My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

listermint

Why not cover the screen with something. LCD screens shouldn't be exposed to the elements or sun in an up right position. Sounds like a really crap design.

sligopaul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025167#Comment_122025167

I think the issue may be these black seals around the display , they eventually will fail

gym_imposter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025162#Comment_122025162

New gearbox went in to this two weeks ago after less than three years, the agent even says Kress are far better than Stihl

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025299#Comment_122025299

I'd cover than entire area with some plastic. My own robo has a pop cover over its controller area.

That looks like designed obsolescence.

Cover it before it fails it will last far longer.

cuculainn

Question for all experts/experienced users.

I have a ~ half acre of lawn it is separated roughly into three equal halves!!! by the driveway.

what mower would people recommend that would be able to navigate the driveway and be able to mow that size?

would two or three of the parkside mowers, be better than one named brand?

Would prefer not to have to put down wire but having said that the lawns are fairly straight forward without many obstacles.

If anyone could recommend an installer in east Galway it would be appreciated

thanks in advance

gym_imposter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028057#Comment_122028057

Google a garden machinery business in ahascragh

GC is initials , robot mower guy is a surly pole but knows his stuff

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028057#Comment_122028057

Simple is best, complex is worst.

Why not start with 1 parkside first and see how you go.

If you can lie a wire on the ground and tap a peg over it you are good to install.

LubaDriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121970837#Comment_121970837

I don't have Luba 2, but I do have Luba 1. Didn't think they were shipping the 2 to Ireland just yet, but maybe their dealer here has them?

From my bit or reading people's experience with the 2, they shipped the first lot before the camera was enabled so it was essentially the same as 1. The camera is on now but the software needs refinement.

The typical Irish one off house has a good big garden, unshaded and wide open so the 2's added advantage of visual navigation doesn't add a lot. The visual is great though if you have narrow passageways with high structures that limit the view of the sky.

As for mowing performance, luba is very good though the turning algorithm is hard on the ground. I was newfangled with it last season and to be honest I sent it out a bit too often and when it it was a bit too wet. The way luba turns (especially the original KS version which I have) can tear up the ground, though the improved wheels have helped in that regard. Because it mows in a pattern it should get sent out a lot less often than the random wired mower - at most, twice a week, changing mowing direction between mows. I only have him back it this week at it was too wet to have him mow.

Mammotion have gotten a lot of things wrong in the past year - they pushed a firmware update before the app was approved in the play store so that left a few users with a non functional mower for 24hrs (lots of online anger directed at them for that). That said they do continuously improve their app and firmware and lots of features and improvements happened over the course of the last mowing season. Improvements for luba 1 seem to have gone off the radar since the arrival of 2 though - not that it matters as as it stands its a very competent machine.

In terms of advice, luba is perfect for the typical rural Irish garden but totally unsuited to urban ones. Good clear open sky views are essential for correct operation, especially the Rtk. I think the 1000 is too hamstrung to be worth the money though, the bigger models are far better.

The Facebook and reddit groups are excellent for finding out about the product, though it's worth remembering that generally it's only people with problems that post. A lot of problems are entirely user error though such as really poor rtk placement.

MoodeRator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029413#Comment_122029413

Such a helpful insight, thank you very much LubaDriver! I am struggling to find the 2 in Ireland at the moment as deliveries seem to be for end of this month. I have read and watched nearly every review available at this point, so am now familiar with software uypdate issues of the past and tha tthe camera is only now just being implemented. I also believe the ability to mow patterns gets activated next month as well.

But I have convinced myself to get the Luba 2 3000. I have also emailed Mammotion to ask why I cant order to Ireland from their EU website.

LubaDriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029654#Comment_122029654

Sounds like you might know more about it than me! The 2 is a really good bit of kit and you can see they learned a from the issues the 1 had. The more streamlined shape on the side means it's a lot less likely to get caught on obstacles for example.

Yeah, they are adding the ability to cut shapes and letters but that's a bit of a gimmick imo. When I say patterns, I mean changing the angle of main cut. If you do the same cut again and again the mower will wear tracks in the grass as it will follow the exact same line again and again. Also change the number of boundary laps as well.

Mixing it up when it comes to cuts is just a necessary part of having a GPS mower I think and not limited to Luba.

MoodeRator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029817#Comment_122029817

Much appreciate your advice on changing the cut direction, I had not considered it being able to keep so close to original cut that it would make tracks in the lawn. So is there a manual option on the app to do one E->W cut and then one N→S cut per week>?

cuculainn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029361#Comment_122029361

do you mean one parkside and move it between the three locations or would it be able to be programmed to do that itself?

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030458#Comment_122030458

I mean multiple ones eventually maybe 2 but pick up 1 see how you get on with it. Low cost entry good test.

cuculainn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030491#Comment_122030491

Oh right, thanks for the suggestion. we currently have someone come in to cut the grass, so would have to keep him on while we trial. I was hoping to make a clean break away. I think most of my lawn issues are from the size and weight of the ride on mower compacting lawn

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030551#Comment_122030551

Mine takes 4 plus hours to cut without the robot. Essentially 2 large lawns separate by drive and then outside garden and across the road

LubaDriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030363#Comment_122030363

Yes, but you select it in degrees, in increments of 10 between - 90 and +90 degrees. My cuts last year were 0, 90, -50 and 40 degrees. The path angle and cut height can be added to the cut schedule.

The schedule is only 7 days long though. This year I'll probably only run luba twice a week unless it gets drier and we have strong growth that necessitates more frequent cuts. I'll do 0 and 40 degrees with 2 and 4 boundary laps respectively.

cuculainn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030557#Comment_122030557

😲 so you have just one mower for that, what sort of sq meters? I'm guessing you dont send the robot across the road😅😱

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030762#Comment_122030762

I have 1 mower for the largest lawn which is about 70 percent of the lawns if I recall it's around 1700 sq meters on its own. ROB R1000 mccullogh

I have a parkside which I bought last year for the other lawn. Yet to install. Just haven't time yet. So I mow that and outside with a powered push mower.

padair

Why not order from the UK site and have it shipped to no, then use thepostalstore to deliver it to you. That how I got my Luba one delivered

padair

What are the benefits of the boundary cuts2 vs 4

randombar

Hi Folks, question re GPS mowers, do they deal with "under trees" well or ok?

A lot of the boundary in my place has trees, shrubs overhanging (maybe 4 to 5 feet above the grass), does it drive on and figure it all out or what's the story?

pajoguy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033769#Comment_122033769

Did you have to pay customs before they relaased it?

Really like the look of LUBA 2 and being able to change the maps yourself.

Redlim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033826#Comment_122033826

I have the Navimow and it struggled a lot with tree canopies initially but they've introduced the vision fence attachment which is a mounted camera to help it see where it's going in poor gps signal areas as well as avoid obstacles. They've also released software updates so it's working perfectly under trees now.

LubaDriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033780#Comment_122033780

Varying the number of boundary laps helps reduce wear on the lawn as the mower won't do its zig zag turn in the same spot

RainInSummer

Got the dreaded no loop signal on my 430X, in since early 2019 afair.

The base station has no light on it. Tested the fuse in the plug and tested the socket as well and all fine.

I tried the power block directly in to the back of the base station and still no light.

I got the multimeter in to the white plastic connector that comes out of the power block and when I power it up I get 26v but that falls to 0.3v in about 20 seconds.

I reckon the power block is done in. Anyone experienced this before or anything to add to the troubleshooting?

Cheers!

S'

Anyone here have a Kress RTK range of mowers? Interested in your opinion of them.

Hoping they expand the network coverage as my house is outside their coverage map.

https://coverx-eu.polarisnavigation.com/?mibextid=xfxF2i

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038463#Comment_122038463

The cables into the white block are prone to pulling and breaking, happened to mine, also check the entire length of the cable they can get nicks in them. Unlikely to be power block. Check the voltage the the power block to the extension cable.

It's usually extension cable issue. Replacement mine last week as connector into the base station finally gave up the ghost.

RainInSummer

I excluded the extension cable from the equation by plugging in the power block directly to the base station though.

From what I can see there is nothing voltage wise coming from the power block.

I'll double check all the connectors though just in case.

Cheers.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039192#Comment_122039192

Unhook everything bring the base station inside and the charger plug into a different socket and check if you get blue light. I bought a new charger 2 years back thinking mine was bad. It wasn't it ended up just being jaunty terminals.

If you get blue light. Tie short bit of cable between the L1 and 2 and see if you get green.

Often the draw of the boundary cable can mess with the load balancing . Eliminate as much as you can.

Finally the PCB board in the basestations can go to ****. I've replaced 2 in 6 years a slug each time ate the surface and got fried.

RainInSummer

Thanks again. I'll belt into it.