Hover V Wheeled mower which one?

xmaslolly76

I have a small back garden the lawn is 9m x 5m and has in the last two weeks been returfed.

We need a new mower up until now we had use of the landslords but he has moved from flat to a house so now needs his mower from this house.

So do we go for the wheeled type like we have use of now or a hover mower?

These are my thoughts:
Much to the OH's delight I have been told that the wheeled ones are better for quality of cut, how long they last and the fact they will go through pretty much anything even the two foot jungle we used to have here without batting an eyelid where as a hover mower would probably run screaming for the hills unless you strimmed it down first.

However it is only a small garden we have, the lawn is new, very level and is excellent quality grass so i think a small hover mower is all that is needed to keep it in trim. This would cost less and is lighter to manouver and man handle about for me (the one who will probably end up doing all the lawn cutting).

Anyway thank you for reading and for any thoughts you can share :-)

lostinrates

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

This would cost less and is lighter to manouver and man handle about for me (the one who will probably end up doing all the lawn cutting).

Anyway thank you for reading and for any thoughts you can share :-)

Fwiw I (female, not very strong due to health issues) find the wheeled mower easier than the hoover. In fact, though we have both I NEVER try the hover anymore, its just to hard for me I'm afraid! Can you try a friend's hover to see how it is for you?

xmaslolly76

I have used hover mowers before and i find them easy to use as long as the lawn is in good condition i think they fall down when the lawns are less than perfect. This question has come about as me and OH are having a disagreement on what type to buy he has never had a garden before. :-)

Lotus-eater

If I had the choice, I would go for a wheeled, but there are very different quality of wheeled mowers out there. Some would probably be worse than a hover.

grizzly1911

We have two lawns totaling probably 200m2.

On sand so can go mad or dry out completely depending on rainfall.

I have had use of a flymo hover with a box on to "collect" the grass for 20+ years. Small garden originally.

When we moved here I persevered a bit but was lucky enough to be able to buy a proper petrol cylinder one so I could putter up and down and leave nice stripes.

We also have moles now and the cylinder tends to bog down in the dips and chop the lawn. The hover has become a little untidy and doe spray grass even with collection box.

I therefore took the plunge a month ago and brought a Bosch Rotak 36" from B&Q on offer at £89. Whilst I do not know how well it last and how sharp the blade will stay:-

It is light and easy to use, the wheels take the low weight.

Gives good results, nice even cut.

Good height adjustment.

Doesn't seem to labour as much in the long stuff as the flymo.

Good collection of cuttings (although will still blow dust around a bit).

Has a roller at the back to support it at the edge of the lawn and leave a stripe of sorts.

I can certainly cut the lawn more quickly than either of the other two.

Downside

As it is so good at collecting the grass it fills up box quicker than I am used to. More trips to the bin.

Not as easy to empty as my old flymo but I'll get used to it.

Would certainly recommend them. They do make smaller versions and you can get cheaper alternatives but I am not sure whether the latter may a false economy.

The B&Q offer was certainly a good deal which helped.

Flymo has gone to the tip.

morg_monster

we got a hover mower off ebay for £8 when we moved into our new house, with total lawn area probably similar to you OP. We have a paved path around it so I like the plastic blade the mower has, means I can just mow right over the edge without damaging anything. Same with mowing over the electric cord by accident ;-) As a small lady I find it easy to maneovre not only around the lawn but also getting it in and out of the shed. Having said that though as others have mentioned it won't deal with really overgrown grass, but you could always borrow a better one to do it 1st time.

personally I just wasn't interested in spending very much on a mower with a relatively small lawn so that's why we looked at ebay - there are so many mowers on there and often they only get 1 bid so you can get real bargains. We spent more on the extension cord for it! BTW I did read bad things about flymo hover mowers, ours is a qualcast one.

yumyums

I've used a flymo hover mower and in my opinion it gives a terrible quality of cut. You have to go over the same spot a couple of times to get it all to an even length. Also you can't adjust the height of the cut (not sure if this is true for all hover mowers or just the one I used)

An electric wheeled mower is not very heavy (I'm female and not very strong) and gives a much neater cut.

Petrol ones are a lot heavier and I suppose would be OTT for a small lawn!

pedrothefish

wheeled everytime!
i cut grass to eke out my pension, using the peoples own mowers.
hovers are hard work but wheeled ones are a doddle and give a better finish.

xmaslolly76

Wheeled it is then i am off to B & Q in a bit to find one :-)