If you’re of a certain age, you may remember an old advert with the tagline “It’s a lot less bother with a hover”.  That’s basically the appeal of hover mowers.  They are designed to make light work of mowing small areas to the sort of standard the average person will accept. 

If you already know your way around hover mowers and just want to know which one to buy, then you can skip straight on to our hover mower review.  Otherwise, keep reading and we’ll tell you everything you need to know to decide whether or not a hover mower is the right choice for you.

Hover mowers versus standard electric lawn mowers

In short and simple terms, hover mowers are light and maneuverable but not very strong, whereas standard electric lawn mowers are heavier, which makes harder to move, but they are much stronger.  If you want to know a bit more detail about why this is and what it means in practice, then keep reading.

Hover mowers have very different mechanics

Hover mowers have a cushion of air underneath them, so they “hover” above the grass.  Basically they’re like little hovercrafts but with blades.  Just like hovercrafts, they have great maneuverability.  In other words, you can mow side-to-side as well as backwards and forwards.  Regular electric lawn mowers have wheels, which means that they can only really go forwards and backwards.

Hover mowers are more maneuverable than regular electric mowers

The maneuverability of hover mowers can make life massively easier for anyone with a garden which is anything other than a neat, geometric shape.  On the other hand, it can pose some health-and-safety issues.  Basically, most hover mowers are mains-powered electric mowers and it is very easy, dangerously easy, to get carried away mowing in different directions and wind up cutting the power cable.  Because of this, it is strongly recommended to use a power breaker.

In fairness, it’s strongly recommended to use a power breaker with regular electric lawn mowers, it’s just that the maneuverability of hover mowers makes this a particular hazard.

Hover mowers much smaller than regular electric mowers, so they are much easier to store.  They can, however, be a pain to get out of storage because you have to carry them to the garden, whereas you can push a regular electric mower out on its wheels.

Hover mowers need time to get started

Getting a hover mower started can also take a bit of practice.  Basically you have to tilt it slightly so that the air starts to circulate underneath it and builds up into a cushion.  Any dampness at all will cause problems here so both the hover mower and the air need to be totally dry.  Regular electric lawn mowers turn on at the flick of a switch are nowhere near as fussy about a bit of damp, although you do have to be sensible about health and safety.

It’s also worth noting that if grass build up under a hover mower, it can impact the circulation of air, so you will need to make sure that the underside of a hover mower stays nice and clean.

Hover mowers are very light

Once you get a hover mower started, however, you’ll find that it’s much lighter than standard electric mowers.  In fact, it has to be lighter than standard lawn mowers because it needs to keep a cushion of air underneath it.  This has several implications for use.

The first is that hover mowers are much narrower than regular electric mowers.  As a result, they have less cutting width, from 29cm up to 40cm would be fairly standard.  In other words, you’re going to have to do more cutting to mow the same area of lawn.  On the plus side, the narrowness is part of what makes hover mowers so maneuverable.

The second is that you can forget about anything more than basic grass cutting.  If you’re the kind of person who likes your lawn to look like it was cut with nail scissors and painted in accurate stripes, then a hover mower will not be for you.  They do a decent job of cutting lawns, but for real perfection you need a heavier mower which can handle different tools.

In principle, you can cut at different heights with a hover mower but you’ll need to get out a spanner to adjust the blades rather than just pressing a lever.  Generally this is pretty easy but it is a lot of extra steps compared to regular electric mowers.

Hover mowers do not do a good job of collecting grass clippings

If you opt for a hover mower, you can also forget about collecting grass clippings or at least any great quantity of them.  Basically, collecting grass clippings would weigh down a hover mower, so they either don’t have grass boxes or have very small ones which you will need to empty frequently if you are mowing a large area.

Even if you have a grass box, you may find that the circulation of the air under the hover mower causes it to spit grass out of the sides.  There’s not really a lot you can do about this other than clean it up.

Basically, you have to decide for yourself if this bothers you at all and, if so, how much it bothers you.  In principle, you can simply leave the excess grass on top of your lawn, where its nutrients will be reabsorbed back into the soil, which is a zero-hassle and environmentally-friendly solution.  Alternatively, you can just rake it up and compost it, which is slightly more hassle, but also environmentally friendly.

Hover mowers do not have the strength to deal with tough jobs

Lastly, as you will probably have guessed by now, hover mowers is that they really aren’t meant for dealing with gardens which have turned into jungles.  If you’re having to tame a wilderness, then your best bet might be to hire something tougher, get it (back) in shape and then use a hover mower.  In particular, you want to avoid stones, even small ones.  Admittedly this is true of regular electric lawn mowers, but they are a bit less fussy about them.

Hover Mower Review

Here is our guide to the best hover mowers on the UK market.  We’ve based our choice on performance as compared to price, so basically overall value.  For the sake of completeness, we don’t have any connections with Flymo.  It’s just that they happen to manufacture most hover mowers and they generally do a very good job of it.

Editors Pick

Flymo SimpliGlide 360 Hover Lawn Mower

Runner Up

Flymo EasiGlide 300 Hover Collect Lawn Mower

Best Budget

Flymo Turbo Lite 250 Electric Hover Lawn Mower

Flymo Easi Glide 300 Electric Hover Collect Lawn Mower, 1300 W

The Flymo Easi Glide 300 comes fully assembled and its foldable handle means that it is not only easy to pack but also easy to store.  Even though this machine is compact, it has a 20L grass box which is very straightforward to empty.  The cutting blades are metal and you have a choice of 4 cutting heights, which you adjust by means of plastic spacers.  The cutting width is 30cm and the included cable is 12M in length.  There are dual-sided controls, so the hover mower can be used left- or right-handed.

Flymo Glider Compact 330AX Electric Hover Collect Lawnmower

The Flymo Glider Compact also arrives fully assembled and has a foldable handle.  What makes this option a little different is that the grass-collection box is not only slightly bigger (22L) but also transparent, so you can literally see when it is full.  Emptying it is a breeze.  As before, the cutting blades are metal and there are four cutting heights, which you select by means of a dial on the front of the hover mower.  The cutting width is 33cm and the included cable is 10M in length.  Also as before there are dual-sided controls.

Flymo Hover Vac 280 Electric Hover Collect Lawn Mower, 1300 W

The Flymo Hover Vac 280 is intended for use in smaller gardens.  As with the previous models it arrives ready to go and is easy to store thanks to the foldable handle.  The grass-collection box holds 20L and is simple to empty.  The cutting blades are metal and there are four cutting heights which you adjust by means of plastic spacers.  The cutting width is 28cm and the included cable is 10M in length.  As before there are dual-sided controls.

Honourable mention to:

Spear & Jackson - 33cm Hover Collect Lawnmower

The only reason this is an honourable mention rather than a main pick is because you may struggle to find it, at least new.  If you can find it, it has a 33cm cutting width and a choice of four cutting heights which you select via a slider at the base.  The grass-collection box holds 20L and the included cable is 12M in length. 

What really makes this hover mower different from the Flymos is the way it is controlled.  Basically there is a bar running across the handle and you use this to start and stop the hover mower.  The bar is ergonomically-shaped and has a soft grip, so people who have issues with their hands may find it a bit easier to use.

Best Hover Mower

The best hover mower manufacturer by far is Flymo.  That’s just a given.  They’re the specialists in the niche and they’ve built their brand on the quality of their products.  The best hover mower for you will really depend on the size of your garden and the degree of manoeuvrability you want. 

Basically, if manoeuvrability is your absolute top priority, then either the Turbo Lite 250 or the Hover Vac 280 would be the best hover mower for you.  By contrast, if you want maximum speed then the best hover mower for you is the Glider Compact.  If you’re looking for a bit of both, then the best hover mower for you is the Easi Glide.

The Spear & Jackson hover mower may be the best choice for people who have issues with their hands - if you can find it.