Flymo Micro Compact 30

A cheap mower made with cheap plastic parts, don't try and change the blade as the tool supplied will snap! also, once you have found a spanner that is big enough to remove the nut that holds the blade on, you will found it made of cheap plastic and it will not come off, all that will happen is the ends of the nut will disintegrate, I will never, ever buy another flymo! cheap crap!!

I've had my Flymo Micro Compact 30 since May 2001. Never had a problem with it until today. Any length and density of grass can be tackled. I'm disabled with a muscle disorder and this machine has been perfect for me. The grass collector isn't that big (its a micro) so weight doesn't become a problem. Something has happened to the motor today and so I'm looking to buy another. Perfect for anyone with a small garden (my grass covers 48sq metres) who doesn't mind emptying the collection box a couple of times for each mowing.

We bought the Flymo Microcompact 30 when we got sick of having to get the large metal blade on our previous mower, a circular cut Quadcast, re-sharpened.

At the time, this mower was selling for just over £99 at our local B&Q warehouse, which was actually a special offer. It seemed to boast quite a lot of features that we could do with - it was said to be #lightweight #easy to carry #no running costs #strong blades. We believed this, and so purchased it.

For the first few cuts, the Flymo cut the lawn perfectly! The garden looked a lot fresher then it usually looked when we cut the grass with our previous mower. However, about 2 months down the line, the plastic, so called "strong" blades, snapped. We replaced them, only for them to snap again. When we started to check the blades after each cut, we saw that fresh blades before a cut ended-up well battered after the cut. As a result, we ended up replacing blades every 2 or 3 cuts! This was ridiculous, and of course it meant quite a few trips a year to a DIY store to purchase more blades once our back-up supply from Flymo that came with the mower ran-out.

This machine is good, though, if you want to be able to give your garden an easy cut. Once you power it up, the machine literally FLIES, or hovers, over your lawn, which makes it exceptionally easy to move it and you about in practically any direction that you desire, kind of like when you use the DYSON DC15 "The Ball"! :-D

Although there are a number of good points for this purchase, I think that they're overpowered by the bad. Sorry, but if you are in the need for a new mower, I urge you to avoid Flymo, or at least these "Microcompact" models anyway. Although they're a bit more bulky, a good Quadcast is what you really need!

This Flymo Micro Compact 30 machine is not really equipped to do the job it was intended for.

The handle pivot pin continually comes adrift and the blades do not stay in their sockets, they come adrift and have worn the disc that they are attached to. I will now have to buy another disc after only using the mower for one season.

The cut finish is not really very good.

The Flymo Micro is a budget mower for small lawns. I bought this mower when I was on an economy drive - it was a false economy. This mower is not much use for normal people (eg. people who may forget to cut the grass for a couple of weeks when it's a bit long). If you have more than 50 sq metres of lawn and you want a mower that can cut grass quickly then don't go for this one. I burnt the motor out after 2 months with what I call "normal" use.

When I first bought the Flymo Micro Compact 30 (£80) I set the blades too low and scalped the lawn in places, but the plastic blades were easily adjustable and now after 3 years and only my 3rd set of blades (supplied when new) it still works fine.

I have a family garden with 2 children and a dog and have no problems with the mower blades breaking from stones in the grass etc.

The only bad points are listed above, but even then I might be a bit picky.

Recommended as a good light weight mower for a smallish garden.