Lawn and Garden Reviews

The first one of these meters I owned seemed accurate and reliable. I bought two more for convenience and have had a much less satisfactory experience. They both gave wildly inconsistent readings, rendering them essentially useless. They are particularly ineffective in soils with a high content of coarse material. A friend who also raises moisture sensitive succulents independently came to the same conclusions.

I bought this item thinking it was a good idea. Not having a tangled hose was what I was looking for, however, this item tangles worse than a slinky thrown against a barbwire fence. I would not recommend it.

I bought this a year ago with high hopes...my Ryobi Mulcher cordless had just given up with 5 years of use on it, and just one battery. Unfortunately, it was a bad choice. Battery is already shot and a new one is 100 bucks. Plastic cover is cracked and falling off - and I have been easy on this machine -really!. Cuts nicely, if it gets a good run from the battery - which won't happen this year. But, not if there is any length at all - then it is worthless. If you have a few days of rain and then you must wait to cut - the grass will be too long to use this. It really never throws the grass hard enough to load the catcher properly either. You must cut the grass very short -doesn't adjust to cut long. Although they claim you can use it just like a push mower if the battery goes (they must know it will - should have taken the hint) you really cannot. The motor is always engaged. So, when you pus it you are working against the motor. Unlike a regular push reel mower - the blades do not keep spinning when the wheels stop. Really a helluva workout. Unless you are cutting a lawn the size, height and type of grass like a putting green - this mower is worthless and you will need a backup. If you must get a powered reel mower - there is another out there that uses an easily accessible battery from Radio Shack when it is time to replace. Probably cuts the same though. Ashame - in England they sell over a dozen different types of electric mowers and several good cylinder mowers as well.

I purchased the RL800 in April 2003 from Amazon, hoping to get out of mowing the lawn. I ended up wasting lots of time and money on this useless device instead. My original review for the mower was actually positive. It worked well for the first summer and I didn't mow the lawn once with my push mower. I even recommended it to my coworkers. But the following spring, we got a lot of rain which caused the ground to get saturated. The robomower wheels lost traction in the wet grass and kept getting stuck in the middle of my lawn. I had to go out to push it along at least 5 or 6 times. I would have been better off taking my push mower out and mowing it myself, which is what I did until the ground dried up. Once summer came around, I brought the robomower out hoping it would perform like it did the year before. Wrong again! After less than 2 hours, the battery ran out of steam. The robomower is EXTREMELY slow so 2 hours is nowhere near enough time to completely mow my lawn. And yes I did read the manual on how to properly maintain the battery. I constantly charged it even while not in use. And during the winter if temps fell below 0 degrees, I was instructed to remove the battery and place it inside somewhere dry, which I did. Hoping to salvage use for the robomower, I purchased a second battery and the rapid external charger this year. I manually mowed my lawn with a push mower for the beginning of this year while the ground was too wet for the robomower. Then when it dried up enough, I decided to let the robomower take over. I unleash it on my lawn and 20 minutes later it stops. The robomower was beeping with the error "Check Power" message on the controller. I bring it back in and try charging it, but the error doesn't go away. I plug the power supply into another power outlet on a different circuit breaker and get same error. I put in my second battery and still same error. I end up calling tech support for assistance. Coincidentally, the 2 year warranty just ended in April so I was one month passed it. Their diagnosis was possibly a bad power supply and/or bad controller. When I asked if they could help me fix it, they told me not without getting charged even though I was only a month out of warranty. Keep in mind, I would have found out sooner about the problem if the robomower worked properly when the ground was a little wet. Thanks Friendly Robotics! So don't make the same mistake I made. Just mow your lawn yourself like I do now.

Don't waste your money. This is a total piece of junk. Mine leaked in 4 places and came apart after I turned the water on. There is a threaded part that's just jammed into the pipe. The threads don't hold it together.

I thought I was buying one like my neighbors had. They said they got theirs on Ebay for $25. When it came, I could tell it was cheap but hoped for the best.

This sprinkler is going in the trash. I'm on my way out to buy one at a local hardware store so I can confirm the quality.

Been looking for supplies for our SonicWeb unit and cannot find any available anywhere. We may end up having to buy a different type of unit. Found that the unit is discontinued . . . maybe there is a connection here?

i'd have given it 0 stars if i could. the gears are made out of plastic, and are prone to stripping if the tractor is not used in optimal conditions. i broke mine 3 times (returned each time) when it would get stuck in the mud, against a small rock or something similar. when used in optimal conditions, this item works, but i'd recommend getting a rittenhouse instead

This product arrived, before it even showed shipped in the system. Opened the boxes and it became clear that this is a cheap product. The peices the were already assembled were warped, not put together well.
So sorry that 225.00 doesn't buy you more.

When I got this device I was hopeful to rid my house of bugs. However, the Sunbeam box states that it only works on Mice, Rats, and Ants. The box also states that the device will not penetrate walls and will be dampened by furniture and carpets. Lastly, either the unit is not silent as stated in the features or my entire family has developed super-human hearing. I have not used this long enough to determine if it actually works to keep mice, rats and ants away so it may in fact do the job. Just beware that Amazon description does not match the Sunbeam description.

When I turn it on, it emits audible sound. Awful, it should be called human repeller. I'm sure that nobody would like to stay around it. It definitely cannot be used in bedrooms. Don't buy this one. Worst thing I've ever seen.