A Track Record Nobody Else Has Today
I have worked with lawns for twenty years — as a lawn-care specialist, engineer, importer, designer, manufacturer and innovator. I started from zero: maintaining lawns, selling and servicing cylinder mowers, and gradually moving into technical development and product design.
When ATCO discontinued their cylinder mower production in 2010, I suddenly had nothing to sell. To support existing customers, we developed our first product — a vertical-cutting cassette for the ATCO Balmoral. Many customers still use it today.
When it became clear ATCO would never restart production, my partners and I began developing our own cylinder mower. At that time I had lost everything I invested in ATCO, so the early development relied heavily on external designers.
But in 2012, we unveiled our first prototypes — the Edward SK 1.0 and 1.1, with two different catcher designs. The concept was inspired by the legendary Balmoral (launched in 1996). Despite the technical success, the project did not reach commercial production.
So in 2013, I founded Swardman and teamed up with another external designer. We created a new prototype internally referred to as VAR, but again the cooperation stalled before serial production.
Learning from these attempts, I approached the next development round differently. The result arrived in 2014: the first prototypes of Edwin 45 and 55.
In 2015, we produced the first pilot series, and in 2016 Swardman entered serial production. At the same time, we completed development of all regeneration cartridges and other accessories — including small details like mobile-phone and drink holders.
I didn’t want to slow down. In 2017, we introduced our first serious battery model — the Electra in 45 and 55 cm.
In 2019, after a hostile takeover, the new owners removed me from Swardman. Ironically, it became the most important business lesson of my life.
I didn’t wait long. In 2020, I established United Stripes and began developing a completely new generation of cylinder mowers — ELO 1, ELO 2 and ELO 3.
ELO is the logical evolution of my career — a twenty-year distillation of field practice, engineering, craftsmanship and innovation.
We honour proven mechanisms and traditions, but we never copy.
ELO mowers are different. Purpose-built. Original. And designed by people who truly understand cylinder mowing from every angle — user, technician, and manufacturer.
When I put everything together, over the past 13 years I have brought to life eleven different cylinder mower designs, including multiple width variants. To my knowledge, no one else in the world has such continuous development history in this field today.
Timeline of Development (2011–2024)
2011 – Vertical-cutting cassette for ATCO Balmoral
2012 – Prototypes “Edward SK” 1.0 and 1.1
2013 – Prototype “VAR”
2014 – Prototypes Edwin 45 and 55
2015 – Regeneration cartridges for Edwin
2017 – Prototypes Electra 45 and 55
2021 – Prototype ELO 3
2022 – Prototype ELO 2
2022 – Prototype ELO 1 (35 and 45)
