It's Orange & It Cuts grass (Flymo Microlite)

Member Name: Nibelung

Product:	Flymo Microlite
Date:	07/04/03 (2790 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very light and manoeuvrable, Safer plastic blades, Cheap

Disadvantages: Not a precision mower for keen gardeners who want a "stripe"

Question: What have a small electric hover mower and a land-speed record attempt in common?

Answer: 'Fodding', i.e. the search for, and removal of FOREIGN OBJECTS that might cause any DAMAGE before the activity in question.

Like most owners of a suburban 'semi', I have two gardens, one at the front and one at the back. The rear one is long enough, at nearly 200 feet (say 60 metres) to justify a petrol mower, also a Flymo hover job as it happens, but the front, despite being the widest garden in the road (we live on the inside of a curve in the road) isn't that big. It certainly doesn't justify the steam-hammer of the petrol mower to crack its own particular nut.

I've always got along just fine with an electric mower of some kind. However, having the grand-daddy of all magnolia trees* in the front does make using a 'unidirectional' mower a pain, especially as I'ev long since given up on trying to 'stripe' the grass.

*You should see it as I write!

Up to now, I've had a variety of (mostly) hover mowers chosen mainly on price. No, I don't want grass-collection, just something that is easy to manoeuvre and capable of spinning a blade to behead my grass when it starts to get too long.

My last B&D Hover wore out - the blade was so badly pitted that it was next to useless. It was also jammed in place and the nylon nut that was supposed to be removable, along with the blade, had long since converted from 'hexagonalism' to 'circularism'. I'd manage to hone the blade edges in-situ a couple of time with a power file, but I'd run out of metal now. So I dumped it and got the cheapest replacement I could find, the Flymo Micro-Light

It really does feel light to the point of being insubstantial, but so far, this concern has been unjustified. It hovers quite high, which is useful in my case, because like all true loafers, I'm happy to let
the grass get quite long before I cut it again. I have to say that I begrudge every single minute of grass cutting, especially in the front garden, which is of no use to man nor beast - well, no that's no quite true, next door's cat uses it as a toilet!

One innovation, well to me at least it was, is the use of plastic blades. The advantages are immediately obvious to anyone who's ever run their mower over its own lead - these are must less likely to puncture the lead's insulation, and potentially get you killed. Further safety features include the need to use both hands to switch it one, there being a rubber button in the centre of the main handle, and a gripper rod either side, which fall easily under the grip of each hand. Once running, it only takes one hand to keep it switched on, whilst the other conducts the 'power cable orchestra'.

The Flymo comes supplied with several spare plastic blades, and they are easily replaced by bending them, and easing them backwards out of their mountings. A new blade just goes in the same way as the old one came out. Centrifugal force ensures that they locate themselves properly during cutting. With pair of undamaged blades, the Flymo is a delightfully smooth and quiet tool. Chip one of the blades on a bit of 'FOD' as mentioned at the beginning and it becomes a positive blur, trying to wrest itself from your grip as it vibrate hopelessly out of balance. My advice would be to stop there and then, in case you cause damage or accelerated wear and tear to the one central moving part, the motor bearing. It only takes a few second to change a blade, and it doesn?t need removal of the entire cutter to do so.

At first, I thought the mower was hopeless - my attempt to scalp the front garden barely looked like it had anything 'off the top' at all.

Then I read the instructions!

This mower comes with two cutting heights, achieved by removing the cutter as
sembly, flipping it over and refitting it (it's domed to give two heights). Its default height when leaving the factory is the higher one. There is however one problem with using the lower cutting height. It becomes all the more important that you check for 'FOD' as the likelihood of hitting something that shouldn't be there is greater. The magnolia has a habit of dropping the odd bit of dead wood, which is surprisingly hard and brittle, and foxes have a habit of dragging the bones from someone else's bin and gnawing at them on my grass.

CONCLUSION

The Flymo Micro-Light only has a 28cm cutting diameter and a 1 Kwatt motor, but at £40, it is good value for money. Just don't expect to get into the Best Kept Garden Awards!

If you just want to keep nature at bay on a smallish patch of grass, and aren't too worried about 'stripe' effects, or building up a heap of clippings, then the Flymo Micro-Light's ability to negotiate obstacles using the strength of just one hand is excellent. Its power lead is just adequate to use without an extension cable in my front garden, using the socket just inside the front door, although it seems shorter than a typical Black and Decker equivalent. Also, there is no line adapter placed near the mower end to allow for longer leads to be attached. Of course, it wouldn't take a genius to go out and buy one, but inertia is a very strong motive in someone devoid of all gardening instincts! My name might be Green, but?..

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