My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

listermint

Redlim wrote: »

Cheers for the quick reply. Yes, I spotted that your local dealer helped out with the motherboard issue which is a nice reassurance. Any issues with the self install of the boundary wiring and has it been overgrown by the grass growth yet? My local seller uses a machine to bury the wiring when installing it but the overall price difference is obviously significant!

If you take your time you can install the cable accurately yourself in a few hours or less depending on your scale.

I strimmed a skinny line in the grass with my strimmer and this made sure the cable rested on the top soil and not the grass itself. This has worked perfectly. Not yet grown over yet as it's only installed a few weeks


Caveat to this is to make sure you step back from flower beds with the minimum wire distance. As if the mower drops down into the bed it can chop the cable. Easily repairable but avoidable too.

Redlim

listermint wrote: »

If you take your time you can install the cable accurately yourself in a few hours or less depending on your scale.

I strimmed a skinny line in the grass with my strimmer and this made sure the cable rested on the top soil and not the grass itself. This has worked perfectly. Not yet grown over yet as it's only installed a few weeks


Caveat to this is to make sure you step back from flower beds with the minimum wire distance. As if the mower drops down into the bed it can chop the cable. Easily repairable but avoidable too.

Great, thank you. I have approx 900sqm but it's broken into 3 separate sections. I'll need some guide wires to link them up. Would the 430x be overkill for this size?

KCross

Redlim wrote: »

Great, thank you. I have approx 900sqm but it's broken into 3 separate sections. I'll need some guide wires to link them up. Would the 430x be overkill for this size?

Yes and No!

Yes, in that the 430X is rated for 3 times your lawn size so its overkill on that metric.

No, because youve mentioned you need guide wires to link 3 separate lawns. The smaller mowers, more suited to your size lawn, only have one guide wire. If you need 2 guide wires I think you need to bump up to the 430X.

Do you think you could survive on one guide wire? If you could you would have the option of downsizing and hence much cheaper mower.


Depending on where you place the docking station and your lawn layout it might be possible to use one guide wire that travels across all 3 lawns.

Redlim

KCross wrote: »

Yes and No!

Yes, in that the 430X is rated for 3 times your lawn size so its overkill on that metric.

No, because youve mentioned you need guide wires to link 3 separate lawns. The smaller mowers, more suited to your size lawn, only have one guide wire. If you need 2 guide wires I think you need to bump up to the 430X.

Do you think you could survive on one guide wire? If you could you would have the option of downsizing and hence much cheaper mower.


Depending on where you place the docking station and your lawn layout it might be possible to use one guide wire that travels across all 3 lawns.

Cheers for your input. It would be great if I could get by with a single guide wire but tbh I'm a little clueless as to what's possible. The site is only 0.5 acres in total but the 3 sections are well segregated, i.e. 1 North, 1 South & 1East section. Maybe I could get by with a cheaper model but I'm always a sucker for the better specs!

KCross

Redlim wrote: »

Cheers for your input. It would be great if I could get by with a single guide wire but tbh I'm a little clueless as to what's possible. The site is only 0.5 acres in total but the 3 sections are well segregated, i.e. 1 North, 1 South & 1East section. Maybe I could get by with a cheaper model but I'm always a sucker for the better specs!

Without a pic of the layout I cant answer for you, but lets say you have the docking station on the north lawn you could then run the guide wire from the north lawn, to the east lawn and terminate in the south lawn.... that one guide wire would suffice in that case but it is dependent on you being able to put the docking station on the north lawn..... or vice versa on the south lawn and travel south, east and terminate north.... is that making any sense to you?

If not, post a sketch of the layout and i'll draw the wire for you.

Roen

Redlim wrote: »

Hi all, I'm really interested in picking up one of these, perhaps the 430x from one of the online sellers mentioned earlier.

From a search on boards I can see a few have bought from GPL, e.g. staples7 and Roen. Did you have any issues with the seller? Has anybody bought from the other seller mentioned - gartengeraete?

All good here. Out cutting till a few mins ago.

staples7

Redlim wrote: »

Cheers for the quick reply. Yes, I spotted that your local dealer helped out with the motherboard issue which is a nice reassurance. Any issues with the self install of the boundary wiring and has it been overgrown by the grass growth yet? My local seller uses a machine to bury the wiring when installing it but the overall price difference is obviously significant!

I found boundary wire and guide wire install No problem. And my lawn would not be the most straight forward. There was a few places I found it was getting stuck but that was down to me having the guide wire too close to a run off etc. If it’s not buried it’s easily adjusted too.

I’m giving my lawn a rest today and tomorrow. I was a bit over eager and left her out a few frosty nights in last 2 weeks and I think the lawn is paying the price. Also dropped down to level 5 too quick. Again a learning curve.

Redlim

KCross wrote: »

Without a pic of the layout I cant answer for you, but lets say you have the docking station on the north lawn you could then run the guide wire from the north lawn, to the east lawn and terminate in the south lawn.... that one guide wire would suffice in that case but it is dependent on you being able to put the docking station on the north lawn..... or vice versa on the south lawn and travel south, east and terminate north.... is that making any sense to you?

If not, post a sketch of the layout and i'll draw the wire for you.

Yes, makes perfect sense thank you. I've attached an outline of the site with 2 guide line suggestions included - the yellow and blue lines.

Green shaded areas are lawn. House in the centre in grey. Garage at the North East and road to the South. The obvious path is exactly as you describe, i.e. North > East > South shown with the yellow line. A concern would be that the East > South path is across the driveway close to the entrance from the road and may be at risk of being run over, especially at night!

I already have an external socket (red dot) at the rear of the house. From here 2 separate guide wires could be run. These are shown by the blue lines. Much lower collision risk but I'm unsure if this is possible and if only with certain models.

Redlim

staples7 wrote: »

I found boundary wire and guide wire install No problem. And my lawn would not be the most straight forward. There was a few places I found it was getting stuck but that was down to me having the guide wire too close to a run off etc. If it’s not buried it’s easily adjusted too.

I’m giving my lawn a rest today and tomorrow. I was a bit over eager and left her out a few frosty nights in last 2 weeks and I think the lawn is paying the price. Also dropped down to level 5 too quick. Again a learning curve.

Understood, and much appreciated. Yes, I guess that's the advantage with the self install over a professional buried type installation as you can tweak the boundary if/when needed. Good point re the frosty weather. The app control would come in handy to park it up remotely if away from home or just too lazy to go out searching for it in the dark to switch it off manually!

Zzippy

KCross wrote: »

Havent heard of that one. I have mine 5 years, no issue with sensors.

I wonder how it got corroded. Those sensors are under the hood.
How old is it?

On it's third season now. The dealer said there is sometimes a problem with the seal, so he replaced that also. Literally only had it back a week when it started this craic again. Hardly corrosion again on the new sensor so he'd want to come up with a good reason for it going off.

KCross

Redlim wrote: »

Yes, makes perfect sense thank you. I've attached an outline of the site with 2 guide line suggestions included - the yellow and blue lines.

Green shaded areas are lawn. House in the centre in grey. Garage at the North East and road to the South. The obvious path is exactly as you describe, i.e. North > East > South shown with the yellow line. A concern would be that the East > South path is across the driveway close to the entrance from the road and may be at risk of being run over, especially at night!

I already have an external socket (red dot) at the rear of the house. From here 2 separate guide wires could be run. These are shown by the blue lines. Much lower collision risk but I'm unsure if this is possible and if only with certain models.

Thats a tough one alright. Crossing the driveway right at the entrance is a risk. More so for delivery drivers etc as they wouldnt be expecting it.

Your blue line also crosses your driveway so thats not without its risks too but more likely from yourself backing over it, if not watching. You'll just have to manage that.

One thing not clear to me is the blue line coming out from the house is in a grey shaded area and not grass.... is that all driveway? Will you have alot of digging to do to put in the blue guide wire?

Are there any kerbs/steps in the way in either route? It cant navigate steps.

If you go with the blue route you'll need the more expensive 430X with the dual guide wires.

Barr

Hi All

New to the thread and just looking for some advice.

I have a 100meter square garden

Amazon deal of the day , yesterday, had a Flymo 1200r on offer for £462.

It was a bit late last night when I saw it and didn’t have the time to do any research . No doubt it will come up again at that price.

I am brand new to all this and just wondering what is the consensus on this machine .

Value wise is it the best option for a smallish lawn . It has great reviews on Amazon.

Moreilly

Barr wrote: »

Hi All

New to the thread and just looking for some advice.

I have a 100meter square garden

Amazon deal of the day , yesterday, had a Flymo 1200r on offer for £462.

It was a bit late last night when I saw it and didn’t have the time to do any research . No doubt it will come up again at that price.

I am brand new to all this and just wondering what is the consensus on this machine .

Value wise is it the best option for a smallish lawn . It has great reviews on Amazon.

It's a nice little machine for a small garden, it would probably be the model id get if my lawn was that size.
That model is often discounted on amazon uk, best to keep a eye on it and grap it when its cheap
https://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/Flymo-1200R-Lithium-Ion-Robotic-Mower/product/B00C70LUQ4

Cyrus

Barr wrote: »

Hi All

New to the thread and just looking for some advice.

I have a 100meter square garden

Amazon deal of the day , yesterday, had a Flymo 1200r on offer for £462.

It was a bit late last night when I saw it and didn’t have the time to do any research . No doubt it will come up again at that price.

I am brand new to all this and just wondering what is the consensus on this machine .

Value wise is it the best option for a smallish lawn . It has great reviews on Amazon.

i just got one, let me know if there is anything specific i can answer

our garden is around 170sq/m but only half is in lawn so smaller again and it works very well.

Barr

Thanks guys , good to hear .... I'm in no rush so can wait for Amazon offer to come round again

Barr

Think I have got the bug …. :pac:


Found another model (Robomow RX12u for €349)


While it is a good bit cheaper is it worth holding out for the Flymo 1200r . In the real world is it a better option ?


This is the one I am looking at :

https://www.myrobotcenter.eu/en/robomow-rx12u-2018

Redlim

KCross wrote: »

Thats a tough one alright. Crossing the driveway right at the entrance is a risk. More so for delivery drivers etc as they wouldnt be expecting it.

Your blue line also crosses your driveway so thats not without its risks too but more likely from yourself backing over it, if not watching. You'll just have to manage that.

One thing not clear to me is the blue line coming out from the house is in a grey shaded area and not grass.... is that all driveway? Will you have alot of digging to do to put in the blue guide wire?

Are there any kerbs/steps in the way in either route? It cant navigate steps.

If you go with the blue route you'll need the more expensive 430X with the dual guide wires.

Yes, the grey area is driveway - loose stone on the south side which is another issue actually as the blades will not stop when going between sections so a clear path would be needed. The north section of driveway is compact and wouldn't be a problem for wire installation or the mower to cross. For access to the east section I would need to clear a section of kerbing or build an on/off ramp.

Maybe it's a little too much work to make it fully autonomous! Would it work to locate the mower in the large north section and simply pick and move the mower to the other sections, each with their own fully closed boundary wire? Clearly it makes it awkward for returning home to base to charge.

Cyrus

Barr wrote: »

Think I have got the bug …. :pac:


Found another model (Robomow RX12u for €349)


While it is a good bit cheaper is it worth holding out for the Flymo 1200r . In the real world is it a better option ?


This is the one I am looking at :

https://www.myrobotcenter.eu/en/robomow-rx12u-2018

its probably fine for a small garden, no programming though so you have to start it manually

KCross

Redlim wrote: »

Yes, the grey area is driveway - loose stone on the south side which is another issue actually as the blades will not stop when going between sections so a clear path would be needed. The north section of driveway is compact and wouldn't be a problem for wire installation or the mower to cross. For access to the east section I would need to clear a section of kerbing or build an on/off ramp.

hmm, thats not great so.
You realise that to put the guide wire across the driveway actually requires you to put down 3 wires across the driveway as you cant lay the guide wire outside the boundary.

So, you would have to create a narrow boundary "tunnel" across the drive way connecting the lawns with the guide wire in the middle of that tunnel.


NOTE: The docking station has to be inside the boundary as well so having it at your house means you need to create a tunnel there too.

If you were determined to proceed I would be more inclined to go with the docking station at the garage, buy the cheaper mower with one guide wire and follow the yellow line. Put extra reflectors on the mower to make it more visible when its crossing the entrance.

Redlim wrote: »

Would it work to locate the mower in the large north section and simply pick and move the mower to the other sections, each with their own fully closed boundary wire? Clearly it makes it awkward for returning home to base to charge.

imo that wont work. It defeats the purpose of having the mower if you have to physically pick it up every few hours to get it charged.

Some people on the forum do it but it wouldnt be for me. Its more work if anything, but each to their own.

Redlim

KCross wrote: »

hmm, thats not great so.
You realise that to put the guide wire across the driveway actually requires you to put down 3 wires across the driveway as you cant lay the guide wire outside the boundary.

So, you would have to create a narrow boundary "tunnel" across the drive way connecting the lawns with the guide wire in the middle of that tunnel.


NOTE: The docking station has to be inside the boundary as well so having it at your house means you need to create a tunnel there too.

If you were determined to proceed I would be more inclined to go with the docking station at the garage, buy the cheaper mower with one guide wire and follow the yellow line. Put extra reflectors on the mower to make it more visible when its crossing the entrance.




imo that wont work. It defeats the purpose of having the mower if you have to physically pick it up every few hours to get it charged.

Some people on the forum do it but it wouldnt be for me. Its more work if anything, but each to their own.

Cheers KCross, lots of solid advice for me to ponder there. Perhaps rather than buying now it's better if I wait until I have fully thought it out and completed whatever changes are needed to the driveway. Hadn't realised my lawn set up was going to be so problematic!

Dr4gul4

Like many others I've been working diligently to convince the wife that we now need to invest, mostly as our yearly lawn mower man has stepped out of the Biz.

I'm a bit stumped as to how i should work out the sq/M of the lawns here, I've tried using the Husky website, but it's not what very accurate. I've broken it up in to sections, and the over all figure appears to be around 2100 sq meters which is pretty much on the limit of the 420 model.

Any suggestions ?

jwhat

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Like many others I've been working diligently to convince the wife that we now need to invest, mostly as our yearly lawn mower man has stepped out of the Biz.

I'm a bit stumped as to how i should work out the sq/M of the lawns here, I've tried using the Husky website, but it's not what very accurate. I've broken it up in to sections, and the over all figure appears to be around 2100 sq meters which is pretty much on the limit of the 420 model.

Any suggestions ?

When the dealer came out to measure my lawn for a quote he measured the longest north - south and longest east - west points and multiplied them. My garden is in a U shape so the mower has to travel a bit. I was on the edge for a 440X so he recommended a 450x.

Dr4gul4

jwhat wrote: »

When the dealer came out to measure my lawn for a quote he measured the longest north - south and longest east - west points and multiplied them. My garden is in a U shape so the mower has to travel a bit. I was on the edge for a 440X so he recommended a 450x.

Hmm, that gives me a tasteful figure of just over 4000 Sq/m :eek: based on the site layout .

But it's not all grass of course. I'll go to the local deal and see if they'll come out on site and quote... then maybe order off GPL :cool:

?Cee?view

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Hmm, that gives me a tasteful figure of just over 4000 Sq/m :eek: based on the site layout .

But it's not all grass of course. I'll go to the local deal and see if they'll come out on site and quote... then maybe order off GPL :cool:

This is a really handy tool

https://www.robomow.com/en-IE/measure-your-lawn/

Dr4gul4

?Cee?view wrote: »

This is a really handy tool

https://www.robomow.com/en-IE/measure-your-lawn/

2245m Japers, I'm on the edge Looks like the 430X might be a better option here . Kudos !

In the interest of fairness, i could also purchase the RS Royal 625 Pro which should cater for the area also ..

Redlim

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Like many others I've been working diligently to convince the wife that we now need to invest, mostly as our yearly lawn mower man has stepped out of the Biz.

I'm a bit stumped as to how i should work out the sq/M of the lawns here, I've tried using the Husky website, but it's not what very accurate. I've broken it up in to sections, and the over all figure appears to be around 2100 sq meters which is pretty much on the limit of the 420 model.

Any suggestions ?

I used a mobile app called GPS Fields Area Measure which allows you to create a manual measure on the map or use your phone's GPS while walking along the perimeter of your lawn.

Dr4gul4

Redlim wrote: »

I used a mobile app called GPS Fields Area Measure which allows you to create a manual measure on the map or use your phone's GPS while walking along the perimeter of your lawn.

I'll stick the wellies on during lunch time and double check with that so :cool:

septicsac

There are plenty of online programs that use Google, that allow you to draw along your lawn perimeter and then calculate the area for you, Google is your friend

Dr4gul4

Redlim wrote: »

I used a mobile app called GPS Fields Area Measure which allows you to create a manual measure on the map or use your phone's GPS while walking along the perimeter of your lawn.

Worked a charm there, just under 2200 sq meters ... now it's off to the dealers

kaisersose77

I'm looking to purchase a robot lawnmower for a 200m2 garden. Any reason not to go with a yardforce SA500ECO instead of the Flymo 1200R? The SA500ECO is €444 from amazon.de delivered to addresspal (and then looks like ~ €13.49 from uk to Ireland).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Rotary-Mowers/Yard-Force-SA500ECO-Robomower-Lithium-Ion/B07B6WHCYQ