Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C Electric Lawn Mower Review

Assembling the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C was a little fiddly, but it was still a swift and relatively easy process. There are two main tasks; fitting the handles and assembling the grass box.

Usually, putting a grass box together is easy to do alone. However, it was a little tricky and would have been easier with two people. Since the box came in two halves, you had to click them together. Alone, it was hard to balance it in place while pushing both sides down. With two people, it would be no issue at all.

Similarly, installing the top handles without help was a little challenging. Even though you simply have to screw the bottom and top handles to the mower, it’s still a balancing act. It’s not impossible to assemble by yourself (I did it), but if you have an extra pair of hands that can help you with assembly, I’d recommend it.

The instruction manual had very large, clear images that portrayed one step each. I always prefer this over small images or any that cram multiple tasks into one.

From unboxing to assembling, the process took no longer than 25 minutes – and I think this could be halved with two people.

The Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C came well packaged. The box is bright and contains the usual orange Flymo branding.

Every accessory in the box is well wrapped. The mower has cardboard padding, and there are plastic bags over both sections of the grass box and around the handlebars. Even the instruction manual has its own plastic wrapping. While I’m not keen on unnecessary plastic, this kept everything together nicely. It was also clear that Flymo were trying to protect everything from shipping-related damages.

After a thorough inspection, I couldn’t find any real flaws in the design of the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C. The centre handle made it easy to unbox and carry around the garden, the dual-sided controls were a nice touch for enabling ambidextrous use, and there was even a loop on the upper handle where you could hook the cable to keep it out of the way.

The Flymo brand is known for its bright orange look. Personally, I like how they used the orange on the Speedi-Mo 360C. Even though the engine, handles and top of the grass box are branded orange, the rest is a sleek dark grey colour. It provided great contrast and certainly made the mower feel more high-end than some of their other models.

The final plus for me, albeit a very minor detail, is that the lawnmower has a clip next to the plug so you can secure it to the cable after wrapping it around the handles. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference.

The Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C is equipped with a powerful 1500 W engine, which is on the higher end of the scale for most domestic, corded lawnmowers.

Firstly, I tested the mower on a small patch of my recently-cut lawn and it was easy enough to cut without much pushing effort.

However, since this design is targeted at medium-to-large gardens and claims to have exceptional tall grass cutting abilities, I took this mower to a friend’s house whose lawn is bigger than mine (at least three times the size) with taller grass.

True to its word, pushing the lawnmower on the thick and heavy terrain was easy and it cut through the long grass like butter. The power in the engine seemed to help throttle it along with minimal effort.

The Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C performed exactly as expected. The cut was clean and uniform and I barely had to go over a patch of grass more than once. With a 36 cm cutting width, it was relatively quick to cut a larger sized lawn.

Both times that I tested this lawnmower, it gave a great performance. Since there are 5 cutting heights, ranging from 20 – 60 mm, and I used three of them, I don’t doubt that every level would give just as good of a cut.

Even though there isn’t a built-in roller on this design, I could see a faint striped pattern after mowing both lawns. However, this could have just been from the wheels, which left quite a deep mark.

When mowing, I decided to cut diagonally as well as vertically to reduce the impact of long-lasting indents. But I don’t think this would be anything to worry about as a week after mowing my friend’s lawn up and down, the indents had almost disappeared entirely.

The manoeuvrability of the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C was okay. As you’d expect from a larger lawnmower, measuring 126 x 41 x 99 cm, turning it in a tight space involved a lot of backward and forward manoeuvres.

Also, something to note: if you’re pulling the lawnmower towards you, always make sure you switch it off first.

Even though the mower isn’t particularly heavy (weighing just 11.5 kg), it felt much heavier to turn around. As the grass box filled up, a slight resistance was noticeable. It was no problem though as I simply walked a bit slower and pushed harder.

The only issue I encountered with manoeuvrability was that the base of the mower got stuck on the grass a few times when I was pushing it but not mowing. While it didn’t rip up any grass, it frequently scraped along.

Eventually, I tilted it slightly (with the engine switched off and when the blade came to a complete stop) to prevent it from shredding the grass as I moved to different areas. This was particularly necessary when cutting the damp, dewy lawn.

For the price, the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C had an impressive line-up of key features. With dual-control handles, 5 cutting heights, a 12 m cable and a 40-litre grass box, it had everything the average gardener needs.

Even though the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C didn’t claim to have close-edge cutting abilities to trim along walls, flowerbeds or fences, I was impressed with how well it did against my raised sleepers. It even cut very nicely around paving stones. Both lawns needed a quick run with the strimmer afterwards, but it was better than some lawnmowers I’ve used that claim to cut close.

The biggest plus is the 40-litre grass box. Cutting longer grass on a large lawn would require emptying the box at least once, but on a medium lawn, or when trimming a large garden, it could potentially manage it in one.

While this wasn’t an obvious feature, the grass box is also fitted with a small window. Looking through the window tells you how full the box is and helps you determine whether it needs emptying. Windows aren’t as effective as the flaps that rise and fall to indicate when the box is close to overloading, but it still makes it easier to keep an eye on things.

Finally, there’s the way it compacts down for storage: both handlebars fold away and the grass box rests nicely on top. When measured, it was around 65 x 45 x 60 cm.

Overall, the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C had a great set of safety features. Like most Flymo designs, to start the machine you have to push a button before pulling the handlebar levers towards you. The lever could be pulled on either side for ambidextrous usage.

On the base of the lawnmower were various bright yellow safety warning stickers. Even though stickers aren’t as long-lasting as engraved warnings, they are more noticeable.

Another tick on safety for me was that the instruction manual was simple, clear, and had a very obvious key to what the symbols meant.

Considering the price and the many practical features included, I think the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C provides excellent value for money. Marketed at the average gardener, and households with medium-to-large gardens, it certainly seems to fit the bill.

Also, it has a nifty and compact design for a mower with such a powerful (1500 W) engine and a large capacity (40-litre) grass box.

For a smaller lawn, you may not need a mower that has as much power. Plus, a smaller grass box might be easier to store if you’re short on space.  However, if you let your smaller lawn grow tall, the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C is nifty enough to work on smaller lawns while reducing the number of trips to the compost bin.

Overall, the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C is right to market itself at households with medium-to-large domestic gardens. The powerful motor, long cable and 5 cutting heights make it the ideal tool to help cut bigger lawns efficiently and effectively.

Despite a few minor things (like needing to go backwards and forwards many times when manoeuvring), I found no major issues with the Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C that would prevent me from purchasing it. I was impressed with the design, the grass box capacity and the close edge-cutting abilities. Plus, the compact storage made it easy to fit in the shed.

If you’re looking for the best corded electric lawn mower for your medium to large lawn and several handy features, I think Flymo Speedi-Mo 360C is a great choice.