Opinions on Hover Mowers

Alun

Well, it's finally time to ditch the rusty old hand-pushed cylinder mower and I'm attracted to the idea of a hover mower, but being the old cynic that I am, I'm wondering how easy they really are to use in practice. Many of them have quite large grass colectors, and I'm worried that with all that extra weight on board they'll be difficult to move around. Add to that the only manufacturer appears to be Flymo, and after taking apart a friend's Flymo a while back to repair I'm none too impressed with their build quality. Would be better off with a good quality wheeled model instead?

dingding

Have one myself for the past 5-6 years. No probalems with it. Easy to push, I can recommend it if the gerden is not to large. The grass collector needs regular emptying not a problem for a small lawn.

crosstownk

IMO hover mowers are ok only if you have a relatively level lawn. They're not great over uneven lawns. I prefer petrol mowers - no cable in the way, no need for extension leads.
I had a hover mower a few years back and it never gave any trouble - it was a Flymo.

Alun

Thanks guys. The lawns aren't that big, but are a bit uneven, i.e. "lumpy", but not hugely so. I can't be bothered messing with a petrol mower, and it'd be overkill for our needs. I've done a bit of Googling, and surprisingly only found negative comments about the hover mowers, mainly that they were actually heavier and more difficult to push than the wheeled versions.

GreeBo

well the bit people forget is that it only hovers when its on, if you have to bring it from the back garden to the front then you are carrying it.

Also, it works by pushing air down into the grass, thus pushing the grass down.
Unless you have a golf green your grass will just lie down and you will get a nice patch cut.

Buy yourself a new push cylinder mower and enjoy a much nice looking, healthier lawn.
(not to mention the fact that they only cost about 30 quid)

Flankerb

Hover mowers are the cause of my back pain avoid if you can. I bought a nice small compact petrol cylinder mower in B&Q it is so lite its almost a pleasure doing the lawns which are bumpy by the way.;)

Breezzzzze

I had a small hover mower for the garden of the semi I used to have. I found it to be really crap. But then, I used to only mow the lawn about once a month. They are fine if you mow the lawn regularly. If you don't, then don't get one because they don't hover over grass that's longer then about 6".

GreeBo

Flankerb wrote:

Hover mowers are the cause of my back pain avoid if you can. I bought a nice small compact petrol cylinder mower in B&Q it is so lite its almost a pleasure doing the lawns which are bumpy by the way.;)

Is that the green (Is it Bosch?) one for about €200?
Is it any good, I was looking at upgrading my push cylinder to that baby...