Bosch Rotak 40 electric rotary lawn mower: a review
Comments(13)
Photo: Long grass going to seed
I want to let you into a secret.
I left mowing the lawn until Friday May 26th this year. The grass was so long that it was actually going to seed. John Coe would not have approved and even Danny was a bit shocked.
“You’re going to have to strim before you cut.”
“Not necessarily. Just wait and see.”
I hate our old lawn mower. It’s a petrol one that John Coe bought second hand for £25 a couple of years ago. Danny has to start it for me and it’s like pushing a stubborn wildebeest through a herd of equally recalcitrant relations. It bucks and kicks and can only manage a wrenched five point turn. It loathes being exercised on the small paths in the kitchen garden. It’s heavy and smelly and that is why I let the grass grow and left the mower snoozing in the shed.
The gardening shed is small – just 6’x4’. The wildebeest mower is large. So if I needed to get things from the shelves at the back of the shed I had to mountaineer over the lawn mower. Taking down tools from their places was awkward as they would often get tangled in the mower’s sturdy handles.
Letting the grass grow long wasn’t as foolhardy as Danny imagined as I was planning to gain lawn mower independence and invest in a new compact electric one. I’d already snooped at the selection in Homebase and spotted the Bosch Rotak range. Light and easy to manoeuvre and claiming to be happy cutting long grass. Perfect. We have a fifty meter electric reel that I used when I was decorating so I knew that I could easily access all the grass in our back garden. We are trying to invest in better tools for me to use so as not to have to employ anyone to help in the garden. As shekels are low at the moment it had to be economically priced and good value.
I’d read the reviews for the mower which generally were excellent and found the cheapest place to buy a Bosch Rotak 40 
I’m delighted with my new grass cutting companion. Having got used to swinging the cable out of the way, the Bosch Rotak 40 is a pleasure to use. Unlike the old wildebeest, the 50 litre grass box compacts the grass so well that I didn’t need to empty the box until I’d finished mowing. And it takes up so little space in the shed that I can actually access the shelves and all my tools with ease.
I also invested in a nifty cable winder 
Thumbs up to Bosch for an excellent machine.
Thank you for your comments. And a bit of silly bath time fun with the Frothing Sea Monster trick!
Cutting energy costs
Recipe for sausages baked with herby garlic infused beans, bacon and tomato
Tracing some of my ancestors has taken me on a long journey
Recipe for lamb shanks braised in red wine with shallots: slow cooker/crockpot
The cupboard was bare – so what was The Contessa going to eat last night?
HG
Fiona, I do hope that your new marvel comes with a fitted circuit-breaker? Please tell me it does, or that you have one at the cottage?
We also have an electric lawn mower, which I think a very good thing. Come to think of it, we have an electric string trimmer, electric leaf blower, and an electric chain saw as well. Everything but the blower is battery powered, though, which may or may not be a good thing. We’re thinking about buying a second battery for the trimmer, because the charge never lasts long enough.
I think the real answer in our case is to cover the back yard in cardboard and mulch, and dispense with a lawn back there altogether. It would work better with the whole garden aspect…
Like you, I had a petrol mower that I couldn’t start myself. When it needed servicing this winter for a fairly minor problem I decided to get one I could use easily rather than spend money on servicing it. Again like you, I got a Bosch Rotak 40 because it was so light weight and relatively small. It is wonderful to be able to get it out of the shed easily, cut the grass myself, and find things in the shed!
(And I do have a circuit breaker, Toffeeapple.)
What a beauty ! We also have a lawnmower that I cannot start, which now means I cannot mow the lawn. It is very frustrating, I can see I am not the only one who has been in this situation. This post has excellent timing and I am definitely going to show this to Biscuit Boy! Thank you and Happy Mowing !
Often wish the ocd in me would let me leave just a small part of my lawn for nature… The wildlife will thank you for leaving it so long, but watch out for the frogs! x
Wow, Fiona. I’m impressed since I spent all weekend weeding, weed-wacking with the electric wacker, and mowing the grass with the gas mower. All weekend long I kept thinking that there must be a better tool for me.
Don’t you think it’s healthy to let grass go to seed sometimes? You’ve already written about how you airate the lawn with the poker thing now, right? Bet your grass will be lovely this year.
I had a quiet chuckle about letting a small part of the lawn go to nature as we have quite a few acres of the stuff and wildlife we have in abundance here in Latvia, only problem is that some of the wildlife I could live without, like mosquitoes which are dreadful this year and it won’t be long before the horse flies are out and they are mean (they do pollinate flowers though so I read, but that doesn’t mean I like them any better). We will have to stick with the petrol lawnmower though as I don’t think we can run a cable that far from our third story apartment. Still gets me out of a job, too big and heavy for me
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Glad you can get in your tool shed now though Fiona, I always find that is a far better option to make proper use of tools, when you don’t have to climb over something to get to them.
My very fit 82 year old mother had never cut the grass until she decided to buy the cordless Bosch mower – perfect for her, lightweight, good cut and no wire to deal with. More expensive, yes, but worth it!
It’s interesting to see how many people approve of the Bosch lawnmower range. That Rotak 40 model suits F perfectly, although I may be spurred on by a guilty conscience to give her a helping hand occasionally!
Toffeeapple, you may relax. When the builders were renovating part of the cottage shortly after F bought it, she had the electrician run an armoured cable down to the pond for the pump. He quickly formed an opinion that the vaguely ditsy element he detected in F’s aura indicated that it would be prudent to install a super duper fuseboard with an inbuilt circuit breaker.
It has paid off over the years
Hi folks – now here’s an admission….Tony hasn’t had time to mow the lawn here yet this year (& in fact it was only mowed twice, last year); it now looks like a jungle. I cannot mow it as (funny old thing) the mower was chosen by Tony & is far too big & heavy for me; it is difficult to start & has pulled me over, twice.
So we’re getting a guy in to do a major overhaul after which he’ll come back once a fortnight to mow the lawn for us. Whilst it’s money we can’t really afford at least it frees up what precious-little time Tony has here; & is one thing less for me to worry about as we prepare to move production of our gelato on-farm & so will have lots more visitors…so of course do not want the place looking at all scruffy.
In fact we could do with your decorating skills Fiona – we bought masses of paint today to overhaul the interior & exterior of the cottage – major changes ahoy!
Only wish we had more time to tackle it…
Congrats on your mower – sounds brilliant. Needless to say I’ll keep quiet though…just in case Tony has a change of heart & buys one for me!
Hi Fiona – having been disappointed with last flymo, and only having a fairly small lawn, we decided to regress to a push along version – takes up less space, lifts in and out of our small shed easily, and is much quicker to both set up and clear up. We’ll know if this was a good choice when we get around to looking back over the season……. Good to hear about your Bosch experience. x
Hi Toffeeapple
Our entire house is protected by a special board! But if it hadn’t been I’d have bought a circuit breaker
Hi Paula
That’s interesting. I bought a battery powered strimmer last year and it’s great as I don’t have to worry about the cord but as you say the battery doesn’t last long. I did think of buying a battery powered mower but it was twice the price.
Hi Barbara
Like you I’m delighted with this dinky mower. It will pay for itself in no time as it costs about £15 per hour around here for lawn cutting.
Hi Cookie Girl
Ditto – I’m so pleased that so many other people have a problem starting petrol lawnmowers (I thought it might be just me).
Hi Joey
Yes I’m always on the look out for frogs!
Hello Cathy
I’ve never let the lawn go to seed before so it will be interesting to see what happens this summer. That electric weed wacker sounds fun!
Hi Joanna
Danny (unfortunately) is too busy to mow the lawn. The new mower makes it a doddle for me which is good news.
Hi Louise
That’s good news. I’m all for independence and your mum has cracked it.
Hi Jo
I had to smile at your comment – mower chosen by hubby and impractical for the one left at home!
Sometimes it’s worth getting people in to help. You have a big place and there’s only so much that you can do. When I was decorating six days a week we had help in the garden and in the house – which was cheaper than me employing a decorator’s mate.
Good to hear that your gelato production is moving back to the farm. Totally agree that the farm needs to look sparkling – when I’ve finished laying out the new garden I need to tart up the cottage – thank goodness I can do it myself!
Hi Chick Pea
I seriously considered getting a state of the art push lawnmower but D gave it the thumbs down as we have quite a bit of grass. I’d be really interested to hear how you get on with yours.
I switched to electric from petrol last year and never looked back. Hateful things petrol mowers. I went out and bought myself a lovely lightweight and easy to use electric much to hubby’s disgust because he thinks anything with a petrol motor has to be superior to an electric.
Next thing on the list: replacing the petrol strimmer with an electric. Another petrol garden tool I can’t start.