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The Gardena Handymower is a light-weight, compact, battery-powered mower designed for small to medium-sized lawns measuring as much as 50 m² (538 sq. ft). Gardena says this mower could make mowing your garden as straightforward as vacuuming your lounge and removes the necessity for binning grass clippings by letting finely reduce grass clippings fall again into the garden.
With restricted shed cupboard space and a small garden space in our metropolis backyard house, I used to be wanting ahead to releasing up house and bettering the situation of my garden on the similar time. Nonetheless, I wasn’t anticipating such a small and reasonably priced mower to have the ability to compete with the likes of one of the best lawnmowers in the marketplace.
Learn how I bought on with the Gardena Handymower and whether or not it’s a super various to an electrical or gas-powered garden mower to your garden.
Gardena Handymower: specs
(Picture credit score: Gardena)
Energy kind/supply: Battery-powered (lithium-ion)
Battery-powered (lithium-ion) Deck/slicing width: 22 cm
22 cm Slicing peak: 30 – 50mm (3 peak settings)
30 – 50mm (3 peak settings) Dimensions (cm): 38D x 35W x 125H
38D x 35W x 125H Protection: 50 m² (538 sq. ft)
50 m² (538 sq. ft) Weight: 6.2kg
6.2kg Cost time: 60 minutes
60 minutes Battery life: As much as 60 minutes, relying on battery
Who examined this lawnmower?
Joanne Lewsley Freelance Reviewer I repeatedly take a look at house and backyard merchandise for UK and US web sites, together with Very best Residence, Prime Ten Opinions, and Dwell Science, evaluating the standard of house and backyard devices by placing them by their paces in a pure house atmosphere. I examined the Gardena Handymower on a small garden measuring 12.5 sq. metres (134 sq. ft) in moist and dry circumstances.
Unboxing, establishing and first impressions
The Gardena Handymower is available in recyclable cardboard packaging with no plastic or polystyrene. It’s well-packaged and safe, with extra cardboard defending the mower inside. The mower is available in two elements, simply assembled by merely screwing the deal with into the bottom unit. It additionally comes with a multi-language instruction handbook and a fast begin information, to which is hooked up the starter key for firing up your mower.
The primary side of the Gardena Handymower is noticing how mild it’s. In comparison with my cumbersome Bosch electrical mower, this can be a dream to elevate out of the field. The second is how small it’s. The bottom unit may be very compact, measuring simply 38cm by 35 cm, so you’ll be able to see immediately that this can be a mower designed for small lawns.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
Turning the mower over, the 22cm chrome steel mulching blade is sharp and strong, whereas the pivoting again wheel guarantees manoeuvrability. On the highest aspect of the mower is a lever for altering the slicing peak to one in all three positions, starting from 30mm to 50mm.
The pivoting deal with of the mower encompasses a keyhole for unlocking/activating the mower, a push button to fireside it up and a large pink ‘pull’ deal with that you just pull in direction of you to maintain the mower working. Releasing this handler will cease the motor from working. The deal with itself is barely bevelled, giving a safe grip.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
I used to be despatched the Gardena Starter-Package P4A PBA 18V/45 + AL 1830 alongside the mower. That is an 18V lithium-ion battery that powers the mower. As I’ve famous already – you’ll want to purchase this individually. Nonetheless, it’s a part of the Energy For All Alliance, which suggests you should utilize this common battery throughout varied backyard home equipment and types, together with Bosch, Flymo and Gardena, which may prevent cash in the long run.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
The battery is simple to arrange – merely pop it into the charger and plug it in to cost. I discovered my battery had some cost on it, so I used to be prepared to make use of it in 45 minutes. Nonetheless, if you happen to run it down, it takes 60 minutes to cost totally, though you should utilize it from 80% cost in keeping with the directions.
The Backyard Handymower comes with a three-year guarantee, however you do must activate this inside three months of buy on the Gardena web site.
What’s it like to make use of
My first mow utilizing the Gardena Handymower checked out how nicely it may address longer progress and barely moist grass. Though there hadn’t been a lot rain in the previous few days, the bottom was nonetheless damp, and I used to be slicing my grass within the morning when grass tends to be wetter.
There are three slicing heights to select from, starting from 30mm to 50mm. Though I could not discover any data within the handbook about which slicing setting was the longest or shortest, it’s clear once you change the lever because the mower physique strikes as much as accommodate an extended setting and down to supply a shorter reduce.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
Choosing the shortest reduce, I discovered that the mower coped nicely with longer grass progress, leaving a clear reduce. The pivoting deal with makes pushing with one or each arms surprisingly straightforward. As well as, as a result of it’s small and agile, it will probably transfer easily alongside any border edges, eradicating the necessity to strim or clip after mowing, leaving a really neat end.
The 22cm mulching blade is designed to clip grass and let it fall again into the garden, offering a pure fertiliser. Nonetheless, on moist grass, this function did not reside as much as expectations. All of the clippings turned lodged beneath the blade, stalling the motor a number of instances throughout mowing. I needed to manually take away the clippings from beneath the blade earlier than I may get it began once more.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
The deal with is designed to have three positions: upright is park mode, and horizontal is carrying mode. Operation mode is between these two positions, so transferring the deal with right into a horizontal place tends to chop the motor from working. It’s a must to shortly be taught which angle at which to push the mower alongside. This may be irritating initially, however you quickly get used to it.
The LED show on the mower permits you to see how a lot battery you will have left. On my small garden I solely used round 20% of the battery within the 5 minutes or so it took to chop my garden, so I’d estimate anybody with a garden measuring as much as 50 sq. metres shouldn’t have any issues in mowing their entire garden earlier than the battery runs down. After all, runtime relies on which battery you select to go together with your Gardena Handymower – some include round 20-25 minutes of runtime whereas others provide you with an entire hour of use.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
I reduce the grass once more every week later, this time on a dryer garden. This time I discovered the clippings did fall to the garden’s floor, and there was no want to scrub out the mulching blade throughout the mow.
Cleansing
The simplicity of the Gardena Handymower with a single mulching blade beneath means it is rather straightforward to scrub. There’s no grass clipping bag or field to scrub out, as all of the clippings fall again onto the grass. If you happen to do reduce damp or moist grass, nevertheless, as I did throughout testing, be ready to cease a couple of instances throughout slicing to scrub out the blade as moist grass tends to clump beneath it, stalling the mower.
You should use a putty knife or a brush to comb out the clippings however make sure to flip off the mower utterly earlier than doing this to forestall any accidents.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
Storage and upkeep
Essentially the most exceptional function of the Gardena Handymower is how small and compact it’s. The bottom unit folds vertically to take up even much less house as you’ll be able to stand it up in opposition to the perimeters of your shed or outhouse. Unscrewing the deal with from the bottom unit makes it even shorter so you probably have a low storage unit you could be reassured it is going to match.
The massive deal with and the light-weight design means the mower is simple to hold and you may grasp it flat on a wall, saving much more house.
Whereas battery-powered garden mowers are usually simpler to keep up than electrical or petrol-powered garden mowers, they nonetheless want common upkeep and servicing. The handbook with the mower particulars its servicing necessities. It additionally offers primary recommendations on sustaining the mower, resembling cleansing the blade, storing the battery appropriately and troubleshooting any widespread issues.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
How does it evaluate to related mowers?
The Gardena Handymower scores a powerful 4.1 stars out of 5 on Amazon, with greater than three-quarters of comfortable prospects giving it 4 or 5 stars. They get pleasure from how straightforward and light-weight the mower is throughout operation and the way straightforward it’s to retailer away when not in use. As well as, gardeners with again points discover it significantly straightforward to function.
Nonetheless, there’s a sure stage of disgruntlement with the truth that the mower comes with no battery, pushing the general value up. Because of this, some prospects say they’re undecided they’re getting nice worth for cash.
(Picture credit score: Future / Joanne Lewsley)
In contrast with greater and bulkier battery-powered lawnmowers from different manufacturers, resembling Kärcher, Bosch and Greenworks, the Gardena Handymower could seem flimsy in design. However throughout operation, regardless of its light-weight really feel, I discovered it to be strong and durable. Contemplating that it’s produced with small lawns in thoughts and that there’s no must crack a nut with a sledgehammer, this mower does every little thing you want with out taking over a number of house in your backyard shed. As a result of there isn’t any grass field to gather clippings, you too can be extra agile with tight corners and areas.
If you wish to acquire grass clippings as an alternative of letting them fall again on the garden, Gardena additionally produces a battery garden mower with a 25-litre grass field, and there’s little or no distinction in value between the 2.
Must you purchase the Gardena Handymower?
When you have a small garden and restricted out of doors cupboard space, the Gardena Handymower is an ideal various to an ordinary electrical or petrol-powered garden mower. Its compact dimension means its storage footprint is tiny, excellent if you happen to wrestle to retailer bigger mowers or wish to release some house in your shed. It’s straightforward to function and produces an amazing clear reduce. So in order for you a no-frills, no-fuss mower, that is perfect. In truth, I’ve determined to maintain this mower for my garden and given away my Bosch electrical mower to get probably the most from my very own shed’s cupboard space.
Nonetheless, I doubt it’s strong sufficient to deal with tough or tough terrain, and it received’t final the gap on something bigger than 50 sq. metres (538 sq. ft). It’s usually cheaper than different cordless battery-powered garden mowers which supply bigger protection however dearer than most electric-powered garden mowers that use a twine. And don’t overlook, having to purchase the battery and charger set individually pushes the worth up, though you should utilize this battery on different backyard instruments.
About this evaluate, and the reviewer
Consistent with our coverage on how we take a look at merchandise we suggest at Very best Residence, Joanne examined the Gardena Handymower in her backyard over a couple of weeks, assessing battery energy and the way nicely it coped with moist and dry grass and longer progress.
Joanne is a eager gardener and loves reviewing backyard merchandise designed for a small metropolis backyard with restricted storage.