I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover. One of the
ones
around £70-80. Thing is, having researched on Google groups, it seems many
people are unimpressed. So does anyone here have one? and if so are they ok?

Cheers

Matt




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.505 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 30/07/2003

"Matt" wrote in message
...
I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover. One of the
ones
around £70-80. Thing is, having researched on Google groups, it seems many
people are unimpressed. So does anyone here have one? and if so are they
ok?


I've had my one for years and it's needed a switch (common problem,
apparently), a motor under warranty, and three blades. It's one of the big
ones...350 perhaps? It cuts well and sucks all the trimmings up well. Not
too good if your lawn's very lumpy though.

I'm thinking of getting a new mower and I'm tempted by the petrol one that
Argos are doing for £90 - the McCulloch one. This is mainly because I'm fed
up having to fling the Flymo's power cable to and fro.

Si

In article ,
"Matt" writes:
I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover. One of the
ones
around £70-80. Thing is, having researched on Google groups, it seems many
people are unimpressed. So does anyone here have one? and if so are they ok?

If you buy an electric mower, make sure it has an induction motor.
AFAIK, that rules out all flymos. A specialist lawnmower centre
will have plenty of choice, but the mowers stocked by the DIY sheds
were all cheap universal motors when I last looked a couple of
years ago.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
(Steve Firth) writes:
Matt wrote:

I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover.

Don't know why, all electric mowers are crap and IMO less safe than
petrol ones. Buy a cheap petrol mower, it will only cost a few tens of
quids more than the Flymo and you'll never, ever regret the decision.

This is true of the electric mowers sold by the sheds with universal
motors. I use two electric mowers with induction motors, and it's
not true of them. Their torque/speed profile is rather similar to
a petrol engine, and not at all like a universal motor, which is
badly suited to grass cutting. Also, don't worry that an indiction
motor may be rated less power than a universal motor for same width
cut -- the induction motors I have barely get warm, whereas a flymo
universal motor wastes much of the energy getting too hot to touch,
rather than putting the energy into cutting the grass.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Bought a (replacement) Flymo in the spring, the build quality definitely
isn't what it used to be.
Still, it was cheap (B&Q clearance line) and has a reasonable grass
capacity.
If it sees me through a few years I'll be happy.

"Matt" wrote in message
...
I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover. One of the
ones
around £70-80. Thing is, having researched on Google groups, it seems many
people are unimpressed. So does anyone here have one? and if so are they
ok?

Cheers

Matt




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.505 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 30/07/2003

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Steve Firth) writes:
Matt wrote:

I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover.

Don't know why, all electric mowers are crap and IMO less safe than
petrol ones. Buy a cheap petrol mower, it will only cost a few tens of
quids more than the Flymo and you'll never, ever regret the decision.

This is true of the electric mowers sold by the sheds with universal
motors. I use two electric mowers with induction motors, and it's
not true of them. Their torque/speed profile is rather similar to
a petrol engine, and not at all like a universal motor, which is
badly suited to grass cutting. Also, don't worry that an indiction
motor may be rated less power than a universal motor for same width
cut -- the induction motors I have barely get warm, whereas a flymo
universal motor wastes much of the energy getting too hot to touch,
rather than putting the energy into cutting the grass.

I had a Qualcast rotary mower until last week when it was struggling once
again on fairly short but damp grass and the motor just died. The motor was
red hot when I took the cover off. This mower was around 8 years old but
was never happy with anything other than fine dry grass despite occasional
new blades as it clogged up.

I'll be looking at the newer breed rotary's and have noticed that petrols
are now affordable but was a bit wary that they were built to a price.
Anyone know anything about these brands such as Sovereign and Spring that
Homebase and B&Q are selling? I wondered if I was going to be able to get
spares in a year or two. One of them looks quite like a Mountfield mower.
Unless anyone can recommend a good electric mower that stripes with around a
35cm cut? We have a large garden but the lawns are split on tow levels and
with into seperate sections including some awkward bits.

On Sat, 9 Aug 2003 07:52:46 +0100, Brownie wrote:

Anyone know anything about these brands such as Sovereign and Spring
that Homebase and B&Q are selling?

Take a peek at the silver label on the top of the deck that says how
much noise it makes, note where they are made. Almost certainly going
to be CastelGarden in Italy.

I wondered if I was going to be able to get spares in a year or two.

Choose a decent engine (Briggs & Stratton would be my choice) and you
probably won't go far wrong.

What I find curious is the HP rating they put on the tickets for the
various mowers. If you actually look at the engine model, type and
code they identical, so how come they have different HP ratings? Or
does a different bit of plastic trim have some magical property that
I'm not aware of?

One of them looks quite like a Mountfield mower.

Probably because it essentially is...

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In article ,
"Brownie" writes:

I had a Qualcast rotary mower until last week when it was struggling once
again on fairly short but damp grass and the motor just died. The motor was
red hot when I took the cover off. This mower was around 8 years old but
was never happy with anything other than fine dry grass despite occasional
new blades as it clogged up.

I'll be looking at the newer breed rotary's and have noticed that petrols
are now affordable but was a bit wary that they were built to a price.
Anyone know anything about these brands such as Sovereign and Spring that
Homebase and B&Q are selling? I wondered if I was going to be able to get
spares in a year or two. One of them looks quite like a Mountfield mower.

I was using a Sears Roebuck mower my parents bought in the US
in 1966 until about 5 years ago. That had a Briggs and Stratton
3.5HP petrol engine, and all the spare parts were available for
that -- indeed, they still made exactly the same engine. When
the mower finally died, that wasn't anything to do with the
engine which inspite of only having an oil change every 10 years,
was still in A1 condition as far as I could tell. I was just
thinking of replacing the gasket between the petrol tank and
carbureter when the the body of the mower died, which is why I
had looked into spare parts availability, although the only spare
parts that were actually ever bought in 30+ years was a new silencer
and a couple of new sparking plugs.

Unless anyone can recommend a good electric mower that stripes with around a
35cm cut? We have a large garden but the lawns are split on tow levels and
with into seperate sections including some awkward bits.

I'm presuming you will need a cylinder mower for that, and I have
no experience with electric cylinder mowers. I used a 2-stroke one
many years ago, which I had restored, it having been abandoned in
my parents' garage before I was born. It was large and heavy, with
a powered roller. One day, there was a loud bang as the clutch bearing
disintigrated and the rotating cylinder blades shot all the ball bearings
several gardens down the road, leaving the cluch permanently engaged.
One thing I had never bothered restoring was the engine cutout, so I
now had this large heavy self-propelled mower with no means to stop it.
I managed to steer it in a large circle round the garden whilst I
worked out my next plan. After a couple of trips round the garden, I
steered it into a large tree, where I left it for a few seconds while
I fetched the piece of metal I used to short out the sparking plug to
stop it. For some moments then, I had had visions of the thing
ploughing through all the front gardens in the road all by itself...

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article , Steve Firth
writes
Matt wrote:

I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover.

Don't know why, all electric mowers are crap and IMO less safe than
petrol ones. Buy a cheap petrol mower, it will only cost a few tens of
quids more than the Flymo and you'll never, ever regret the decision.


Recommend the petrol one, much better. Unless you have a very small lawn
then a rabbit in a movable cage may be a better option!..
--
Tony Sayer

Hi

I'll be looking at the newer breed rotary's and have noticed that petrols
are now affordable but was a bit wary that they were built to a price.
Anyone know anything about these brands such as Sovereign and Spring that
Homebase and B&Q are selling?

FWIW I bought a Sovereign with a 4.5HP Briggs & Stratton about 5 years ago -
and it's still going strong. Think it was their end-of-season sale - about £120
if I remember correctly. The metalwork on the mower's a bit thin, but seems to
have stood up OK so far.....

HTH
Adrian
Suffolk UK

Maybe they are ok but we just looked in B&Q and our opinion was - "not long
for this world" The plastic casings are so thin! They look like they should
be classed as disposable - oh I suppose they are ;-)

We're gonna get the McCulloch petrol from Argos for £89.99, probably just as
flimsy but we'll see how it goes.

Matt

"Matt" wrote in message
...
I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover. One of the
ones
around £70-80. Thing is, having researched on Google groups, it seems many
people are unimpressed. So does anyone here have one? and if so are they
ok?

Cheers

Matt




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.505 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 30/07/2003




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.507 / Virus Database: 304 - Release Date: 04/08/2003

I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover.

Hovers don't work any more. They sort of worked when they didn't have grass
collection. However, with the grass box they just weigh down and just cut a
rut into the mud. A rotary mower with wheels will give a more consistent
height, will cut wet grass, will be easier to push and won't dig up the
ground. They're cheaper too.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:

I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover.


Hovers don't work any more. They sort of worked when they didn't have grass
collection. However, with the grass box they just weigh down and just cut a
rut into the mud. A rotary mower with wheels will give a more consistent
height, will cut wet grass, will be easier to push and won't dig up the
ground. They're cheaper too.



They used to work well on sloping banks without grass collection.

These days I use the hedge trimmer :-)


Christian.

In article ,
"James Hart" wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Christian McArdle wrote:

I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover.


Hovers don't work any more. They sort of worked when they didn't
have grass collection. However, with the grass box they just weigh
down and just cut a rut into the mud. A rotary mower with wheels
will give a more consistent height, will cut wet grass, will be
easier to push and won't dig up the ground. They're cheaper too.



They used to work well on sloping banks without grass collection.

The local council blokes used to use a flymo on a length of rope to cut the
riverbanks in town. Don't know what HSE would make of it though.

Yup, we used to have a petrol flymo when I was a kid, my Dad bought it
because we lived on a steep slope and it was the only practical way to
cut the grass. IIRC he used to use a couple of ropes on one section,
with no problems. He was very safety conscious, he never, I was never
allowed to use it without steel capped boots on.

Peter

--
Peter Ashby
School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland
To assume that I speak for the University of Dundee is to be deluded.
Reverse the Spam and remove to email me.

Our family business is repairing lawnmowers so I think I am well
qualified to answer your question.

Based on the number of modern flymo electrics we get in for repair
then Yes, they are cr*p. They are IMHO badly designed and we scrap
lots of them because the sheds sell them so cheap that if it isn't a
minor repair then its not worth repairing. B&D and Qualcast electrics
are pretty the same these days. They are simply catering for todays
throw away society. Having said that, if you treat one very carefully
then there is no reason it won't last.

First, go to a local lawnmower place that also does repairs - they
will give you good advice, will assemble and check the mower before
you take it away and if there are any problems with it then they will
be sorted without hassle. As others here have said - do you really
need a hover? Only really those with steep slopes need a hover. Also,
do consider an induction motor as they are a lot better - just let
them get up to speed before ploughing into the grass and don't let
them stall as you can burn them out. Finally, don't be afraid of a
small petrol machine.

Alan.

"Matt" wrote in message
I need a new mower and I am tempted by a Flymo Compact Hover. One of the
ones
around £70-80. Thing is, having researched on Google groups, it seems many
people are unimpressed. So does anyone here have one? and if so are they ok?