Allotments 4 All

I prefer a "hewk" or "bagging hook" to the sickle myself - the angle makes it easier to cut level without burying the tip in the ground. If you use any of these on taller stuff, use a stick to stop the tops bending away from the blade - do NOT use your hand.

Top Tip, thanks gilgamesh, I'm hoping to get it before it becomes tall -but life being what it is....

...I'll let people know how I get on, if I've got any fingers left to type with.

Jeremy

Had a quick try last night -I can still type. Quite impressed with the grass hook, it's got a vicious serrated edge but it went through the grass and weeds pretty quickly, I'd dome in the time it would have taken to get the strimmer out of the shed.

The strimmer is better at edging and cutting up against things though.

Real test comes at the weekend on the grassy bits of the allotment and maybe some adjoining nettles.

...and still no reply from Wolf about whether this piece of kit is man enough for the job!  One can only assume it isn't......

I feel a hoof round the garden centres coming on - could be expensive!   8)
AC

[glow=yellow ;D,2,300]Bought a cheapo "challenger" battery strimmer from ARGOS for £24.99

Works a treat ..3hrs to charge and strims for about an hour.

Did most of it on Saturday, Sunday i couldnt wait to play with it again, so strimmed everything i could find !! (no....not there)

Considering a petrol one is about 140 quid and annoys the neighbours i think this is a good purchase !!!

[/glow]

Fingle - If you are ever in the vicinty of West London with your strimmer feel free to come and do the edges of my plots!   :D

ooooooooooooo I second that AC!  The grass in Essex needs a darn good hair cut too!  ;D

Im in Kingston which is just about west london !!

Where are you then ?

I have been really interested in this topic as we didn't manage to get rid of all of the grassed area we inherited last year at our lottie. Within a week it has grown totally of out control and I have been asking round our Site what other people use.  The best suggestion seems to be a battery operated strimmer, because it is light and almost noiseless.

The advice seems to be to get one that you charge for 12 - 16 hours and that gives you enough staying power to do all the jobs you need to do.  Some that you charge for only 3 hours can only do about 20 minutes work before you need to re-charge again.  So we are at present looking around for a suitable one  - other lottie holders have suggested Black and Decker and Argos for likely places to buy.  :) busy_lizzie    

I checked my strimmer and it is a Black & Decker and I can really recommend it - down at the lottie the other day with my strimmer and found all paths around my plot had been strimmed! - the man next door and just invested in a petrol strimmer and had got carried away!
jal

Oh no!  

One of the very few spectator sports on an allotment - using a scythe!  

Oldies stand and watch - and have loads of stories to tell.  Kids stand agawp - and their imaginations run riot (they've only seen 'em in history and RE books);  "do you remember the Black Death, mister?"

No batteries, no nasty smelly petrol engines which won't start, --------- and how many Icelandic sagas include poetry in praise of strimmers!  And I'm convinced that a good sharp scythe is quicker than a strimmer :) :) :) - love it!

All best - Gavin

Scythe is only any use on even ground with long grass

And they are also pretty useless around beds with your little darlings growing arent they ? (you have to swing it around)

Well here I am again - faith in customer service slightly restored.  Wolf did get back to me with a telephone number for the technical person.  Unsurprisingly, he gave me a non-commital reply about whether their shears would work on monster allotment grass, but felt that that should be robust enough to cope with it.

The ACCU75 runs for 75 minutes on one charge, you can get replacement batteries, replacement blades and an extension handle, Strimmers and I don't get on, so I feel an investment coming on.  Can we find one anywhere locally to look at?  No!  So I'm off surfing to see where it is cheapest by mail order....

I'll be back with a review if I do get one !

Fingle - I'm north of you in the LB of Hillingdon
AC x

Hi y'all folks
Well, I've ordered one of the Wolf battery trimmers.  I do hope it a) works and b) arrives soon!

Spent 3 hours up the lottie today, half of this cutting down grass between 3 and 4 feet tall with long handled shears - I half filled a 6 x 3 x 3ft  compost bin with it - and still not finished!  Arms ache from cutting and gluteus maximus aches from bending down to clear the cut grass!  

Off to see Cher tonight at Wembley - so planning to visit lottie tomorrow pm to allow hearing to recover!

AC x