This is my personal review of our manual lawnmower. Over the years we have had maybe five or six lawnmowers all electric, apart from one petrol powered one.
However, last year we bought a manual lawnmower. I am not really sure why we decided to do that, but I know we were fed up with our electric ones breaking down or cutting the cord accidentally and the whole hassle of fixing up extension leads inside the house as we have no outside power. The one petrol lawnmower we had was very heavy and noisy and really too big for us and our lawn and neither of us liked it.
The electric one had just given up, more expensive to fix than to buy another one and of course, it was at peak mowing time so we needed another one quickly.
Searching For A Lawn Mower
We started trawling Amazon for lawnmowers. We did not want a petrol mower as we do not have a massive amount of lawn and it would have been too much. We were fed up with electric lawnmowers and all the issues we had found with them.
So we decided to hone in on manual lawnmowers. At first, I was not sure this was a good idea. My husband has health issues and I need to be careful with my back having a history of severe back problems. I wasn't sure we would be able to push it without added power.
I also wasn't sure if it would cut effectively. It felt in this age of technology, powered appliances and high specifications to be a step backward. Yet in a way also felt completely appropriate for our nature-friendly, wildlife garden and for the more power-saving, environmentally aware times we live in.
The manual lawnmower we found had an appealing price point and looked very sturdy and we were fed up replacing lawnmowers too often. So we bought a Bosch manual lawn mower.
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| Bosch Manual Lawn Mower |
Our First Experience Of A Manual Lawn Mower.
When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was sturdy looking but not too heavy.
Set up was easy with only the long handles to fix to the frame which even for us was easy. We never fitted the grassbox as we intended to cut the lawn often and have always found a grassbox to be an encumbrance. However, the grassbox is there if we ever need it.
Hubby was the first to try to in the garden. We set the blades on high and he simply pushed it and it cut cleanly and efficiently. After a few laps he stopped and said it was really easy to push and no more work than our previous electric mowers! In fact, he seemed to be rather enjoying it!
So then I tried it and to my joy, it was indeed easy to push and did not hurt my back that time or any other time I have mowed the lawn.
For some reason I have yet to pin down it always seems more fun to use than our powered ones ever did!
So after using this manual lawnmower for nearly a year now we have found clear benefits and drawbacks as we see it from our personal experience.
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| Manual Lawn Mower Is Easy To Use |
Benefits Of A Manual Lawnmower
It is easier to push than we expected and no more physical strength is required than with our previous powered mowers
Much quieter than our electric or petrol mowers and it has quite a soothing muted sound
There are no electricity costs and no petrol costs. So we can mow to our heart's content knowing we are not incurring any ongoing financial costs at all! This is great for us as power costs are due to rise by a significant amount, so any savings are good.
Regarding the environment, there are no emissions from a manual lawn mower so this is all good for our planet.
There is the joy of knowing that never again will we cut through an electric cable!
With no trailing wires, no extension leads required, no outdoor power needed and no wires trailing from the house into the garden, it is an easy-use tool.
Fewer components mean there is less to go wrong
The manual lawn mower is ready to go as soon as you are! We now have no worries that it won't start or that a component will suddenly go wrong.
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| Close Up Of Bosch Manual Lawnmower, blades, wheels and roller |
Even with battery lawnmowers you have the battery life or recharging to concern yourself with, while with a totally manual machine none such concerns.
Significantly better for wildlife. We don't disturb any more wildlife using our manual lawnmower than we would with our presence walking down the garden.
The frogs, toads, hedgehogs and birds -especially fledglings - have plenty of time to move away from it and there's no risk if any of them getting caught up by the blades.
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| Fledgling Baby Robin |
To us, it does appear to give a better cleaner cut rather than tearing the grass.
It was less expensive than other powered mowers we have purchased in the past.
As it has a smaller footprint than most powered mowers it is easier to store and takes up less space.
We can carry it easily as it is not too heavy, though it is sturdy.
The manual lawnmower feels safer around wildlife, pets and children as there are no wires for them to get caught up in or trip over. There is no electricity to worry about and no fast-moving blades. We do take all the usual safety precautions of course.
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| Hedgehog In Our Garden |
Drawbacks Of A Manual Lawnmower
I do think that if you have a very large lawn a manual lawnmower will take more time to achieve the task. While it is perfectly possible to cut a large lawn with a manual lawn mower you will need to decide if you wish to do that.
We find you need to cut a little more often than with a powered mower as it is much easier to cut shorter grass than longer grass with it.
If you attach the grassbox you may need to empty it more often, but I think if you cut more often this would not be an issue.
Long grass will be more difficult to cut and certainly take more effort. Little and often is easier to cut than letting the grass grow longer which makes it harder to cut and then does require more physical power.
It is not so good at cutting wet grass as it does take more effort and seems to clog up more easily, but we rarely try to cut wet grass anyway even with our powered mowers, preferring to cut it when it is dry.
We will need to sharpen the blades every few years with our size lawn, but given the saving in electricity, this will not be a cost issue.
Ours does have a roller but many manual mowers won't have rollers, so stripes will be more difficult to achieve. If this is important to you check that you can achieve stripes with it. If you want one with a roller function do check all the specifications.
If you are considering a manual lawn mower do research properly what is important to you in a lawnmower. We bought a Bosch Manual Lawnmower and there are many more choices that are equally suitable.
Here are a few available on Amazon to browse. Do consider what you need in a manual lawn mower and read all the specifications carefully.
Great States lawnmower
Happy With Our Manual Lawn Mower
In summary, we are both really happy with our Bosch manual lawn mower. We have owned it for nearly a year now with no issues at all and are very content that we never need to worry about it breaking down or not starting.
We don't worry about wires or electricity costs. We have no need to worry about safety with wildlife or pets or children getting caught up in the wires or blades. Obviously, the blades are sharp so you would take all the usual precautions regarding children and any type of machinery.
We find it a gentle, easy, quiet way to mow our smallish lawn that is environmentally and wildlife-friendly and does not annoy us or the neighbours.
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| Bosch Manual Lawnmower |
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