My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

Cyrus

KCross wrote: »

I suppose there is a bit of a difference between a "cheap" vacuum falling off a step and a €3k mower sinking in the swimming pool!

true but i have two vacuums (in a 3 storey house) and neither one of them has ever fallen down the stairs.

Lurching

So, 1 week in and my lawn is starting to look better already. I've been playing with the schedule and am up to about 5 hours per day now.

With moss, I believe the automowers are effective at reducing it.
On my grass now, the mower is cutting just moss in a lot of places.

From the experience of those on this thread, has your automower improved your moss situation, or have you still needed to scarify?

KCross

Lurching wrote: »

So, 1 week in and my lawn is starting to look better already. I've been playing with the schedule and am up to about 5 hours per day now.

I'd recommend you set your schedule based on "mowing sessions". So, time how long it takes to charge and how long it mows for and then set the timers around a multiple of that (bearing in mind the first session will have a full charge at the start).

The idea is that there is no point in, say, adding an hour to the schedule if that hour is just going to be spent charging. If you are sending it out you might as well send it out for a full mowing session.

Lurching wrote: »

From the experience of those on this thread, has your automower improved your moss situation, or have you still needed to scarify?

No moss or scarifying for me.

paulbok

KCross wrote: »

I'd recommend you set your schedule based on "mowing sessions". So, time how long it takes to charge and how long it mows for and then set the timers around a multiple of that (bearing in mind the first session will have a full charge at the start).

The idea is that there is no point in, say, adding an hour to the schedule if that hour is just going to be spent charging. If you are sending it out you might as well send it out for a full mowing session.





No moss or scarifying for me.

Have you any couch grass before or since getting the mower?

tech

Anyone know a installer that would setup a auto mower in cork , if I purchased from the germans? Thanks

paulbok wrote: »

Have you any couch grass before or since getting the mower?

KCross

paulbok wrote: »

Have you any couch grass before or since getting the mower?

My gardening knowledge is zero so if I knew what couch grass was or looked like I might be able to answer!

I just look at the lawn and see that its a nice shade of healthy green and Im happy with that!

glog

tech wrote: »

Anyone know a installer that would setup a auto mower in cork , if I purchased from the germans? Thanks

Macroom Tool hire will do it - they have a cable burying machine i believe.

tech

glog wrote: »

Macroom Tool hire will do it - they have a cable burying machine i believe.

Ho Glog, did you buy from Germany and use them to install?

paulbok

KCross wrote: »

My gardening knowledge is zero so if I knew what couch grass was or looked like I might be able to answer!

I just look at the lawn and see that its a nice shade of healthy green and Im happy with that!

It's a thick type of grass that can take over. Has sharp leaves/blades when grown that can cut your hand if you pull hard on it.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=283
I'm hoping daily or so trimming will cause it to die back as it does grow well on grazed land.

glog

tech wrote: »

Ho Glog, did you buy from Germany and use them to install?

I did buy from Germany and initially spoke to them about doing the install.

I had to put in a couple of path ramps and cross a cobble lock driveway which i was going to do myself anyway, so in the end I just did it all myself.
It was fairly straightforward.

But, they were happy to quote for install only, using my Install Kit.

MuddyDog

Had my 420 for about 2 years now. There's definitely a loud/struggling noise when it's mowing in the past few weeks. Not always but when going over a patch of grass thats not as short as the rest of the grass. It also spits out alot of cuttings in lumps. In fact as we've gotten the good weather I've gradually brought the grass length setting lower and lower and once it got to the shortest setting there was sooo much lumps of cuttings remaining I had to buy a lawn raker to collect it all. The silver plate seems a bit bent underneath it so perhaps its the noise of the blades hitting against it. I've changed the blades but that didn't help. I'm waiting on a new plate to be delivered and will see if that helps too. Setting is down to the minimum for length of grass (shortest cut) and its schedule is noon to 9pm every day.

Since I've collected all the cuttings (2 days ago) the amount of clippings is starting to increase again so I fear there is definitely something wrong with the mower and really hoping the plate will sort it. Have never had a service but always kept it fairly clean and regularly change the blades.

KCross

MuddyDog wrote: »

Had my 420 for about 2 years now. There's definitely a loud/struggling noise when it's mowing in the past few weeks. Not always but when going over a patch of grass thats not as short as the rest of the grass. It also spits out alot of cuttings in lumps. In fact as we've gotten the good weather I've gradually brought the grass length setting lower and lower and once it got to the shortest setting there was sooo much lumps of cuttings remaining I had to buy a lawn raker to collect it all. The silver plate seems a bit bent underneath it so perhaps its the noise of the blades hitting against it. I've changed the blades but that didn't help. I'm waiting on a new plate to be delivered and will see if that helps too. Setting is down to the minimum for length of grass (shortest cut) and its schedule is noon to 9pm every day.

Since I've collected all the cuttings (2 days ago) the amount of clippings is starting to increase again so I fear there is definitely something wrong with the mower and really hoping the plate will sort it. Have never had a service but always kept it fairly clean and regularly change the blades.

It must have hit something solid to bend it. You should take a look around and see what caused that as its likely to happen again at some point. Small things sitting on the lawn wont do it but driving into something solid that doesnt move will.

There are also two bearings on that shaft/plate and if the plate is bent it could be causing extra stress on those bearings as it wont be balanced when its spinning..... think of it like wheel balancing on a car when they put on new tyres.

How bent is the plate? Could you post a pic? Does it spin freely and keep spinning after you let it go or does it stop almost straight away?

The bearings are cheap and easy to replace but basically you need to make sure that when you spin that plate it should keep spinning on its own for a few seconds... if it stops spinning the bearings are in trouble and they will make noise when they come under pressure like higher grass like you describe. I've replaced the bearings on mine for that.

rdersley

Hi I've been looking at getting a robot mower for some time our garden is around 2000 sqm, which means I'm having to look at the high end of the market

Does anyone have any recommendations or know any good deals at the moment?

Could i use a smaller model and just run it more?

Thanks for the help...

septicsac

rdersley wrote: »

Hi I've been looking at getting a robot mower for some time our garden is around 2000 sqm, which means I'm having to look at the high end of the market

Does anyone have any recommendations or know any good deals at the moment?

Could i use a smaller model and just run it more?

Thanks for the help...

450X husqavarna would do the job, all the bells and whistles, but top end price. If anything go up a mower size rather than down, as you will only wind up running a smaller model into the ground sooner.

Lurching

Having a few teething problems with mine.

I didn't peg the boundary wire down often enough, so the mower has caught it twice, once it wrapped around the blade disk, and the other time it cut straight through it. Conveniently, the mower stops dead then, so you know where the break is.
I went around the whole garden again, putting in way more pegs and burying the cable in a few spots.

Then the next day it backed itself up on a rock protruding from the ground, lifting it's driven wheels off the ground. I got an SOS message to say "no drive".

Think i'm getting used to it now. Once these little issues are resolved, we'll be flying.

glog

Lurching wrote: »

Having a few teething problems with mine.

I didn't peg the boundary wire down often enough, so the mower has caught it twice, once it wrapped around the blade disk, and the other time it cut straight through it. Conveniently, the mower stops dead then, so you know where the break is.
I went around the whole garden again, putting in way more pegs and burying the cable in a few spots.

Out of interest - what height are you cutting at?

Lurching

glog wrote: »

Out of interest - what height are you cutting at?

I started at the highest, and went down to maybe three quarters last week. Still very high, but there are a few peaks and troughs in my grass. Mountain land.

rdersley

septicsac wrote: »

450X husqavarna would do the job, all the bells and whistles, but top end price. If anything go up a mower size rather than down, as you will only wind up running a smaller model into the ground sooner.

Would love the 450x But it’s going to be out of my price range I think

Does any know of any 2nd hand units for sale

xl500

I bought a Rob 600 on Amazon warehouse deals 2 years ago and to date it has been great never gets stuck and the grass has never looked as well I really love it and cant understand why more people dont have these mowers if my Rob failed tomorrow I would get one immediately again

spose

rdersley wrote: »

Would love the 450x But it’s going to be out of my price range I think

Does any know of any 2nd hand units for sale

You don’t need a 450x for 2000m2. I have a 430x coping well with a not very straightforward 3000m2

buzz11

Anyone see any issue with having the charge unit located under a hedge?

I'll need construct a timber garage on 3 sides so its not constantly wet....

joebre

For those that did a self install.

What is the installation kit that you used or did not use ?

What about buying cable from your local electrical wholesaler in you are burying the cable ?

Water John

rdersley wrote: »

Would love the 450x But it’s going to be out of my price range I think

Does any know of any 2nd hand units for sale

Check this site;
https://www.myrobotcenter.eu/en/robomow

KCross

buzz11 wrote: »

Anyone see any issue with having the charge unit located under a hedge?

Some possible issues...

- Getting power to it
- Accessing/laying the cabling at the back of the dock looks like it would be difficult with a hedge growing around it over the years.

If you can get over those issues, looks like you have, it should work fine.

buzz11 wrote: »

I'll need construct a timber garage on 3 sides so its not constantly wet....

Why?

Its designed for outdoor use. Anything you make from timber is going to take up your time and effort and treating it and it will still rot... the mower and docking station are designed to be outside.

I'd also think that the reason you are putting it under the hedge is to keep it out of sight. Putting a timber hut around it is just going to make it stand out.

I dont see the point of it.

joebre wrote: »

For those that did a self install.

What is the installation kit that you used or did not use ?

You get/buy the kit with the mower. Its just a cable, connectors and pegs.

joebre wrote: »

What about buying cable from your local electrical wholesaler in you are burying the cable ?

Its not standard electrical cable. Standard cable will work but I'd be worried it wouldnt stand the test of time over 10-20 years.

Having said that, the cable you get from the dealer is over priced so shop around but buying cheap electrical cable is penny wise pound foolish, imo.

Lurching

buzz11 wrote: »

Anyone see any issue with having the charge unit located under a hedge?

The boundary cables look very loose in those photos. I've had some trouble with mine as I didn't peg it down well enough. The mower has caught it and cut it, and on another occasion has managed to catch it and wrap it around the blade disk.
Learned from my mistakes and have rechecked the whole perimeter.

buzz11

Sound, thanks for those tips.

I've had the mower (Gardena Silenco Life 750) running a few days now and the cut is very low in comparison to the petrol mower, the lawn is very raw looking and the mossy areas look even worse. Before I set the robot going, I cut the grass first with the petrol mower but even then you could see lines where the robot had cut so I gave the lawn another lower cut with the petrol mower, that made the robot a bit smoother running but it still leaves slight lines of cut grass in its wake.

The robot is set at the highest level No5 i.e 50mm whereas the lawnmower was always cutting at 80mm so theres a fare difference.

Is this normal? Does the lawn adjust to the new lower cutting height?

xl500

buzz11 wrote: »

Anyone see any issue with having the charge unit located under a hedge?

I'll need construct a timber garage on 3 sides so its not constantly wet....

Mine lives under deck never had a problem with it going out or going home

murfler

Hi I bought and installed a 430x 4 weeks ago..it seems to be spending the majority of its cutting time on my front lawn, it has it looking like a golfcourse but its not giving enough time on my back lawn which is quiet patchy..both lawns are joined together by a strip at side of house? Any suggestions on how to make it spend more time on the back?

murfler

I have about 2,000 sqft of grass...back lawn is bigger. I have it running presently from 11.30-9.30 daily

glog

murfler wrote: »

Hi I bought and installed a 430x 4 weeks ago..it seems to be spending the majority of its cutting time on my front lawn, it has it looking like a golfcourse but its not giving enough time on my back lawn which is quiet patchy..both lawns are joined together by a strip at side of house? Any suggestions on how to make it spend more time on the back?

How many guide wires are you using?