Swift Monday Visit

Allotment visit between 7:30 and 10:00 this morning and I noticed that the woodchip pile in the drop off and pick up area is going down so I decided to move a few barrow loads into the corner of the plot ready to go on the paths around the rhubarb and between the Rhubarb and the Raspberries once dug and weeded.

I also topped up the first 3 paths between raspberry beds to line up with the top of the slabs.

I gave half of the slabs on the main path a once over with the WORX Hydroshot to see what difference it would make, and I have to say I'm impressed with the results. Next job for the Hydroshot will be washing down the planting membrane when they come off the beds so that they are nice and clean before going back into storage for Winter.

The table got two coats of teak oil brushed into the top at either end of todays visit.

I watered the Raspberries and the onions as there is no significant rain forecast in the next 10 days.

Cleaning Plot 1A Greenhouse

 

A good mornings work on the allotment this morning clearing out the Plot1A Greenhouse, removing the debris netting and using the WORX Hydroshot pressure cleaner inside and out.

Plot 1A Greenhouse with everything removed

Plot 1A Greenhouse after the jet wash inside and out and the staging put back in

Sand from the soft bricks used to level the floor and the rubber garden matting installed inside

I have to say the battery lasted a long time, I went over greenhouse inside and out with a wide jet. Then I used the brush and then used a narrow setting in some stubborn areas and still had juice to give it another once over inside and out.

WORX Hydroshot on the Allotment

My new toy for the allotment arrived yesterday, curtesy of the marketing manager for WORX that I met at the Gardening Press Event in March. I just wish it was safe to go down to the allotment to play with it on my greenhouse and all the dirty planting membrane sheets and paving slabs I have planned to use it on. For now I will have a play in the back garden at home, but I'm really looking forward to not shielding the wife and being able to get down to the allotment plot once more to test it out. 

Some of the videos on YouTube are of the early single speed or pressure version that didn't have the (1) Pressure Setting Switch and were not supplied with any accessories at all. Excerpt from the manual below:- 

The WG62E-1 version I have been sent includes the (18) Soap Bottle, (19) Brush, and (20) Foldable Water Bucket. Items 23 - 25 are not provided.   

(23) The Turbo Nozzle is not supplied with the 20V version only the 40V version of the product so I have bought one to test out and will let you know how I get on with it. 

There are cheaper versions of this Nozzle on ebay directly from China, but you have to ask yourself do you want to purchase and take delivery of anything from China at the moment and in the future come to that?

I was tempted to buy the bottle cap connector but I think WORX have screwed this one up because you have to remove the male Hozelock type connector in order to install it, which begs the question why can't they make one with a Hozelock end?

So what will one of these cost you? 

The RRP for the WG629E.1 is £149.99 but as with everything shop around but make sure you are looking at the same thing as there are different codes for the newer brushless model and then it appears you can buy body only without the battery and any accessories. Some sellers have reduced the prices but also removed items from what they are selling.  

Older models are out there but I couldn't find anything to advise me what the difference in specification was between a WG625E and a WG629E the WG630E is the newer brushless model but it's more expensive and comes with less accessories. 

If I can get guidance from POSITEC I will update this post. Follow the WORX label on the left of the blog for more information when I actually get to play with the beast and can report further on my experience with it.   

Ryobi Christmas Promotion

As you may be aware I’m a bit of a Ryobi Man fundamentally due to my Brother-in-Law Keith who lent me his Rotary Saw to try out before I bought one to cut up all the roof joist that I scrounged from the building site behind my plot when they started making alterations and extending the height of an industrial unit and converting it to residential. 

I keep an eye on some Ryobi Facebook groups and I have to say Ryobi in the UK really need to get their act together when we see the prices and availability of Ryobi equipment in the rest of the world.

I became aware of the Christmas Offer from Ryobi and decided to have a look

So basically there is a list of Eligible Starter Kits/ Retailers that can be found on the RyobiChristmas Promotion Web Site, and you buy one and then apply for you Free Gift power Tool from this selection.

Click on image to zoom in

These are the tools that are available for you to select from. As can be seen there is a huge difference in the value of what you can claim, and quite frankly one would like to maximise the cost benefit of the promotion.

The cost of these tools ranges from £6:30 to £45.95 using the prices from CBS as a guide as there are no RRP Quoted on the Ryobi UK / Europe site only links to where you can purchase the item from. So realistically no one in their right mind would select the £6.30 Charger and why would one settle for a tool costing £24 when there are tools worth between £38 - £45

For allotment Holders who are going to need to maintain grass paths and have a garden buying a One+ Starter Kit and claiming the Grass Trimmer is ideal, what one needs to do is to decide which Starter Kit and where to get it from for the cheapest cost.

So to save you all surfing and looking I have done it for you and here they are in Specification order

Ryobi RLM18X41H240 18V ONE+ Cordless 40cm Lawnmower Starter Kit (2 x 4.0Ah)

£397.95 CBS
£399.99 Very (3 Negative Reviews 1 Positive)
£499.99 Littlewoods
£383.00 Machine Mart
£324.99 Amazon (Limited Time Deal

Me thinks Littlewoods have made an error on their web site

Ryobi RLM18C36H225 18V ONE+ Hybrid 36cm Lawnmower Starter Kit (2 x 2.5Ah)

£347.95 CBS
£382.49 Amazon
£350.95 Tooled Up

Ryobi RLM18X33H50 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower Starter Kit (1 x 5.0Ah)

£199.00 Homebase
£199.99 CBS
£229.95 Tooled Up
£189.58 CPC
NONE in Stock Powertool Mate although listed on the Ryobi site

Tooled Up - Not Direct Product Code on web site built up by adding battery & Charger

Ryobi RLM18X33B40 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower Starter Kit (1 x 4.0Ah)

£163.67 Amazon

Ryobi RLM18C33B25 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower Starter Kit (1 x 2.5Ah)

£180 Argos

Now a couple of observations from my research, I have to ask why would anyone buy the RLM18C33B25 from Argos for £180 when you can get same lawnmower with a 4.0Ah Battery from Amazon for £163.67?

My choice (had I not already got the Grass Trimmer) would be to buy the RLM18X33H50 and although £10 cheaper from CPC I would more than likely get it from Homebase, it’s 99p cheaper than CBS and if picked up from the store you have eliminated the possibility of damage in delivery, which is a common problem these days.

£240.95 Worth of Tools for £199 RLM18X33H50 and the Ryobi OLT1825M on Christmas Promotion as a Free Gift worth  £41.95.

<<<< There are links to all the Ryobi Retailers on the left panel of this Blog

Now, I have been waiting for the price of the Ryobi OLM18X33H 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower (Zero Battery) to drop below £ 129.95 CBS as I already have a Cordless Grass Trimmer that I bought from Homebase when they were closing down and managed to get one with a battery and charger for less than the cost of the battery and charger.

Unfortunately Ryobi bargains like that in the UK a few and far between, and it's sad when it's due to closure of a local store.

The current cost of a Body only (Zero Battery) Mower is

£ 129.95 CBS - Ryobi OLM18X33H 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower (Zero Battery)
£   68.95 CBS - Ryobi RB18L50 18v 5.0Ah Li-ion Battery
£   27.95 CBS - Ryobi BCL1418H 14.4V-18V Dual Charger
------------
£ 226.85 When bought together so approx. saving buying as a starter kit with a price of say £ 199 is £27.85 or the cost of the charger.

Reverse Engineering the cost above including the Dual Charger

£ 199.00 Homebase RLM18X33H50 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower Starter Kit
£   68.95 CBS - Ryobi RB18L50 18v 5.0Ah Li-ion Battery
£   27.95 CBS - Ryobi BCL1418H 14.4V-18V Dual Charger
------------
£102.10 I would propose that as a more realistic price for the Zero Battery option inclusive of VAT than £129.95 when one considers the other battery mower are selling with the specifications and at the prices listed below, and some of them also come with a Grass Trimmer:- 

£ 99.99 Einhell Power X-Change GE-CM 18/30 Li 18V 30cm Cordless Lawnmower 1 x (3.0Ah) from Toolstation

£ 149.99 Yard Force 40V 32cm Cordless Lawnmower Plus Cordless Grass Trimmer with ONE Lithium-ion Battery & Quick Charger LM G32 + LT G30 No 7 10 Best Battery Powered Lawnmowers - November 2019 , UK

£ 148.00 Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li Cordless Battery Lawn Mower, 40 V, Cutting Width 30 cm from Amazon No 3 10 Best Battery Powered Lawnmowers - November 2019 , UK

£ 159.99 Yard Force 40V 32cm Cordless Lawnmower with Lithium-ion Battery and Quick Charger LM G32 No 5 10 Best Battery Powered Lawnmowers - November 2019 , UK

£ 160  Spear & Jackson Cordless Lawnmower and Trimmer 2 x 24V Batteries and Quick Charger

£ 210 WORX WG927E Dual 20V Battery 34cm Cordless Lawn Mower & 18V (20V MAX) Cordless Grass Trimmer Winner of 10 Best Battery Powered Lawnmowers - November 2019 , UK

Hopefully Ryobi will re evaluate they pricing policy for zero battery models next year especially in the gardening Mower market looking at whats available above. There is a lot of competition out there and the one battery for all is now very common place, and it's a more level playing field and quite frankly Ryobi have lost the lead they once had. 

At the moment for me as an owner of the items above and a number of starter kits and batteries & Ryobi Grass Trimmer already the incentive merit to purchase a Body only model at the current cost is not there. 

I have been evaluating perhaps buying a mower starter kit from the above Ryobi list but would not want anything with less than a 4Ah Lion Battery.

I did muse purchasing the Ryobi RLM18X33B40 from Amazon for £163.67 and select a gift from what's left but there is nothing there that I have not already got and that I'm desperate to own. Then one worries that as this model is an end of line model that no other Retailer is selling it has been in the warehouse for some time and what shape is the battery in and how long is it likely to last. 

Umm I think I may wait for Argos to discover that their model is not selling and see if they half price it in the January sales because this promotion is going to do nothing for them if the end user looks at what's available. so for the moment it looks like I'm using the Ryobi Grass Trimmer I already have and the Manual Push Mower that I got off Freecycle on the allotment.