My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

muckyba

spose wrote: »

For 500m2 the 315x should be plenty big enough. You don’t need WiFi coverage in the garden for them either.
I’ve bought off myrobotcentre a few times and found them good.

My lawn is c.500m² and the 315x is more than enough for this. Covers the lawn very easily, I schedule it to run for c 36-40 hours a week during the growing season and it maintains the lawn with ease.

Lurching

Great, thanks folks.
I'll go with the 315X I think.

My next issue is the crap phone signal at my house, so it'll be interesting to see how well the Connect system works.

Moreilly

Alfie1 wrote: »

That happened here a few days ago for no reason that I could see. Turning it on & off didn't fix it. I took it back the the charging station & when I tried it again later after it had reached full charge it worked ! Did yours sort itself out ?

Powered down everything again while in the charge station, seems to have sorted it (for now anyway!)

Live at Three

Is frost a problem? Mine is still in hibernation in the shed but grass really needs to be started. What about frosty nights? Are these bad for battery?

Tails142

I don't think a mild frost of -1 or -2 is anything to worry about. The lithium in the battery is a salt so has a much lower freezing point than water and people with electric cars and lithium batteries aren't worried about keeping them out of frost for example.

slegs

Got my extra cable and my Rob1000 is happily mowing away. Great purchase. Family treating it like a new pet lol

slegs

slegs wrote: »

Got my extra cable and my Rob1000 is happily mowing away. Great purchase. Family treating it like a new pet lol

Does the boundy wire need to be connected to the base or can you have islands?
Like around a tree in the middle of the lawn .
or a separate lawn that it couldn't drive between ?

KCross

BrownFinger wrote: »

Does the boundy wire need to be connected to the base or can you have islands?
Like around a tree in the middle of the lawn .
or a separate lawn that it couldn't drive between ?

Boundary wire is connected to the base.

You can have islands but its still done using the same length of boundary wire. It has to be powered.

You run the wire from the boundary over to the tree, around it, and back via the same route to the boundary. When the mower "sees" two boundary wires running parallel it ignores it.

slegs

BrownFinger wrote: »

Does the boundy wire need to be connected to the base or can you have islands?
Like around a tree in the middle of the lawn .
or a separate lawn that it couldn't drive between ?

Both. You need an entire loop around the boundary of the garden. Islands are no issue. Run cable out from the boundary edge around the island, create a boundary around the island and then go back with the cable to the point you left to create the island boundary. Tack the cable to and from the island down together. The mower drives over this "double cable" like its not there as one signal negates the other. Only rule here is that cables to different islands cant cross each other or the boundary itself. The manual explains it well with diagrams.

If you have a separate lawn that the mower cant drive but you can get the boundary wire there (in one loop with main garden) then you will have to lift the mower and bring to that area to mow and bring back to charge. Ideally you should find a route across path or driveway that the mower could use. As long as its flat or has a gentle ramp it can go across concrete or tarmac (but not gravel/stones)

interesting....
I think I could get away with it.
I would have to move the mower manually between front and back but I think I could make it work on the one loop.
quick measure on maps says I'd need 190m for the loop so cutting it a bit close with the 200m supplied cable but that seems cheap .

bennyineire

Hey all, anybody ever have any issue with this error on a automower 450

When I started it up a few days ago initially I was getting a "lifted"error, so I took the cover off and put it back down. Issue resolved.

It worked grand then for about 3 hours, then it came up with a "cutting system blocked" error and now I can't get rid of it.

I checked underneath and there is nothing blocking it, I even took off the silver disc that covers the cutting motor and give everything a good clean. Everything moves freely.

So Turned it off overnight, turned off loop too. Repeated this a few times and still the same error.

I have the cutting height at maximum, the area where is starts off has short grass that I cut with my push mower.

When it starts the cutting wheel starts off for a few seconds at a low speed the stops, it then reverses and tries again for another 3 or 4 times then error comes up.

So I'm thinking faulty sensor ? or maybe something obstruction the sensor.
Any suggestions to what I can do ? Of course I can't bring it to shop for repair for the forcibly future either

KCross

BrownFinger wrote: »

interesting....
I think I could get away with it.
I would have to move the mower manually between front and back but I think I could make it work on the one loop.
quick measure on maps says I'd need 190m for the loop so cutting it a bit close with the 200m supplied cable but that seems cheap .

Manually moving isn’t a good option, imo. It defeats the purpose of having an autonomous robot.

You would be continuously lifting it and bringing it back for charging and then back over again an hour or so later.

These mowers don’t cover all the ground in one session. They do it over days.

septicsac

I have my Husky 450X now about 20 months. Few teething issues, but apart from that running very well. Originally insured with AIG/itsforwomen, but now they no longer want to insur as "speciifed item" resulting in increase of 80E, typical from insurance companies operating in Ireland. I have priced Zurich, who have quoted me 20E less than new quote from AIG, but this is with a higher standard of insurnace, higher rebuild and contents etc, just waiting confirmation from thier managers.
123/RSA way off the mark for me, a further 130E dearer.
Anyone else got insurance with different companies before I do the rounds of them all?

deadl0ck

septicsac wrote: »

I have my Husky 450X now about 20 months. Few teething issues, but apart from that running very well. Originally insured with AIG/itsforwomen, but now they no longer want to insur as "speciifed item" resulting in increase of 80E, typical from insurance companies operating in Ireland. I have priced Zurich, who have quoted me 20E less than new quote from AIG, but this is with a higher standard of insurnace, higher rebuild and contents etc, just waiting confirmation from thier managers.
123/RSA way off the mark for me, a further 130E dearer.
Anyone else got insurance with different companies before I do the rounds of them all?

Never thought about insurance - is it just to cover theft ?

paul-2008

Hi All, I'm sure this has been covered 1000 times over but looking to get some advice. I have attached a satellite image of the house. Garden area is about 520m^2 of grass in three zones, with a tar driveway separating the zones. Perimeter of this is about 150m. The main section of grass has leylandii trees down one side and a hedge down the other side.

Basically I'm wondering what is the best automower to get based on the above - and also is this possible to do the installation myself? I would count myself as fairly advanced at DIY and dont think it will be an issue but just wondering for piece of mind have people gone and gotten installers in to do this for them?

KCross

paul-2008 wrote: »

Hi All, I'm sure this has been covered 1000 times over but looking to get some advice. I have attached a satellite image of the house. Garden area is about 520m^2 of grass in three zones, with a tar driveway separating the zones. Perimeter of this is about 150m. The main section of grass has leylandii trees down one side and a hedge down the other side.

Basically I'm wondering what is the best automower to get based on the above - and also is this possible to do the installation myself? I would count myself as fairly advanced at DIY and dont think it will be an issue but just wondering for piece of mind have people gone and gotten installers in to do this for them?

Very hard to tell from that picture.

Basically
- the mower has to be able to drive between all the areas without hitting any steps or gravel.
- the docking station needs to be positioned on the lawn somewhere and have power available to it.... most of them come with a 10m cable and its usually not extendable(or at least not recommended).
- You need to be able to run a continuous boundary wire around all 3 lawns. You cant put it around one lawn, cut it and then go over and do a separate boundary for the others as that would mean physically moving the mower between the lawns.
- The path that the mower travels to get between the lawns needs to be a decent width (depends on the mower) and will have boundary wire around it as well.


Only you can really tell whether all that works in your case based on the tar you have, steps, kerbs etc.

septicsac

septicsac wrote: »

I have my Husky 450X now about 20 months. Few teething issues, but apart from that running very well. Originally insured with AIG/itsforwomen, but now they no longer want to insur as "speciifed item" resulting in increase of 80E, typical from insurance companies operating in Ireland. I have priced Zurich, who have quoted me 20E less than new quote from AIG, but this is with a higher standard of insurnace, higher rebuild and contents etc, just waiting confirmation from thier managers.
123/RSA way off the mark for me, a further 130E dearer.
Anyone else got insurance with different companies before I do the rounds of them all?

Small update
Zurich will quote for fire and theft, but want 750€ excess on mower.
Have to contact Aig direct, fed up with Itsforwomen message system, but they have upped it 80€ this year and say it is all down to mower. Have to check excess.
123.ie 130 dearer that zurich
Try few more tomorrow

sligopaul

Any one running a Stihl Imow. Have a 632p that has come out of hibernation last week or so, have it a year now and while good when working , not without issues. At tail end of 2019 season issues with charging , replaced charging cable. further issues at beginning of this season, hopefully cured by full reset, now the display screen is misting up with moisture getting in . Doesn't bode well for longevity, questionable whether designed for our climate ( And was inside from early Nov last year )

paul-2008

KCross wrote: »

Very hard to tell from that picture.

Basically
- the mower has to be able to drive between all the areas without hitting any steps or gravel.
- the docking station needs to be positioned on the lawn somewhere and have power available to it.... most of them come with a 10m cable and its usually not extendable(or at least not recommended).
- You need to be able to run a continuous boundary wire around all 3 lawns. You cant put it around one lawn, cut it and then go over and do a separate boundary for the others as that would mean physically moving the mower between the lawns.
- The path that the mower travels to get between the lawns needs to be a decent width (depends on the mower) and will have boundary wire around it as well.


Only you can really tell whether all that works in your case based on the tar you have, steps, kerbs etc.

Yeah the image is awful, fair enough!!!

The only issue i think i would have is crossing the driveway to one of the sections of grass - i dont fancy cutting into the tar.

Regarding the type of mower for my application is there any recommendations on this?

KCross

paul-2008 wrote: »

The only issue i think i would have is crossing the driveway to one of the sections of grass - i dont fancy cutting into the tar.

It wont navigate anywhere without the boundary/guide wire in place so if the only place to access that lawn is across the drive you will have to cut the tar (multiple times) to get the boundary and guide wires across it.

paul-2008 wrote: »

Regarding the type of mower for my application is there any recommendations on this?

Its likely going to need at least one guide wire to navigate to the "remote" lawns. Some mowers dont have guide wires so that would be an important consideration.

Naos

I've just moved house and the back garden is approx 250sqm.

Have been eyeing up a robomower for some time as I like the idea of mulching the grass and quite frankly, mowing the grass gets a bit tedious after a while.

https://www.myrobotcenter.eu/en/mcculloch-rob-s400-2020 is on sale now for 650e (up to 400 sum).

1) How long do you reckon it would take to mow 250sqm?
2) Is this a waste of money and am I better off just mowing with a normal petrol/electric lawnmower? Would still need to buy one.
3) If it's not a waste, can I do better than the above price? Seems to be the best from what I've researched.

Cheers!

KCross

Naos wrote: »

1) How long do you reckon it would take to mow 250sqm?
2) Is this a waste of money and am I better off just mowing with a normal petrol/electric lawnmower? Would still need to buy one.
3) If it's not a waste, can I do better than the above price? Seems to be the best from what I've researched.

1. You’ll need to get away from the “how long will it take” mindset. That’s not how they work. You don’t let the grass grow for a week and then send it out for a few hours. Typically you’d have it setup to mow for several hours a day 4 or 5 days a week. It all depends really on the mower, lawn size, grass growth etc but it will be out doing its thing most days.

2. Not a waste. Your lawn will be healthier and you’ll get some time back. Go for it.

3. Can’t answer that one, not in the market for one.

Naos

KCross wrote: »

1. You’ll need to get away from the “how long will it take” mindset. That’s not how they work. You don’t let the grass grow for a week and then send it out for a few hours. Typically you’d have it setup to mow for several hours a day 4 or 5 days a week. It all depends really on the mower, lawn size, grass growth etc but it will be out doing its thing most days.

2. Not a waste. Your lawn will be healthier and you’ll get some time back. Go for it.

3. Can’t answer that one, not in the market for one.

Thanks KCross - apologies, I meant how long would it take to mow with a typical push petrol/electric mower.

Good to know wouldn't be a waste, thought garden might be a bit too small but I like the idea of a fresher garden and always cut.

muckyba

Hi all,

Going into my 3rd season with the automower. I usually treat the lawn with at the start of the season, however, I'm considering not feeding this year. What is peoples opinions on not feeding the lawn when they have automower?

Thanks.

paulbok

muckyba wrote: »

Hi all,

Going into my 3rd season with the automower. I usually treat the lawn with at the start of the season, however, I'm considering not feeding this year. What is peoples opinions on not feeding the lawn when they have automower?

Thanks.

Might be worth doing a soil test and see if it is lacking anything in particular.
Grass clippings have an NPK of 4 - 0.5 - 2, plus small amounts of other plant nutrients.
Recommended ratios of N-P-K for lawn fertilizers include 3:1:2 or 4:1:2.
It may need a little phosphorus going by those guidelines, but a test would say for sure as every site will have it's own needs.
Do a pH test while you are at it too.

After 2 years of mulching in clippings it should be in good shape though.

bennyineire

bennyineire wrote: »

Hey all, anybody ever have any issue with this error on a automower 450

When I started it up a few days ago initially I was getting a "lifted"error, so I took the cover off and put it back down. Issue resolved.

It worked grand then for about 3 hours, then it came up with a "cutting system blocked" error and now I can't get rid of it.

I checked underneath and there is nothing blocking it, I even took off the silver disc that covers the cutting motor and give everything a good clean. Everything moves freely.

So Turned it off overnight, turned off loop too. Repeated this a few times and still the same error.

I have the cutting height at maximum, the area where is starts off has short grass that I cut with my push mower.

When it starts the cutting wheel starts off for a few seconds at a low speed the stops, it then reverses and tries again for another 3 or 4 times then error comes up.

So I'm thinking faulty sensor ? or maybe something obstruction the sensor.
Any suggestions to what I can do ? Of course I can't bring it to shop for repair for the forcibly future either

Sorry to bump this post, but has anyone had this issue and if so how did you resolve it

B-D-P--

Can see mine did 2 mins in front lawn this morning & back the the back of the lawn

Shefwedfan

So I am back, long time ago in 2016 I was looking at one of these but ended up on ride-on-mower. Which to be fair has done exactly what I want, but we mulch all the time as no place to dump grass and harder to get time to cut the lawn. With a big solar PV array would also make sense to charge off that....

So just wondering, is any brand/model really standing out at the best? the guys I bought mower off does Stihl and Husqvarna. My mower is Viking(Stihl in reality) and has never missed a beat except when I made hit a blade. Are the automower as good?

Any able to plot out the lawn and miss items yet or they just bounce off?

Garden is circa 1600m2 based on a tool I found online.

Thanks

B-D-P--

Really just because a company makes a good ride on, doesn't mean they are winners for automower.

Ferrari make great super cars(So im told), Doesnt mean I'll get a electric car from them.

Best automower in my opinion is Husqvarna X range.
I have 430x and its a mighty machine.

Your basically asking us to summarise a thread into 1 reply, Go back & have a read, there's some great inputs here.

Shefwedfan

B-D-P-- wrote: »

Really just because a company makes a good ride on, doesn't mean they are winners for automower.

Ferrari make great super cars(So im told), Doesnt mean I'll get a electric car from them.

Best automower in my opinion is Husqvarna X range.
I have 430x and its a mighty machine.

Your basically asking us to summarise a thread into 1 reply, Go back & have a read, there's some great inputs here.

All I was asking is if any brand now really stands out as the premium robot mower, if not the case then thats ok, it was 4 years ago when I looked at this and a number of brands seemed to be challanging for that spot.


I am well aware a good ride on doesn't mean a good automower, thats why I asked about the Viking/Stihl. I know the Husq ride on are not good but they seemed to have a decent automower.



I didn't ask to summarise in one post, if thats the way you read it then I apologize as I seemed to have caused some offense to you. Not my intention