SOT: cordless lawnmowers

[Huge]

[23 lines snipped]

So why care about the garden? It's not like you can see it.

[damduck-egg]

As I said our Bosch is around the six year old mark and the battery still seems find, Used within it's capability it is fine, I regularly abuse ours by using it like a petrol many of which are used beyond what they are designed for because you can. The Bosch just stops and you retract a bit from the nettles or whatever I'm attempting to push it through and start again. I may well have burnt a mains corded one out by now. I do pop the battery into the charger a few times over the winter.

G.Harman

[Scott]

There was a teacher at our school who every time he changed a lightbulb (before elphin safety) he would tell the class to hold their hands in the air then announce 'Many hands make light work' as he turned the lights back on.

[Scott]

When you pull it back up again, is the cable strong enough to lift the reel without risk of damage to either the cable or the connections?

[Scott]

As I said to Huge, is the cable strong enough to lift the reel without risk of damage to the cable or any connections?

[The Natural Philosopher]

so you don't have to drop a piece of string as well

[Scott]

I'm still tempted. It would avoid p***ing about with cables.

But using a mains electric appliance on wet grass is not best practice, which is another argument.

Would you say the Bosch is better than the Gtech, which was the one I started looking at? I assume it goes without saying it will be better than the Argos £149.99 option?

[Huge]

I used to drop a single socket and plug a distribution strip into it when I got downstairs.

[Bob Minchin]

The free end only need be a trailing socket, hardly any weight. The reel can stay in the flat and not be attached to the cable at all.

[Clive George]

If dropping a reel, it's only the empty weight the cord grip has to hold. The cable at the top has to hold the full weight, but any cable really ought to be fine with that.

(my longest extension is like yours though so I'd do what you did)

[Harry Bloomfield]

Graeme pretended :

Stealthy lol

[Scott]

I thought the socket was part of the reel, as in:

Are other designs available then?

[Bob Minchin]

Just use a blank reel - don't need any of the other stuff. Cut a plug sized hole in the hub. Shove the plug though to the centre and wind up the cable. Maybe add a drawer type handle on one side to make it easy to hold and the jobs a good un. This is D_I_Y after all.

[Tim+]

Might be a good idea to read some of the replies that you've already had, as in mine from 21:55 yesterday.

Tim

[Scott]

I did read it actually but I misinterpreted the picture. I thought it was a Europlug integral to the reel but looking more closely it appears it's just a dummy socket that could be ignored. Sorry I did not appreciate this at the time. I have read all the posts but maybe been too compartmentalised in replyng. I am grateful for all comments.

[Scott]

PS Am I right in assuming that the cable should be 1.25 mm (sq) and only requires to be two core?

[Graeme]

In message , Scott writes

I used three core for mine, purely for flexibility. Yes, it probably only needs to be two core for a mower, but making mine three core, I can use it with almost anything without having to think about whether or not an earth connection is required.

The term 'reel' is used loosely. Mine is actually a simple but fairly heavy duty H frame, similar to eBay item 162516869020.

In your circumstance, I would buy a ball of string and use that first, to determine the length of cable actually required to get from the socket in your flat to the garden, and across the lawn. Don't make the cable minimum length - it will soon annoy you.

[damduck-egg]

I would make it suitable for the task in hand with no surplus to lie about for the reason below.

Though hate to bring in the much dreaded elf and safety argument but how formal or informal is the OP doing this task? If they are just doing it to make the place tidy because nobody else can be bothered they should consider if the insurance for their flat will cover public liabilities over the communal lawn area. If not then any risk will have to be considered , personally I would hope the odd stone or chipping sent flying will be infrequent enough not too worry where it goes but it is possibly to crack a car window as a bloke in this village did but an extension lead I would attempt to avoid using as much as possible because some silly bugger is bound to trip over it and hurt themselves and these days many turn straight to an injury lawer for compo, often encouraged by friends and relatives.

G.Harman

[charles]

you could use a rope to raise and lower it, thus avoiding strain on the cable.

[charles]

I've just bought a battery powered strimmer and lawn edger. It seems a lot better than the one I bought about 30 years ago.