Is it a mower? Is it a trimmer? Is it an Edger? No, it’s Super Mower! Faster than a speeding mullet, far more powerful than a model locomotive and able to mow yards in a single bound, the new Black & Decker 3-n-1 Cordless Compact Mower does three lawn mowing chores in one single unit. To best be in a position to use these amazing landscaping powers in the never-ending battle for truth and justice, this powerful mini-mower has assumed the disguise of a mild-mannered weed trimming machine.
I’ve always enjoyed mowing the lawn on a nice spring day. The smell of fresh cut grass and the drone of the endless turning of the blades is almost hypnotic. But when I moved into my new place, mowing the lawn took on a new meaning. Now it’s a hassle to me, simply because one side of my new yard is hard to reach with the riding mower and it’s at such a weird angle that I’ve just let the blackberries grow in to cover the steep slope. But once I heard that Black & Decker was sending over their new 3-n-1 cordless compact mower for a HomeFixated evaluation, I suspected the hard part of my mowing task was going to be a whole lot easier. Heck, I might even be able to get my kid to mow once in a while. Here’s a quick promo video from Black & Decker:
http://youtu.be/WtbKI5FJxeU
Fab Features of the Black & Decker 3-n-1 Cordless Compact Mower
When I received the box that contained the Black & Decker 3-n-1 Cordless Compact Mower, I thought: “Is everything in the box?” It seemed awfully light, but when I opened it up and pulled everything out, I found out it was all there – it just is super light. That was my biggest concern. I have a heavy gas powered weed trimmer that always makes me feel like one arm is longer than the other one after I’m done toting it around.
What I like about the way the Black & Decker 3-n-1 Cordless Compact Mower is built is the shaft collar can be loosened up to make the shaft longer or shorter, which comes in handy for storage and for people with really short arms. I have fairly long orangutan arms but when the shaft is fully extended, it fits my height and exceptionally long arm length easily. The extendable shaft also rotates so that when you’re using it in edging mode, it faces the correct way.
I also think the adjustable handle is a great idea and I wish my other weed trimmer had the same thing. Simply press in the button on the side and the handle can rotate up or down for a more comfortable grip. After all, that’s where the brunt of the weight is focused, and it’s nice to have a handle that works with you instead of against you.
The automatic line spool makes banging out new line something of the past. No more bumping the head onto the ground to release more line like my older line trimmer. I got so tired of that, I put on a permanent cutting blade on my old trimmer, but the problem with that is that instead of the string breaking first, the cutter head breaks whatever it hits first – sprinkler heads, wooden fences, tree bark – it’s a mean machine.
The pièce de résistance is that it’s three pieces of lawn equipment all rolled into one neat and lightweight little package. It stands alone as a line trimmer. Flip around the head and shaft and you’ve got a nifty little edger. Throw on the additional mowing deck and you’ve got a mini-mower ready to roll out and cut grass on the big boy lawn. While it’s not going to cut a huge lawn, it does work excellent for smaller lawns and even for locations where the bigger mowers have trouble getting to.
I’m not fond of the way the edger is set up. It has a single metal bar that rides on top of the concrete to guide the edger and it scrapes something awful on the edge of my driveway. The corded version of this tool has a wheel on the top versus a bar and I’m wondering why they didn’t do that to the cordless as it would have made it easier to edge in my opinion.
The Black & Decker 3-n-1 Cordless Compact Mower runs off of the Black & Decker 20V MAX Lithium-Ion battery. It comes with two batteries and a trickle charger. I like the idea that two batteries came with the machine because as it doesn’t take too long for the batteries to drain when you’re working the machine hard. The battery charger is a little slow for my tastes (4 hours for 100% charge according to B & D), but I don’t really have much of a yard for it to mow, so even one battery lasts long enough for me.
All in all, this cool tool is great for small yards and hard to reach areas. But if you’re looking to mow, trim and edge a large yard, this fun gardening tool probably isn’t for you, especially with its relatively narrow 12″ wide mow path. It retails for around $150 which isn’t a bad deal at all considering that you’re getting three pieces of cordless lawn equipment for the price of one.
Where to Buy
Get your lawn mowing, weed trimming and edging all done in one shot with the Black & Decker MTC220 Cordless 3-n-1 Trimmer/Edger and Mower, available for $149 on Amazon. You might even be able to talk your kids into mowing the grass once in a while!
