Seago brings 2-stroke engine back to hover mowers

It took three years in the making, but Seago International Inc. has brought the two-stroke engine back to the hover mower market with its Air Force hover mower line.

“You put it on the drawing board, but until you get it out there you don’t know,” says Seago International owner Scott Sweeney. “We’ve had it out in the field now and we’re getting the results we want with a powerful, lightweight 60-cc engine.”

In 2005 the EPA placed a restriction on 2-stoke engines in handheld applications over 100cc. Sweeney says that his customers have been asking him to create a solution that doesn’t involve a 4-stroke engine.

Seago, based in Hickory, N.C., found a partner in Chinese engine manufacturer Kasai. Working together, they were able to come up with the 60cc engine that makes what Sweeney says is the lightest, most powerful hover mower on the market. The 2-stroke engine allows for the mower to be used at steep angles, and cuts at a height of about three inches.

The mower weighs 22 pounds and is most popular with golf course superintendents, but it useful for anyone who needs to mow on steep slopes or get into tight nooks and crannies.

“We decided to build a better mousetrap,” Sweeney says. “This is what we live and breathe every day. We believe we took what’s out there, and made it better.”