Hover Lawn Mowers

Size guide:
 up to 250m²- width 30-35cm (12-14in)
250 - 500m²width 35 - 45cm (14-18in)
Over 500m²width over 45cm (18in)

Hover Mowers are good utility rotary mowers for the smaller garden. They are simple in design making them fairly cheap and easy to manoeuvre as they float on a cushion of air. As they don't usually have wheels they have to be carried so limiting the size. 

Larger petrol versions are available which do have 2 back wheels to help move them when stopped. These tend to be very large and used for extensive areas of rough grass. Hover mowers can't usually cut very close but give a very acceptable finish if not the highest of quality. 

Hover mowers are rotary by nature, they have a single centrally mounted spinning blade. They have a fan of some sort fitted above the cutting blade so that a down-draft of air is created on which the mower can float over the lawn. Floating on an air cushion means that the mower is unlikely to "scalp" any parts of the garden where there might be a slight bump as the mower will float with the change in height of the ground.

As they lack any sort of roller, hover mowers cannot produce the characteristic stripes often regarded as the hallmark of a good lawn (not that they necessarily are the hallmark of a good lawn, they're just regarded as such)

Some of the electric versions come with a grass collecting box and some with a plastic blade for safety in case you run over the electrical cable (easier with this type of mower perhaps than with any other).

Larger petrol powered rotary mowers are good for areas of rough grass and can be used to mow steep slopes and banks with the aid of a rope. While this is hard work, it is usually the only realistic option for such places.