My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

What mower are you buying?

For Husqvarna, I believe the guide wire has to be 30cm away from the boundary wire and the boundary will need to be about 35cm away from any walls/kerbs etc. The wider the better.

Ginger83 wrote: »

Viking Imow 632P.

Passage is 6 foot wide but i only have a 4 foot entry/exit point.

You can disregard my figures so. I dont know what tolerances the Viking has. I'd suggest you get your hands on the Viking manual or ask your local dealer.

JJ O Malley wrote: »

Hi all. Just purchased a robot mower. Our property has 3 lawns, all connected. There is a 2 meter wide x 12 meter long gravel / chipping path between the back and one of the front lawns. Can anyone please advise me if the automotors can handle driving across this ground? I will lay a guidewire. Alternatively I'll need to put down a strip of fake grass or something? The mower I bought is a Stiga autoclip 530SG. I appreciate that most may not have experience with this brand, but just interested in your experience with your machine.

The artificial grass strip was my own idea but would cost 150€ so I'd rather not buy it. I could flatten the ground if that would be sufficient..

Kind regards,
John

No experience with the Stiga but I suspect it will struggle with loose stones/gravel. If its any way deep at all the wheels will spin into it and stop.

I'd suggest you just try it, if it doesn't work just get the fake grass then.

agentblue wrote: »

I can't recommend the fake grass solution. It works but after a few months the fake grass gets slippy and a bit moldy from the grass cuttings that fall off the underside and wheels of the mower. I had it down for two years and ended up taking it up.

I poured 2 concrete strips for vehicle access and sowed the rest in grass. The strips are level with the grass. The mower has no problems now.

Eh.. sweep the fake grass every few weeks....

Or leave blow it or vacuum it.

Ginger83 wrote: »

Can't really find the info i'm after in the viking manual online. Confusing stuff.

There has to be a section in the manual that details how to install the boundary and guide wires with instructions on how far to keep the cable back from walls/kerbs etc.

If they dont have that how do they expect people to install it!

Do you have a link to it and I might be able to decipher it for you?

KCross wrote: »

There has to be a section in the manual that details how to install the boundary and guide wires with instructions on how far to keep the cable back from walls/kerbs etc.

If they dont have that how do they expect people to install it!

Do you have a link to it and I might be able to decipher it for you?

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1101868/Viking-Mi-632.html?page=72#manual

This is what i've been reading.

Ginger83 wrote: »

What pipes would be suitable to put under tarmac to run wires through?

Would Qualpex be ok?

I reckon anything that is not metal.

KCross wrote: »

I can decipher technical detail but not German!
Any English manual?

I just chose the translate option.

Ginger83 wrote: »

I have 2 separate lawns approx 1200M sq each divided by a driveway thats due to be tarmaced soon.

I hope use use a narrow passage at side of house to link lawns.

Can I put a boundary wire around each lawn separately and link the two lawns through the narrow passage with one guide wire or would I need to bring the boundary wire through this passage also?

KCross wrote: »

Assuming you want the mower to cut the two lawns without you having to lift and shift the mower you will need the boundary wire to go through the passage at each side of it AND the guide wire down the middle of it.

Ginger83 wrote: »

Thanks, whats the minimum width allowed?

The Viking appears to require 27cm clearance on each boundary wire to the edge so 54cm there plus 18cm between boundary wires to travel along, so a total of 72cm required. Well within your 4ft available.

It might be OK with less than 72cm (as narrow as 36cm) if the sides are not obstacles (i.e. walls) or cliffs (i.e. falling off a kerb).

Section 11.10 (Corridors) of the manual is what you need to read of that Viking manual.

I could be wrong but I dont think the Viking has any guide wires? Did the dealer say it had?
It appears to use "starting points" to get to remote lawns. So you would tell it to travel X cm's along the perimeter wire to get to your remote lawn rather than a guide wire where it just takes a direct route from the docking station through the corridor.

Guide wires are better. It means the mower spends less time travelling along the perimeter and can also find its way home ALOT quicker as well. Hence, more time mowing than just driving around.

If your lawn is small its OK but if you have a large space I would say guide wires are very important.

Ginger83 wrote: »

Thanks for your help. I remeasured and i have 51.5 inches but there will be a concrete post each side of this measurement.

I could have been looking at a different video about guide wires. The reason i'm leaning towards a Viking is because we have a dealer local.

Could i put in 3 pipes? 1 centre pipe for a guide wire if needed and a pipe each side min 30cm away so it would cover both Viking and Husqvarna.

51in seems to be just on the margin but it fits their spec so you should be OK. I'd get the dealers agreement on it first so that if it doesn't work you have grounds to take it back... no point in telling them "a guy on the internet said it would work"!

I'd also get confirmation about the guide wires. The manual you posted didn't seem to mention them. I'd reconsider the Viking if it doesn't have guide wires based on your requirements.

I dont have experience with putting the wire in pipes. Again, you'll need to ask the dealer. My wires were laid on the grass and they sink into the ground after a few weeks of grass growth.

Putting them into pipes gives you little or no wriggle room to adjust them after so you would have to get it right first time.

septicsac wrote: »

Bought Husquarvana 450X last week. Got it installed, as I had over 700 metres of wire to put down and local installer has machine to do same. Up and running and so far so good, in fact so far great. Cutting 3 different lawns and making its way to each with no problems and grass has never looked better and only running for 1 week. Reckon these will be everywhere in less than 10 years.

They are around with 10yrs already. Becoming more popular all the time but I think there is a general mistrust of them and justifiable concerns around them being robbed (although I haven't heard of it actually happening).

And some people just like the hour of peace on their ride-on.

Zzippy wrote: »

Ours was the talk of the neighbourhood when it arrived apparently, we were new to the area and people thought we were rich! Now we've a neighbour with one too, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few more within a year or two. They really are a no brainer if your lawn is suitable.

The "suitable" piece is the key thing. Lots of lawns are not... steps, driveways dividing the lawns and narrow verges outside entrance walls etc being the biggest issues to overcome.

If you are building a new house its a no brainer, just organise that its all connected when laying out the lawn.

Water John wrote: »

All technologies have that adoption phase. This can be long or short depending on a lot of factors. If it was young people who had the decision and also were the lawn cutters, automowers would be mainstream a long time ago.

I think the adoption rate in Germany and in the continent is much higher than uk and Ireland. Apparrantly, we like to now our lawns

Just wondering what height are people setting there Automowers at? 
I am using husky 430x for only past 6 weeks and have it at level 8. The grass appears as short as when i cut the grass with push mower. 
Would the grass would do better if the automower was cutting another bit lower. (i know each lawn is different so hard to give accurate advice)

bauney wrote: »

Just wondering what height are people setting their Automowers at? 
I am using husky 430x for only past 6 weeks and have it at level 8. The grass appears as short as when i cut the grass with push mower. 
Would the grass would do better if the automower was cutting another bit lower. (i know each lawn is different so hard to give accurate advice)

i just upped mine to 7 (husky 450) a couple of days ago from 6.
I notice the grass growth has slowed in the last week or 2.
i don't know if i can give any reasoning for my decision bar slower grass growth which might not be logical

i do mean to check the husky manual to see what the level correspond to in mm

PS: as a first season owner, i'm interested to see how it treats the fallen leaves