Flymo and Other Hover Mowers

[classictvman81x]

Does anyone remember the Flymo and other brands of hover mowers, without wheels?

G19, with a Tecumseh 3.25 HP 2-cycle engine:


GT4, with a Briggs & Stratton 3.5 HP 4-cycle engine:


Very rare Flymo, with a Kawasaki 1.25 HP 2-cycle engine:


GLE15 electric:


Allen, with a Suzuki M120X 2-cycle engine:


Most recently, according to their official website Flymo itself no longer makes any gasoline-powered hover mowers, but only electric hover mowers and both gas and electric rotary walk-behinds with wheels. I'll bet safety may have played a part in the discontinuation of most gasoline-powered hover mowers.

Toro (the original US distributor of Flymo in 1965) as of 2012 had brought out a gas-powered hover mower: the Hover Pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plHVt6gqQg8

~Ben

 

[rolls_rapide]

Flymo Ultraglide

I have this model.

It cuts quite well, but the user gets covered in a blizzard of fine particles, especially if the grass is bone dry. I've had better success if the the grass is slightly damp.

The third photo in the link shows the air path. The fan sucks the grass and air through the colander-like basket, filtering it as it goes, and blows the air out underneath, acting like a hovercraft on the rear half of the machine. Unfortunately, the grass gets blown out too.

http://www.westmarketing.com/portfolio/flymo-3/

 

[turquoisedude]

Wow!

I haven't seen one of these since I was a brat in the 'burbs of Montreal.  One neighbour had a Flymo and I swear I would stare at the mower while he tried to work!  I don't know whatever became of the mower when passed away but I know I let his wife know I wanted to buy it...

 

[vacerator]

Isn't Flymo

or was it affiliated with Electrolux AB or Husquvarna?

 

[rolls_rapide]

It is.

Flymo is attached to Husqvarna, which is part of Electrolux of Sweden.

 

[classictvman81x]

Rolls_rapide

When Flymo had established its own US distribution network after breaking off from Toro in the 1970s, it was once headquartered near Nintendo of America's corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA!

~Ben

 

[petek]

I recollect seeing these in stores but never knew anyone who had bought one.. Can't see it being easy to use on the average lawn size here, maybe a small urban lawn.  

 

[foraloysius]

The electric Flymo's were the latest and greatest in the seventies in our neighbourhood. But theyw were very noisy in comparison to brands like Wolf mowers. This is a picture of a blue and white electric Flymo from back then.

 

[tolivac]

Remember a Flymo in a mower repair shop near Fort Walten Beach Florida.My Mom was picking up her mower and the tect was trying the Flymo-it had a gas motor-He spun around in a large circle in their test patch.It did quite well-Both of us were sort of amazed by it.This would have been late 70's.I thought the Flymos were not common in the US since they cannot pass our CPSC safety regs.

 

[rolls_rapide]

They even do Robotic mowers...

Here is the Flymo website.

The copyright footer has Husqvarna as the owner. And it is stated at the top of the page too.

It's perfectly conceivable that Flymo entered into partnerships in different territories.

http://www.flymo.com/uk/about-us/

 

[tolivac]

I watched videos of a newer model of Flymo-it has a grass catcher and a separate chambers for the lift blower and blade.The machine has wheels in the front.Suppose this could meet US CPSC safety standards.A cordless model would be very nice!!!I suppose to run the lift blower-that requires a LOT of power from the motor/engine.So it makes sense its a plug in model.

 

[tolivac]

And in the videos showing the use of the Flymo-note that it is swung side-to-side like a string mop-or a sythe.It can also be pushed forward or back as a wheeled mower.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Side-to-side motion

You can still do that with the UltraGlide model, but you need to be reasonably fit - this machine is more than a tad heavier than the non-collection models.

If your lawn is undulating in part, (dips, hollows), it is easy to 'run aground' with the UltraGlide. Then the machine becomes a dead weight.

The clear transparent collection bin lid, quickly becomes non-see-through due to the grass deposits.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like my machine, it does cut quickly and smoothly. But it does give your lower back muscles a bit of a work-out, so not suitable for everyone. That, and the blizzard of grass particles.

Some of Amazon Uk's reviews were somewhat scathing.

http://https//www.amazon.co.uk/prod...tar&reviewerType=all_reviews&showViewpoints=0

 

[gizmo]

I have had flymos since I was a teenager. Dad had a dreadful Pope 2 stroke wheeled mower that I couldn't start. I had an after school job so I bought a second hand electric Flymo from the Trading Post. It was amazingly powerful, it easily cut our heavy kikuyu lawn which always caused the Pope to struggle. The advertising was "mows as fast as you can walk" which was about right.

My grandmother moved to our suburb, in a small block of units all of which were owned by older ladies. Every couple of weeks my mother would take me and the Flymo down and I would mow lawns for my Nan and two of her neighbours. This was before I was old enough to drive a car.

This Flymo was a blue and white one similar to the one Louis posted. (Made in Australia, the handle was different to Louis's photo.) It has a pinion and ring gear reduction, the motor turned at some incredible speed and there was a reduction gear to the fan/blade assembly. The ring gear was very noisy, a real screaming sound. I thought it was faulty and replaced pinion, gear and bearings but it was the same. When I asked a repairer, he said that was normal for them.

Many years later I bought one for our current property, we have a ride on mower for the acreage but use a flymo on some steep embankments behind the house. Nothing else copes with steep slopes like a Flymo. I had a 2 stroke petrol one with 45 cm blade for a while, but the plastic base cracked away at the rear and it wouldn't hover properly any more. It was very gutsy but heavy to use. I now have a 35 cm electric one, 240 volt 1400 watts. It uses a belt drive from motor to fan and is reasonably quiet. Made in UK.

I also have an EGO cordless mower, it is AMAZING. The mower of the future. Not as good as the Flymo on steep embankments, though.

http://www.flymo.com/au/products/lawn-mowers/tl350/

 

[foraloysius]

Chris

Was this the handle you had? (Couldn't find a bigger picture).

 

[gizmo]

handle

Yes Louis, that is the exact machine.

Chris.

 

[speedqueen]

It's alot less bovver than a hover!

 

[classictvman81x]

Flymo TL (TurboLite) Micromo

Does anyone lucky enough to own a Flymo or two have the rare TL (TurboLite) Micromo model with the Kawasaki KT12ADV (22.6 cc) 2-cycle engine?

~Ben

 

[aquacycle]

Good lord, we used to have one of those Qualcast Concords when I was a kid! It made a very distinctive noise.

Flymo's never lasted long for us, they always seemd to pack up within a few years. We had far better luck with Qualcast, although one of our neighbours had a Flymo for years that I had the matching toy version of - it has a big plastic dome thing on top of it that spun round when the motor was on.