I have a powered reel mower, it does not scalp. An old-fashioned manual reel mower with a rear roller could resist scalping, but since they have drive wheels instead of the drums on power reel mowers, I think they can still scalp small bumps in the lawn. Maybe someone who owns a manual reel mower can verify this.

 

I just got the Earthwise 7 blade reel but going from 1" bermuda and going to .5 with the reel it is still at 1".
I checked the settings and they are correct, set to the lowest cut.
Is there a reason for this?

 

Thanks! I may pick one up anyways and see what happens. The front lawn is around 27×27, so small. I'll use the rotary for my st augustine in the backyard that's bigger.