The Honda dual-blade system caused me problems in mulching. It left green slime (pureed grass) in the wheel tracks which had to be raked out to keep from killing the grass. I could look at other yards and tell by the yellow wheel tracks who had a Honda, and most of the time I was right. Several owners commented here about the same thing. I finally took the upper blade off, which made it into a more conventional mulching mower that I could live with. This turned out to be the fix for the others too. Otherwise it was a great machine. I got rid of it because the cutting height only went up to 3" and the transmission was starting to give a hard pull-back. I think I've heard of this 'left rear wheel' thing before with the SR4, but don't recall how it was resolved. It certainly doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong, but check out your manual and try resetting the front-to-rear wheel heights as recommended.

I have both a Brill and a Scotts classic, and they both have their own advantages and disadvantages. For sure, I wouldn't use them on a big lawn (my house sits on slightly less than 1/4 acre). For the purposes of comparison, here's a rundown if anyone is interested in either mower. AFAIK, the sunlawn is similar to the Brill Maneuverability: The brill is much lighter than the scotts, and the rollers on the Brill make turning around obstacles much easier than the Scotts with the wheels. However, the Scotts is a bit easier to stay in a straight track because of this. Also, I find the Scotts better for hills, because the Brill is so light, the cut is compromised especially when going uphill or cutting sideways along a hill (where the wheels are slightly "lifted" up due to the light weight and slow the blade down). Advantage: for flat lawns with many obstacles, the Brill. For hilly lawns with no/few obstacles, the Scotts. The Blades: A lot of hype is touted with the contact free blade system of the Brill (and Sunlawn) over the scissor contact type blades of the Scotts (and many other traditional reel mowers). Yes, the Brill is much easier to push around when "not cutting grass", but when you are actually mowing, the difference is very little in the force required (and I'd attribute the difference to the narrower cutting width of the Brill). I also find I need to adjust the Brill once or twice a season for optimum performance (not the 4 years or whatever they claim) though it is very easy to do. There is also a good reason the Brill only has a maximum cutting height of 1.8": the cut quality suffers at its highest setting (in unevenness), but cuts awesome at the lower settings. I guess the blade needs to dig in lower where the leaf blade is stiffer and doesn't cut as well when the grass is longer and "floppier" You also need to maintain a decent speed when cutting with the Brill to get the best cut. The scissor blades of the Scotts are much less dependent on height and mowing speed than the Brill in getting a good cut. I'm not sure about sharpening interval, as I have only had the scotts a few months, but it is still cutting great. So, in my opinion, the contact free blade system might have an advantage in sharpening interval (with easy adjustments now and then), I prefer the cut of the Scotts overall, unless you are cutting short (under 1 1/2 in), where the Brill is probably equal. The dreaded wheel lines of the Scotts: Yes, you notice the lines, but they are less pronounced the shorter the cut, and depending on the grass type (I hardly notice them on my front lawn which is KBG, whereas it is more noticeable in the back with the KBG, fescue and rye mixture even at the same cutting height) The Brill with it's rollers has a much less noticeable track, and in fact due to it's slightly less quality cut (compared to scissor blades), looks more "natural", or like the lawn hasn't been cut recently (but nice and even, not that the lawn hasn't been cut!) So, I think neither is better than the other, it depends on your conditions. For a lawn with few obstacles and turns, but has hills, I'd recommend the Scotts even though it is heavier. For flat lawns with a lot of obstacles and curves and only minor grades, "and" you always cut shorter than 1.8", the Brill would be good. I'm glad I have both, as my lawn is in between the conditions that would prefer one or the other (some hills out back, flat in front, some obstacles and curves). If I only could have one, I would pick the Scotts mainly due to the higher cutting setting available. I will be pulling out my Brill when it gets cooler and am cutting shorter. As for my lawn, I get many good complements from the neighbors, who all use power rotary mowers, and some who even have sprinkler systems ( I use oscillating sprinklers when needed, and fertilize organically 90% of the time)

I cut back my type 3 clems in the fall, usually in November after a killing frost. Some years, like this one, before the killing frost but with frost expected and late enough to know that they will not start new growth until spring. Also treat most of my type 2s as 3s and cut them back at the same time. Edited to add: I use my aluminium hedge shears all during the gardening season. They are wonderful for cutting back, pruning, and for chopping up things for the compost pile. Put plant cuttings into the wheelbarrow or a 5-gal pail and snip, snip then into the compost pile they go. Sometimes I throw a cuttings onto the compost pile and snip them there. This post was edited by mnwsgal on Mon, Nov 17, 14 at 21:11

I use Gingher for cutting fabrics, the small Fiskars snips for thread cutting and for cutting out tiny things for fusing, Henckle's for household and I have a cheap pair of scissors for wire or things like that. I use tiny Henckle's and Gingher's for embroidery and hand work. I have some black handle Gingher's I use for cardboard and paper in the craft room. I have a Gingher stone that I use for sharpening those, the others have never needed it. I am drowning in scissors, after we cleaned out MIL's house, Woody took all her scissors and dispensed them about the house. It's almost comical how many we have. That's a great tip, though, Bonnie, thanks. I'll try it on my wire scissors!