Full Overview

Make the switch to an eco-friendly lawn mower with the American Lawn Mower Standard Full 16 Inch Push Reel Mower 1414-16.

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The American product line is timeless, offering a complete line of push reel mowers for over 100 years. Environmentally friendly products, simple to use and maintain, providing the precision cut and solution for "Blue, Green & Clean".
American Lawn Mower Company, the largest producer of push reel mowers operating in the United States, is a family-owned business with manufacturing facilities in Shelbyville, IN, and administrative offices in Muncie, IN. The company was founded in 1895 by the family of Robert B. Kersey, the grandfather of the company's current president. In 1936 American Lawn Mower Company purchased another push reel mower manufacturer, Great States Corporation in Shelbyville, In. Today the company still operates out of the same plant and makes push reel mowers under both the American and Great States label with 50 employees producing 700 to 900 mowers a day. American Lawn Mower also manufactures mowers for the Scotts company.
* Easy height adjustment. Remove wing nut and move the carriage bolt up or down for adjustments from 1/2 " to 2 1/4" with adjustable 4 - section roller * Powder coated dandle with flare design * Cushion handle grips * 20 x 24 x 42.5 * Item weight: 30 pounds * 1 year warranty

Technical Details

- 16-inch cutting width
- 10-inch cast iron wheels
- Easy height adjust from 1/2-inch to 2-1/2-inch
- Powder coated finished handle lasts longer and prevents rust

Now I researched reel mowers for a while before my purchase. Here is what I found- American Reel Mower Company makes both the Scott's AND Great Lawns mowers. All are made in China now EXCEPT for model 1414-16! This one mower is still made in the US. It is heavier duty than the rest- cast iron construction. Yes, it is heavier, but mows better because of the weight. I called the American Mower Co. to verify all of this information. If you know what these mowers are all about (don't try cutting 6" high grass in one pass) then THIS is the mower to buy. I love mine and it will surely last for years!

The pros:

This mower is made in the USA! It pushes easy and is lightweight. It is easy to assemble.


The cons:

The clips that hold the rollers in place are plastic. The entire mower is metal except for these 2 little clips and the rubber wheels. The problem is that when adjusted to the highest setting the bar that fits into these clips holding the rollers falls out and your roller assembly comes off. Come on American mower, you maybe saved 2 bucks making this plastic. Made in the USA means we make things great! Let's fix that.


I bought this mower based on one of the recommendation that it works well with St. Augustine grass we have in Florida. I have to take issue with that recommendation. St. Augustine should be cut at a height of 3 inches or more. At it's highest this mower goes to inches. Your mower, in actuality, has to adjust even higher to compensate for the thickness of the lawn. You can easily sink into a thick carpet of St. Augustine. At inches, this mower was scalping my grass.

Aside from the flawed roller assembly, I think this mower would be fine with a northern type grass.

My dad has called me two weeks in a row to see how things are going and I totally shocked him when I told him I was mowing the lawn. I have always despised mowing the lawn and for three decades he has heard nothing but complaints from me about it. This mower is a little heavier than I expected, but it seems very sturdy and makes a quick, easy job of taking care of our small lawn. It is quiet and efficient. Our yard is in no way, shape, or form perfect -- there are lumps and divits all over, and even the occasional hard root knob sticking up, and over the years it has developed a variety of "crops" including several kinds of grasses and a lot of weeds. I was nervous about using a push-reel mower since we don't have a smooth, uniform lawn and I have read that that is important for using manual mowers. So far, it has done a superior job and the lawn looks better than it did when we used a power mower in the past (faster, too). We still have to use an electric trimmer around the edges, but overall, this mower has really changed my attitude about yard work.

We have been using this for almost 2 months now. The lawn looks more and more like a golf green every week. You don't realize that much of the brown in the grass is from the mower tearing the blades. You still need an edger as the blades don't cut the outer 1-2 inches of the wheelbase. But for us with concrete trim, we would need to do that anyways with a deck mower. Love it. Also, the heavy wheels (come on, it is only 30 some lbs and we can easily carry it) help to keep traction even in moist grass.

Cost-effective too! Our friends and family are amazed at what we paid for a lawn mower. Takes about 10 minutes to mow our small patch of grass. Well built. I suspect that we will have a well mowed lawn over the next 10 years for less than the price of gas alone.

NB: Make sure that you get the 1414-16 model as it is the only one still made in the USA (probably due to the heavy wheels). Many of the other mowers that I tried in the stores with the plastic wheels had trouble with alignment and traction even on flat concrete. The 1414-16 digs in and spins away, even on recently rained on grass. I can actually mow after a rain shower!

I BOUGHT THIS PARTICULAR REEL MOWER BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY MODEL OF ANY BRAND THAT COMES WITH ALL METAL GEARS THAT PROPEL THE BLADES. THE WAY THESE WORK IS THE INSIDE OF THE WHEEL HAS TEETH ON IT AND THOSE DRIVE A GEAR ATTACHED TO THE BLADE REEL. ON ALL OTHER MODELS AND BRANDS THOSE GEARS ARE PLASTIC NOW, AND IF YOU RUN OVER A TWIG OR PINECONE IT CAN STRIP THE PLASTIC GEARS. RUMOR HAS IT THAT THIS IS THE ONLY MODEL STILL MADE IN THE USA. I AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT ALTHOUGH I WANTED THE SCOTTS 20" BECAUSE IT HAS A WIDER CUT AND HIGHER SETTINGS FOR CUT HIEGHT BUT THE SCOTTS WAS ALL PLASTIC GEARS . THE FACT THAT IT DOESN'T COME IN 20" IS THE ONLY THING THAT I AM NOT HAPPY WITH. IT CUTS GREAT AND IS EASY TO PUSH EVEN THROUGH THICK AUGUSTINE OR BAHIA.

I have a fairly large lawn, and the ease with which this pushes is remarkable. It goes over gopher holes and squirrel holes with no problem, and is light enough to lift when it gets stuck. The only problem comes from all the pinecones (huge ones)on the lawn, and their little pointy things that come off when the squirrels eat them. They do get stuck in the blades, but they come out pretty easy. Besides, now I make a point to keep them off the lawn so people can walk barefoot on it. Another drawback is that it doesn't mow those tall spikey weeds, just bends them over, so I have had to cut them down with cutters. I am a 63 year old woman, and I love the joy of doing it myself, with no need to get a mower started etc.

This is a great mower. I have purchased reel mowers in the past like sun lawn products and they weren't as good as this one. American lawn mower company builds thier mowers with great heavy materials which help the mower cut the grass better. Lighter is not better when your talking about a Reel Mower. If you want a mower that can cut the grass without the use of gasoline then this is the mower for you.

I recently landscaped my small backyard (lawn is 9 x 13) of my first home and needed a quiet mower that would be easy for me to maneuver. I love the fact this mower is all steel, made in America, and is small enough for a 5'5" chubby woman to handle on her own. The directions were easy to follow, and it was very simple to put together without help. My patch of grass is not perfectly level, so it does require a couple of passes for an even cut which takes about 10 minutes (at the most).
There was a problem with a damaged part during shipping, but I contacted the manufacturer and they replaced the roller bracket ASAP at no charge. I also purchased the grass catcher, and I don't think I would do so if I did this over again. I find the mower is difficult to maneuver with the catcher attached due to the limited space. I also purchased a Toro 51599 Blower/Vacuum/Mulcher and prefer to "vacuum" the lawn when I'm finished rather than use the grass catcher. The mulching feature also allows for me to mulch my flower pots and container garden.
Overall, I'm VERY happy with this little mower!

I chose a push mower over an electric or gas mostly because of convenience and wanting to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Keeping gas in my garage, having to take a lawn mower in for maintenance, or running a cord from the inside of my house to the outside just don't appeal to me. I'd like my lawn and garden to be as sustainable as possible.

Because of the above, I really wanted to be able to give this mower a 5 star rating. But truth be told, after going over my lawn about 4 times with this (and in some areas even more), there are patches of grass in the middle of my yard resembling a bad mullet..I found myself using a rake to try to comb them up so I could shave them off with the mower, kind of like a clean up job after a bad shave... I don't think it's dull blades as the leaves on my lawn were chopped up pretty well. Maybe it's because I let the grass get too long before using this, so I will revisit this review after trying the mower on shorter grass. I was satisfied with how easy it was to push the mower, and putting it together was quite quick too...the handle is held together with just 3 bolts and hooking the handle onto the mower itself was a snap. And I didn't mind having to pick up twigs first but some people might.

It's actually my husband who's been using it. He has used this lawn mower only three times since we bought it a few weeks ago and so far, it has performed as expected. The only reason he didn't rate it 5 stars is because it's a little heavy (for a small, retired man!). Otherwise, it's very good.