A Qualified Good Bye!

“A Qualified Good Bye!”

Written on: 10/06/2012

After two Flymo's, with a fairly short life, We have owned our Qualcast Power-Trak 34 since 2005 cutting about 170 sq.m. grass. It is easy to manoevre, not too heavy and for me at 6ft comfortable to handle. Cuts 'well' but not 'brilliantly', you can go right up to the edge, with the roller keeping the balance.
One of the best features is the height adjuster which alters all four wheels in one go - with an indicator showing which cutting height you are on.
The collecting bin is easy to remove and replace and holds a good quantity.
It folds in the middle to put in the shed.
It was never very quiet, but in the last two years has become very noisy - I suspect the bearings on the motor going. I carefully bought a machine with a direct drive, and no drive-belt which puts quite a strain on the bearings.
But in its 7th year the motor cut out and refuses to start again.
To my surprise I fimd the average life of an electric mower seems to be about 3 years. Qualcast is now owned by Bosch, and many of their Rotak machines have failed with motor burn-outs within 2-3 years.
So Good-bye, but what next?