Mowerland Multitool (4 in 1)

[rayj]

Good old Derek has been on IWTV over the weekend again selling these ghastly Mowerland Multi Tools and by all means they are nearly sold out?? Hope nobody on this forum "fell" for one of these machines.
No doubt he will be promoting Ryobi Multi Tool in a couple of weeks time and everyone who bought a Mowerland will be wishing they had waited!!

[DavidT]

As I have also purchased the Ryobi multi-tool set I thought I'd add a few comments.

The basic unit is excellent. The two attachments, hedge trimmer and pruner it should be noted are not Ryobi branded parts. Personally I've been disappointed with the hedge trimmer and gone back to my electric one. Might just be my technique but I found it tended to tickle the hedge rather than cut it.

The pruner started well but seems to have blunted very quickly and I've not been doing heavy work with it. It also tends to clog quite easily.

IW claims they are worth around £70 each which is roughly what genuine Ryobi attachments would cost. As IW are using what Derek supplies it's difficult to know exactly what sort of quality these items are and their real worth.

It would be useful if anyone has the genuine Ryobi pruner or hedge trimmer attachments to see how they compare. Purely from looking at pictures of the Ryobi pruner it looks a substantially better product. I just have a sneaking feeling the two IW attachments are very cheap Chinese (or similar) imports.

Also missing from my parcel were the extra screwdriver and plug spanner.

[WrexTheDragon]

The Ryobi hedge trimmer is very good, but is fixed and cannot be moved to 90o. I use it on a beech hedge that is about 6 foot high and 40 foot long. Makes light work of the hedge, but hard to get the top just right.

The pruner works well, but it does leak a bit of chain oil. It will be the quality of the chain that effects the cutting. Mine came with the Oregon brand, and I do sharpen the chain after use. Makes light work of branches about 6" thick. I have bought the extension for it as my trees are just too high. Balancing the extended unit can be a problem.

The screwdriver and plug spanner was the same unit with mine.

When I seen this on IW the accessories did look inferior.

[DavidT]

The Ryobi hedge trimmer is very good, but is fixed and cannot be moved to 90o. I use it on a beech hedge that is about 6 foot high and 40 foot long. Makes light work of the hedge, but hard to get the top just right.

The pruner works well, but it does leak a bit of chain oil. It will be the quality of the chain that effects the cutting. Mine came with the Oregon brand, and I do sharpen the chain after use. Makes light work of branches about 6" thick. I have bought the extension for it as my trees are just too high. Balancing the extended unit can be a problem.

The screwdriver and plug spanner was the same unit with mine.

When I seen this on IW the accessories did look inferior.

Thanks for your comments. Firstly I think Ryobi have now launched a hedge trimmer attachment that does angle to 90. I've not looked to see how it compares in price to the one that does not move.

I also see that Ryobi have issued at least 4 versions of the pruner attachment!

The Ideal World attachments come with a leaflet with "The Handy" stamped on it. I suspect it is a cheap import. Certainly there is no branding on the chain and from my limited knowledge it doesn't look anything special compared to an Oregon chain which I am reasonably familiar with. I also find tensioning the chain difficult.

If I was at all cynical I could wonder why if the IW versions are worth £70 each why didn't they include the Ryobi ones instead which are the same price? IW definitely over egg the price as the unit and Ryobi trimmer attachment are available together for much less than they say the unit on it its own sells for. The overall price is pretty good but the real value depends on how the two additional attachments last.

As for the missing spanner and screwdriver. IW are supposed to include two extra specially elongated ones in addition to the ones that are included in the unit. Those were missing.

On reflection I think it would make more sense to me to buy the unit and attachments separately as required.

[Percy Thrower]

I will do - should be with me tomorrow hopefully??
But having seen the Flymo versions on Ideal World TV this morning they look a bit "tacky" (I mean very plasticcy). The Ryobi models I looked at in B&Q today looked much more robust, pretty much like their Chainsaws, of which I have had one for about twelve months and have no complaints about it.

Spot on matey...!!
I bought the Flymo Multi-tool from Ideal World 2 years ago...
I always had a problem starting,,,, once started it worked very well... and the attachments worked well.
Ive used it for just two seasons and its worn out.. I can only run it with the choke half on... its been to two service agents & both agree its worn out..!!
Well OK I have a biggish garden but in all honesty Ive not used it that much..!!

Earlier this year I also bought the Mowerland Multi-tool from IW...
What a brilliant little starter this power unit is..!!??
Now its run-in its doing a better job than the Flymo...!!

A few things i have against this Mowerland Multi-tool is
1. The engine casing gets hot and one has to be mindful of this.
2. The clip that attaches the support strap to the machine is very flimsy and tends to become un-clipped while in use... I'm sure health & safety need to look at this with some urgency.
3. The hedge trimmer is very poor in my opinion...!! The blades are thin and curl & twist like a pigs tail....!! Mine is going back to IW in a few days because the bolts holding the blades to the gearbox have become unscrewed and I cannot tighten them because the head of the bolts are inside the gear-box.... I now use my Flymo attachement which is a superior product.

So what do we know about single bearing Crank-Shafts...???
This is an important subject in my opinion...!!
My knowledge of Single Bearing Crank-shafts came about when I took my Flymo to an old established service agent...!!

Without any prompting from me he said "I bet you haven't had this Flymo more than 18 months.!!"
"Not far off...!!" I said...
"But how do you know!"
"Because it s a Single Bearing Crank-shaft..!"
How can you possibly have one bearing on a crank-shaft...!!
He then drew me a diagram and explained it to me and sure enough what he was saying made sense.
The problem with a single bearing crank-shaft is that not only does wear take place in a rotary motion but you have the Wobble Wear affect...
The crank-shaft eventually starts to wobble allowing air to get in through the bearings seals.... hence the need to increase the air/fuel mixture on my Flymo for example.
It is possible to feel the wobble on a worn machine by gently pulling the start cord all the way out you will feel it Wobble!! Wobble!!.

Ive made enquiries around most Manufacturers asking if any of their products are single bearing and they are very reluctant to answer my question...!!

So how do we know if we have a single bearing machine or a traditional two bearing one...!!??

As a rule of thumb, chances are that machines with the starting pull cord on the shaft of the machine are single bearing machines (there's no other way of connecting the start cord to the shaft to start it!!)
And chances are that machines with the starting cord on the opposite side to the shaft are two bearing machines.

If anyone out there can shed more light on SBC machines I sure would like to know about it.

Incidentally the Mowerland MLMC Multi-tool from Ideal World has the start pull cord on the opposite side to the drive shaft... which raises the question is it actually a two bearing machine??.... All I can say it runs a whole lot smoother than my old Flymo.

Best Regards

Percy

[DavidT]

3. The hedge trimmer is very poor in my opinion...!! The blades are thin and curl & twist like a pigs tail....!! Mine is going back to IW in a few days because the bolts holding the blades to the gearbox have become unscrewed and I cannot tighten them because the head of the bolts are inside the gear-box.... I now use my Flymo attachment which is a superior product.

Just to say that accurately sums up my opinion of this particular attachment. The blades aren't flat to start with and are flimsy. One other issue is that the blades do not go right to the end and instead there is a crescent shaped piece of metal which I find catches in the hedge which it wouldn't if it cut the whole way along like a normal hedge trimmer and like the Ryobi version.

One further question for anyone who has the genuine Ryobi pruner attachment. Does the bar have a sprocket/gear wheel on the end of it? Pictures of it suggest it does but I'm not sure. The IW version doesn't, it just has the drive gear inside the body of the unit which may explain why it slips so much.

[WrexTheDragon]

The original Ryobi pruner has a sprocket wheel (just like my Stihl chainsaw).

See photo, a bit fuzzy, I will see if I can get a better pic.

[DavidT]

The original Ryobi pruner has a sprocket wheel (just like my Stihl chainsaw).

See photo, a bit fuzzy, I will see if I can get a better pic.

Thanks that's just what I thought. IW one has nothing which again confirms my suspicion of it's relative quality.

[Percy Thrower]

[QUOTE=Percy Thrower;534896]Spot on matey...!!
So what do we know about single bearing Crank-Shafts...???

Well one learns something every day...!!
A single bearing crankshaft is called "Half Crank..!"
And a two bearing crankshaft is called a "Full crank..!!" engine.

Ive been using my Mowerland power unit with my Flymo Hedge cutter and I'm delighted with the performance of this combination..
The power unit always starts straight away, on the first pull, is very smooth in operation, relatively quiet, gives me more power that the bigger cc Flymo and is actually a joy to use.

Ideal actually had this Power Unit/Strimmer/Brush Cutter/Hedge Cutter/Chain Pruner, for £146 on their website a few weeks ago which even with the useless hedge cutter must be considered as good value in my opinion.

Percy

[WrexTheDragon]

Every other weekend they have Derek selling either Karcher pressure washers or Ryobi/Mowerland/Flymo kit.

Last weekend it was Ryobi.

They had a brushcutter attachment that was a fixed unit so you do not need to take the head apart. It was £29.95, I am sure that the metal was so thin on it that you could see it bend in the studio.

Most of the attachment they had did not appear to have any branding marks other than the actual motor/power unit. He even said that the video of him cutting a tree that was videoed 4 years ago and he was using a different motor than they are selling.

They also had a demo of a Mowerland leaf blower. In the demo they had very dry leaves with no twigs. Not a true reflection of what the tool would be picking up in real conditions. A bit like the gravy browning they use to stain products they want to clean.

[DavidT]

Oh yes you have to be wary of the demos! I think IW try to give the impression of giving greater value by selling kits. Their idea of the RRP of the basic Ryobi unit on its own was way over the top. They said £199 when you can get it online for not much more than half that. Their various add ons all seem to be unbranded.

The Mowerland web site has nothing on it and I've not found anywhere yet selling "The Handy" range of attachments. IW claim they are worth around £70 each which if true should mean they are comparable with genuine Ryobi ones. They patently are not but as you can't seem to buy them anywhere else how do you judge their value?

Another classic Derek one to look put for is when he is demoing split shaft strimmers he will tell you this is good because you can simply put on a brush cutter attachment without having to fiddle around with spanners and none wants to do that etc but as soon as he demos a single shaft machine he'll tell you how easy it is to put a blade on.

[WrexTheDragon]

David,

Have you seen HANDY MULTI CUTTER that is MOWERLAND

You can scroll down.

[DavidT]

David,

Have you seen HANDY MULTI CUTTER that is MOWERLAND

You can scroll down.

I've seen a few Mowerland products for sale. I think Wickes of all places did a green one that was the same as the IW one except it was branded in a green colour. There seem to be a few Mowerland machines around on Ebay too.

Looking at your link neither the hedge trimmer attachment or pruner attachment are exactly the same as the IW ones. The pruner is 12" not 10" and the end of the hedge trimmer attachment is different. Also the method of attaching them to the main shaft is different. Again it's difficult to make accurate comparisons. I suspect Mowerland are just importers and badge things accordingly. It's not as if you are likely to be able to pop into a DIIY shed etc and find them to look at either.

Be interesting to see if anyone is selling the IW version of the attachments separately anywhere and at what price.

There's another Mowerland hedge cutter attachment here which is different again. http://www.mowers-online.co.uk/itm02315.htm
Of course the IW ones are marked "The Handy" not "Mowerland" and could be something completely different again anyway!

Also reading Percy's post earlier it appears to be a single bearing crank!

[Percy Thrower]

Every other weekend they have Derek selling either Karcher pressure washers or Ryobi/Mowerland/Flymo kit.

You mean "Derek & again...!!".
& again..!!
& again..!!
& again..!!

Dont know about you guys but he drives me nuts...!!
again!!.. & again!!.. & again!!.. & again!!.. & again.....!!!

Chuckle...!!

[Percy Thrower]

How are you Guys getting on with your Fuel/Oil mixing bottles>>??
Both my Flymo amd Mowerland bottles seem to be made for left handed people...!!
I find it very difficult to fill from my left while loooking at the guage on the bottles...
Why-o-why cant they put the graduations on both sides of the bottle so it suits both right & left handed people??

Regards
Percy