Reel Mower Grass Catcher 1ST-SP American Lawn Mower

I bought this product for a Scotts reel mower. I was one the fence about whether to get it, because usually I just leave my grass trimming to mulch my lawn. But I was hoping it would eliminate the need to sweep up a lot of clippings around the sidewalk and driveway. It doesn't work so well for that, but I think that has more to do with basic physics than with any real product defect. Power mowers have rotary blades that act almost like fans to suck up your grass trimmings into the bag, and the bag itself is closed, so trimmings don't escape once they're in there.But the way this one works is, trimmings just sort of fly up in the air, and the open-topped bag catches whatever happens to land in it. Mine didn't pick up very much. The bottom of the also has a tendency to ride up on itself and collapse the bag a little as it fills up with more grass, which causes a lot of the trimmings to bounce right back out of the bag once it starts to get about 1/3 full. I notice in some other reviewers' photos there's a metal piece that extends down and pushes against the bottom of the bag, which probably helps prevent that from happening. Mine didn't come with that piece, though, so I had to stop and empty it frequently. And although I had less to sweep up, I still had to sweep. So all in all, I'm not sure it's worth the money and trouble to use it. I probably won't return it, but if I had it to do over, I probably wouldn't bother buying the grass catcher.

I have a Hyper Tough 18 in Reel mower i bought from Walmart last summer. The manual suggested this catch bag, so tought I'd try it. It appears to be a generic/ universal bag so keep that in mind. Observed that the product has brackets to attach to the mower at the bottom, but haven't figured how to do that yet. The directions, pictures aren't ther best. I just have attached the chain/hook to the mid bar of the handle, and placed the open edge of the bag on the bottom bar between the wheels; which may not be the best but it'll have to do. Does the bag fall off? Yes it does and can get frustrating. While cutting, I noticed the grass starts to shoot forward more than backward in the bag, so overall I'm catching about 50% of the clippings. The bag is combination of cloth mesh on the sides, solid vinyl/ plastic bottom which isn't the best construction but if it's taken care it should at least least a season or 2 or maybe longer. For the cost of $30 is a bit high vs the quality and effectiveness. The mesh on mine has already started to unravel at a spot, but ill just sew it secured. Granted, if i figure out how to attach the bottom brackets, it could make a difference. So to buy or not? All I can say is to try it, as you may have a different reel mower than mine and could work much better. Ill probably just keep it and see if I can make it work better.

Looking at all the bad reviews, I think this grass catcher gets a bad rep because it's not being used on the right mower. I'm using it on my Great States 16" Reel Mower, which is from the same brand / manufacturer as the grass catcher and it does a fine job.It collects about 85% of the clippings, but that has to do with the way the mower blades clip the grass - they shoot out to the left and the catcher doesn't get all the clippings because it's mounted directly on the back of the mower.I'm holding back a star because there is room for improvement: - How the catcher attaches to the mower - There should be some sort of retainer to keep it from coming off so easily. It's great to be able to remove it easily when you need to empty the catcher, but with these reel mowers, if you get a stick in the blades you need to back it up to un-jam the mower, which causes the bag to fall off. I plan on fashioning a homemade solution, but it would be nice if this was factored in. This should have been caught in real-world testing, - The angle of the bag - the bag bottom is nearly level when mowing, meaning the clippings do not go to the back of the bag. Instead you have to push them to the back. I'm going to fix this by adding a link or two to the chain, causing the bag to sag more at the back. Hopefully that'll fix it.Overall a great addition to my reel mower - I had no idea how much clippings I was missing!

I've used this three times, now that it's stopped snowing in late April. It's on the flimsy side, but what I expected for the price*. I had to try a bit to get it hooked in the right place, but once I got that done, it does stay on fairly well (not perfectly, and I may ending using some of the Handywoman's Secret Weapon, duct tape, eventually). It was easy to put together and catches the grass from my American Lawn Mower mower. I have a lot of mature trees at the edge of front yard, and the entire back yard is wooded, so I love that this picks up a few leaves. I also can put sticks in it to hold until I dump the bag. No, it doesn't get every grass clipping or leaf, but that's on the mower, not the catcher, and I didn't expect to do that. I have gotten some grass caught in the plastic where the chain attaches to the bag bottom, but that cleans out easily enough (with a stick :) - I recommend cleaning that when putting the mower away.*The metal frame is sturdy enough and hasn't bent in use. The material is thin, but sticks don't poke through it. It's $18. I didn't expect the same thing as an $80 grass catcher, but I also didn't want to spend that. I look at this as a helpful addition, not an essential, that makes the mowing experience less annoying. It's functional, inexpensive and had been a plus.

I bought this grass catcher for use with a Scott 2000-20S reel mower.The good:Assembly is super easy. For a smaller mower, you may have to attach the included metal clips to the sides of your mower to connect it, but for larger mowers you hang the grass catcher using the chain and hook. Easy peasy.Attaching the grass catcher is also pretty easy. The bottom rim of the open face has a plastic trough that snaps onto the base of the mower. Then just lift the chain and hook it onto the mower's crossbar. It's not finicky - you'll get it on the first try.While attached, the grass catcher does a good job of staying out of the way. It moves with the mower, so if you reverse the mower to move it to another location, you don't have to worry (too much) about the grass catcher getting in the way.It stays on while you're using it. I've mowed with it 4 times now and never had it accidentally detach, or seem like it would in any way fly off. For such a flimsy-appearing connection, it's solid enough.The bad:It doesn't catch a lot of grass. This isn't the fault of this product - it's the nature of how grass is ejected from a reel mower - it flies out to the back and to the left side. The grass catcher is able to grab about 2/3 of the grass, but a bunch will fly off to the side.It also clogs up entirely too quickly. Don't think this catcher gets full of grass - you'll be lucky to have a 1 inch layer of grass along the bottom before you have to detach it and empty the grass. This process is time consuming, and frustrating when you have to empty it every 2 rows of lawn. If you don't empty it, the grass will fail to collect and either spill out under the blades, or the new grass will instead be ejected forward onto the lawn.All in all, I'd say you probably want to own one of these, but not make a habit of using it each time. Next summer I'm going to try mowing weekly and see if the mulch is small enough that I can leave it on the lawn. Having to remove the grass using the grass catcher is a nuisance and makes the whole mowing experience border on unpleasant.

I will be returning this item. Was recommended with my order and says fits 16” reel mower. It wasn’t until I read the instruction with the item where it says does not fit 16” reel mower with rollers. Dissappointing

I use it with 20" mower. catches about 70% of grass when mowing a short grass and it overflows after 4 feet with long grass. I have to push the grass deeper to the catcher by hand. It's tedious task when I have 5000 square feet to mow.

THIS ITEM IS GREAT IT DOESNT PICK UP LIKE A BAGGER BUT IT PICKS UP A GOOD 80%. I STILL HAVENT QUITE FIGURED OUT HOW TO EMPTY IT. SO I JUST FLIP THE WHOLE PUSH MOWER OVER ON TO MY GARBAGE CAN LIF AND DUMP IT IN THE RECYCLE BAG. WORKS PERFECT.

Does the job. It was too light for me to handle because of my mobility difficulties; however, the folks that have it now sing its praise.