 inches, which is wider than the 14- and 16-inch reel mowers most shoppers compare it against, so each pass covers more lawn. The reel carries five steel blades that shear the grass against a fixed bed knife, the scissor action LawnMaster highlights in the listing. Height is set in nine positions between 1.1 and 2.5 inches. The maker does not publish a weight; 18-inch reel mowers of this type typically sit somewhere in the high 20s to mid 30s of pounds, which matters because that is what you push.
Cut quality
A reel mower cuts like scissors rather than like a spinning machete, and on fine, upright grass the difference shows: the tips are sheared clean rather than frayed, which is why golf greens are reel cut. The five-blade reel is the common middle ground, enough blades for a smooth finish at a walking pace on cool-season grass. The limits are the ones every reel mower has. The grass has to stand up into the reel, so anything that has gone to seed or flopped over is pushed down rather than cut, and twigs, pine cones and acorns stop the reel dead. Owners of reel mowers in general report that a second pass at a right angle fixes the stragglers; a weekly schedule prevents most of them.
Height range and lawn type
The 1.1 to 2.5-inch range is the number to check before buying. It suits bentgrass, fine fescue, Bermuda and zoysia kept short, and a bluegrass lawn cut on the low side. It does not suit a tall fescue or St. Augustine lawn that is healthiest at 3 to 4 inches, nor a shaded lawn that needs leaf length to survive. If your current mower lives on its top notch, this reel is the wrong tool.
Pushing it: wheels and handling
The 10-inch front wheels are what drive the reel, and larger wheels roll over roots, ruts and sidewalk lips more easily than the small wheels on budget reel mowers. The 18-inch width cuts the number of passes but also raises the effort per pass, since a wider reel meets more grass; on a flat lawn mowed weekly the trade is worth it, on a slope or in thick spring growth it is noticeable. Keep the reel-to-bed-knife contact light. A reel set too tight is the usual reason a reel mower feels heavy.
Living with it
Maintenance is a brush-off after each cut, a drop of oil on the wheel bearings and a backlapping every season or two to restore the edge on the steel blades. There is nothing to winterize, no fuel to stabilize and no battery to store at half charge. Noise is a soft whir, so a 7 a.m. Sunday cut bothers no one. The collection bag clips on behind the reel; like every reel mower bag it catches part of the clippings and lets the rest fly forward, and many owners leave it off and let the fine clippings feed the lawn. LawnMaster does not state a warranty term in this listing, so check the product page.
Alternatives to Consider
The Fiskars StaySharp Max 18-inch is the step up, with an inertia-drive reel and a higher top height that handles thicker grass, at a higher price and more weight. The Great States 16-inch five-blade reel mower is lighter and cheaper for a very small lawn. If the grass regularly gets long between cuts, a light corded mower such as a Sun Joe 14-inch electric will cope where any reel mower stalls.
Verdict
Buy the LawnMaster LMRM1801 if the lawn is small and flat, you cut every week, and you keep the grass at 2.5 inches or below. The 18-inch width and 10-inch wheels make it a quicker, easier push than the small reel mowers it competes with. Skip it if your lawn wants to be 3 inches or taller, if it slopes, or if cuts tend to slip to every other week, because a reel mower punishes a lapse harder than any powered mower does.
Full specifications
LawnMaster LMRM1801 18-Inch 5-Blade Push Reel Lawn Mower with Collection Bag FAQs
LawnMaster describes it as designed for small lawns. In practice a reel mower is comfortable up to a few thousand square feet of flat grass cut weekly; past that, or with slopes, the pushing becomes a workout.
Not well. The top height is 2.5 inches and a reel mower needs the grass to stand up into the blades, so anything much over 4 inches gets pushed flat instead of cut. Mow often and keep to the one-third rule.
No reel mower bag does. Expect it to catch a good share while throwing the rest forward; many owners leave the bag off and let the fine clippings mulch into the turf.
Yes, like every reel mower. Steel blades keep an edge for a season or more with weekly use on clean grass, then need a backlapping kit or a shop sharpening. Avoid twigs and gravel, which nick the edges.
