My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

blast06

Actually, one other "idiots guide" question!

If the McCulloch mower doesn't have GPS, how is it able to cut 1000 m2 in just over 1 hour with a 7" blade .... i.e.: i'm struggling to understand how random zig-zagging (or whatever it does!) covers all the ground that quickly!

blast06

blast06 wrote: »

Actually, one other "idiots guide" question!

If the McCulloch mower doesn't have GPS, how is it able to cut 1000 m2 in just over 1 hour with a 7" blade .... i.e.: i'm struggling to understand how random zig-zagging (or whatever it does!) covers all the ground that quickly!

It doesnt cut it all in one go.its a case of little and often .
Very happy with mine cutting 700sqm approx,
10am - 5pm every other day , probably cutting for 3/4 hours a day and charging the rest.

glog

glog wrote: »

I have a brand new Husky 430X Charging station complete with transformer, 10m cable and anchor bolts which is surplus to my requirements.
It is unopened, in original packaging - Cork area.
PM me if it you are in the market for this.
Cheers,
gLo

This is still available if anyone is on the look out.

Mango Joe

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

I also did this myself. Same deal. I lifted the kerbs on both sides, flipped them and then cut a track in the kerbs and across the tarmac to the other side. Outbound side first. I did one side at a time so I could lay the full perimeter of the other side. Once cut, I lay the wire the full length across to the grass, used old wooden pegs to pin the cable in the track while I piped in the black silicone across. After laying the perimeter of the other zone, I then cut the return side in the kerbs and across the drive, then lay the wire and piped the silicone in the same fashion.

Mine only required a perimeter wire and no guide wire, but you could do that as well easy enough. It's a fairly easy job to be honest. Use a piece of twine to mark out a straight line across the driveway, otherwise you'll end up like my first line....a bit wavy..

Just a quick mention on the above bit in bold - This is definitely true for the McCulloch Rob R1000 and I suspect for Husky Automowers also - Perhaps someone else can confirm.

The Rob R1000 will stop its cutting motor and start to hunt for a Guide Wire when its battery drops to a certain level.

If it happens to be on the other side of the driveway and you haven't run a guide wire across then it will drive around bouncing off the boundary wire until it manages to find its way back out across the driveway, then eventually meet the guide wire, lock onto it and follow it home to charge.

However - This is not optimal, is potentially wasteful of battery potential and in theory if the driveway channel is narrow enough in proportion to the size of this lawn area then it might have difficulty "chancing" upon its way out.

Also - and this bit is important - If you were to skip running the guide wire to the other side of the driveway you're cutting off your option of using one of the key features on the R1000 - This is remote start where you can pick up to two locations in your garden (along the run of the guide wire) and opt to have the mower travel specifically to that exact spot before it starts cutting.

This works really well and is probably essential if you've a remote area on the other side of drive separated by a narrow channel - Basically if the remote area is 20% of the total lawn area you can opt to have the mower go straight there 20% of the time after it leaves the charging station.

Lurching

I'd suggest a slightly wider cut on the tarmac if possible, then lay a conduit (even a garden hose) so that you can replace the cable if there's a fault.

Mango Joe

blast06 wrote: »

Actually, one other "idiots guide" question!

If the McCulloch mower doesn't have GPS, how is it able to cut 1000 m2 in just over 1 hour with a 7" blade .... i.e.: i'm struggling to understand how random zig-zagging (or whatever it does!) covers all the ground that quickly!

This is the concept that a lot of people struggle with at first.

Think of it more like this - Do you know when you've just finished cutting the lawn with your traditional petrol mower and everything is trimmed to the perfect height and it looks amazing?

An Automower works by taking that perfect grass height and maintaining it beautifully through 10 or 11 months of the year.

It doesn't cut your lawn in 1 hour - It constantly trims just a shade of all the new growth all week long.

Lurching wrote: »

I'd suggest a slightly wider cut on the tarmac if possible, then lay a conduit (even a garden hose) so that you can replace the cable if there's a fault.

Anyone laying a new driveway these days is missing out if they're not running a few lengths of PVC pipe underneath it to allow for a future Automower install - Even if it might only happen years down the line.

Same plan for anything else that might be needed in time - Cables might need to be run for an electric gate, lighting, CCTV etc.

So easy to put in when the drive is being laid and such a potential for saving on headaches.

murfler

Mango Joe wrote: »

Just a quick mention on the above bit in bold - This is definitely true for the McCulloch Rob R1000 and I suspect for Husky Automowers also - Perhaps someone else can confirm.

The Rob R1000 will stop its cutting motor and start to hunt for a Guide Wire when its battery drops to a certain level.

If it happens to be on the other side of the driveway and you haven't run a guide wire across then it will drive around bouncing off the boundary wire until it manages to find its way back out across the driveway, then eventually meet the guide wire, lock onto it and follow it home to charge.

However - This is not optimal, is potentially wasteful of battery potential and in theory if the driveway channel is narrow enough in proportion to the size of this lawn area then it might have difficulty "chancing" upon its way out.

Also - and this bit is important - If you were to skip running the guide wire to the other side of the driveway you're cutting off your option of using one of the key features on the R1000 - This is remote start where you can pick up to two locations in your garden (along the run of the guide wire) and opt to have the mower travel specifically to that exact spot before it starts cutting.

This works really well and is probably essential if you've a remote area on the other side of drive separated by a narrow channel - Basically if the remote area is 20% of the total lawn area you can opt to have the mower go straight there 20% of the time after it leaves the charging station.

No the Husqvarna 430x can be set up differently, you can have it searching for guide wire for a specified period and if it doesn't find the guide wire in that period it will follow the perimeter wire home.
Obviously having a guide wire out to that area is better, easier for it to get home and to get out to remote area

Bungusbeefcake

Hey guys, my brother's is looking at this Bosch, anyone any experience with this:

https://www.myrobotcenter.eu/en/bosch-indego-m-plus-700-2021

nicol

Hi folks,

I'm considering buying a Worx Landroid L2000 and have a quick, and possibly stupid question to ask. Is the power supply housing waterproof. I've circled it in the attached photo.

Thanks in advance!

nicol

Found this installation video, looks like it is fully waterproof.

nicol wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm considering buying a Worx Landroid L2000 and have a quick, and possibly stupid question to ask. Is the power supply housing waterproof. I've circled it in the attached photo.

Thanks in advance!

searay

Lurching wrote: »

I'd suggest a slightly wider cut on the tarmac if possible, then lay a conduit (even a garden hose) so that you can replace the cable if there's a fault.

No need to do that and it would make finishing more difficult. As the wire is in tarmac with just silicon above it, the cut doesn't have to be deep. You could easily pull the wire up, replace it and re-silicone into the cut.

My wires are down for more than 5 years and have never had to touch them.


For example, I asked the installer to cut 2 extra cuts for a similar pet fence wire and he did both and resilconed then in about 15 minutes.

Dr4gul4

Random Q for those of you who ( like myself ) have a robo mower, running on a long established lawn.

How's your thatch ? do you scarify / aerate, did you do so in the past, or are you thinking about doing it more now ?

ArrBee

nicol wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm considering buying a Worx Landroid L2000 and have a quick, and possibly stupid question to ask. Is the power supply housing waterproof. I've circled it in the attached photo.

Thanks in advance!

I've a bunch of work being done at the minute and my electrician suggested it was "waterproof" but like all consumer equipment you shouldn't rely on that always being true.
eg. UV damage over time might lessen it, or whatever else...

I've decided to mount mine inside the house that I built for Chopper.

KCross

nicol wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm considering buying a Worx Landroid L2000 and have a quick, and possibly stupid question to ask. Is the power supply housing waterproof. I've circled it in the attached photo.

Thanks in advance!

nicol wrote: »

Found this installation video, looks like it is fully waterproof.

I'd imagine its similar to the Husqvarna's.

They dont recommend it be left open to the elements particularly direct sun as it could then overheat. You should also not have it lying on the ground soaking in water.

You would still also need to ensure that the plug end is fully protected when it is plugged in.

The recommendation is to have the transformer be wall mounted "indoors".

nicol

Thanks for the response.

I plan on housing it in something that won't leave it completely open to the elements, but it might still get wet occasionally. Wanted to check if it was suitable for that type of situation.

It will be plugged into an outdoor socket.

KCross wrote: »

I'd imagine its similar to the Husqvarna's.

They dont recommend it be left open to the elements particularly direct sun as it could then overheat. You should also not have it lying on the ground soaking in water.

You would still also need to ensure that the plug end is fully protected when it is plugged in.

The recommendation is to have the transformer be wall mounted "indoors".

joebre

glog wrote: »

This is still available if anyone is on the look out.

PM sent.

listermint

nicol wrote: »

Thanks for the response.

I plan on housing it in something that won't leave it completely open to the elements, but it might still get wet occasionally. Wanted to check if it was suitable for that type of situation.

It will be plugged into an outdoor socket.

My husqvarna charger sits under a U shaped house ridge tile. Its open both ends allows air flow through and protected from the rain and sun. It's perfect heavy and cheap. Has been there over 4 years and everything is golden

blackbox

Can someone who has a Worx automower please advise how close to a kerb it actually cuts. I know they claim to cut to the edge, but do you still have to trim the edges at kerbs?

ArrBee

blackbox wrote: »

Can someone who has a Worx automower please advise how close to a kerb it actually cuts. I know they claim to cut to the edge, but do you still have to trim the edges at kerbs?

I can't answer that specific question, but there is a related one I have recently noticed...

When you section off an island it is not treated as part of the border.
This means that the mower will only travel along the wire of an island on completely random occasions (i.e. it wont really). Instead it will bounce off when detecting the wire.
The blade sits much further back from the nose of the Landroid than from its side which means there will be more grass left around an island than along the border.

If the island is a tree, It's probably not an issue, but I've an in ground trampoline and I will be moving the wire closer because of this.

Mitch Buchannon

ArrBee wrote: »

I''ve decided to mount mine inside the house that I built for Chopper.

Id love to see a picture of your Landroid mower house. I'm hoping to install mine next week. Just have to buy extra guide wire pegs.
I also have an Carpenter for a father and I think he'd love the project of building a garage for the mower.

Mad_maxx

anyone got any recommendations for a robot lawnmower ? , putting in a new lawn and its very large , im willing to spend anything up to 10 k , quality of finish is the most important

looked at a husqavarna for just under 5k , perhaps that is perfectly fine for the job ?

KCross

Mad_maxx wrote: »

anyone got any recommendations for a robot lawnmower ? , putting in a new lawn and its very large , im willing to spend anything up to 10 k , quality of finish is the most important

looked at a husqavarna for just under 5k , perhaps that is perfectly fine for the job ?

You need to quantify that. How many sqm?

Also, is the entire lawn connected so the mower can roam freely across all of it?

Is it hilly or fairly flat?

blast06

So, i got my McColloch R1000 and spent a few hours yesterday setting up the boundary cable (and a last almost ceremonial cut with the lawnmower ) .... however, i ended up short about 20m.
It didn't come as a surprise based on my quick measurements before i started, but bloody frustrating!

so my question, where best to quickly get an another spool of cable.... i.e.: any sparkies here that could confirm its a bog standard cable where a dog fence cable would do and hence i could just pop into my nearest pet store? Or is there a particular spec and i could get it in an electrical wholesalers? Or failing that, any experiences of where is the quickest to order it from online?

balcan

blast06 wrote: »

So, i got my McColloch R1000 and spent a few hours yesterday setting up the boundary cable (and a last almost ceremonial cut with the lawnmower ) .... however, i ended up short about 20m.
It didn't come as a surprise based on my quick measurements before i started, but bloody frustrating!

so my question, where best to quickly get an another spool of cable.... i.e.: any sparkies here that could confirm its a bog standard cable where a dog fence cable would do and hence i could just pop into my nearest pet store? Or is there a particular spec and i could get it in an electrical wholesalers? Or failing that, any experiences of where is the quickest to order it from online?

Ran into the same issue and got some electrical flex cable the farmer nextdoor had spare to complete the install, it's been fine since last year, Ordered some spare genisys cable from Amazon, Just over £20 for 50 meters.

Mad_maxx

KCross wrote: »

You need to quantify that. How many sqm?

Also, is the entire lawn connected so the mower can roam freely across all of it?

Is it hilly or fairly flat?

Entirely flat ,two perfect square's linked by a rectangular existing lawn behind house,il have to measure it to work out square metres

KCross

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Entirely flat ,two perfect square's linked by a rectangular existing lawn behind house,il have to measure it to work out square metres

Use an online mapping tool to get a rough guide on the size rather than getting out the measuring tape

Something like this...
https://www.robomow.com/support/measure-your-lawn

Or one of the google map tools.

slegs

blast06 wrote: »

So, i got my McColloch R1000 and spent a few hours yesterday setting up the boundary cable (and a last almost ceremonial cut with the lawnmower ) .... however, i ended up short about 20m.
It didn't come as a surprise based on my quick measurements before i started, but bloody frustrating!

so my question, where best to quickly get an another spool of cable.... i.e.: any sparkies here that could confirm its a bog standard cable where a dog fence cable would do and hence i could just pop into my nearest pet store? Or is there a particular spec and i could get it in an electrical wholesalers? Or failing that, any experiences of where is the quickest to order it from online?

There are loads of sellers on Amazon...ive used it and it works fine

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ISE%C2%AE-Replacement-Boundary-Husqvarna-Automower/dp/B07Z8929ZN

nicol

Would love to see a picture of Chopper's house, need some ideas on how best to house mine when I get it!

ArrBee wrote: »

I've a bunch of work being done at the minute and my electrician suggested it was "waterproof" but like all consumer equipment you shouldn't rely on that always being true.
eg. UV damage over time might lessen it, or whatever else...

I've decided to mount mine inside the house that I built for Chopper.

slegs

slegs wrote: »

There are loads of sellers on Amazon...ive used it and it works fine

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ISE%C2%AE-Replacement-Boundary-Husqvarna-Automower/dp/B07Z8929ZN

Thanks,
You reminded me I needed more to put down my 2nd circuit for summer/spring.

searay

slegs wrote: »

There are loads of sellers on Amazon...ive used it and it works fine

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ISE%C2%AE-Replacement-Boundary-Husqvarna-Automower/dp/B07Z8929ZN

I'd go with that wire on Amazon and not the pet fence wire.

I've a pet fence installed and, to my eye, the wire is of a much lighter gauge than the automower wire.