The HoverMower

Hot Topics:

By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2005/05/29 @ 9:18 pm
Category Energy

Some DIY versions on the way I bet…Eastman Industries has taken the lawn mower to a new level (literally). The HoverMower is designed to hover slightly above the ground on a cushion of air, making it more maneuverable, extremely light, easy to propel and able to reach previously inaccessible places like extreme inclines, wet grounds, and tight, difficult to get at places. [via] Link.

In the Maker Shed

Cube 3D Printer

Gift Certificate

Calculator Kit from Spikenzie Labs

Raspberry Pi Starter Kit - Includes 512MB Raspberry Pi

9 Responses to The HoverMower

scottmclay on May 29th, 2005 at 10:01 pm said:

This seems to beg for some sort of remote control mechanism. Imagine fly…mowing via joystick. Perhaps put a cluster of them together for a wider cut. With enough them together, maybe the lift could support the weight of a pilot.

Reply ↓
wsuverkropp on May 29th, 2005 at 10:59 pm said:

Very cool…but not new by any stretch of the imagination. In Europe, the Flymo brand introduced hovering lawn mowers in the 70′s. They worked pretty well, albeit with a few peculiarities: Don’t stop moving, since it will eat a hole in your lawn, and it didn’t have a bagging system.
They were and are superbly light to move once running.

Reply ↓
Bilby on May 30th, 2005 at 12:40 am said:

As much as I have always found the Flymos to be cool, I’ve had to wonder – how effective can they be? Surely the air being thrust down to provide the lift would also tend to flatten the grass.

Reply ↓
whizzbang on May 30th, 2005 at 5:35 am said:

I prefer this hovering lawnmover…
Lawnmower Link

W

Reply ↓
paulbeard@gmail.com on May 30th, 2005 at 6:52 am said:

Late to the party, I see, but I concur: this is hardly new. My grandmother had one of these 30 years ago and it was pretty neat to use. It was a corded electric device, and in England, that meant possibly running over a 220 VAC line, just to add to the thrill.

If this is in[tf]ernal combustion powered, that makes it somewhat new, I guess.

As for the downdraft/lift pushing down the grass, it didn’t seem to, but it may be the type of grass: short blades and very dense. My guess is, if you can use an old school reel mower, you can use one of these. Here in Seattle, it would work OK, but in the Southeast, I doubt it.

Reply ↓
CaRpHeAd on May 30th, 2005 at 1:12 pm said:

Hell I could make a killing buying them @ my local UK DIY store and Ebaying them to American Suckers

Reply ↓
chroma on May 31st, 2005 at 9:06 am said:

I don’t understand how it could work over bumps. Wouldn’t they disrupt the air cushion, causing the machine to tip and the mower blade to dig into the ground?

Reply ↓
bigjosh on May 31st, 2005 at 12:02 pm said:

I tried the Husqvarna HVT52 hover mower once and found it to be completely useless for actually cutting grass. When I returned to the store, they took it back without a question. It turns out that they have *never* sold one that had not been brought back the next day. They put mine in the back room next to another that was already there.

Reply ↓
duncan on December 30th, 2008 at 10:22 am said:

I had a Flymo petrol hover mower about 20 years ago, pretty much the same as this one as far as I could tell. It was the best mower I ever had, was great fun to use and pretty good for a workout too – beats just pushing a thing on wheels up and down by a longshot. Those were the days when mowing the lawn was ACTUALLY FUN. Flymo gave up their production of the petrol version some time ago, such a shame.

Don’t listen to all the slurs, just get one and go for it!

Reply ↓