Customer Reviews:
 Quicker, cheaper, quieter, safer, greener ... so get one. September 26, 2008
Mr. D. J. Oxford
I have had one of these for over a year now. I have abused it by running it into large tussocks, over sticks, and into the odd fence, and it is seemingly indestructible. These resemble, but are very unlike, the old Qualcast mowers. They are much lighter, and instead of having the blades scrape lightly on the bottom bar to keep them sharp, they have case-hardened blades that miss the bottom bar by a fraction of a millimeter so they will last the life of the mower, which is said to be ten years.
We hang ours on the back of a door, and the 'start-up' time is about ten seconds; no plugs to clean, no fuel to spill, no circuit breaker to fit, no wire to trip over, just lift it off the hook and mow. It is quiet, so you can mow at any time without upsetting your neighbours. Because you can get it out without any fuss, you might find yourself just mowing for the odd ten minutes and then hanging it up again instead of feeling obliged to cut all the grass at once. Unless your grass is very thick indeed, you will probably find this easier to push than your previous mower. Of course, you probably won't believe this until you try it - my neighbours didn't.
It comes without a collection box, but one is available for about 20, which is very steep. But why get one? This mower sprays the clippings evenly across the grass behind it, and if you have not let it get too long, they will disappear in a few days, and return some nitrogen to the soil. I suppose the distinction is this - if you have 'grass', you will probably think this is OK, but if you have a 'lawn' (like a billiard table) you may think it looks a bit untidy. Finally, if you don't collect the clippings, you save lots of time.
If you like orange, you may be irritated when the hub-caps fall off - and they will. But they are purely cosmetic and you can throw them away.
It is easy to adjust the cutting height (see review of the 38cm model) and you can cut the grass to any length between about half an inch to about two inches.
Obviously, I am a convert, so I should list possible disadvantages:
1) If you have more than 200 square metres of grass, you will probably want to get the bigger model.
2) Even quite small twigs will stop it dead in its tracks, so you have to make sure there are none on the grass before you start. Even so, it can jam occasionally on clumped grass. If this happens, it is easy to upend and clear.
3) If you have lots of leaves, you will almost certainly want to remove them before mowing because this machine, just chops them up a bit, and then the grass really looks a mess.
4) If you are away for long periods, this will not cope with grass that has grown longer than about four inches on your return.
5) It won't get very close to a fence.
6) If you leave the clippings on the surface, and have children or animals, some of the clippings will end up inside the house.
7) You won't be able to roar round on that ridiculous macho ride-on mower any more.
I should add that I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in this product.
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