new toy - a hovering, mulching strimmer attachment

peasant

I've never really liked using the strimmer. The constant faff with the cutting thread (I use single threads on a special manual feed head after the usual bump stop and all sort of blades have disappointed), bits of nylon thread all over the garden, hard to control accurately and quite heavy after a while and most of all ..nettles to the face and neck and grass all over your front

So, the other day something weird popped up in my youtube feed. A propeller shaped blade with a big hood that makes the strimmer hover and mulch.

Had to buy it of course
http://www.elichelameslam.com/en/

Due to some covid-hold up it took six weeks to arrive and I only had a chance to try it today on dripping wet grass.

Good points:
- easy enough to assemble
- it actually does hover over the ground. Adjust your shoulder strap to the right length and strimming becomes effortless.
- it cuts everything as advertised from grass to nettles and small shoots and branches
- the hood not only makes it fly, it also makes it easier to position and guide along walls or around posts
- the hood alone is worth buying as it keeps the debris completely off your body. Grass to the top of the wellies ...that's it, no more stupid face shield necessary
- it might actually mulch as promised. In dripping wet grass all it produces is green pap, but no large pieces really. In dry grass this might actually work as a replacement for a lawnmower on small enough sites.

so/so points:
- you need a powerful enough strimmer to make it work. My entry level 27 cc / 1hp strimmer is only good for the smallest blade (37), bigger blades need a bigger machine
- it works better forward and back than side to side, so you might have to adjust your work pattern
- it's a tad pricey, but on the other hand its seems to be good quality, no cheap chineseum

bad point:
- It's just as loud or perhaps even louder as the standard strimmer and you have to keep the revs up constantly as the blade takes a bit to spin up and doesn't like varied speeds.

I like it and will keep you updated after a few uses.

Here's a better quality vid than the one on the sellers website

I bought directly from Italy, but if you look for hover trimmer there seem to be other sellers as well..at some time there even seems to have been an Irish one

_Brian

The way your describing the spinning up of the blade would make me worry about the clutch in your strimmer, this attachment may be too heavy.

peasant

time will tell, I guess.
But the blade didn't seem any heavier than the sawblade or three pointed star blade that I already have for this machine (supplied by dealer for this specific machine)

Hocus Focus

But €88.00 +carriage?

peasant

Hocus Focus wrote: »

But €88.00 +carriage?

A place in the States sells it it for $ 250
Or have you ever looked up original Stihl parts and accessories?

As I said ...not the cheapest, but after using it twice now I think it might be worth it. Cuts cleaner than a string, takes less effort than before, cuts brambles and twigs if needs be, all without changing or adjusting anything and most importantly ...no more nettles down my neck

Discodog

It won't like stones :pac: These are getting good reviews from users

peasant

not all that much kerbing in my "lawn" tbh

GinSoaked

Discodog wrote: »

It won't like stones :pac: These are getting good reviews from users

Last time I saw that design (40 years ago) it was the latest thing in aquatic weed control.

I see its still available https://www.lakeweeds.eventwebsitebuilder.com/page/page/3813325.htm

peasant

HA !

I was lucky ...this thing does EXACTLY what I hoped it would and what I bought it for without having seen or tried one, just based on assumptions after watching a poor quality video

lemme explain ...

After 5 sopping wet weeks without a chance of a cut my "lawn" is knee high and still sopping wet throughout. In those conditions even my monster mower can only do so much in regards to mulching this mess. It'll cut it, but every so often it does a burp and leaves a clump of half size grass bits lying on top. Also, at the right rear tire (because of the rear discharge and the rotation of the blade) it drives over the freshly cut grass and compresses it into the tracks.

These clumps and strips of compressed grass can be a problem. If they don't get a chance to dry (phh..this is NW Ireland, dry, what's that?) they rot and leave patches of dead grass and eventually holes behind.

But I'm too lazy to rake and collect, so I was hoping for help.

And I found it!
With this hover yoke I literally fly over the tracks of the mower and it sucks up the compressed grass and disperses it.
Same with the clumps...approach them straight on, slow down a bit and it'll suck them in and spew them out in tiny little shreds.

Problem solved, easy-peasy ,happy camper :D:D

So yeah, would recommend, would buy again, blah dee blah ...five stars

CJhaughey

It looks interesting, a flymo strimmer.
I am running an Oregon 3 tooth shredder blade on my 40cc Tanaka and it works well, cuts pretty much anything you could want to and some that you may not want to like sheep fencing. I tried a 2 blade version and it was OK but I found the vibration too much for me, the three bladed shredder version is much smoother.
I do like the 3 tooth flat bladed versions as well, they are the best for most conditions I feel and are very cost effective.

jmreire

Slightly different question but on the lawnmower thread ( sorry if it does not fit in, Mods feel free to move ) it concerns servicing 4 stroke ride on mower's. Honda recommend that 10/W/30 API / SJ be used in their engines, and that's what is on the Honda Branded oil. My question / comment is that any branded oil meeting those specs should do the same job, or is there something different about a honda 4 stroke lawnmower petrol engine that you have to use their oil?

Hocus Focus

jmreire wrote: »

Slightly different question but on the lawnmower thread ( sorry if it does not fit in, Mods feel free to move ) it concerns servicing 4 stroke ride on mower's. Honda recommend that 10/W/30 API / SJ be used in their engines, and that's what is on the Honda Branded oil. My question / comment is that any branded oil meeting those specs should do the same job, or is there something different about a honda 4 stroke lawnmower petrol engine that you have to use their oil?

Those oil specs are set to internationally recognised standards. Companies buy oil with the necessary additives already included, and have it packaged with their own branding.
Similar questions arise in the world of sailing/boating, where marine engine manufacturers such as Volvo Penta will try to sell you their branded product at three times the price of what you would pay in the motor factors.
Car manufacturers are at it too, e.g. Fiat Olio
Specifications of oils commonly sold get upgraded from time to time, but oil specified for an existing engine will always be met by the new spec.

Plenty of info here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil

peasant

Lads, I thought I owe you an update on this.

If you have a bit of a rough and ready site, this about the best...if not the only...attachment you can buy for your strimmer.

It does every thing it says on the box and it does it better than expected.

Makes cutting grass a doddle and provided it's not too wet, does a pretty convincing job at mulching too.

Weeds and other greenstuffs are handled the same as grass, no problem

I've decimated whole bramble bushes in a matter of minutes. Start outside, raise the yoke to the top and move downwards...job done. Once the long, thin strands are gone you can then get to the center of the bush and cut the thicker stems right at the base.

I've trimmed my "hedges" which are a combination of blackthorn and bramble. The fine twigs you just shave off as with the brambles. Thicker pieces up to about finger thickness you attack singly and "saw" them off, no problem. These aren't surgical cuts of course...I wouldn't try it on a decorative box hedge...but it gets the job done.

The hood I can't praise enough. With other attachments I needed the safety visor and my hole front was usually covered in green slime and squished slugs ...no more. Debris flies about ankle high, no higher.

But the best thing is...you can go out there intending to cut that bit of grass that the mower didn't reach and when you discover that pesky bramble while you're at it...just cut that as well. No need to change from string to blade ..this thing does it all in one go.

No faffing about, no broken-off bits of string all over the place, no changing.
A quick touch up with the (provided) file before you start it up and you're good to go and tackle everything you come across.

I'm so convinced with it that I'm going to order more blades at some point. The current one (while still perfectly serviceable) has a bit of a nick in it where I drove the propeller into a big stone while not paying attention.

All in all...do recommend...10 out of 10 ...will buy again

jmreire

peasant wrote: »

Lads, I thought I owe you an update on this.

If you have a bit of a rough and ready site, this about the best...if not the only...attachment you can buy for your strimmer.

It does every thing it says on the box and it does it better than expected.

Makes cutting grass a doddle and provided it's not too wet, does a pretty convincing job at mulching too.

Weeds and other greenstuffs are handled the same as grass, no problem

I've decimated whole bramble bushes in a matter of minutes. Start outside, raise the yoke to the top and move downwards...job done. Once the long, thin strands are gone you can then get to the center of the bush and cut the thicker stems right at the base.

I've trimmed my "hedges" which are a combination of blackthorn and bramble. The fine twigs you just shave off as with the brambles. Thicker pieces up to about finger thickness you attack singly and "saw" them off, no problem. These aren't surgical cuts of course...I wouldn't try it on a decorative box hedge...but it gets the job done.

The hood I can't praise enough. With other attachments I needed the safety visor and my hole front was usually covered in green slime and squished slugs ...no more. Debris flies about ankle high, no higher.

But the best thing is...you can go out there intending to cut that bit of grass that the mower didn't reach and when you discover that pesky bramble while you're at it...just cut that as well. No need to change from string to blade ..this thing does it all in one go.

No faffing about, no broken-off bits of string all over the place, no changing.
A quick touch up with the (provided) file before you start it up and you're good to go and tackle everything you come across.

I'm so convinced with it that I'm going to order more blades at some point. The current one (while still perfectly serviceable) has a bit of a nick in it where I drove the propeller into a big stone while not paying attention.

All in all...do recommend...10 out of 10 ...will buy again

One thing that occasionally happens to me when strimming , especially near trees etc. is that the cord will strip bark of the tree, some times damaging it fatefully. Doe the hood prevent this happening ?

peasant

jmreire wrote: »

One thing that occasionally happens to me when strimming , especially near trees etc. is that the cord will strip bark of the tree, some times damaging it fatefully. Doe the hood prevent this happening ?

Yes and no.
Depends on how you approach the tree. The hood is of course open at the front. So if you approach the tree full frontal and go too far by accident, you will cut/slice it as well.

But if you know the tree is there and you want to save it, you can circle around it with the side of the hood touching the bark, that way the blade never will.

See from 2:18 in the video in my OP.