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?

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).

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.

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.

Some 4-stroke engines have no such limitation, I have a 4-stroke
strimmer which you can point in just about any direction except
totally inverted when the oil drowns the plug.

--
Chris Green
·

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.

On 23/07/2020 16:26, newshound wrote:
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.


I have a couple still and they run at 50:1 on Stihl ultra. The Husqvarna
saws I had from that era originally specified 25:1.

I'll have to look but I think the l47 has a techumseh and the other an
aspera.

I bought one for contract work on embankments but then the 87 storm
changed the direction of business so it only came out to do five minutes
on my lawn now and then.

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?

The Flymo website no longer shows the Flymo hover mower I bought with a
Honda 4 stroke motor. Husqvarna appear to sell an identical product.
Strange! Apparently they will work on a 45 degree slop, not that I have
tried.


--
Michael Chare

On Thu, 23 Jul 2020 18:29:42 +0100, Michael Chare
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?

The Flymo website no longer shows the Flymo hover mower I bought with a
Honda 4 stroke motor. Husqvarna appear to sell an identical product.
Strange! Apparently they will work on a 45 degree slop, not that I have
tried.

There are 4/ tools out there now that are 'dry sump' so although they
use valves (like a 4/) they get their (upper cylinder particularly)
lubrication from the fuel, like a 2/.

Whilst that may go some way towards the efficiency (less
over-scavenging), they are still burning oil?

Cheers, T i m

On 23/07/2020 19:05, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2020 18:29:42 +0100, Michael Chare
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?

The Flymo website no longer shows the Flymo hover mower I bought with a
Honda 4 stroke motor. Husqvarna appear to sell an identical product.
Strange! Apparently they will work on a 45 degree slop, not that I have
tried.

There are 4/ tools out there now that are 'dry sump' so although they
use valves (like a 4/) they get their (upper cylinder particularly)
lubrication from the fuel, like a 2/.

Whilst that may go some way towards the efficiency (less
over-scavenging), they are still burning oil?

Cheers, T i m

They will certainly have roller bearings for mains and big ends (like a
2 stroke) so only need a whiff of oil. I still find the lack of bore
wear in modern engines astonishing having been brought up in the days
when you regularly had to re-bore bikes and even cars.

On Thu, 23 Jul 2020 22:25:06 +0100, newshound
wrote:

snip

There are 4/ tools out there now that are 'dry sump' so although they
use valves (like a 4/) they get their (upper cylinder particularly)
lubrication from the fuel, like a 2/.

Whilst that may go some way towards the efficiency (less
over-scavenging), they are still burning oil?


They will certainly have roller bearings for mains and big ends (like a
2 stroke) so only need a whiff of oil.

So not like my old British Seagull outboard motor then (with it's 10:1
fuel/oil mix). ;-)

I still find the lack of bore
wear in modern engines astonishing having been brought up in the days
when you regularly had to re-bore bikes and even cars.

Funny you should mention that. Daughters 2001 1.2 Corsa brought up the
EML and she used one of my BT OBS dongles and Torque app on her phone
to read then reset the codes. One came back, misfire on Cyl4.

A compression test showed Cyl4 very low but was brought back in like
with the others with a drop of engine oil.

I'm guessing it may be a broken ring, rather than a worn bore?

Still, it has done over 205,000 miles now ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On 23/07/2020 23:25, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2020 22:25:06 +0100, newshound
wrote:

snip

There are 4/ tools out there now that are 'dry sump' so although they
use valves (like a 4/) they get their (upper cylinder particularly)
lubrication from the fuel, like a 2/.

Whilst that may go some way towards the efficiency (less
over-scavenging), they are still burning oil?


They will certainly have roller bearings for mains and big ends (like a
2 stroke) so only need a whiff of oil.

So not like my old British Seagull outboard motor then (with it's 10:1
fuel/oil mix). ;-)

I still find the lack of bore
wear in modern engines astonishing having been brought up in the days
when you regularly had to re-bore bikes and even cars.

Funny you should mention that. Daughters 2001 1.2 Corsa brought up the
EML and she used one of my BT OBS dongles and Torque app on her phone
to read then reset the codes. One came back, misfire on Cyl4.

A compression test showed Cyl4 very low but was brought back in like
with the others with a drop of engine oil.

I'm guessing it may be a broken ring, rather than a worn bore?

Still, it has done over 205,000 miles now ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

great engines no cam belt etc mine has done 105k ...

newshound wrote:
On 23/07/2020 19:05, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2020 18:29:42 +0100, Michael Chare
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?

The Flymo website no longer shows the Flymo hover mower I bought with a
Honda 4 stroke motor. Husqvarna appear to sell an identical product.
Strange! Apparently they will work on a 45 degree slop, not that I have
tried.

There are 4/ tools out there now that are 'dry sump' so although they
use valves (like a 4/) they get their (upper cylinder particularly)
lubrication from the fuel, like a 2/.

Whilst that may go some way towards the efficiency (less
over-scavenging), they are still burning oil?

Cheers, T i m

They will certainly have roller bearings for mains and big ends (like a
2 stroke) so only need a whiff of oil. I still find the lack of bore
wear in modern engines astonishing having been brought up in the days
when you regularly had to re-bore bikes and even cars.

My Ryobi 4-stroke power head (for strimmer, brush-cutter, hedge
trimmer, pruner, etc.) seems just to rely on splash lubrication. You
just put oil in the 'sump' (i.e. the bottom of the casing) up to a
(very indterminate) sort of level and that's it. There doesn't seem
to be any sort of pump or oil ways, it must just splash around.

--
Chris Green
·

On 24/07/2020 09:10, Chris Green wrote:
newshound wrote:
On 23/07/2020 19:05, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2020 18:29:42 +0100, Michael Chare
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?

The Flymo website no longer shows the Flymo hover mower I bought with a
Honda 4 stroke motor. Husqvarna appear to sell an identical product.
Strange! Apparently they will work on a 45 degree slop, not that I have
tried.

There are 4/ tools out there now that are 'dry sump' so although they
use valves (like a 4/) they get their (upper cylinder particularly)
lubrication from the fuel, like a 2/.

Whilst that may go some way towards the efficiency (less
over-scavenging), they are still burning oil?

Cheers, T i m

They will certainly have roller bearings for mains and big ends (like a
2 stroke) so only need a whiff of oil. I still find the lack of bore
wear in modern engines astonishing having been brought up in the days
when you regularly had to re-bore bikes and even cars.

My Ryobi 4-stroke power head (for strimmer, brush-cutter, hedge
trimmer, pruner, etc.) seems just to rely on splash lubrication. You
just put oil in the 'sump' (i.e. the bottom of the casing) up to a
(very indterminate) sort of level and that's it. There doesn't seem
to be any sort of pump or oil ways, it must just splash around.

If its anything like the one I had, it won't run well/reliably in a
number of orientations...


--
Cheers,

John.

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