RELEASE THE BEAST FOR A CLOSER CROP

Mountfield SP555 V, from £599

WHILE the future may be electric, time-saving innovations continue to appear on more traditional mower models. The petrol-driven SP555 V has ‘twinclip’ blades — put simply, the blades have two edges which cut the grass twice, first long, then shorter. This produces extra-fine clippings, so more of them fit in the collecting box, which means less emptying for you. If you don’t want to collect the grass cuttings at all, you can use it as a mulcher. Unlike electric mowers, the Mountfield does require a pull start — and on a couple of occasions it needed more than one pull of the rope to fire it up. But once going it is a beast of a machine, powering through grass thick and thin. Heavy and hot it may be, but its punch and cutting-edge design will make short shrift of any lawn. RATING: 9/10