I’m hoping this year to have a bit of spare money but not enough for some major expenditure, so I’m going to have to make a choice and I wondered which you would go for?
A cheap ride on mower: why? I do the “small” green spaces in the garden - mainly in front and alongside our gite, around the potager, small areas that are bits here and there, while OH does the main lawns and field. Over the years I’ve used just an electric hand mower but the small green spaces have grown as we’ve cleared brambles etc and now, if I were to do the lot in one go it would take me most of the day. Lot-et-Garonne has benign weather and except for (if we are lucky) a few weeks in high summer when it’s really dry we could mow all year - in spring twice a week. If I want the cottage to look pristine for guests I could spend my life mowing! Whereas I also have to get the cottage ready for guests and could do with freeing up time.
A cordless vacuum cleaner and a cordless hard floor washer: We live in the country, surrounded by fields which make for muddy walking and muddy dogs and a muddy kitchen floor. We have an Airedale who creates a tsunami in the kitchen every time she drinks from her water bowl. We have a mutt with fine hair which sheds constantly and then reemerges as dust bunnies from under cupboards and doors and sticks to the rugs in the lounge. At the moment we have a large Miele corded vacuum cleaner which is heavy and awkward. I get rid of the worst of the dirt, but the floors never look clean and I am envious of friends who have gone cordless and seem to whisk round in no time at all.
Don’t buy a cheap ride on, you might as well throw your money away (or give it to me!). If you are going to get a ride on, get a decent one. As for cordless vacuum cleaners, we’ve just bought a Shark (got hard floors , dog, cats) think it was about €250 direct from them. Does the job and it isn’t a Dyson
Hi Sue, if you do decide on a cordless vacuum I would advise NOT to get a Dyson. My Mum bought one for £400 and it’s the worst vacuum cleaner I have ever used. The filter gets blocked just about every time you use it and the machine just stops working until it’s cleaned. This requires running water through it and 24 hours wait before you can use the machine again. It also gets clogged up with dust throughout the machine and requires regular deep cleaning which takes hours. Get another brand.
Izzy x
For the sake of balance we have had 2 cordless Dyson vacuums for about 2 years, I think they are excellent. We have mainly hard floors.
In terms of a ride on mower, just make sure your lawns are of a suitable shape for a ride on - they are not great at intricate layouts - we have both a ride on and rechargeable push along - about 30% has to be done by the push along.
Since we bought our ride on we have increased the size of our drive and added a vegetable garden so the overall amount of grass has reduced. If I were buying a mower now I would buy a lawn robot instead which cost a similar amount to a ride on.
I have been mounting a campaign for a lawn robot for a couple of years now…I am hopeful that one day it will bear fruit so have a “piggy bank” that I am filling in case that day arrives!
A neighbour has a robot that I lust after.
But what about a hoover robot? Has anyone tried one?
I look on with envy if I see my farmer neighbour servicing his John Deere in his workshop as I have a field I’d like to keep cut. Trouble is I’m more in need of a brushcutter as my field is quickly getting overrun with brambles!
@Griffin36 That looks brilliant! Colin would you mind giving a make and model number please. OH has a bad back and he uses the heavy Stihl for our brambles and it’s less than ideal.
I didn’t like my Dyson ,but I know others who have loved theirs and others who have hated them. I sometimes wonder if each machine differs. I know when we did skip days for the council we always get plenty of Dysons dumped
not going to try one - we have two cats and the occasional accident near the litter box. That is bad enough, but would not want it all over the floors…
