Kitchen Garden Forum

Picked up a manual mower won on e-bay yesterday, cost £14.50.
Tried it out on our small back lawn before taking it over to the plot. Did the job in half the time it takes with the Flymo hover and with less effort. Wonder if I can get hold of another one!

I am wondering about getting one too as my smallish front lawn is on a slope and the hover doesn't do a very good job. The big honda is too unwieldy.

Well, I know I haven't given it much of a trial, Colin, but I am impressed. Nothing like the unwieldy things with heavy rollers that I remember from my youth, this is a Qualcast Panther 380, lightweight and manoeverable, and I actually enjoyed using it!

My son's landlady turned up with one of those a few weeks ago so that he and girlfriend could keep their lawn mowed. We were pleasantly surprised with the results. He tried it on my allotment paths to see if it would be worth me getting one (the strimmer kills my back!). The paths are quite rough, but all in all it coped quite well. The reviews are generally good too, although the most recurrent negative comment relates to its "poor" construction, so I will wait and see how theirs stands up to regular use before I go out and get one myself.

I hadn't thought of looking on E-bay - if I could get one for under £15 I would be very happy.

Well I can envisage that if the cost of petrol goes up much further, everybody will be abandoning their fuel powered mowers and going back to the manual ones, or buying a goat ! Who ever thought that mowing your lawn would become a rich man's occupation ??

Primrose wrote:Well I can envisage that if the cost of petrol goes up much further, everybody will be abandoning their fuel powered mowers and going back to the manual ones, or buying a goat ! Who ever thought that mowing your lawn would become a rich man's occupation ??

Goats are quite fussy eaters.. they love vegetables and flowers too.. fond memories of mine running off with a daffodil hanging rakishly from her mouth...

My small front lawn is on a slope and the Honda petrol mower is too awkard to use and the Flymo does a poor job. So I definitely need a hand mower. Anyone any suggestions as to which one to get? The Handy Hand mower looks to be the cheapest new http://www.mowermagic.co.uk/acatalog/The_Handy_Hand_Cylinder_Mower.html

Hi Colin,
One of my daughters has a vertically challenging lawn area and has found that the cheapest electric mower from Argos does an admirable job for her. It is very light and manoeuvrable and had great difficulty with her other power mower.
JB.

Thanks Johnboy. You pointed me to Argos and the reviews of the hand mower has convinced me that that is the one for me. My Flymo works but gives a poor cut and you have the electric cables getting in the way, hence the desire for a manual one.

Bought one from Argos this afternoon. Just stopped raining so I tried it out on my back garden. Brilliant. So easy to use. Might use it on the large back garden instead of the motor mower!

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my hand mower.

Clive.

Once upon a time user of Qualcast Super Panther, Webb Witch, Ransomes Ajax.

Recently user of 1969 Atco Battery Electric 14"..and as it needs a new battery. ....now a pre 1995 Hayter Harrier 41 petrol user..