Mowdirect Blog

New for 2008 and just come into stock, MowDIRECT are pleased to be able to announce the launch of this new environmentally friendly low-emission petrol brushcutter from MTD. The MTD 990 Petrol Brushcutter employs advanced 4-cycle engine technology to enable it to be powered by a small-sized 4-stroke engine as opposed to the more traditional but higher emitting 2-stroke engines more often used to power this type of equipment. Read more »

New for 2008, MowDIRECT are pleased to announce the launch of the Mighty Mac range of garden products from US manufacturer Mackissic. Mighty Mac offer an extensive line-up of robust petrol powered garden equipment including petrol engine chippers-shredders, professional quality dethatchers and the well know Merry Tiller range of garden cultivators. Some of you may have been familiar with these products in their previous incarnation as the Allen Mighty Mac Chipper-Shredders or the Allen Turf Doctor. The Merry Tiller has also been sold in the UK for many decades and is a well known brand among vegetable growers and allotment owners. Read more »

If you’re looking for a new cultivator - or tiller as they are sometimes known - to turn over the vegetable garden in preparation for the coming growing season then this new range of cultivators and tillers from MTD could provide you with the answer. New for 2008, we are able to offer a full range of models from this world leading manufacturer with a choice of cultivators and tillers available for vegetable gardens and allotments both large and small. Read more »

First of all what exactly is mulching? In lawn mowing terms, mulching can be defined as the process whereby lawn cuttings are recycled and returned to the turf in the form of tiny fragments of grass. These recycled fragments then act as protective ‘mulch’ and help to conserve soil moisture, prevent weed growth and moderate soil temperature. As a result, lawns where mulching is applied tend to be healthier, greener and suffer less from disfiguration during drier weather. Read more »

New for 2008, we are pleased to be able announce the launch of the IBEA range of walk-behind lawnmowers from MowDIRECT. This brand new line-up of lawnmowers has been specially engineered for today’s homeowner and there are some unique features which make these lawnmowers of particular interest. So who are IBEA? IBEA are an Italian manufacturer of premium quality petrol lawnmowers and other garden machinery and their products have been sold in the UK and throughout Europe for many years. The company itself was founded more than fifty years ago in 1952 and began life as a distributor of agricultural products in Italy for its then parent company, Swiss group AEBI. After expanding into the garden machinery distribution business, IBEA began producing its own line of petrol lawnmowers in 1984 and since then has established a reputation both as an innovator and a producer of quality garden machinery products. IBEA themselves say: “Quality is one of the distinctive features of IBEA machines, as is the constant search for new solutions to make your work easier.” Read more »

In this review we shall be looking specifically at petrol self-propelled four-wheel lawnmowers and covering which models are suitable for different size lawns. A quick point to begin with: what do we mean by a small or medium or large-sized lawn? After all, a medium to large sized garden in an urban area would probably be considered pretty small by rural standards. To avoid any initial confusion let us begin by defining lawn size areas. For the purpose of this review a small lawn is any area up to around half a tennis court or so in size whilst a medium sized lawn will be viewed as a lawn between around one half and 2 tennis courts in size. Large sized lawns are considered to be between 2-4 tennis courts in size. Read more »

Firstly a few simple questions and answers as the subject of log splitters - and what they are intended for - can cause some confusion. What is a log splitter? If you’re unfamiliar with this type of device a log splitter is essentially a mechanical axe, or, more precisely a mechanical safety axe which is designed to split logs faster and easier and than a traditional axe but also to provide a safer environment in which to do this. How does a log splitter work? Essentially log splitters work through employing a motor powered hydraulic pump to exert pressure against the log by means of a metal wedge, forcing the log to split open. Log splitters are incredibly safe to use and extremely straight forward to operate: simply press a button or pull a lever and watch as the splitting wedge slowly works it way towards the log which is placed safely in-situ on the log splitter. The log is split by the sheer force of pressure applied by the wedge and does not require a build up of speed or momentum as is the case with a traditional axe. So, who would own a log splitter? Anyone with an open fire or wood burner might use one of these devices. If you have logs delivered, you’ll find log splitters great for chopping them into suitable size pieces of wood for each fire or wood burner in your home. Best of all, what once would have been seen as a tiresome chore chopping up a pile of wood with an axe, becomes a quick and easy task. If you intend to saw up logs with a chainsaw do you need a log splitter as well? Probably yes as chainsaws are great for sawing up wood into logs but less practical for producing smaller, fire-sized pieces of wood. Log splitters are used for splitting sections of log that have already been sawn up with a chainsaw. How big a log can I split? You’ll be surprised actually of the size of log a log splitter will cope with and we’ll cover this more in the log splitter review below as it does depend on the power and design of the individual log splitter. Our review of log splitters will also look at what types of wood can be split with these devices. Read more »

Most gardens at this time of year will be feeling the effects of the winter weather and many of your jobs in the garden in January will revolve around clearing up and making preparations for the spring growing period ahead. One of the tasks you’re likely to be involved in is transporting garden waste. Whether it’s freshly cut pruning waste or dead pieces of wood from trees and bushes, the task of clearing up is made a lot easier by having something to transport your garden waste to the area of your garden where the waste is treated or stored. Read more »

As mentioned elsewhere on this Blog, we really like this new range of chainsaws from Victus. They seem to offer everything you need with models available for both the occasional home user and more regular operators such as farmers or contract gardeners. In this post we shall explain in greater detail what it is you should be looking for in a chainsaw and how we believe these chainsaws really do fit the bill. Read more »

At MowDIRECT we greatly value your feedback and are here to help you gain a better understanding of lawnmowers and garden machinery in general. It’s important to us that you understand the choices available to you and that you invest in the right machine to get the job done properly and to your satisfaction. Although we hope that the information provided on our website will help you to do this, we do very much welcome any questions or comments you may have either on posts from this Blog or on our website itself and the products we supply. If you want to provide feedback on any of the specific entries on this Blog you will find a comment box at the base of each individual post entry. Please also feel free to use this to raise issues you feel may have been left unanswered by a Blog entry or something you would like to have been covered. We won’t necessarily be able to respond to each individual entry but we will read each one and use the accumulated feedback we receive to help make the Blog more responsive to the issues which interest you most. If you do have a specific product related question for which you require a direct answer please email our Sales Team: sales@mowdirect.co.uk.