DIYbanter - View Single Post - OT'ish: Is anyone here knowledgeable about types of 2-stroke hover mowers?

newshound

On 23/07/2020 16:39, wrote:
On 23/07/2020 16:26, newshound wrote:
On 23/07/2020 12:10, wrote:
I'm looking for a good used 2-stroke hover mower to cope with a steep
grassed bank, but I can't find anything that lists and describes the
old Flymo models. The models that I've seen on fleabay are L38, L300
and L470, and I'm guessing that the "L" denotes 2-stroke and that the
number denotes cutting width. Are there any other
models/manufacturers I should be considering?

They used to be the main players for hover. The Tecumseh two stroke
engine is crude but bomb-proof, although it needs oil at 25:1.

More modern ones (also branded Huskvarna?) have Honda 4 stroke engines
which are much nicer, but cost an arm and a leg.

There seems to be a cheaper clone, branded Cobra, with B&S engines (I
guess from China).

The 4-stroke hover mowers seem to be for max slopes of 45 degrees,
whereas I've got a couple of slopes that are slightly more - hence the
hunt for a 2 stroke.

Good point. I guess that relates to the possibility of the oil pump
pickup running dry, or perhaps oil sloshing around valve stems. I've
probably mowed slopes up to 50 or 55 degrees with a two stroke (using a
rope, from a level path at the top), but it gets fairly tricky at that
point. Since you only mow steep slopes with the handle uppermost, you
can design the oil sump accordingly. I suspect there is a bit of margin
beyond 45 degrees, but of course you don't want to get it wrong.