Use washing line to support cable with an electric mower

[MM]

I've had an electric mower for over two years and each time the ruddy cable is a pain. Keeps getting in the way. I prefer a petrol-driven mower, which I also have, but after the heart op two years ago I was strongly advised NOT to use the recoil starter. And so I purchased the Bosch lightweight electric mower. (It is VERY light!)

So, day before yesterday I fetched out the mower for the first time after winter and once again laid the orange cable out of reach of the cutter. What I could do with, I thought, was a helper (person) to pay out just the right amount of cable as I perambulate around the lawn with the thing. A robot would also do the trick, but for the money I could employ a gardener.

That's when I saw the washing line, as if for the first time. What if I draped the cable over the line? At least it wouldn't then be lying on the grass. So I did, and the results were fantastic! Not as good as a helper (person) or a robot, but way better than letting the cable get in the way all the time. Sort of like a giant version of this amazing gadget, which I've had on my ironing board for ages:

Gonna put my thinking cap on this afternoon and draw up a project to design a cable letter-outer/puller-inner, which would be wireless controlled by voice from a Bluetooth headset. I'll draw up the patent application tomorrow.

By the way, now that my chest has healed I can use the petrol mower again, so ordered a new blade as the current one was as old as the mower (12+ years).

However, the new blade doesn't look any sharper than the old one! So that was a waste of 11 quid.

MM

[Tim Watts]

Possibly a bit late, but the Bosch Rotak battery 36V LiIon mower is better than you might imagine - I would say that it is actually quite good as a mower in absolute terms and bloody excellent when you factor in it is light weight and has no cable.

2 batteries and you can just about keep going - one runs for about 30 mins of hard mowing, the charge time is maybe an hour so allowing for stopping and a tea break...

But that is indeed a great idea. Cables always seem to alighn themselves with the path of the next cut no matter what direction you are mowing in...

[tabbypurr]

Mower blades benefit from frequent sharpening. All it takes it a grindstone and a drill.

NT

[Mr Pounder]

I did it with a file on an electric mower and the motor burned out. I later read that the blade should be balanced after sharpening.

[Bill]

In message , Tim Watts writes

Great minds think alike, etc.

My late father ended up with a battery powered mower, very light and easy to use. He only had the one battery and thought it was great. By the time the battery had gone flat so had he. So it was the perfect excuse for an hours break and a cup of tea!

[Huge]

We have an acre of lawn.

And a ride-on mower.

[Capitol]

Civilised!

[MM]

It is too late now! I already have: petrol Champion, an ancient but working Suffolk Punch, a hand mower, and the Bosch cable.

But my experience of tools that require charging has not been great. I have tried three battery hand-held vacuum cleaners, one hedge trimmer, and a screwdriver and in all cases the batteries failed after a year or two. The hedge trimmer was the worst. It was an Argos brand, I believe. Only cost around 20 quid. But useless, as it only retained a charge for about 30 minutes. I gave it away and bought almost the same model, but with a cable. It would take A LOT to convince me to buy ~any~thing with a battery, whether one of those expensive £199 vacuum cleaner jobbies from the telly, or an electric car. I would certainly never consider a rechargeable drill or similar, although I can see how one of those is probably useful in the trade where there is no power point handy.

The only gadget I have that has proved reliable with a battery is my APC UPS (Back-UPS CS 500) which has needed only one replacement battery in seven years. Mind you, that only gets used IF the mains power fails.

Yep, done it again like that and it definitely makes the job easier.

MM

[MM]

Show off!

*I* grew up in a very large house, so there!

My parents ran it until 1975, then it was owned by someone else for

20-odd years, and now it's derelict. Plot was going for £2.5 million till it was taken off the market for some reason. My bro said he'd buy it and restore it if he won the lottery.

But we didn't have a ride-on mower! Mum had a Jersey cow, which could have been ridden, I suppose.

MM

[MM]

Yeah, but I thought I would save myself all that hassle by buying a new one!

MM

[MM]

Yeah, you're supposed to file equal amounts off both sides. When I read that, I thought, no way, Jose. I'm buying a new one. To find it's almost as blunt as the old one is a bit of a disappointment.

MM

[Broadback]

It is not a case of them being blunt, they are not sharp as a knife is. However they do get damaged and pitted by stones. I replace mine every season then the old one is used in an area of rough grassland that I have.

[spuorgelgoog]

Spring cable reels are already available; mount one at a suitable height on the house wall and it will reel the cable in and out for you.

Owain

[Bill Wright]

They aren't supposed to be a knife edge.

You can balance blades after sharpening. It's easy.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

We have 2.5 acres. And we can borrow wool-covered fully automatic mowers any time.

Bill

[Huge]

[18 lines snipped]

Wow. That looks like it must have been nice, once. Too big for us. Hell, our house, which is about half the size of that, is too big for us, now. Too much maintenance. Too much bloody grass to mow.

[Bob Minchin]

I can't understand the problem! just put the cable over your shoulder and it looks after itself.

[Tough Guy no. 1265]

I've never had the cable get in the way, you simply start mowing at the side of the lawn where the socket is, then as you move away from the house/garage, you're pulling the cord behind you, not going over it. Isn't this basic common sense?

[Tim Watts]

Nah - even when I tried that, it would always snake over the next strip by an inch or two. Cables are bastards.

[GMM]

I noticed in Toolstation this weekend, that they're flogging a 40V battery mower for 200 quid. They reckoned the battery included was worth 100. It sounded a bit weak to me at 2Ah but maybe that depends on how hard you work a mower (ie how in/frequently you use it).

I'm sure the Rotak is in a different league (and comes with much more capacity) but it seems simplest to stick with petrol to me (all things being equal, which they clearly aren't in your case).