The Cheap Alternative Was Better For Me (Flymo Compact 350)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	Flymo Compact 350
Date:	14/08/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lightweight

Disadvantages: fragile looking, ungainly in operation, not worth the money

I only have a small grassed area in my garden. I hesitate to actually call it a lawn because it is more like collection of couch grass and various other varieties and a variety of weeds, all rolled into one. So I needed a mower that would cope with this and get the job done before I got bored and decided to complete the job on another day. Getting the mower out is the most difficult thing for me as the one I had before was far too bulky and heavy.

So, I treated myself to a Flymo Hover Compact 350 Hover Mower from Argos. Yes, I spoil myself!

The orange machine cost me £59 which was a saving of £20 on the previous catalogue price, so that was a good reason for choosing it.

It is constructed from metal and plastic. The blades are metal and the power is 1500w. It will cut grass as long as thirty five centimetres according to the instructions ans specifications but it it did struggle with my tangled up green patch. The key to getting the best from this machine seems to be to use it regularly.

Fortunately, at just 7.6 kilograms it is very light for me to get out and put away again, so that helps me a great deal. The height of the blades can be adjusted if you like a close cut lawn but I dared not cut my greenery that far down.

There is a 12 metre cable with this which is more than enough for my garden and the grass collection box holds 22 litres so I didn't have to empty it until I had finished using it.

I like the fact that this is very light but it isn't very robust and I would be worried about catching the blades with a stone, or pebble. I did feel that it was a bit too light in operation to keep control of so it was just as well that I wasn't mowing a large area.

What you save in weight you certainly lose in quality. The whole unit feels quite flimsy and needs to be used carefully. Having said that, I have had this for more than a year now and used it for almost two summers and it is still working perfectly. I did try a cheaper mower that a friend had paid under £30 for and I found this more efficient, lighter and easier to manoeuvre, so I don't think I would buy another Flymo.

Summary: There is a much cheaper unbranded mower very similar to this available for half the price.