Bosch Rotak 32 Review

Bosch Rotak 32 Review – Key Features

• Build Quality – You are at the bottom end of the market here and as a result you get A LOT of plastic. That’s right, it is nearly all made of plastic which is not the strongest material but then again plastic does mean the mower stays lightweight and very affordable. Durability could be an issue if you don’t look after your lawn mowers particularly well.
• Motor – This mower is not built like a powerhouse – but the motor you get is still absolutely top notch. I was pleasantly surprised at how powerful this thing was.
• Easy Starts – You’ve got a simple start-up mechanism on this machine, whereby you just need to push the little red button and then pull the lever towards the handle bar – not exactly rocket science! This doubles up as a handy safety mechanism, as if you just release that red lever, the blade will stop within a few seconds. Trust me this is great if you have kids or pets around, or both!
• Cutting Deck – As the model name suggests, you get a 32 centimetre cutting deck. This is fine for small gardens but anything bigger and you should be looking for a lawn mower with a bigger cutting deck.
• Carry Handle – The Bosch Rotak 32 is extremely portable, that’s a fact! The light weight (an unbelievable 6.8kg or 14.96 lbs in old measurements) and the carry handle which is integrated into the top of the mower deck, means this is one of the most portable mowers on the market today. Whether it’s carrying it from the front to the back garden or transporting it to the car, you WILL be able to do this easily, whoever you are.
• Grass Combs – The Rotak 32 features the red grass combs on either side of the cutting deck. Their purpose is to direct grass from the edges of your lawn into the blade’s cutting area, so you get a neater finish around the edges of your lawn. That’s the theory and in practice….they do a grand job. This feature alone could save you a decent amount of time as in most cases you won’t need to get a strimmer or a pair of shears out after mowing.
• Height Adjustment – The height adjustment system they use on this model is slightly more “old school” than the new fangled lever they have on the other models in this series. There are 3 different height settings and in order to change the height you need to squeeze the spring tensioned wheel axis into the slot you want. You will need to squeeze this firmly and it could be a little tricky for people with little strength. It only takes seconds, although you do need to do each wheel individually.
• Grass Box – The grass box does seem a little flimsy to be honest with you, but hey, it does the job. The capacity is only 31 litres but the mower is only designed for small lawns so that’s why you get a small capacity box.
• Handle – The design of the Bosch Rotak 32 incorporates a 2 piece metal handle that folds near the top. I have to say the design of this is a little strange and isn’t particularly good for storage. When you fold this over the majority of the handle is still upright, so takes up more space in your shed/garage.
• Power Cable – You get a power cable with this model too. It’s actually attached to the mower, so there’s no way of removing it to store it separately. Its 10m long which is sufficient for any small garden, although if you needed more cable then you could just use an extension.

Bosch Rotak 32 Review – Assembly

There’s not really a lot to say about assembly, other than ………it’s simple! It should take you no longer than about 10 minutes to take this out of the box and then put it together. I say “to put together” but all you actually need to do is fasten the handles on using a screwdriver, then clip on the grass box. The catch phrase “simples” comes to mind here.

Bosch Rotak 32 Review – Performance

• Cutting Ability – Cutting performance is obviously the main factor which needs to be considered when assessing the performance of any lawn mower. This one does a good job – which is good news and probably partially down to the fact that you get a steel blade as opposed to one of those plastic ones a lot of lawn mowers are equipped with these days. The cut which is produced is nice and even and just looks very neat. This is definitely aided by the grass combs which Bosch use on all the models in their Rotak series. To be honest most people think these are just some kind of gimmick, but they really aren’t. They do substantially improve the finish around edges and are especially useful around walls and fences. Top notch stuff from Bosch! The power you get with the powerdrive motor copes with a variety of conditions. We found it performed well even with slightly overgrown grass, although we would definitely recommend you cut your grass regularly to avoid putting unnecessary strain on the motor.
• Grass Collection – It could be better to be honest. It doesn’t compact the grass very well, so the grass box does fill up fairly quick, but you should only be using this for a small lawn so this isn’t really as big an issue as it might seem.
• Maneuverability – The light weight means the mower is so, so maneuverable when you’re mowing. Corners are a breeze and pushing this thing will definitely not tire you out. Fact!

Bosch Rotak 32 Review – Pros

• Minimal assembly required
• Powerful motor
• Good quality of cut
• Ultra lightweight
• Extremely portable
• Easy to start
• Easy to use
• Easy to Maneuver
• Grass combs leave a neater finish around lawn edges

Bosch Rotak 32 Review – Cons

• Grass box is pretty flimsy and fills up quite quickly too, but it does do its job so……
• Lots of plastic – this thing is almost made entirely from plastic. So you have to ask yourself, how well do you look after things? If you treat your mowers roughly then durability could be an issue.
• Storage – only the top half of the handle folds down, the bottom half is fixed in place and this makes storage a little more difficult than it should be. Not sure why they didn’t just design it so that the whole handle folds over?!