Gardening tools using confusing branding

I don’t know of an easy way to find this sort of information, John. I doubt that companies want us to know.

I wonder if your mower is repairable. Motor brushes can be easy to replace. The mains cable on some Rotak mowers can break easily where it leaves the mower (others are designed to avoid this problem) but it is easy to shorten the cable to remove the damaged part.

John, I don’t know these makes. I’ve always gone for a Honda petrol and found them very reliable and long lived. Which? review mowers from time to time and, if you are a member, can be seen here https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/lawn-mowers/article/recommendations/which-best-buy-lawn-mowers? Worth being a member to get independent reviews like this.

I have had several Bosch Rotak mowers over the years and have always found the motor to be the most reliable part. I agree with Wavechange and suggest you check the power supply first. I have had two or three failures in this area but they were easy to repair. Sometimes the cable has become disconnected, sometimes the ON/OFF switch has seized or got jammed. Once fixed the mower works well again. I once fretted over the mower not starting and eventually discovered that the fuse in the extension lead plug was defective. A quick replacement fuse and a thorough check-over and we were going again.

The McGregor and Powerbase mowers are sold by Argos, Homebase and B&Q. The first post on this page mentions the manufacturer of McGregor mowers.

If I was looking for an electric mower I would probably go for a Bosch model, which are reasonably priced, usually well rated, and can last for years, as long as they are not overloaded and are properly maintained. As John has said, there can be minor problems with mowers and I wonder how many are scrapped because of simple faults.

According to STIHL, their worldwide manufacturing network consists of STIHL group owned and operated production plants in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, USA, Brazil, China and the Philippines.

See:-https://www.stihl.co.uk/p/media/download/uk-en/STIHL_2021_Modern_Slavery_Statement.pdf

Here is some information about products that are made in China: https://www.stihl.com/pi-stihl-production-floor-area-in-qingdao-china-almost-doubled.aspx

It does not seem to be a legal requirement to show the country of manufacture on products though many of us would like to see this information. Bosch always states where products are made – see my photo above for an example.

I could hardly agree more, far too many standards have dropped far too much. And I prefer to see where stuff’s made as I don’t like buying stuff that supports a brutal dictator regime and the chinese regime is very oppressive against beliefs other than communism. But what are our western governments supposed to do? If they were to impose tariffs on goods from such countries then it would most likely put a lot of essential household goods out of the reach of people on low incomes, like those on the dole. Too much of our essential stuff like light bulbs, batteries, torches, clocks, cooking pans, and various kitchen utensils, clothing, printer cartridges, plugs, fuses, phones, security cameras, power tools, hand tools etc. are nearly all made in china as too many manufacturers just can’t compete unless they’re stuff is made there. And I have an old can opener made by probus which is British made which must be at least 30 years old and it still works really well and I’ve had a few chinese ones which were great to start with but only lasted a few weeks before totally wearing out. But there is still some decent western made stuff out there if you know where to look, and I’d like to see it made compulsory to clearly show where stuff’s made so I can make a more informed decision about what I buy, but then with far too much stuff it’s either chinese or nothing which infuriates me, such an oppressive regime should not have such a monopoly.

I appreciate what you say about goods being made more affordable to the more hard-up individuals, but even fairly well-off individuals still seem to buy into the ‘want here, want now, and as cheaply as possible’ phenomenon.

Whilst I also agree that not everything that bears the words ‘Made in China’ is absolute garbage, for some years now I have often believed that having goods mass produced there on the cheap is not only a false economy, but IMO also heavily contributes to climate change, which has been woefully overlooked for far too long now, especially where certain Chinese factories are still very backward-thinking and still haven’t even considered going green.

Like I have already suggested, I feel as if we’re now paying the price for our own self-inflicted elements of greed!

While I consider it unlikely that we shall see legislation requiring compulsory place of manufacture labels on products — if only because many individual components are sourced from other places — I don’t see why a concerned group could not start a “Where’s It Made?” information website where products could be listed as people detect their origins.

It would need some upkeep though as products come out of production and are replaced with new models, or if production is duplicated across a number of factories. In the present situation I like to know where something is designed [and, hopefully, specified]; this can be a useful indicator of quality and durability.

Another way of looking at this would be for all the manufacturers in the UK, the EU and in selected other countries to agree to label their products with their country of manufacture. Goods from elsewhere would then have to be described as “Origin Unknown”.

I should like to think such a policy would lead to more production from the UK but it might just be that the only goods left as “Made in the UK” would still be too expensive for most people.

China benefits from having the biggest home market in the world which makes it almost impossible for other countries to compete. All we can hope to do is constantly seek to raise the quality standard.

The Japanese approach was, where market demand reached a certain scale, to transfer manufacturing to that economic area or zone. The Chinese have the opposite philosophy of maintaining strict control of manufacturing and eliminating any competition through dumping until they have captured the market.

I agree with John that we are unlikely to see legislation about country of origin and he has explained one of the problems in trying to achieve this.

As consumers I think we stand some chance of raising awareness of British products and hopefully encourage manufacturers to label them as such.

I hope that most of us are still using some British products produced in the days when this was commonplace.

RJF wrote: “I think we are now also paying the price of becoming an ‘instant grat’ society, particularly over the past 20-odd years, where we ‘want here, want now’ and ‘as cheaply as possible’.” I suspect that this has a lot to do with advertising and peer pressure.

I am amazed that prompt delivery has become such a high priority for online retailers. With a little planning there is very little that really needs fast delivery.

So a lawnmower could be described as made in Germany even though many of its parts are made in China [for example]. That doesn’t seem right to me. I appreciate that the final form of the product is the responsibility of the German supplier but the final action could just be putting it in a box. Perhaps that is the convention that needs to be changed so that people know what they are buying. The only aspect of that arrangement that I think is satisfactory is the German warranty.

The manufacturer is responsible for the final product. They are also responsible for the components they choose to incorporate in the design they have originated.

Is that established in law, Malcolm? Does it automatically mean that the product has to be referred to as being Made in Germany [say] when a high proportion of it is made in China [for example]?

I am looking for practical assistance to purchasers rather than dogmatic adherence to an outdated convention by manufacturers who might wish to conceal the origin of parts.

The manufacturer is responsible for the safety of the product, for example (CE documentation, independent testing, and so on), any warranty, so, as far as I am aware, is the only entity that would be held accountable. I presume this even extends to rebranded products but am not familiar with the law.

When I was in manufacturing and designed new products we would purchase many components, from terminal blocks to electronic devices, from specialist suppliers, and assemble the final product. We were still the manufacturer.

Thank you, Malcolm. Globalisation complicates everything.

I though Burgon & Ball were still a British company but they have been taken over: https://www.insidermedia.com/news/yorkshire/historic-sheffield-manufacturer-bought-by-canadian-group I assume that most or all of their tools are still made in the UK.

The ultimate territory of the ownership of products is of less interest to me [although it’s best if profits are retained here]. I am more concerned with keeping our production facilities up to date and expanding and our workers employed and well-skilled.

That could be a separate discussion. I had seen reference to Bulldog tools being made in the UK but see no claims on their website. They appear to have a factory in Wigan, though at least some of the manufacture may be abroad.

Exactly what I would like to see, John. Which is why I would like to see companies like Dyson encouraged to manufacture in the UK; instead of investing in a production plant for digital motors in Singapore it might well have been better for the UK to invest here. That is not a criticism of JD, but of an environment that does not seem to favour home production.

I have agreed with about many people wanting products immediately, RJF. Marketing is effective.

I do not understand the appeal of the cheapest products and if you take the cheapest and most expensive products this theory it is easy to ‘prove’ that you get what you pay for. On the other hand, if you take into account mid-price products it is far from clear-cut and mid-price products can often offer the best value for money.

And that is why objective and disinterested testing is so important in assisting consumers to make the best choices according to their needs and their means.

I don’t know what can be done to discourage people from wasting their money buying very cheap products. I doubt that many are aware that cheap phone chargers may not last long or could be dangerous, for example products bought via online marketplaces. Which? has provided examples but some publicity on TV would help.

It could be argued that if you can’t afford a decent charger you can’t afford to use a mobile phone. Perhaps choosing a less extravagant phone would allow the purchase of a better charger. With the price of the phone usually concealed in a tariff and the charger being a separate purchase it is easy to see how a false economy arises.

Probably the latest bugbear of mine (whilst not related to gardening products) is all the latest hype around the revival of audio cassette tapes, and many of the new cassette machines not only have dreadful wow-and-flutter, but are mono instead of stereo, even if the other components within the same unit in the case of boomboxes (radio tuner, CD player, etc) are stereo.

Rip-off of the century if you want my opinion!

I wasn’t aware there was a resurgence of interest in audio cassettes and players. I was hoping that particular technology had been consigned to the graveyard. It was never good when it was at the height of its popularity. I can’t think why anyone would want one. Wow-&-flutter is mechanically built into the product.

John – Many people buy dodgy phone chargers even if they can well afford to buy known brands that comply with safety requirements. We have become conditioned to focusing on price and may assume that if a product is offered for sale it must be safe. If business was regulated properly that might be achieved.

RFH – I had not realised that there was a cassette revival. I’m listening to music played on my mid-80s Denon cassette deck and there is not a problem with wow & flutter. I tend to carry on using products that are still working.

After buying cheap but short lived products (e.g. chargers), I suspect most folk will learn to stop doing that, especially those who are having to carefully manage low incomes.

Almost all of the latter will need to be able to afford a mobile phone, as they’ll need web and text access for such matters as Universal Credit claims – and they will certainly want to avoid the expense of a landline.

Quite often the very cheapest products can be of suspect quality, but paying just a little bit more can sometimes buy a much better product. For example, I am very pleased with my Bosch strimmer (see:-https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8863191?clickPR=plp:5:24 ) for which I paid £40 last year. It was a little bit more expensive than the cheapest available offering, but does a decent job of strimming.

For modern phones – i.e. smartphones – when buying from reputable UK retailers, I think the “sweet spot” for a decent new phone starts at around £100 and ends at around £150. Below that range, performance can be disappointing and above that range, extra money spent tends to add “nice to have” features rather than “need to have” ones.

The product description is not very helpful:

“18 volts.
280 watts.
2 stroke .”

18 volts implies that it is battery-operated.
2 stroke implies that it is petrol-powered.
In fact it is a mains-powered strimmer.

Argos usually does better than this.

Yes – I remember noticing those obvious errors for a corded strimmer a year ago.

In fact I see they were reported and flagged for update in its Q&A page back in 2019.

When shopping online for goods from reputable manufacturers, it always a good idea to check out their product descriptions, see:-https://www.bosch-diy.com/gb/en/p/easygrasscut-26-06008c1j00-v47452

Clearly the 18V must be a cut and paste error from another product page while 2 stroke could be a misread of “2 step assembly”.

I used to love inaccurate descriptions and my favourite was ‘vacuum filled’ light bulbs.

Prompted by your mention of strimmers I have been using my mid-price Black & Decker GL570C model. It has a now unfamiliar inscription: “Made in England”. Maybe that’s why I chose it.

But at least the mid-80s was when the cassette format and their machines were at a technological high point, plus Denon have almost always been a reputable brand.

Give me that any time over today’s rubbish equivalents which simply aren’t fit for any person of five years old or younger, let alone a die-hard audiophile!

Hopefully it’s a good model so far and well worth the money, even just for the sake of the (now-rarer) words ‘Made in England’ printed on it.

Bravo to B&D, and to you of course!

I bought the Denon tape deck because it offered Dolby C noise reduction. It’s popular to believe that cassette machines are rubbish on the basis that many are. Sadly the cheap & nasty new products you mention are going to do nothing to change views.

I realise that I chose the strimmer because it automatically fed replacement nylon line when required. That works well and may now be a standard feature.

I have British-made Burgon & Ball edging shears. Unfortunately they were damaged when the old chap next door borrowed them many years ago and cracked the blade. He was probably not aware of what he had done. I bought Wilkinson Sword as a replacements but by then they were make by Fiskars and this is clearly marked. Current Wilkinson Sword products are not labelled in this way. Maybe we are expected to believe they are British made.

Derek – I generally look at manufacturers’ websites before buying products too, and Which? reviews if available. I guess that your new strimmer was made in Hungary or China, hopefully the former. As far as I know, Bosch always marks its products with the country of origin, though sadly this information is not on the website.

My Stihl hedgetrimmer has an 800mm blade and performs very well. But it is heavy and as I age I find it more and more tiring to use, so I’ve ordered a Which? best buy Bosch with a 500mm blade and weighing just 3.5kg. It arrives on Sunday and I’ll see the country of origin.

Arrived a day early. Made in Hungary. 3 year warranty.

For the benefit of others the guarantee is two years and registering the product extends this to three years.

Registering the product means that hopefully, in the event of a problem, I will be contacted. That seems like common sense. One day I hope all potentially hazardous products will be automatically registered at the point of sale. The only way I can see to effect a “full product recall”, let alone let owners know of any issues that may just be advisory.

I started using the hedge trimmer today, although it is a bit hot outside. First impressions are it is not too heavy, cuts well, decent length cutter bar, fairly quiet. My only slight gripe is that holding both switches on does nor quite match the way I hold the trimmer. Maybe I will adapt.