Last June, I sold our gas-powered mower and bought a manual reel mower. Our yard is small, and without a shed or garage I didn’t have any place to keep the gas mower, so it seemed like a great fit. I ended up buying the 16″ Sunlawn LMM40. The big sell to me was blades which rarely need sharpening. After one season they’re still sharp, so I guess that’s good.

Last week when I mowed for (hopefully) the last time this year, I noticed the blades didn’t want to engage properly. The mower has a 2 year warranty, so I tried to contact Sunlawn through their website. Both e-mail addresses bounced and there is no phone number. Fortunately I had purchased it through Reel Mowers USA, and they have agreed to send me the parts.

I definitely appreciate Reel Mowers USA honoring Sunlawn’s warranty, but based on the complete lack of contact methods, I would caution anyone out there from buying any of Sunlawn’s products.

Update:

It seems Sunlawn and Reel-Mowers-USA have both gone out of business.

I couldn’t find parts, but I managed to “fix” it.  Effectively this converts the “clutch” into a fixed gear.  Instead of spinning freely backwards (and forwards, when broken), this will lock the wheels to the blades.  I was worried it would make cutting awkward, but it works amazingly well.

If you’re a bit handy, here’s how:

1. Set the mower on its side.
2. Remove one wheels.  You’ll need to pop the plastic yellow caps off with a flat screwdrivers or knife, then remove the clips and the wheels.
3. Slide off the hard plastic gear.
4. Slide the small (1″x1″) metal plate out from the spline

I believe the problem is that the gear wears down slightly, and this metal clip no longer engages properly.  To “fix” it:

1. Reinsert the metal plate at a slight angle
2. Slide the hard plastic gear back on.  It should slide part way, but not completely, since you’ve (intentionally) misaligned the plate.  For good measure before I did this I cleaned the grease off the spline and applied a few drops of gorilla glue to the gear
3. Tap the gear on with a hammer

Now the gear should be fixed to the spline.  Put it back together and repeat for the other side.

Good luck!