Flymo Compact 300 Lawn Mower

...expecting the answer no, that Flymo are part of the Electrolux group? I certainly wasn't, but I am now. The full address for the company is; Electrolux Outdoor products, Aycliffe Industrial Park, Newton Aycliffe. Co. Durham DL5 6UP; Tel 01325 300303, e mail eop.customer.services@electrolux.co.uk their web address is www.flymo.com.

So I'm now the Owner Of One Large Box
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...
...Free inside is a free Flymo cable storage unit, wow, whatever would I do without one of those?

The lid of the box advises you that the mower is fully assembled, using easy fold handles. It is also on the lid where you learn that the cable and plug are included, but only in the UK and Ireland!

The Excitement Was Overwhelming As I Poised
to Open The Box!
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more

Introduction
*************

It is interesting for me to write a review on a gardening product, simply because I hate gardening, and with a vengeance. My dream is for the cement mixer fairy to visit my garden while I sleep, and concrete the whole blooming thing! As it's not going to happen, and with back problems that keep me from strimming for any length of time, it was off to B & Q to look for a lawn mower.

After ponderously whiling away time, that saw me leave the shop with a beard I didn't have when I entered. I finally decided on the Flymo, Hover Compact 300. My main reason for selecting this model? It was late on a Sunday afternoon, I needed a lawn mower and it was the sturdiest looking model in my price range!

Flymo, The Company
=================

Are you aware, I ask expecting the answer no, that Flymo are part of the Electrolux group? I certainly wasn't, but I am now. The full address for the company is; Electrolux Outdoor products, Aycliffe Industrial Park, Newton Aycliffe. Co. Durham DL5 6UP; Tel 01325 300303, e mail eop.customer.services@electrolux.co.uk their web address is www.flymo.com.

So I'm now the Owner Of One Large Box
********************************************

Yep, on the outside is various pictures of the mower and snippets of information in twenty languages. The English writing tells you that it's a lightweight, grass collecting electric hover mower. There are small diagrams that show you that the collected grass is compacted in the collection box, and that it is easy to remove the said collection box for emptying. There's a large yellow circle that proclaims a unique offer – Free inside is a free Flymo cable storage unit, wow, whatever would I do without one of those?

The lid of the box advises you that the mower is fully assembled, using easy fold handles. It is also on the lid where you learn that the cable and plug are included, but only in the UK and Ireland!

The Excitement Was Overwhelming As I Poised
to Open The Box!
======================================

The worst part about opening a box, is you never actually know whereabouts in the box the product is, or how well it is packaged.

This box was taped down the centre with two lift up pieces of card to allow entry to the goodies beneath. With breath held, and knife in hand I prepared to make the incision through the tape. I started to make the cut, hoping not to hear the horrible grating noise that would tell me, I've cut too deep and straight into some part of the mower!

A loud exhale, all went well.

On opening the box the mower is wrapped in a polythene bag inside which are three other bags!

The smaller of these bags contain the instructions and warranty card.

The second bag, contains a lot of plastic bits that appear to be the free cable storage unit. So you now have a 3D plastic jigsaw to assemble.

Lastly there's a bag with a plastic, orange spanner and two grey, circular spacers.

Having carefully cut the three small bags from their taped position to the mower itself, it was time to remove the mower. Before doing so I put the other three bags somewhere safe.

The Mower.
*************

I carefully braced myself to lift out the mower, there's a place on the folded down handle where there are eight deep grooves, so i assumed this would be the lifting point. I was amazed at how light the machine was, 8.5 kg according to the instructions. I removed the ploythene which had again been taped, this time around the handle, and removed the mower. The handle lifts up and springs shut into two recesses. To fold the handle down, you push against the spring pressure until the handle leaves the recesses, you then fold the handle down.

The handle is grey coloured metal. At the top centre is the switch box, this is where your cable fixes onto the mower, this is grey in colour. In the centre of the switch box is the power button. This is coloured orange and is a rubber press switch. You use this switch with one of the two orange, start/stop levers. The power button is pressed as you pull the start stop lever, and as long as you hold the lever the mower works. Release the lever and the mower stops. The start/stop levers are either side of the switch box and are large giving plenty of scope for you to hold the machine comfortably. The height of the handle at rest is (approximately) 77 cm and in operation, (approximately)96 cm. It's a pity the handles weren't more height adjustable, and therefore more user friendly!

Sturdy plastic is used for the main body of the mower which is 66 cm in length, 38 cm wide and 32 cm deep at the highest point. (All approximate sizes) The main body is mainly Flymo orange except for the grass box which is light grey in colour. The model and company names are on the main body, and appear to be 'transfers' placed on the grass box lid

On lifting the lid to the grass box you discover that the bottom, front and back of the box are meshed. The whole unit is made of plastic and for emptying, simply lifts out of it's housing. Replacement is simple as long as the mouth of the box, aligns with the opening at the bottom of the main body. The grass box holds 20 litres of compacted grass when full.

When looking at the bottom of the main body you see that at the front are two rollers. These are to make the mowing job less strenuous, even though it is a hover mower. In the centre is the blade which is fastened through the fan, via a bolt which has a large nut at the end. There is a grey spacer fitted between the blade and fan, as standard, this spacer is removable. There are four different cutting heights These are; No spacer, one spacer, two and three spacers, the spacers are easy to alter. For most gardeners this will be sufficient. I've left one spacer in position and this gives a nice cut without the grass being too short. Finally, on the bottom is the mouth to the grass box. That's the mower in all it's glory.

Instructions
=========

The instructions are a single sheet of A3 paper which is folded into four. The front section of the instructions is a basic line drawing with the company details. Section one covers the box contents and how to contact the company if any parts are missing. There's an explanation of the symbols used in the instructions.

Section two covers safety both electrical and in using the machine. The company recommends operating the mower with a residual current device (R.C.D.) These immediately trip out and stop the current flow should you cut the power lead.

There's basic instructions for setting up the mower. It even tells you how to empty the grass box. For those that haven't used a mower before the instructions tell you how to mow your lawn. There's fault finding tips and the last chapter covers the EC declaration and conformity.

The instructions cover all they need to but cramming it all on to an A3 sheet of paper appears to be a bit miserly. The print is small to say the least and I think with the money this company makes they could afford a more professional looking instruction booklet, or something similar.

The warranty card has to be completed and sent off within 30 days of purchase, after you've paid for the stamp of course!

The Bag With The Spacers And Spanner
********************************************

As mentioned earlier, two further spacers and the blade removal spanner are also supplied. The spanner is hooked at one end so you can hang it up out of harms way when not in use. The spanner is similar to a ring type in that, the mechanical part is entirely closed as opposed to being half open. The enclosed end of the spanner is a scraping tool to help remove grass after use. All the supplied spacers are about 7 mm thick. Both the spacers and the spanner are made of strong plastic.

Let's assemble Our Cable Storage Device!

============================

Tip the bag out and you have five plastic components, mmmh. There's two 20 cm discs coloured black, both have a socket for a 13 amp plug. There's one large and one small plastic hand grip and a hook to hang the completed unit up with.

It's easy to put together, you don't even need the simple diagram. The two discs slot together and are held by the larger of the two handles which fits through the centre of the discs, it can be fitted to suit either left or right handed people. The handle covers one of the plug sockets , but you're left with the one on the opposite side. Not a problem. The smaller handle snaps into a hole on the opposite side to the large handle again there's one on each side. When fitted together the unit makes a neat cable reel. The hook slides into one of two slots, and that's all there is to it.

Once the reel is complete you can wind your 10 mtr Flymo cable onto the drum for storage, you can then hang this with your spanner out of harms way. Note before using the cable it must be completely unwound from the reel! The cable fastens to the switch box with a snap shut connector.

In Use
*******

It's a dream to use, as I've mentioned I have a bad back and I can use this model without any trouble. It's light to push, and this is made easier by the two rollers underneath. These tend to clog if the grass is damp so need cleaning regularly in use. The rollers and the fact it's a hover mower allow you to turn the machine fairly easy when mowing

It cuts quickly due to the 30 cm blade, and the fact it's got a 1300 watt motor allows you to cut longer grass easier than some models. Plus, you can always use the extra spacers to get a length of cut that suits you. The cut grass is sucked through the mouth in the bottom of the Flymo, and compacted in the grass box

The fact the grass is collected, saves on having to rake the garden as you have to with some hover mowers. The box is easy to empty and although 20 ltrs doesn't sound a lot, it's amazing how much compacted grass this is.

The motor isn't too noisy, and in my opinion, for a 1300 watt motor I would class it as quiet. Compare it to some of those in use on a Sunday morning in my area!

After use, it is fairly easy to clean. Using a soft hand brush and the scraper (mentioned earlier) it's easy to keep it looking like new.
Warning!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't try cleaning the underneath until the cable has been removed AND the blade stops turning. I don't want to teach people to suck eggs, nor do I want them to loose a hand or something! The blade turns at 5600 rpm.

Overall
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It's not an unattractive mower as some can be, in fact it's aesthetically pleasing. Everything seems to be balanced right and it's easy to use. I don't know how, but I selected the right mower for my needs .I think I've got a good buy. I paid £69.98 in B & Q. Argos do the same mower for £69.99 and index want £79.99. There were no cheaper prices on the internet at the time of writing the review

 

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