The Hover Mower by Eastman Industries

WOW that can come in handy

If it was a riding mower I’d consider it.

Yeah if you could ride it, that would be cool.

Does it use a blade or is it like a weedeater with string?

so its like a Fly Mow, nothing new here.

Fly Mow?

There is nothing new about this at all. The Flymo hover lawnmower has been around since the 70’s!
Good idea but don’t take credit for something new when the idea is probably older than the marketing genius behind this.

this is not a new concept, was banned about 20 years ago due to morons trying to mo thier bushes and killing people

Yeah that’s nothing new, but check out the RoboMower at the link above. now that’s something my lazy ass can understand!

i don’t have a whole lot to add aside from agreeing with this others that hover mowers have been around a very long time. and the company that made the original (flymo) is still around and still making hovering mowers.

This is the first gas powered one I’ve seen

I’ve used a similar mower and it worked great. Particullarly on steep banks. You can tie a rope to the handle and lower it down from the top of the bank and walk back and forth at the top of the bank holding it on the grade with the rope.
It had a metal blade.

These are great, but don’t put your hand under the cover when it is going… I lost three fingers doing this. I also pulled it over my foot once, lost my big toe.

Don’t use them on gravel either, it flies everywhere, it’s a good job we are born with two eyes. I’m getting the hang of judging distance again.

With my luck this thing would start up and just fly away.

this isnt a new idea, was out in the 60s under the name Flymow

Fat Jared – that robomower is awesome, but does it work or wander off?

we have it in europe its called a flymo

be carefull you dont FALL INTO THE BLADEEEES!!!

Can you trim hhair with it??

quote:
D RULE!: May 29, 2005 2:48 PM

Does it use a blade or is it like a weedeater with string?

/quote


you don’t read much do you boy?

actually, it’s not clear whether it’s blades or string cutting…the blurb above says blades, but when you go to the hammacher site, it says nylon strings. so which is it?

I hope that John Deere doesn’t sue for trademark infringement (color usage).

This makes no sense to me. If it’s busy shooting air in a downward direction making it float, dfoes the shooting air not push down on the grass being that teh grass is directly beneath the mower and teh only thing which the mower can push on? Would this not flatten the grass momentarily? Would the flattening of the grass reduce the amount cut by the mower making it difficult to actually cut the grass? Just some questions from an engineer.
~Joe

So, has anyone heard of the flymo?
Geez, shut up with that, you freaking idiots. Once it’s been said five times, you’re no longer breaking ground.

“Just some questions from an engineer”

Lord knows you’re not an English major.

You know there was a flymo back in the day right?

But I cannot get a FLYMO in the US, However I can get a HoverMower that uses gasoline and not Petrol.

Shut up Brits.

So, has anyone heard of the flymo?
Geez, shut up with that, you freaking idiots. Once it’s been said five times, you’re no longer breaking ground.

COOL! Nobody else has said this exactly, but that jizzonk look like a Flow My!

This is not a new idea. Believe it or not, this device existed in teh 60’s. I wanted one in the worst way. The technology of the day made them unreliable and the magnesium decks decayed

Found this:

http://www.thegreenhead.com/technology/2004/04/moller-m400-flying-skycar.php

Flying SkyCar!

You know, someone already did this before. I think it was called the Flymoe or something…

Look below and the 5th thing down on eBay..that’s a real hoverboard!!

Old news, saw that technology 20 years ago, sorry guys.

as said before its nothing new, I used to own a Flymo before it died. However this is the first petrol powered one I’ve seen.

Sounds like a great idea and you think it would work, but they tend to flip over and get caught on the ground. We use them at the golf course that I work at and they are more of a pain in the ass than they are good. Their cutting area is also smaller than a regular mower and expect to have to go over the same spot a few times. I have used that model as well as the Husqvarna ones, and they are a waste of time, effort and money.

I learned to mow my parent’s lawn on a similar design back in the 70s in South Africa, of all places!

No new technology here.

And I am surprised that in this lawsuit hungry country that they would release this thing. I remember being warned that this thing would eat your toes if you weren’t careful…

It’s so funny that so many people think this is a new invention. Check out the FlyMo! Hover mowers have existed since the 1970s and I certainly remember my dad mowing our lawn with one in the early-mid 80s (Britain). And it was electric, not gas or petrol powered.

So how many of you work for Flymo here in the Comments? HoverMower is way cooler you dorks… and don’t even compare blade spans…

Its an old idea that sucked the first time it was out in the 70’s

Why does it suck, if you watch the video above it looks like a great tool for hard to reach areas of your lawn. I don’t think it’s meant for doing a whole yard.

A 2hp motor isn’t going to be powerful enough to cut warm butter, much less my lawn.

If the mower had string for a cutting device, how would it fly,(hover). Think people.

These kinds of mowers were around in the 1980’s. The problem is that they push the grass down as they hover over the grass, so the cut is not as good as a conventional mower.
Glen

I think the Joker had one that was big enough to ride—terrorized the citizens of Gotham before Batman took him out.

But seriously, if you watch the video you’ll see that the cutterhead has three pivoting blades—like those found on some weedwhacker tools. Kinda like a compromise between a stringline trimmer and a mower blade. Recessed into the skirt a bit.

I will take my weed eater any day in witch i took som steel cable and found a safe (yes safe to an extent) and attached it.

on a diffrent note im in need of a new wood fence.

How would you adjust how high you would like your grass to be. Some like it short and some may like to be green.

It was stupid Idea in the begining. and too if it wasn’t runing you had to drag this thing around in the shop and scratch the bottom all up and in two years the thing would be digging up the roots.

It’s interesting, but definitely NOT new: I used a neighbor’s
Toro wheelless mower to mow their lawn as a boy in the mid-1960s. Standard blade, no other rotor, just a deck designed to generate flotation from the blade’s propwash. It was a novelty then, but I found no advantage over a more conventiona mower.

I’m 35 and I have never in my life heard about a hovering lawnmower, I’m surprised so many of you have used one back in the 70’s. Maybe this new one is built better than that Flymo? I’m interested in getting one for a few spots in backyard.

Wasn’t there like a Fly-Mo or something like that in the 70s? Anyone?

I hope that John Deere doesn’t sue for trademark infringement (color usage).

Are you trying to say that the color green is copyrighted?

There are requirements for autoshutdown in modern lawn mowers. I’m betting the thing actually uses the cutting blades themseves to provide lift. If this thing auto shuts down it’s going to lose lift before the blades stop spinning. What keeps it from leaving a bald spot on your lawn every time you let go of the handle?

Anonymous said…
“Just some questions from an engineer”

Lord knows you’re not an English major.

May 29, 2005 6:04 PM

I can tell that neither are you :)

Well, as old as the idea is, the idea of the idea being old is getting old, but I remember seeing them in shops in New Zealand when I was a kid, the only thing was is that noone owns them, and my father has used one and he said its just a gimmick for retard yuppies who probably pay someone to do thier lawn anyhow. Check out those taiwanese women doing it with scizzors.

It is actually a really useless piece of equipment. The wind used to prop it up, also pushes the grass down flat.

woot – a hover mower——wow. so cool. so old. Saw one comment with shut up Brits. Lordy – now the Yanks are going to invade Britain to destroy our weapons of mass lawn cutting on cushions of air. Christ you lot are such tossers.

They have used hovering electric lawnmawers in Britain for years. They are fine on good flat lawns, not so great in rough terrains. The blade acts as a fan and loses it’s effectiveness after hitting a couple rocks.

ahem… hover mowing by Flymo™,
since mega ages ago.

this is not an innovation, just a rehash of someone elses.

boo!

There are plenty of those. Whats specail about this rehash? And read all the comments, everything has been said at least twice.

Uh, it blows air down—wouldn’t that push the grass out of reach of the blades? Why not add hover capability to something more useful, like your head?

just one other comment—Consumer Reports rated the FlyMo very poorly back in the 70’s because, you guessed it, it flattens the grass and makes an uneven cut. Regular mowers use an updraft to vacuum the clippings into the bag, which also makes the blades of grass stand up to be cut evenly…

Doesn’t anyone remember the Red-Green episode where they soup-up a lawnmower and it goes flying?

As fiction, It was really really funny; but now looking at this – I’m thinking it could be one of those weapon of mass destruction that Saddam was supposed to have.

The proper name of this is a Flymo. I have used one for over 25 years. They work fine but I’m puzzled why it this is being advertised as something new.

I have used this HoverMower for a couple of months and it does a great job. It’s no more dangerous than any other lawnmower. don’t screw around with it and you’ll be fine. As for it flattening the grass, it’s hard to tell, but it still cuts the grass evenly nontheless.

Just get a goat and let it go in the yard. Would be cheaper. Of course a friend of mine had one of those Hover Goats back in the ‘60s. It was pretty cool except it could get over the fence way too easily.

Yes, the Hover Goats were hard to control-we usually got away with tethering them to the center of the yard to keep them from floating away. They did ok, even on rough terrain, but the exhaust was terrible.

New, I don’t think so. We have had 6 of these lawnmowers over the year dating back to 1974, wher the Black & Decker company produced gasoline and electric versions.These were all in the UK.
I have an electric one here in the USA which I had family send over to me.
No new idea’s eh !

Two things about thos hover goats.

One… they save you on fertilizer.

Two… don’t look up with your mouth open when they fertilize.

Two things about those hover goats. One… they save you on fertilizer.

Two… don’t look up with your mouth open when they fertilize.

Husquvarna has been making one of these for years. This isn’t new.

The flymo was very handy on slopes. Otherwise it was pretty useless. The lack of wheels makes it difficult to move in a straight line.

Horrible idea. Blade height would depend on how fast the engine was running, hence, how much lift it was producing. As you ran into thicker grass, and the blade bogged down, the mower would squat even lower, slowing the blade even further. Impossible to mow your yard all the same height unless you had a perfectly flat lawn, perfectly even grass, etc. And as another engineer pointed out, the hover effect is pushing the grass down rather than vacuuming it up for a nice trim. You might as well rent a helicopter and pay him to fly upside down. What marketing weenie designed this thing, and what kind of idiots would buy it?

We had a Flymo in South Africa – it was really great, easy to operate. We were wishing we could get an electric one here in Wyoming, but it seems that won’t be possible. You guys are SO funny!

flymos are still popping up on ebay now and then – the original was made by electrolux i believe who turned it over to there european division in the late 60”s .
i have one here that needs a new impeller, the bolts holding the motor worked loose and ate up the fins. it was 2.5 hp, but the 2 cycles turn high rpm and it”s the equal of at least a 4 hp briggs.

You Yanks are pure retards. Honestly, it is not such a suprise that your country is in such a mess – aaargh don’t sue me for making you unhappy or something. Think about it… would anyone design a mower where engine reve made lift vary and cutting height change on a lawn mower? Any of you morons taken a look under your mower?
You will find that the blade does not create the lift (and is height adjustable separate from the body). There is an induction fan which funnels air around the edge of the mower creating lift and … pushing grass up in the cutting zone. Typical British ingenuity. Very light, easy to use, follows the terrain and cuts very evenly. Now get back to helping George Bush ‘saving?’ the world.

I have seen hovermowers with 5.5 hp they work very well

i was picked up hitch hiking in switzerland in 1974. guy said do you have any money and if not want to do odd jobs for me i said sure! painted his house then he asked want to mow the yard i said sure he showed me a mower with no wheels stated it up and a mowing i went!told this story to people back home all thought i was crazy!then today a guy asked me in a home depot for a flymow and i almost fell down!32 years later sorry but it did great!!!!!!!!!

I was a gardener in a public park for several summers in the 90s and we used gasoline powered Flymo mowers where the tractor mowers could not go. These things are light, cut evenly, and make quick work of tall grass. I want one for my yard.

Used a Flymo for my parent’s large lawn for years. When did they add wheels? ;) The cutting height was adjusted by blade height relative to plastic skirt edge. No, it doesn’t have to go in a straight line. The assumption is the operator can walk straight, but that’s the joy, even a 5 ish HP gas driven one, with a bit of oompf, can be swung in an arc under bushes and the absence of wheels cuts closer to walls, tree trucks etc

I had a flymo in the 80's in Calif. and their great. Purchased it from one of those flyers you get with credit card statement. Everyone who saw me using it wanted to get their hands one but couldn't tell them how. Can't wait to get my hands on another one.

I notice some people said that it sucks. How can it suck? Surely it only blows! :-)

I purchased a house back in 1996 and found a 'hover' lawn mower left behind in the shed. Was quite interesting but had no use for it and left it there when I left.

I lived in the UK till '87. The hover mowers were great especially with wet grass. When I came to Canada I could not believe they didn't have them. So useful on slopes. Wish I could get one again.

wow I like th flymo GL47 Better

yeah hover mowers work ok used one a few times they work best on smooth flat ground.but here is my beef if this hover mover uses blades it is considerd a lawn mower right? well the epa banned 2 cycle engines on lawn mowers and good ole lawnboy had to drop their 2 strokes and replace them with 4 stroke engines this isnt fair if they can use 2 strokes and lawnboy can not!!!!!