Its definitely bust this time......

You might recall that last year my lawnmower was giving some grief, and that I was able to breathe some life into the old girl by stripping it and cleaning it all up, oiling various parts and sharpening the blade. Well, its performance has been distinctly 'stunted' this past week or so - its not really cutting the grass, but rather chewing it, and it doesn't seem to have enough grunt to throw the grass clippings up into the grass box; it was stalling and making a rather horrendous noise a good few times also.

I flipped it over today, and had a feel at the motor, and it is helluva tight and grumbly, as well as being noisy even when turned by hand, so I suspect that the bearings on the motor are all but puffed. Whilst I am not shy about getting the screwdrivers out, I am not convinced that it is worthwhile as it seems to be consuming loads of time and doing very few cuts in between.

So, I am on the trail for a new mower - and so far I have taken a shine to this Black & Decker but am also looking at this Bosch Rotak 40

So, any opinions to sway me either way?

 

The current mower is a Flymo 32cm 1000 watt jobbie, and I am not overly convinced that its up to much. I do like the look of the Bosch, I must admit. The only pro's I can find in favour of the B&D at the moment is 100w extra grunt, the compact and go grass box (which could potentially be a pain in the rear to empty?), and the 20m cable (versus the Bosch at 15m).

In the Bosch's favour, I have quite a lot of their product knocking about (dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, and goodness knows how many parts of my car), and their quality and reliability appeals.

Although, my B&D drill is a fantastic piece of kit.....................

 

The Bosch won. Ordered - delivery in the next week or so (currently pending on stock arrival apparently); it was £10 cheaper than the B&D, and by the time I used a voucher that we had, it came to £98 all in, including delivery and 2-year warranty.

 

Ach, what a pain in the rear - email through that there are supply problems, and that it could be as late as 6th June before I see the new mower!

So, do I:

• Whip the blade off the current one, get an edge ground onto it on a bench grinder, and hope that a good skoosh of WD40 is enough to keep it going for a few more cuts until the new one arrives
• Cancel the order and go for something else (Black & Decker or Flymo?)

 

I'll have to try and sort a refund - which is going to be fun given that I used vouchers that I had as a work related promotion; I'll need to check to see where they are actually valid (assuming that the refund comes back as vouchers);

I was thinking some more about it today whilst pottering - and I am almost inclined to wait it out. I can get the blade sharpened in the next couple of days, and I am hoping that the WD might 'slacken' the motor a wee bit to keep it going. @clueless1, I am a tad reluctant to use anything heavier than WD as I think its either the bearing on the motor or some sort of friction in the motor itself - - which, as is the way with just about everything nowadays, is sealed. I'd agree with your impression of Flymo though - the current one has been pants from day one, and I spent the bulk of an afternoon on it toward the end of last summer stripping it and making it run semi-reasonably; its probably only done three cuts since.

I reckon if I cut the grass next week, then after a week or so use the weed and feed, that gets me to the end of this month before I will need to cut it again; cut again at the end of this month or early May and then scarify and overseed - - its going to want a good two or three weeks at least before I am going near it again?

That, coupled with the fact that it 'may' take up to early June for stock to arrive; equally, it 'may' arrive next week.

 

Fair point.

I think a phone call is in order tomorrow - email is all well and good, but you can't beat speaking to a bean.

 

Right, as I am bored, and Mrs C is watching Hollyoaks, I have just sat and read loads of reviews on the Rotak 40 and the Black and Decker.

The Rotak 40 gets rave reviews, with the main failing apparently being that the top ventilation slots for the motor block up with grass which if not cleared can lead to overheating and motor failure - - two screws, clean out once in a while and you are sorted; that is based on nearly 400 reviews.

The Black & Decker cuts well, but is rubbish at collecting grass and the grass box leaks/drops also - that is based on only 7 reviews.

Sticking with my original order and sod the consequences.