Kärcher LMO 18-36 Cordless Lawnmower Review
Pitched as an all-rounder cordless lawnmower, the Kärcher LMO 18-36 is a model that sits neatly in the mid-range against many mowers we’ve already reviewed; on paper, ideally suited to be used to cut small to medium sized lawns. But, at £349 as a complete bundle with battery and charger, is it a good proposition?
Design
First impressions could lead you to believe, on sight of the Karcher's cheerily bright trademark yellow displayed on this lawnmower, that it may well deliver a narrower cut due to its slender design. But, in actual fact, it offers a 36cm cutting width, the same as the mid-sized cordless Einhell lawnmower which has been a studio favourite for some time. The Einhell has a greater deal of plastic bulk on its sides and makes for an overall heavier package, but from our usage we don’t think the slimline Kärcher 18-36 cordless mower is compromised. So far, substantial impacts into granite walls and against shrubbery have been easily brushed off. The body is strong, the wheel design sturdy and adjusting to one of the four cutting heights (30 - 70mm) is a smooth experience via the lever.
We shouldn’t neglect to mention that there’s a mulching plug supplied in the box. However, the one oversight we feel Kärcher have made is not to include quick to use click-snap handles for folding away. The cumbersome screw design is never a fun experience and always leads to scratches as the handles are folded over and over with each use. The 45l grass collection box features an indicator to alert when full and is in the design of a bag attached to a plastic top. It’s easy to empty and importantly very easy to remove and replace on this Kärcher LMO 18-36 lawnmower.
Charging and Runtime
Now, when it comes to recharging batteries you generally don’t really know how long it will take, but do have a rough idea based on familiarity with various cordless battery ecosystems from different brands. Where this often goes astray is when using demanding and, more importantly, continually running cordless tools such as lawnmowers on hot summer days, where depleted batteries often refuse to recharge because they first need to cool down. This is where Kärcher have integrated a genius LCD display into the battery to signify how long it will take to recharge. When charged and away from the charging base in the mower it will read-out remaining running time and battery capacity, so you can better plan around charging. You can’t, though, get a quick at a glance read-out when cutting grass, as there is nothing displayed on the handle design, so you need to peak under the battery flap to obtain a read-out.
We get around 25-30 minutes runtime out of one battery and it takes around 90-100 minutes to fully charge. Often we take it off the charger at 80% as that extra 20% can take 35 minutes. For us (more lawns to cut) we need closer to an hour runtime to be able to complete mowing, meaning we’d ideally require a second battery (£100) to use whilst the other is charging.
Manoeuvrability & Usability
Despite the Kärcher LMO 18-36 cordless lawnmower having a respectable cutting width of 36cm, making it quite acceptable and practical on larger lawns, its body is slim, as already pointed out, and this makes it possible to do things that some other mowers cannot, such as nipping underneath benches and awkward branches around the garden. It’s not quite as compact as the Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li, so can’t scoot into some of those areas that would normally be reserved for a strimmer, but its 14.2kg weight is manageable when relocating up onto a raised lawn or when carrying it up steps via the handle on the body itself.
The height adjustment mechanism and controls are easy to use and the later takes little effort to hold down the start handle as you travel. Pushing on gravel pathways is normally an awkward and jerky experience, dragging the gravel instead of rolling over it, but we actually found the Karcher wheel design able to tackle this without much issue. On grass it’s a pleasurable lawnmower to push, very solid in operation and has plenty of traction to venture up steep inclines without needing to feel like we’re arduously shunting it.
Performance
18V performance is half that of the Einhell cordless mower we reviewed and actually on paper the least powerful cordless lawnmower we’ve ever used, yet in use it didn’t impose itself to be an issue at all when cutting 1-4cm off our lawns. This is typical of the amount of grass we trim and is about the right amount you should be mowing to avoid stress to your grass anyway. It got on with the job easily, collecting the trimmings and leaving a silky and even finish. Longer areas of grass will cause the mower to shudder and if very overgrown it can cause so much congestion that the mower will cut-out altogether. Not really surprising, as this isn’t designed to be a garden beast like the Cobra 40V cordless lawnmower. So what may be required, when steering the Kärcher LMO 18-36 lawnmower into denser grass, is to reposition the lawnmower so it can tackle the area again or, worst case, to have the burden of unclogging the blade. Yet, in our testing, no area has been too much of a battle for it to mow, even if occasionally with a little intervention. Of course, that 18V max performance is an encouragement to keep your lawns cut regularly, so avoiding intervention, and that’s good for the grass too. Edge cutting against walls and around furniture is actually very good thanks to the slim design bringing the blade closer to pull in the grass from the sides more effectively.
We have no complaints about the cut whatsoever. It’s smooth and even, and, if you do choose to use the mulching plug, the grass is undetectable after a single pass. Furthermore, the blade design, coupled with the way debris intakes the collection basket, is able to act as a garden vacuum cleaner of sorts, whisking up leaves, pine needles and twigs engrained into lawns. A very important ability during this time of year.
Verdict
Whilst the Kärcher LMO 18-36 lawnmower is brightly coloured and slim in design, it packs a punch in the 18V mower scene, and for routine grass cutting it does it really well. It’s a shame no battery level indicator is available for an immediate readout on the handle and that the handles don’t fold away via a click-snap mechanism, but other than this you have a straight set of well thought out and useful features, a battery that informs how long it will take to charge, impressive edge cutting, a robust build and a 25-30 minute runtime.