"greg" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was looking at this offer in Argos,
A Flymo Easimo Rotary Mower and Flymo mini trim for £59.99
but I haven't got a clue about lawnmowers and I've no idea if this is
a good deal or not. Please help!

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...Lawnmowers.htm


Personally I prefer petrol mowers as I find it a pain moving the cable
around on an electric. I would only consider electric for a lawn without
obstructions like trees or chairs or winding flower beds. That way nothing
for the cable to snag on. If you go electric make sure to fit an RCD. Dont
just feed the wire in through a window and plug it in to any old socket.

Whatever size garden you have, go for a mower with a large collection bag
which can actually be filled by the mower. If you are lazy like me and don't
cut it regularly in the growing season, you may find that most of the work
isn't the actual mowing. It's stopping to remove the collection bag and take
it to the compost. In the past I've had a mower with a small ineffective
grass collector - it was a pain - sometimes I couldn't even cut one strip
before I had to stop the mower, remove the bag, empty it, put the bag back
on, pull start the mower again.

Mowers with narrow wheels, rather than full width rollers, CAN still produce
stripes but the latter do a better job. If you aren't careful the small
wheels can "fall off the edge" of the lawn which drops the mower down on
that side - possibly taking a chunk out of the edge. That doesn't happen
with mower that had a wide roller.

If you know anyone with an old Suffolk Punch cylinder mower they don't want
that might be a good buy second hand. They can be £400 new and only £50-£100
second hand. Ideally you want one that's been professionally serviced
recently and the blades resharpened and reset. They cut a good lawn well but
need more maintenance, oil changes and the like. They are less suitable for
rough lawns.

Few mowers cut right up to verticals (eg walls, fences, trees). Go for a
strimmer that has a head that can be turned over to do edging. Ideally one
that's easy to feed new cutting wire. It frequently brakes and a new length
has to be fed out. You want to be able to do that without having to unplug
the strimmer. Tip. Take care when strimming near trees and shrubs. It's
sometimes possible to cut a neat ring of bark off the tree. Do that all the
way round and it's good bye tree.