Kärcher cordless mower LMO 18-36 review

The mixture of summer sun combined with plenty of drizzly days has meant this year our lawns are growing faster than ever before. And that means our humble mowers are in greater demand than ever. But hauling out a big heavy mower from the shed that needs to be hooked up to the mains every time can be a pain to do week after week. So we've tried out a range of cordless, lightweight mowers to see if they can make life easier.

Here, we tried Kärcher's LMO 18-36 cordless mower...

The Kärcher cordless mower LMO 18-36 at a glance

Battery-powered lawnmower with a 18v 5.0ah battery that takes 134 minutes to fully charge and can run for 24 minutes.

Four heights of cut

2-in-1 mowing system allowing you to collect grass cuttings in the 45-litre box or distribute them evenly to fertilise your lawn

Adjustable handle height and foldable design

Available at Kärcher website and selected retailers, RRP £279.99.

How did the Kärcher cordless mower make your life easier?

To start, I was very impressed how simple this mower was to put together. Just a couple of clicks and two screws and it was all done. Even better was the fact the mower handle could be easily adjusted to different heights with limited hassle. For example, when my partner, who is taller than me, was mowing the lawn it only took a few seconds to switch over the handle to a more suitable height for him. This also comes in handy when storing the mower as you can quickly fold down the handle reducing the space it takes up in the shed.

The battery charged relatively quickly - giving an 80% charge in about an hour and a half and a full charge in just over two hours.

That battery then lasted mowing both my modestly sized front and back lawn with a little charge left over. What's more, the novelty of not having to trail a long cable to plug the mower into power in the house or dance around the unwieldy cable as you mow never did quite wear off.

The 45 litre collecting box means the mower can take plenty of cuttings before you need to empty them. In fact, I comfortably managed to do both lawns at the front and back of my house without needing to make a trip to my garden waste bin - saving a fair bit of time when I needed to mow in a hurry.

Alternatively, there's the option to use the mulching plug if you'd rather leave the clippings on the lawn to fertilise your grass without the need for chemicals.

I was really impressed at the cut it left on my lawn, offering a really neat and tidy trim and effortlessly tackling those hard-to-reach edges (saving the strimmer a job). When I was done both lawns had a really consistent finish to the grass - in fact, my lawn hasn't looked as nice in years!

What changes would you make to this product?

For all that the lawn mower was really simple to put together, inserting the battery was surprisingly fiddly and it took me a long time every time I used the mower to get the hang of clicking the battery into place.

Also, for all that this is billed as a lightweight mower I personally found it quite heavy to lob around. Yes, it is a little more flexible and agile than more traditional mowers, meaning it's easier to guide the mower into tight edges. But I still really struggled heaving it up my two garden steps and certainly found it not hugely lighter than my old, traditional mains-powered mower.

Would you choose this product above all others on the market?

There are certainly cordless mowers on the market with more powerful, longer lasting batteries that boasts a broader range of cutting heights - this one offers four between 30 and 70mm.

The battery charge time is also quite substantial meaning if you're not organised, you'd have to wait a good few hours until you were able to get on with mowing.

With that in mind, if you have a large garden, a significant amount of grass to cut or are after a Wimbledon-style finish to your lawn, this probably isn't the mower for you.

However for a basic, neat cut on a modestly sized lawn, this mower comes at a good price and would be a great introduction to cordless mowers if you've not tried one before.

Would you recommend this product?

Having laboured for many years with a heavy, mains-powered mower, the Kärcher cordless mower was a breath of fresh air to use. As I have no outside source of power, it was so convenient to use a battery-powered mower that was ready to go in a matter of minutes, so much so that I even started enjoying mowing the lawn rather than dreading all the faff it used to require.

Yes, the Kärcher LMO 18-36 isn't perfect, and there are certainly some features - such as battery charging and run time - that you'll find better specs on elsewhere. But if you just want to try out cordless mowing with an affordable, easy-to-set up mower, I'd recommend the Kärcher LMO 18-36

Buy the Kärcher cordless mower LMO 18-36

Just so you know, whilst we may receive a small commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections.

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