Challenge Push

Bought this mower at boot sale for tenner. Nylon gears were worn, mower kept slipping. Ordered new qualcast gears online . Perfect fit, a pleasure to use.

Qualcast gears are blue and yellow. Mow every 2/3 days. keeps grass lovely and tight.

Great if you can be bothered to sharpen the blades every year.

Brought this mower last year as my dog chewed the cable of my hover mower (while unplugged)so wanted to get something he couldnt destroy he himself along with it. Worked ok for the first summer then I think the blades needed sharpening as it would snagg and jam every 2 pushes.

Also it is embarassingly loud like a drill or electric saw and takes 3 times as long to complete a tiny garden than with my hover mower and of course will make you work for every blade cut.

Not really worth the money as for and extra £5 you can get a electric mower for less sweat. I'll be giving it away to my sister who has an allotement

Challenge Push Mower - 79.99 from Argos excellent mower, starts first time and does a nice cut, can do a fair sized back garden in 10 minutes.

The box contained the following; Lawn mower, grass trimmer and hedge trimmer. (25kg)

The Challenge Push Mower seemed ok for the price, and had the metal blade which I was after. Grass was pretty long and would not have worked with my regular old push rotary mower. (I like the cut this gives)

My reason for going for this pack was mainly for the hedge trimmer which I needed, I already own(ed) 2 Flymos, the hand push rotary type mower mentioned above, and also a single thread trimmer.

I was happily surprised to find the supplied trimmer had a double thread outlet.

All three items performed superbly on this weekend's big cleanup (2 trips to the tip with the back of a fully loaded people carrier filled close to the roof) :-)

I've even thrown the box that it came in away, that's how confident I am on its workings. As for the flymo's ... they've now joined the empty box at the tip hehe

Other than that, the grass box held a fair amount, would take a full load without falling off, in general it is rather cheapishly build and it does the job most expensive models would do too ..

I don't know, maybe it only lasts a year or two... so what ... you get what you pay for I suppose. (If you're really worried then best take out the extra warranty for less than £10)

This Challenge Push Mower, £30 from Argos, coped with 1/4 acre tussocky lawn of grass 20-30 cm high. It was hard work though - not recommended if you have a weak back.

The machine is surprisingly solid for the price. It is really for shortish grass though. When set to maximum height, the (plastic) roller swivelled out of position however hard the screw are tightened. I ended up drilling a new hole through the plastic and adding a new bolt which was easy and worked well. Even at maximum height though, my grass was really too long. Progress in the long grass is best by pushing forward fast, pulling backwards, and making another pass, until the grass is down to a level height. I suspect this plastic roller will eventually snap rendering the machine useless. The machine works much better in short grass e.g. 5 cm and I expect subsequent cuts to be much easier.

The cutting blade adjustment is a bit fiddly in common with powered cylinder mowers, but more crucial when you're supplying the power yourself. If I don't let the grass get so long cutting should be a lot easier next time.

The grass collector bucket is terrible. It is made of light flexible black plastic, which is OK. However the fixing to the machine is by a tiny bar of this same thin plastic and I think this will break before long. Also the collector frequently comes off its hooks but is troublesome to remove when you want it off. I found it quicker to scoop the grass out with my hands rather than remove the collector, empty it, and re-attach it. Finally, the collector only catches some of the grass, much goes forwards or over the top. So if you want no cuttings at all on the lawn, this mower is no good.

Finally it is worth saying that the reduction in noise for you and your neighbours is a real benefit of this kind of machine. It is also very light and easy to get in and out of the shed, etc. In summary it is ideal for a smaller lawn that gets cut regularly. With a steel roller and better grass collector attachment and a price say £5 more making £35, this would suit a lot of people.