Bosch Rotak 34R Electric Lawn Mower Review

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In summary, I was very impressed with the Bosch Rotak 34R. Since it folds away into a tiny rectangle when compressing it for storage, you get the benefits of a high-power, large-capacity lawnmower, without needing to sacrifice extra space in the shed.

Given that the Bosch Rotak 34R delivered on all of the manufacturer’s claims, I’d definitely buy this lawnmower for my medium-sized lawn. I feel I could make good use of all the key features. I probably wouldn’t purchase this lawnmower if I had a smaller lawn, unless I really wanted the striped pattern effect. For smaller lawns, there are niftier designs than this on the market, like the Flymo EasiMow 300R or the Einhell Expert GE-EM 1233 with equally impressive features.

Overall, it’s a great, universal design with lots of handy extras that make it suitable for small, medium or large gardens, plus it’s good value for money as you get a lawn roller in one.

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Tested

Bosch Rotak 34R Electric Lawn Mower[ SAVE 21% ]

Bosch Rotak 34R Electric Lawn Mower Review
Overall Score 4.6
Assembly Ease
4
Design
5
Power
4
Performance
5
Manoeuvrability
5
Features
5
Safety
4
Value for Money
5
Lawn Size
Medium
Power
1300W
Cutting Width
34cm
Cutting Heights
20mm-70mm
Collection Bag
40L
Weight
11.1kg
Cord Length
10m

With its integrated roller, side grass combs and 40-litre capacity grass box, the Bosch Rotak 34R has many impressive features. Bosch’s marketing brands this mower as being a universally great design equipped with expert features, so let’s see how well it really does when put to the test.

How I Tested

Since this is a universal lawnmower, which is mostly targeted at medium-to-large lawns, I tested the Bosch Rotak 34R on a medium-sized lawn with predominantly low growth and some tall grass around the edges. I tested this mower out in late autumn, so the grass was also damp and dewy.

Because it claims to have expert abilities to cut close to fences, walls and flowerbeds, I tested the Bosch Rotak 34R around several tight corners of the lawn to see how well it cut against raised borders.

With the integrated roller claiming to make a brilliant striped pattern, I also tested manoeuvring the lawnmower up and down to see just how visible the lines were – and how long they lasted.

Assembly Ease

4

Bosch-Rotak-34R-Electric-Lawn-Mower-Review-assembly

Assembling the Bosch Rotak 34R was a little tricky, but still relatively straightforward.

Most lawnmowers have the assembly instructions at the front of the manual, but the pictorial steps for the Rotak 34R are found on the last few pages. All the images are large and easy to understand.

Installing the lawnmower involved three main steps; fitting the wheels, assembling the grass box and securing the handlebars.

Fitting the wheels was the most difficult part of the assembly. Firstly, the wheels are hidden in the grass box. You have to unclip the box to find where they are hiding. Even though the instructions say the wheels simply ‘click’ into place, I had to turn the lawnmower on its side and bash the wheels repeatedly before they clicked in.

Installing the handles was much easier. Usually, it’s better to have two people help with fitting lawnmower handles, but this wasn’t necessary with the Bosch Rotak 34R. Before screwing them in, the poles slotted into the sides, which made fixing and tightening the bolts easy to do alone.

When fixing the bolts, the manual recommends wearing gloves as the mechanisms can be oily. Gloves aren’t provided in the kit, so I didn’t use any. I noticed the oily residue while I was screwing things in, but it was easy to avoid.

All in all, from unboxing to setting the mower upon my lawn, it took me around 25 minutes to put together.

Design

5

Bosch-Rotak-34R-Electric-Lawn-Mower-Review-design

True to the Bosch brand, the Rotak 34R had the trademark green on its base, with splashes of red on some of the caps and levers.

When packaged up in its box, the Bosch Rotak 34R certainly looked like a high-value product. The box was well branded with a decently sized picture of the lawnmower on it.

After a thorough inspection, it was hard to find any flaws in the design. The easy storage was especially impressive. Marketed for its compact storage abilities, the Bosch Rotak 34R didn’t disappoint. The design is flawless in compacting down to a very small rectangle. Even the grass box clicked apart and rested nicely on top.

Since the grass box is made of plastic with a matt effect, it didn’t look like it would scratch easily. Plus, as it was a hard, plastic box (as opposed to a mesh design), it was easier to brush clean after use.

The only downside is that the side fasteners on the grass box (used to fold it away neatly) seemed quite flimsy. They wouldn’t be too hard to break by accident. After a quick search online, it looked like a new grass box would set you back around £30-50.

Power

4

Bosch Rotak 34R - Power

With its 1300 W Powerdrive motor, designed to cut through long, heavy/ damp growth, the engine is a decent size for a lawnmower as compact as the Bosch Rotak 34R.

When I tested the engine’s power on taller, damp grass, it was true to its word and glided through the growth. Minimal effort was required to propel the lawnmower forwards and I barely had to put any strength behind it the entire time.

Even though you can purchase Bosch lawnmowers with more powerful engines (like the Advanced Rotak 650 with its 1700 W engine), the Rotak 34R’s 1300 W motor should be enough to satisfy the average gardener’s needs.

Performance

5

Bosch-Rotak-34R-Electric-Lawn-Mower-Review-performance

The Bosch Rotak 34R gave an all-around impressive performance. Even when testing it on some damp patches of grass, it breezed through without much effort. Almost every area had a clean and even cut.

Even though the manufacturers claim you don’t need to do any edge trimming after mowing because of the side combs, this wasn’t entirely true. While I don’t have walls or fences to test these against, I do have raised sleepers.

The Bosch Rotak 34R cut close enough to the edges that I was impressed, but they still needed a quick trim with the strimmer afterwards. Quite a few strands were folded rather than cut. If you need a nifty lawn mower that cuts extra close to the edges, the Flymo EasiMow 300R has a much more impressive close-edge cutting ability.

When it came to the integrated roller, I was keen to see how this would do on the lawn. Even though I had low expectations, the Bosch Rotak 34R produced a clearly visible set of stripes.

While it only lasted a few days, I was thoroughly pleased that a lawnmower actually delivered on its promise to be a two-in-one device.

Manoeuvrability

5

While the base was heavy (without the grass box) moving this lawnmower across the lawn was easy and I was thoroughly impressed with its manoeuvrability.

I tested pivoting on dry grass, damp grass, an open area of lawn and a tight turning space. In all conditions, I found turning and pivoting the Bosch Rotak 34R quick and simple. Its narrow design seemed to help it squeeze into the smaller spaces with ease.

The only slight problem I encountered was when I lifted the Bosch Rotak 34R to carry it back to the shed. Even though it’s considered lightweight at just 11.1 kg, the vertical carry handle on the mower deck was tricky to use. Personally, I find horizontal handles much easier.

Features

5

Bosch-Rotak-34R-Electric-Lawn-Mower-Review-features

The Bosch Rotak 34R has several features that make it impressive. These include an integrated roller, side combs to enable close edge trimming, 5 adjustable cutting heights (from 20 – 70 mm), a 40-litre grass box, and a 34 cm cutting diameter.

Adjusting the cutting height is very simple. You pull the lever by the wheels backwards or forwards to raise and lower the height setting. It even displays which setting you are changing it to (from 1-5).

Even though it wasn’t mentioned on the packaging, the 40-litre grass box is a top selling point of the Bosch Rotak 34R. Many lawnmowers come with a 30-35-litre capacity, so the increase made it more than worthy for use on medium-to-large lawns.

Another feature of the Bosch Rotak 34R is its compact storage abilities – which it certainly delivers on. By unlatching the grass box and folding away the handles, it compressed down to a mere 74 cm long, 35 cm wide and 52 cm high.

The only thing missing was a little clip on the wire near the plug to secure it and prevent it from getting trodden on.

The adjustable handlebar height is another notable feature. You can make your own adjustments to the height before you even put it together – there’s a ‘lower’ and ‘higher’ setting to match how tall you are.

Safety

4

Bosch-Rotak-34R-Electric-Lawn-Mower-Review-safety

Overall, the Bosch Rotak 34R has a great set of safety features.

With a dual-start mechanism, you have to click the button and pull the upper handle towards you to start the mower. It was easy to do, and holding the upper handle didn’t cause much strain even after using it on and off for around 30-40 minutes.

There are engraved safety warnings on the flap where the grass box slots in. Even though I usually prefer engraved warnings over sticky labels for their durability, these ones were hard to read. The indents were the same pale colour as the lawnmower, so it blended in quite significantly.

Value for Money

5

For the features you get with the Bosch Rotak 34R, the price point feels completely fair. The lawnmower is still considered an affordable design, with a slightly higher price point than the market average.

Even though the price may be a little higher than other lawnmowers, you get a huge amount for your money. You’d still need a strimmer if you want a perfectly neat and tidy finish, but the Bosch Rotak 34R cut close enough to the edge that it wouldn’t be entirely necessary to strim afterwards.

Plus, the integrated roller worked a charm and had no issue making my lawn look professionally cut with a visible striped pattern. If you have a medium-to-large garden, the Bosch Rotak 34R is the best corded electric lawn mower on the UK market currently.

Overall

4.6

In summary, I was very impressed with the Bosch Rotak 34R. Since it folds away into a tiny rectangle when compressing it for storage, you get the benefits of a high-power, large-capacity lawnmower, without needing to sacrifice extra space in the shed.

Given that the Bosch Rotak 34R delivered on all of the manufacturer’s claims, I’d definitely buy this lawnmower for my medium-sized lawn. I feel I could make good use of all the key features. I probably wouldn’t purchase this lawnmower if I had a smaller lawn, unless I really wanted the striped pattern effect. For smaller lawns, there are niftier designs than this on the market, like the Flymo EasiMow 300R or the Einhell Expert GE-EM 1233 with equally impressive features.

Overall, it’s a great, universal design with lots of handy extras that make it suitable for small, medium or large gardens, plus it’s good value for money as you get a lawn roller in one.

Tested

Bosch Rotak 34R Electric Lawn Mower[ SAVE 21% ]

Bosch Rotak 34R Electric Lawn Mower Review
Overall Score 4.6
Assembly Ease
4
Design
5
Power
4
Performance
5
Manoeuvrability
5
Features
5
Safety
4
Value for Money
5
Lawn Size
Medium
Power
1300W
Cutting Width
34cm
Cutting Heights
20mm-70mm
Collection Bag
40L
Weight
11.1kg
Cord Length
10m

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