UniversalRotak 550 UK

This is a very good mower although a touch heavy, and worked absolutely fine or a month then the motor cut and refused to start.Followed trouble shooting section in the instruction manual and made no difference - power supply was functional, changed plug fuse and cable was intact, left and returned much later to restart and nothing dead a dodo. Not impressed.Contacted seller who advised to approach Bosch direct, which is ok as they will collect it next day - but I threw away the box it came in - and they need it boxed for return. Now urgently trying to source another suitable box which I'd rather not be doing. Even less impressed...

I have previously always bought hover mowers, but was getting increasingly annoyed at their short life (max 4 years) and the fact that they failed to hover over bumpy ground, so quite an effort to push. Also the wind current threw grass everywhere on paths etc. So I tried a rotary for a change, and having read up a lot the Bosch Rotaks seemed a good choice. And I have to say I have been very pleased so far - the mower needs much less effort than a hover, the cutting height can be very easily adjusted by a simple button push (cf. flymo need complicated unscrewing), it cut very well and sharp, it is much quieter than the Flymo, the 37 cm width can be easily negotiated around the garden, and a bonus it is made in UK so designed for UK lawns! Only downsides so far are that it is a bit heavier to lft than a hover, it does not cut right to the front, the hoovering not quite as good as a hover, and the latches keeping the collecting bag on at the back have come loose quite a few times. Hence only 4 not 5*, but overall I am very pleased and recommend the product.

Mows the lawn and produces stripesHowever;This is a mower designed to pack away in the minimum amount of space, and as such the grass box is collapsible with fabric sides and plastic bracings (inside) either side of the opening.This means that it is fiddly when emptying it requires vigorous shaking, turning upside down and poking to get all the grass out of all the nooks and crannies...…..if you don't need it to fold flat a rigid grass box would be a better bet.The mower has a rear roller which means that when cutting around borders/obstructions you have to cut only going forward taking more time rather than backwards/forwards without a roller.I use an extension cable and I find the connector can get caught behind obstructions, unlike when you have only one long cable attached to the mower.The handle switches work OK but seem a bit over engineered with four on/off positions, when my last mower only had one.It may be useful to check if this model is still in production when considering purchase.

Great for the first cut of the year. Hard going if the grass is long and wet and if you are old like me.

Overall very goodHeight adjustment is a little fiddlyCable could do with being a couple of metres longerCuts ok but the lowest setting is 25mm. Could do with 20mm like my last mower.Grass is collected in a bag rather than a fixed plastic container but it is pretty good and easy to emptyThe ‘safe’ on / off buttons take a bit of getting used to. You press a central button to give power and then press one of two side buttons ( one on each handle). This means that if you let go the machine switched off.Overall like it

I’ve used a petrol rotary mower for 40+years mainly because it was cable free had good manoeuvrability and made nice stripes on the lawn. The down side is that it now costs approx., £100 every other year to have it serviced??? However I recently had a hernia repair and was advised to take things easy. But this strategy doesn’t get the lawn mowed and the grass was growing too long for my mower so one of my sons brought a Bosch electric mower over and watching him use it was a revelation. I subsequently purchased the Bosch Universal Rotak 550. I know it’s very light but it’s just what I needed. It does everything my existing mower does and makes nice stripes on my lawn. One extra bonus is I can now leave the lawn longer between cuts as it has more height settings which helps me as the existing mower always cut the grass too short even on the highest setting. Another is it will cut wet grass. A warning though beware of the position of you hand when removing the grass box as the flap has a strong spring and nearly took my thumb off today.

Having had and used my Bosch mower for nearly a year now generally I'm very pleased with. It has a good ranch of cutting heights, cuts right up to the edge of patios etc. The motor is powerful enough to manage long grass and cuts very well in most conditions. Problems I have found are the power cable is a little short. I have to use another extension cable to reach the end of my lawn which isn't particularly long. The grassbox full indicator has never worked properly and the grass box itself is a little flimsy. The handles for the tighten the screws to extend the handle come off easily if you run them against a wall when mowing close it. Overall it still does a good job.

My overall rating would have been 5 if it wasn't for the fact that the first mower broke after it's maiden voyage, the roller broke off in three pieces. My replacement seems fine however, cuts really well, very easy to adjust the height. Not as many trips to empty it but I will say as others have, that the design of the grass collection box could be better, the grass catches around the hinges and stops it emptying cleanly, also if you let it get completely full, when you go to remove it a lot of the grass falls out because the angle is wrong. Apart from that, this beats my hover mower hands down.