My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

KCross

Shefwedfan wrote: »

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

Not much has really changed Shef since you last posted. Much the same mowers are still available with maybe the addition of app support since then(which is only a marginal benefit really).

There are some concepts showing mowers that learn the boundaries without need to lay boundary wire but I dont know if they are commercially available at reasonable prices. Its basically still the same tech.... lay boundary and guide wires and pick one that is suitable for your size lawn and budget.

Husqvarna seems to be popular here for the larger lawns but people have bought Viking/Stihl robots too and Robomow.

I did all the hard work for you last time as well.... disappointed you went with a ride-on!
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=99974948&postcount=135

B-D-P--

Shefwedfan wrote: »

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

Actually reading my own comment, it reads passive aggressive, Not how I wanted it to read, My apologies.

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.

Hello KCross - just to let you know I've punted for the Rob S400 - should be arriving in a few days time Thanks for the help

Shefwedfan

KCross wrote: »

Not much has really changed Shef since you last posted. Much the same mowers are still available with maybe the addition of app support since then(which is only a marginal benefit really).

There are some concepts showing mowers that learn the boundaries without need to lay boundary wire but I dont know if they are commercially available at reasonable prices. Its basically still the same tech.... lay boundary and guide wires and pick one that is suitable for your size lawn and budget.

Husqvarna seems to be popular here for the larger lawns but people have bought Viking/Stihl robots too and Robomow.

I did all the hard work for you last time as well.... disappointed you went with a ride-on!
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=99974948&postcount=135

Oh I remember and I went back and looked at it all :-)


All the trees around the boundry, huge leylanddi got taken that. That was the issue, ground got ripped to pieces and because of so much work I would have ended up putting up and down the wire multiple times.


Also the tractor got used for carting sticks around the house, I bought a trailer and all for it :P

Garden now is back to what you see in the photo. The green line for the fence, we decided against that. So your plan is still good today :-) thanks again for doing it.

If it is more or less the same I will see what my original supplier might do against a husq or Stihl. I did see a Worx which included an "anti collision system" add on? I was asking more about this, stop it banging into trees

I know you have PV as well, do you set it to go and charge while you have excess in the house? using a smart plug or anything like that?

Shefwedfan

B-D-P-- wrote: »

Actually reading my own comment, it reads passive aggressive, Not how I wanted it to read, My apologies.

No worries, sorry if original post was not clear.

KCross

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I know you have PV as well, do you set it to go and charge while you have excess in the house? using a smart plug or anything like that?

I dont have PV yet. And the lockdown has further delayed it, but I expect to have it this summer.

You dont really need to integrate the robot with excess PV. The robot transformer is ~150W (iirc) so sensing excess is somewhat pointless. You have a battery also so even less relevant to you.

In any case, the robot will primarily be out during the summer months so its likely that there will be plenty excess so just let it charge away as it sees fit. Thats my plan anyway.

Lurching

Ordered my 315X this morning!
Looking forward to watching it do all my work.

glog

Lurching wrote: »

Ordered my 315X this morning!
Looking forward to watching it do all my work.

Where did you get it from after?

Lurching

glog wrote: »

Where did you get it from after?

Roboexpert.de

Best price I could see by far, even with the €40 delivery fee to Ireland.

whippet

my collie has a habit of digging holes in the garden and twice in the last week he has dug up the boundary wire and snapped it .. hasn't been too much of a problem .. but now I can't find where he has done it ... i'm walking the boundary and can't see a cut .... has anyone any tips for finding where it's cut?

Tilikum17

Lurching wrote: »

Ordered my 315X this morning!
Looking forward to watching it do all my work.

Just started research into get one of these in the past few days. The 315x looks like the one I’ll for. I looked up that link you posted below. A lot cheaper than the two Irish places I was looking at.

Thanks

Shefwedfan

If you order from overseas, do any companies go around installing the guide wires ?

glog

Shefwedfan wrote: »

If you order from overseas, do any companies go around installing the guide wires ?

I ended up doing a self install, but had got a quote of install only for €200 for about 450m of perimeter and guide wires.
I would have supplied the Large install kit (Cork area).

Tilikum17

glog wrote: »

I ended up doing a self install, but had got a quote of install only for €200 for about 450m of perimeter and guide wires.
I would have supplied the Large install kit (Cork area).

Is there much work in doing it yourself?

glog

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Is there much work in doing it yourself?

I did it over a couple of handy days.
I buried the cable where there was a possible trip hazard, for instance, beside kerbing or patio but I just pinned it to the top where it was up against a wall or a hedge.
It's in about 3 weeks at this stage and the pinned cable is already starting to get grown over.
I ended up doing it myself because I needed to cross a cobble lock drive which involved dropping the kerbs etc and chasing the cobble lock and the contractor didn't really have much interest in getting involved in that - which was fair enough.

spose

whippet wrote: »

my collie has a habit of digging holes in the garden and twice in the last week he has dug up the boundary wire and snapped it .. hasn't been too much of a problem .. but now I can't find where he has done it ... i'm walking the boundary and can't see a cut .... has anyone any tips for finding where it's cut?

You can use an am radio. You should find YouTube clips for it. Worked for me to find it to within a foot or so and once you find the wire under the grass and pull it it will easily slide out. When I first tried it it didn’t seem to really work. I spent ages wandering around with it. Then I swapped to a different radio and found it in 2 minutes.

caddy16

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Just started research into get one of these in the past few days. The 315x looks like the one I’ll for. I looked up that link you posted below. A lot cheaper than the two Irish places I was looking at.

Thanks

450x is over €1,200 cheaper, is this place genuine seems too good to be true?

Lurching

caddy16 wrote: »

450x is over €1,200 cheaper, is this place genuine seems too good to be true?

I'll tell you if and when mine arrives!

caddy16

Lurching wrote: »

I'll tell you if and when mine arrives!

Appreciate it. I know it preferable to buy local if any issues but the saving is just too big to ignore.

Lurching

caddy16 wrote: »

Appreciate it. I know it preferable to buy local if any issues but the saving is just too big to ignore.

That was my thinking.
The cheapest I found the 315X in Ireland was €2,350 (plus install kit).
I got it for €1,730 (plus install kit) from the Germans.

Can't say no to a €620 discount.

Shefwedfan

Just checking, is the best tool to measure your garden on robomow? https://www.robomow.com/en-GB/measure-your-lawn/

glog

caddy16 wrote: »

450x is over €1,200 cheaper, is this place genuine seems too good to be true?

I ordered the 430X from here about a month ago.
It was a positive experience.
All communications, notifications and queries were promptly answered.
Dispatch was about 12 hours after money was transferred and shipping took about 4 days.
No complaints here.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=112772550&postcount=1789

glog

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Just checking, is the best tool to measure your garden on robomow? https://www.robomow.com/en-GB/measure-your-lawn/

You can use Google maps.
Zoom in, right click, Measure distance.

Then lay your dots and when you complete your circuit it will give you perimeter length and enclosed area.

hero25

sorry to interrupt ..... I've a 450x for ~2 years now. All OK to date. In the last few days it has been displaying a "Temporary Battery Problem". Basically the battery is only charging to approx 49% and no further.
Has anyone had similar issues?
Assuming batteries need replacing - Has anyone replaced these batteries themselves?
Thanks.

KCross

hero25 wrote: »

sorry to interrupt ..... I've a 450x for ~2 years now. All OK to date. In the last few days it has been displaying a "Temporary Battery Problem". Basically the battery is only charging to approx 49% and no further.
Has anyone had similar issues?
Assuming batteries need replacing - Has anyone replaced these batteries themselves?
Thanks.

I have the smaller 430x model and its on its 5th or 6th season (cant remember which) and its still on its original battery.

The 450x, iirc, has two batteries so it seems to be, based on it charging to 49%, that one of them has died on you.

AFAIK it has a 2yr warranty so I'd be logging that fault with Husqvarna via email asap and try to get a new battery out of them.

It certainly should not die within 2 years. What it should do is slowly degrade where it cant cut for as long but it should not die completely so you should be entitled to a warranty replacement on that.

It could also be a loose cable/connection on one of the batteries that occasionally pops out and up comes the error then.

Shefwedfan

Total area: 1,669.81 m² (17,973.73 ft²)
Total distance: 373.95 m (1,226.88 ft)

This is measurements. Now I would expect teh area to be a bit smaller....would I get away with a 1500m2 mower or need to keep above?

Are people over sizing or undersizing?

Lurching

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Total area: 1,669.81 m² (17,973.73 ft²)
Total distance: 373.95 m (1,226.88 ft)

This is measurements. Now I would expect teh area to be a bit smaller....would I get away with a 1500m2 mower or need to keep above?

Are people over sizing or undersizing?

I'm over sizing anyway.
Particularly when you consider the advertised capability of each model is likely for a flat square of grass. Add in a slope and a few more complications and then consider the battery deteriorating over time and I think it justifies up-sizing a bit.

glog

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Total area: 1,669.81 m² (17,973.73 ft²)
Total distance: 373.95 m (1,226.88 ft)

This is measurements. Now I would expect teh area to be a bit smaller....would I get away with a 1500m2 mower or need to keep above?

Are people over sizing or undersizing?

From what i understand, the maximum area rated for the mower means it is out 24 x 7 in a charge/cut cycle. I would imagine this isn't ideal

The less it has to cut the less it has to be out.
If you look here it gives a good reference on page 46 for a few different of the Husqvarna Auto mowers.

I would think in the Husqvarna range, for your measurements, in my amateur opionion, you'd be looking at the 430X.

Shefwedfan

glog wrote: »

From what i understand, the maximum area rated for the mower means it is out 24 x 7 in a charge/cut cycle. I would imagine this isn't ideal

The less it has to cut the less it has to be out.
If you look here it gives a good reference on page 46 for a few different of the Husqvarna Auto mowers.

I would think in the Husqvarna range, for your measurements, in my amateur opionion, you'd be looking at the 430X.

F**k me I didn't think it would need to be going that much.....the 430x has a max capacity of 3200m2, to do 1700m2 it needs to be going 13 hours 7 days a week :eek:


That seems like a hell of a lot of mowing, is that right? I run around my land at the moment in 30-40 mins on the tractor

marob1969

Hi Folks,
Been reading through this thread for a few weeks now and am interested in in taking the plunge, probably next year though.
My area is three lawns, two to front separated by a tarmacadam driveway and a larger area to the rear of the house. I have measured the area to be 2,100sqm approx. Both of the front areas are joined to the rear area by narrow passages at each side, one side has a passage that narrows to 1.4m beside the garage and on the other side the passage is about 5m in length with a 1.0m width at its narrowest.
On the 1.0m section there is kerbing on one side (down to the tarmacadam) of the passage and a Griselinia hedge to the other side of the same passage. If I can get through that then the other side (1.4m) at the garage should be okay, correct?
My questions:
Would an auto mower be able to navigate through these passages or what is minimum that these can accommodate, bearing in mind that I have a kerbing in one area?
How far away from kerbing are boundary wires typically placed so that the auto mower doesn’t ‘fall off’ onto the tarmacadam?
Would I need two guidewires to be in place through the passages to allow the auto mower to access the two front areas? Plan on putting charging station on the larger lawn to the rear of the garage
Does a guidewire always need to end with a termination where its joined to a boundary wire?
Any recommendations for a machine to suit my requirements or have I hit a roadblock with the passages. Seen a view videos on Youtube and they seem to be able to navigate through channels that would be not much wider than the auto mower itself?
If this is not feasible don’t even mention con-sawing tarmac as it’s a non-runner for the dosh I spent on it.:(

Thanks in advance.

Great thread by the way, thanks to those who initiated it.