The introduction of the best hover lawn mower UK has marked a turning point in the lawn maintenance industry. Forget straining your muscles and summoning all the strength in your body just to have your grass trimmed. These machines are here to make the job ten times easier.
In our guide today, we are going to showcase all the models that have taken the crowd amongst the possible choices in the market. Go through it to find a suitable lawn mowing sidekick!
Table of Contents
What Is A Hover Mower?
As you can easily guess from its name, a hover mower is, first and foremost, a mower that can hover. To achieve this, it typically uses some type of impeller right above the spinning blade. As such, the moment you activate the mower, air will be pushed down, creating what we call an air cushion, which will propel the mower up a little bit. Therefore, it becomes much easier for users to move the mower.
Due to this nature, it is not at all a surprise that hover mowers need to be as lightweight as possible so that there is less energy necessary to create the air cushion. For this reason, the most common design for hover mowers is an electric motor accompanying a plastic body.
As its air cushion is typically not durable when facing wide gaps on the field as well as chassis, we do not suggest using hover mowers for the lawn’s edges or the rougher terrains.
In truth, we do recommend using hover mowers in places where there are lots of weeds, steep slopes, or waterfronts. As a consequence, you tend to see lots of hover mowers at golf courses or commercial landscapes.
Criteria To Pick The Best Hover Lawn Mower
Maneuverability
It was the need for maneuverability that led to the development of the hover mower. So, it is only natural that this aspect is the most vital for picking the best hover mower. After all, using the wheeled mowers will only let you go straight either forward or backward, but hover mowers unlock the capability of steering in any direction of your preference.
This feature is especially helpful if you happen to own a lawn that has either an irregular shape or tricky features for lawn mowers to navigate through such as rocks, ponds, flowerbeds, walls, etc. For these cases, wheeled mowers will only make you waste lots of efforts trying to steer.
Obviously, due to the air cushion, the undulating lawns will become much easier to navigate for the hover mowers. Ultimately, this cushion does such a great job of lightening your machine that you will feel practically nothing moving it around your field. Due to this, you get the ability to cut corners that you cannot cut if you use a wheeled mower.
Grass Collection
Back in the day, all of the electric hover mowers do not support the grass collecting feature due to limits in technology. If they don’t need to worry about grass collection and the additional weight, the energy necessary to keep them afloat is much lower. So, it’s only natural that many people chose the ones with no grass collection.
However, not having grass bags means that these hover mowers will simply force all the cut grass out as they mow. Hence, the moment the mowing process is completed, you will have to deal with these grasses splattering across your lawn.
Therefore, having some kind of grass box accompanying the mower can make things much easier for you. For instance, after finishing your mowing process, you only have to squat down, remove the grass collection bag, and find a place to dispose of the content. Naturally, doing so can net you quite a bit of time as well as energy.
At the end of the day, no one can make a choice for you, so consider seriously these two choices in respect to the patience and time you can provide. Ultimately, there are people who just cannot stand the grass smell, our suggestion for them is that the difference in price is just not worth it.
Blade Material
Right now, we are presented with two popular choices for blade material on the market, metal blades and plastic blades. After trying both of these choices out, we can confidently say that they have unique pros and cons.
The very first thing that you will notice using the plastic blades is the fact that they are very lightweight. Due to this reason, the mowers that use them are incredibly easy to move around, so people with weaker constitution will see this as a huge plus. However, they are, in general, much less effective than metal blades for grass cutting. Besides, they break much quicker.
As for the metallic blades, they can mow through any kind of grass easily due to how sharp they are. Nonetheless, you will need to do lots of maintenance if you want them to stay as sharp. Also, the life expectancy of metallic blades are generally much longer than any type of plastic blade. Of course, this does not take into account the user’s mistakes.
Power Type
Our recommendation for power type is either electric hover mower or gas hover mower, as they are incredibly reliable. The one thing that you need to consider when choosing either option is how big your garden is.
For instance, if there are about 10 or 15 meters in your lawn’s length, there is no better fit than an electric mower. You see, they are much easier to maintain, lighter, and cheaper than the gas alternatives. However, there is a big limit that they have, and it is the power cable. This makes moving them across large fields virtually impossible, even if you have the help of extension cords.
So, if the lawn is more than 25 meters in length, you should place a higher priority on gas hover mowers due to their reliability. All in all, we can see that the one thing making a difference between these two choices is your garden size.
Motor Power
There is a link between the power of the hover mower and its ability to shred grass into pieces. In other words, machines with higher wattage/horse power tend to have an easier time mowing through all the thick and long grass.
Due to this reason, there will no longer be a need to trim your turf continuously the moment you can discover a new hover mower accompanied by an exceptional motor. For people whose garden is home to tough gatecrashers like the horsetails or the rats’ tails, this ring especially true.
Best Hover Lawn Mower Reviews UK 2024
As hover lawn mowers come in all shapes and sizes, there might be tons of best options depending on your trimming purposes. In the list below, we will feature a handpicked list of the best hover lawn mowers UK resonating with different requirements of certain users. Maybe one of them is for you.
1 – Flymo Turbo Lite 250 – Best Moderate-Sized Hover Mower
If you have been researching for the best hover mower long enough, you should be able to tell that Flymo has been the benchmark for the industry for as long as it has been around. Dedication and sophistication a middle name for all their products, with Flymo Turbo Lite 250 being the prime exemple. A true beast in sheep’s clothing, this machine could easily be an ultimate choice for restricted space lawn UK-wide.
Featuring a deck with 25 cm in measurement, this mower is perfect for reshaping the overgrown grasses of lawns with narrow strips. The size might leave you a bit disappointed. But do not be misled by it, as the Flymo Turbo Lite 250 hover mower also boasts a 1400 watt motor. Truth be told, this motor is packed with the same power as those you find hover mowers of larger size
Combining this powerful motor with its 25 cm long sharp blades, the Flymo Turbo Lite 250 can mow through even the most overgrown grass. The four cutting heights (11 mm-31 mm) are going to do you a big favor as well. Once they are in operation, you can freely direct the machine all across the lawn. This highest level of control allows you to avoid things not included in the “to-destroy” list with no problem at all.
Nevertheless, we find that the model would be more completed with the addition of a grass collection feature. The lawn looks nothing different from whatever remains of a battlefield when the mowing session is over.
Pros
- Easy to assemble
- Can be maneuvered effortlessly
- Work smoothly even for long grass
- Metal blade
- Compact size
Cons
- The grass bag is missing
2 – Flymo EasiGlide 300 – Best Electric Hover Mower
The highlight of this model is the metallic sharp blade underneath the orange shell. With a cutting height varying from 10mm to 30mm, allowing the EasiGlide 300 to cut through any grass, including the one thicker than usual, with no difficulty at all. As these blades share the same diameter of 30 cm, it can trim the grass in an area of 0.09 square meters to wanted length with one rotation only.
To make sure that users can utilize the blades to their full potential, Flymo has equipped this unit with a 1700W motor, meaning you will be able to take down all the stubborn grass every here and there in your lawn.
This would have become the greatest hover lawn mower has it not been for the modest grass box. 20 litres is nowhere near enough in the cases of large lawn; and as a result, you have to empty it every few minutes.
Pros
- Lightweight (8.5kg)
- Quiet Operation
- Solid metal blade
- Collect clippings after mowing
- Reasonable price
Cons
- Small grass box
3 – BLACK+DECKER BEMWH551-GB – Best Choice For Small Garden
What draws your gaze to this BLACK+DECKER BEMWH551-GB when seeing it for the first time has to be its compact design. Frankly speaking, this one is amongst the least heavy options in our list, with only 5.91 kg in weight, making not only the usage but the storage less of an issue.
Obviously, to attain this design, this BEMWH551-GB gets its power from a 1200-watt motor, which is just as compact as the size itself. You can already tell from this that it can never be as strong as those of Flymo Lite 250 or Flymo Easi Glide 300.
Nevertheless, for an area around 250 square metres or less, this makes a fairly wise choice. After all, employing something with industrial strength to trim a lawn that you can cross from one side to another in three or four long steps could be a bit too much. Stronger often means heavier, and that would result in an unnecessary waste of energy.
The power might sound a bit of a disappointment, but BLACK DECKER has already made up for it by pairing this mower with 30 cm long blades. This is clear evidence that BEMWH551-GB can work on a much larger scale than the other two options. And provided that this model targets a small lawn, you can get work done in no time.
There are still issues that we are frustrated with when taking BEMWH551-GB out for lawn maintenance. One of the most fatal flaws is that the machine falls behind our expectation when it comes to rough grounds, as the blades can accidentally break.
Pros
- Compact and lightweight
- Ergonomic design
- Quiet operation
- A fitting choice for a quick trim
- Sufficient power cable (10 metres)
Cons
- Fail to perform well on rough grounds
- Weak motor
4 – Flymo Glider Compact 330AX – Best For Managing Clippings
After upgrading, Flymo has released the entirely new version – the Flymo the 330AX with the optimal features and few additional techs. It promises to bring users an effective electric hover mower.
Operating with a 1700W motor, the 330AX unit from Flymo is more powerful, which allows you to cut quickly and efficiently, in comparison with the Flymo XL500.
Meanwhile, the 33 cm blade of this hover mower is, without any doubt, the longest out of all the electric hover mowers in this list. Thanks to this blade along with the powerful motor, even the most resilient of grass cannot stand in the way of the Flymo Glider Compact 330AX.
The combination of this blade system along with the motor deliver the exceptional performance as desired, both saving your time and optimizing your work.
This lawn maintenance assistant is equipped with a 22-litre grass collection box, which is the largest among all mowers on this list. With this feature, there is no longer a need to stop the mowing to empty the box’s content. Also, the particular shape is going to keep the emptying task that follows plain and simple, turning it into the best for people disliking the grass flying around.
Flymo Glider Compact 330AX would have been able to get a higher rank had it not been for the producer’s poor choice of material when making it. This is an all-plastic unit, giving an impression that the item is weak and flimsy.
Pros
- String motor
- Blades that rotate with high speed
- High-capacity grass collector
- Easy assembly
- Foldable handle (easy storage)
Cons
- Plastic model
5 – Flymo XL500 Petrol Hover Lawn Mower – The Most Powerful Engine
When this powerful engine receives the help of the 51 cm cutting width, you know that it can delete the existence of anything standing in its way. This enables it to tidy up a huge area of grass in a matter of minutes. Another worth mentioning plus point is that the Flymo XL500 can handle wet grass, which, in most cases, is the ultimate nemesis of weak hover mowers as it tends to make them unable to float.
Performance is one thing. This best petrol hover mower is also built with an anti-corrosion hood which can protect it from the severe impact of time and keeps it good as new even after years.
But this mower is not without flaws. Unless you get the engine running, moving it around is downright labor due to its complex and heavy components. There is no grass bag accompanying the model, so prepare to be showered in clippings as they are going to get all over the place during your mowing session.
Pros
- Reliable and strong engine
- Unmatched motor
- Suitable for first-timers
- Easy to put together
- Multifunctional blade
Cons
- Heavy
- No grass bag
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Average Lifespan Of A Hover Lawn Mower?
From our experience, most hover mowers, on average, have a life expectancy falling somewhere between eight and ten years. Obviously, there are quite a lot of factors playing their parts in wearing the mowers out. Still, the most vital ones are their size, use, and how the manufacturer made them.
Of course, this life expectancy is assuming that you can provide the mower with acceptable care and maintenance. If you fail to do so, your mower’s life will only be half of this number.
How To Make Adjustment To The Cutting Height Of The Hover Mower?
More often than not, hover mowers have features that allow users to switch the height of their blades. This can be done either through a central adjusting lever, which is typically located right on the side of the mower or spacers. You can find them somewhere between the blades and their deck. Obviously, this is completely dependent on the specific types of mowers.
Just to be sure, we suggest working through the manual instruction that you receive alongside the mower. After all, preparing properly before doing this is always a good plan.
My Hover Lawn Mower Has Stopped Hovering. Why?
The one thing to keep in mind is that your hover mower can only levitate if it can form an air cushion directly beneath. Due to this reason, once there is something stopping this air cushion from developing, there is no chance that the mower can move. As such, it is important to see how wet your lawn is or whether the grass build-up under your mower is too much.
Furthermore, if you are having too many thatches or even moss in your lawn, they will surely stop the development of the air cushion. For these cases, there is nothing better to do than doing some pre-mowing cleaning using lawn rakes.
Conclusion
That is all we want to share with you about the leading models among the best hover lawn mower UK. Power is one thing, each and everyone of them has remarkable features that match different purposes. Atop that, all are here to take all the hard work away from your lawn maintenance process and bring you peace of mind.
If you are still torn between all the possible choices, perhaps the Flymo Turbo Lite 250 would work out for you. Reliable and impressive features aside, it is also the easiest one to operate, thus becoming a fitting choice for all users.