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3 in 1 Lawn Mower, Aerator & Scarifier

Made by Eckman.  Does anyone have any experience of this product please??

There are lots of adverts for it, apparently the appropriate cassette slots into place.  Looking at the pictures the aerator is a series of blades.

"Lawn Man" has a battery operated mower, & is considering something to scarify & aerate, & 2 gadgets for the space of 1 in the garage can only be good!  We don't have a large lawn, but part of it has already gone into shade for the winter & it's a bit damp too.

(Sorry i this has been brought up before but every time I try to search the site, it freezes image.)

Cheers,

Jean.

 

Posts

  • Gary HobsonGary Hobson Posts: 1,892

    I don't own one of these, but I'll offer my opinion. image

    My first port of call is always Amazon. Amazon knows nothing about Eckman mowers. That's not a good omen.

    I had a peep at the Eckman website, and am not certain which mower you are refering to. I found a 3-in-one push mower, this one:

    http://www.eckman.co.uk/p735~3-in-1-Hand-Push-Lawn-Mower-Scarifier-AND-Aerator.html

    Typically, old technology push mowers retail at about £40-£70. New technology mowers around £80-£120. As far as I can see, the Eckman push mower is old technology, and sells for £130 (although you do get the added gadgets).

    You say the one you are considering is battery operated, but I couldn't see a 3-in-1 battery operated model. At least it's not described as such in the product list.

    As regards aeration capabilities, if you have a waterlogged lawn, then it needs deep aeration, with a fork pushed deeply in. For the 3-in-1 push mower, the corporate website talks about "heavy clay soil can be hard and compacted". I don't personally see thay light-weight aerator making much impact into compacted heavy clay. It may work successfully as a scarifier.

    My impression is that these mowers are expensive gimmicks, and I wouldn't buy them.

  • Hmm, thanks for your thoughts, Gary.  We do have a battery mower (Bosch), this gadget would really be for the scarifying & aerating element. I was wondering about whether the blades would be suitable, maybe a hollow tine corer would be best for aerating. We don't have heavy clay, but extremely stony soil that's rather compacted.

    The advertised price is £80 & I do wonder now whether it might be better to buy individual tools instead.image

    Cheers, Jean.

  • Gary HobsonGary Hobson Posts: 1,892

    If your main problem is aeration, then see what Monty does on GW. He tackled this problem a few weeks ago, He used a strong fork, driving it into the ground. It's a slow process and requires considerable effort, but it works.

    I always like to look at products on Amazon, because you can normally read lots of customer reviews about their products, and see exactly what customers' experiences are.

    So, for example, Amazon offer a pushable rolling aerator, for £30. Views about this product are mixed, but most people were satisifed. It's worth reading all of these views as they give you some idea of the various issues:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/GREENKEY-ROLLING-AERATOR-PERFECT-LAWNS/product-reviews/B000TAOZKC/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

    This is a lighter-weight pushable aerator, for £20. Customers were less satisfied with this:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosmere-087-Lawn-Spike-Aerator/product-reviews/B0013Z1WLW/ref=sr_1_7_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

    This is a hollow-tine aerator designed for stepping on, for £11. People were less satisfied with this product:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000QZ5IMY/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

    Personally, I'd stick with Monty's strong fork. You can use a fork for lots of other purposes too.

  • Thanks again Gary for all of your trouble.  I often read reviews of products before considering buying, but haven't of checking out Amazon image.   Certainly the reviews that you've posted the link to wouldn't encourage me to buy!

    Cheers,

    Jean.  (Disappears off to Amazon to spend hours looking at reviews.......!)

     

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