Flymo is a hover lawnmower invented by Karl Dahlman in 1964, after seeing Sir
Christopher Cockerell
Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft.
Early life and education
Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cocker ...
's
hovercraft
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces.
Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
. "Flymo" is a
brand name
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of the Swedish company
Husqvarna AB
The Husqvarna Group () is a Swedish manufacturer of outdoor power products including chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, and garden tractors. Founded as a firearms manufacturer in 1689, it is one of the oldest continuously runnin ...
, a part of
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.
Electrolux products sell under a variety ...
from 1978 to 2006. The mower is a variation of the petrol-powered rotary push
lawn mower
A lawn mower (also known as a mower, grass cutter or lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but g ...
, but uses a fan above the mower's spinning blades to allow the mower's body to hover over the lawn. The mower is claimed to be more maneuverable and easier to push than wheeled petrol mowers, while delivering similar results.
Operation
The Flymo has rotary cutting blades to which is attached a fan which blows air downwards, making the mower float on a cushion of air like a hovercraft. The mower's housing, which has a skirt like a hovercraft, is made of lightweight plastic. It contains the blades, fan, and an electric motor, either battery-operated or connected to the electricity mains via a cable, trailing from the handle bar. The mower operates as long as the user keeps a switch pressed.
UK manufacturing plant
In the 1970s, Flymo's production operations grew to produce all of their lawnmowers in their UK production plant at Aycliffe Business Park, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, where they still make them today. The characteristic orange colour was introduced in 1977. Research and development was carried out in Durham until 2012, then moved to Germany and Sweden.
Additional products
;1980s
The company introduced a new kind of non-hovering electric type lawnmower, the Chevron. This electrically powered, wheeled lawnmower was aimed at gardeners who wanted clean mowing lines, which the Flymo does not produce.
In the United States, the Flymo was introduced to considerable advertising fanfare in the early 1980s. Although the unit achieved a great deal of attention and curiosity, not many sold in America.
; 1990s
In the 1990s, Flymo's focus as a company changed from just making lawnmowers, to also making garden tools including blowers and strimmers. The Gardenvac leaf blower and vacuum cleaner was introduced.
; 2013
Flymo announced their Robotic lawnmower line, the EasiLife 200/350/500, the model numbers being the number of square meters of lawn they could mow.
List of Flymo products
Flymo has sold various lawn tractors and push mowers, in addition to other lawn and garden equipment. Other products include:
* Petrol lawnmowers (hovering and wheeled)
* Wheeled electric lawnmowers
* Hand mowers
* Hedge trimmers
* Edgers
* Garden vacuum cleaners
* Robotic lawnmowers
References
External links
Corporate website
{{Husqvarna
Lawn mowers
Hovercraft
Lawn and garden tractors