My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

septicsac · 20-03-2021 1:20am

Anyone renewed their home insurance with an automower lately? KBC covered me last year, but have increased the premium this year.

20-03-2021 7:02pm

Having a problem with my rob1000.
It's been out since Paddy's Day no problem but now it's not returning to base.
It just goes until the battery dies.
Any ideas ?
Nothing in the manual ,mower is new

Edit- it might be in manual mode.
Edit 2- just remembered doing some digging Friday evening.I cut the home guide wire.........
Moses was just driving around looking for his guide wire.

Fern Bench · 21-03-2021 11:45am

Does anyone have the problem of small bits of grass being dragged into the house? I think it's maybe worse at the moment as the mower is catching up on some vigorous growth.

krissovo · 21-03-2021 11:57am

Fern Bench wrote: »

Does anyone have the problem of small bits of grass being dragged into the house? I think it's maybe worse at the moment as the mower is catching up on some vigorous growth.

I get similar or used to, this year has been much better by only cutting later in the day when the grass is completely dry and starting the season at the highest cut setting and reducing gradually, 10mm every 2 weeks or so.

krissovo · 21-03-2021 12:02pm

My Landroid L2000 failed last week so its off to be repaired/replaced. I have been using my 2nd mower a bottom of range/size S300 in its place while its away and I do not see any real difference in cutting routine. The S300 is coping fine in a 1800sqm garden, the L2000 is €700 more expensive :rolleyes:

Citizenpain · 21-03-2021 12:08pm

Fern Bench wrote: »

Does anyone have the problem of small bits of grass being dragged into the house? I think it's maybe worse at the moment as the mower is catching up on some vigorous growth.

No , but my wife does

Thud · 21-03-2021 7:23pm

krissovo wrote: »

My Landroid L2000 failed last week so its off to be repaired/replaced. I have been using my 2nd mower a bottom of range/size S300 in its place while its away and I do not see any real difference in cutting routine. The S300 is coping fine in a 1800sqm garden, the L2000 is €700 more expensive :rolleyes:

had wondered about this. did you put in the larger batter from the L2000?

Mango Joe · 22-03-2021 12:11pm

Hi All,

I'm doing my install this weekend and I'd love some general tips and advice please. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on anything to do with laying my boundary and guide wires so I do it right and have no issues in future.

I'm basically thinking of any considerations I should take into account that I might not be aware of. A good example I'm thinking of is that a friend of mine mentioned that its a good idea to coil up a little extra cable and leave it pinned at some sensible interval under a hedge or in a quiet corner in case you need to make repairs or adjustments later in that particular section - this way you've a bit of leeway to draw some spare wire a short distance to where you need it or even gives you flexibility to plant a shrub or tree etc.

I'd never have thought of this in a million years - So are there any more really useful and essential tips like this people?!

There's also a post on here where someone mentioned having sub-loops by using outdoor 2-way electrical switches to have areas for daffodils - Am thinking I might possibly put in something for the paddling pool which is usually up all summer for the foreseeable future. This way the automower would be kept away from the carnage, stomping feet and large body of water and left run overnight later when the kids are in bed to keep the grass nice and tidy.

I thought this might also be a nice way of keeping the mower isolated to the front or back garden at certain times for whatever reason also. At certain times of year we get a lot of foot traffic right outside our gate and I'd be wary of teenagers messing with the automower etc. I know this might be programmable on the automower itself (in some cases) but the ease of just occasionally hitting a convenient switch on a whim is attractive too.

Also can someone please explain to me how "standby time" works on a Husqvarna Automower (mines McCulloch but it's basically a Huskie, also the manual entries on the topic of standby are identical to a few Husqvarna models I checked)

The manual simply doesn't explain if the standby time is something you should conscientiously include yourself - eg don't set a 23.5 hr timer session.

Or, more likely, does the Automower analyse the timer schedule and intelligently slot in its own standby periods allowing motors to cool and avoiding overworking the machine?

If you leave it on full auto 24 hrs a day does it slot in regular intervals of standby or add one big chunk ? (mine is factory set at 4 hours standby in a 24 hr period)

There was also some mentions of a message saying something like "mowing completed for the day" but it wasn't at all clear on this ?!

Thanks!

Mango Joe · 22-03-2021 12:13pm

Fern Bench wrote: »

Does anyone have the problem of small bits of grass being dragged into the house? I think it's maybe worse at the moment as the mower is catching up on some vigorous growth.

Citizenpain wrote: »

No , but my wife does

Its the ideal time to welcome in another home robot......

22-03-2021 1:56pm

Mango Joe wrote: »

I'd never have thought of this in a million years - So are there any more really useful and essential tips like this people?!

There's also a post on here where someone mentioned having sub-loops by using outdoor 2-way electrical switches to have areas for daffodils -

Both really good ideas I wish I had done & probably will do.
I think my will be ever changing and its easy to splice into.

Dont forget your mower will spend all day looking for weakness in the loop and will cut it!!

Mango Joe · 22-03-2021 2:33pm

BrownFinger wrote: »

Having a problem with my rob1000.
It's been out since Paddy's Day no problem but now it's not returning to base.
It just goes until the battery dies.
Any ideas ?
Nothing in the manual ,mower is new

Edit- it might be in manual mode.
Edit 2- just remembered doing some digging Friday evening.I cut the home guide wire.........
Moses was just driving around looking for his guide wire.

Open to correction but as far as I can tell the Rob R1000 can only follow a guide wire home - It doesn't seem to use any other method.

This is as opposed to the Husqvarnas which will:

1. Search hopefully for a guide wire for x amount of minutes.

2. If ~20 feet from a base station pick up a signal from it and go straight home.

3. If both those fail it will eventually follow a boundary wire back to the charging station.

PS - You would have had a blue light in the charging station in this situation which would have isolated this to the guide wire right away!

Bungusbeefcake · 22-03-2021 5:00pm

Hi All,

Quick question for you guys. My brother is looking at adding a robot to his family. I have an overview of his layout and size. It's looking at 2 sections, which we can connect by a passageway at the side of his house which would be ideal, total of around 500-550m2. What mowers would you suggest and any links would be ideal, especially to anywhere with a deal!

Thanks,

mcaleb1 · 22-03-2021 5:15pm

Hello,
I am looking for some advice. I have two front smaller gardens that are 50 metres from the back garden. They are a 10th the size of the larger back garden.

The path to the front garden is over gravel (large round gravel, maybe 10 mm diameter) and a narrow gap in a wall that is approximately 1 metre wide. The front gardens are then separated by a gravel driveway.

Ideally, I would have all connected and won't have to manually move the lawmower to the front. It would make the journey itself by virtue of the guidelines.

I am keeping the ride on so would use that to cut the front rather than do move it manually.

I have been told by a supplier that the husqvarna 450x cannot traverse gravel and even if it could, I was told it would try to cut as it moved to the front garden and then would cut as it moved over the driveway from one front lawn to the other.

I thought it would not cut as it moved from one zone to another and could be programmed to just travel. Does anybody know?
Also is it unable to travel over gravel?
Thanks for any help.
Barnes

Bungusbeefcake · 22-03-2021 5:21pm

mcaleb1 wrote: »

Hello,
I am looking for some advice. I have two front smaller gardens that are 50 metres from the back garden. They are a 10th the size of the larger back garden.

The path to the front garden is over gravel (large round gravel, maybe 10 mm diameter) and a narrow gap in a wall that is approximately 1 metre wide. The front gardens are then separated by a gravel driveway.

Ideally, I would have all connected and won't have to manually move the lawmower to the front. It would make the journey itself by virtue of the guidelines.

I am keeping the ride on so would use that to cut the front rather than do move it manually.

I have been told by a supplier that the husqvarna 450x cannot traverse gravel and even if it could, I was told it would try to cut as it moved to the front garden and then would cut as it moved over the driveway from one front lawn to the other.

I thought it would not cut as it moved from one zone to another and could be programmed to just travel. Does anybody know?
Also is it unable to travel over gravel?
Thanks for any help.
Barnes

From my experience with the Ambrogio and what I've seen of the Huskys, they will cut as they traverse from one section to the other and you also have the added potential issue of the robot venturing into the transition path while it's doing a normal cut.
I've a path across my driveway and a few occasions I've come home and the mower is bouncing between the perimeter wires in the middle of the path across the driveway. Basically because it's cutting and just ventured into the path. So, I would say having a path over gravel is a big NO. I guarantee it will venture into there and you'll be replacing blades all the time.

searay · 22-03-2021 5:41pm

mcaleb1 wrote: »

Hello,
I am looking for some advice. I have two front smaller gardens that are 50 metres from the back garden. They are a 10th the size of the larger back garden.

The path to the front garden is over gravel (large round gravel, maybe 10 mm diameter) and a narrow gap in a wall that is approximately 1 metre wide. The front gardens are then separated by a gravel driveway.

Ideally, I would have all connected and won't have to manually move the lawmower to the front. It would make the journey itself by virtue of the guidelines.

I am keeping the ride on so would use that to cut the front rather than do move it manually.

I have been told by a supplier that the husqvarna 450x cannot traverse gravel and even if it could, I was told it would try to cut as it moved to the front garden and then would cut as it moved over the driveway from one front lawn to the other.

I thought it would not cut as it moved from one zone to another and could be programmed to just travel. Does anybody know?
Also is it unable to travel over gravel?
Thanks for any help.
Barnes

I have a 450x that travels 7m across a tarmac drive between lawns.

I think gravel would damage your mower.
While you program it to travel between them, it is inevitable due to random cutting that the mower goes onto the pathway and will get stuck there.
I’ve seen my one get stuck for 30mins before it goes back onto a lawn.

50 metres would take forever. If cars are going to be on the pathway, there’s a danger of hitting the mower.

What is the supplier recommending? 2 smaller automowers might be a better option.

Bungusbeefcake · 22-03-2021 6:14pm

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Hi All,

Quick question for you guys. My brother is looking at adding a robot to his family. I have an overview of his layout and size. It's looking at 2 sections, which we can connect by a passageway at the side of his house which would be ideal, total of around 500-550m2. What mowers would you suggest and any links would be ideal, especially to anywhere with a deal!

Thanks,

Sorry, meant to add that he would hopefully want app control and GPS on that. What are your thoughts?

mcaleb1 · 22-03-2021 6:49pm

searay wrote: »

I have a 450x that travels 7m across a tarmac drive between lawns.

I think gravel would damage your mower.
While you program it to travel between them, it is inevitable due to random cutting that the mower goes onto the pathway and will get stuck there.
I’ve seen my one get stuck for 30mins before it goes back onto a lawn.

50 metres would take forever. If cars are going to be on the pathway, there’s a danger of hitting the mower.

What is the supplier recommending? 2 smaller automowers might be a better option.

They are suggesting wiring the front lawns with no gap so mower won't travel.
I would then manually move the automower.

Doing that daily would be worse that using the ride on so think I won't do that. I think I might wire just the back as extending to the front just increases the risk of wire breaks and what's the point when I know I won't be carrying it to two front lawns and giving it an alloted time in both.

Brianmeath · 22-03-2021 9:37pm

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Sorry, meant to add that he would hopefully want app control and GPS on that. What are your thoughts?

I bought a wiper premium f35s, it goes between 4lawns, two lawns one side of drive way, it goes out on the wire 55m before it starts to mow, I didn't want it crossing the driveway so it is docked behind my garage and heads out either direction to mow, got it last march and have to say I'm delighted with it, gps & two years warranty, it cuts for over 3hrs so can handle either side before it returns to charge. It worked out cheaper than the husqvarna, they recommended the 450x but would have been €1k more

searay · 23-03-2021 10:05am

mcaleb1 wrote: »

They are suggesting wiring the front lawns with no gap so mower won't travel.
I would then manually move the automower.

Doing that daily would be worse that using the ride on so think I won't do that. I think I might wire just the back as extending to the front just increases the risk of wire breaks and what's the point when I know I won't be carrying it to two front lawns and giving it an alloted time in both.

Having to carry it 50 metres plus and put it back in the charger would be a Pain in the Ass.

However, even if you can only use the automower on the back lawn, you'll save a lot of time and you might be able to use a cheaper model than the 450x.

When I was putting my one in, the installer wasn't keen on the pathway and suggested buying a smaller, possibly secondhand automower for the front. You could look at doing that in the future.

krissovo · 23-03-2021 10:09am

Thud wrote: »

had wondered about this. did you put in the larger batter from the L2000?

I did put the 5ah battery in and it works a charm, mow time increased for the S300 over the L2000 by at least an hour.

Pique · 23-03-2021 3:30pm

Has anyone got a mower where the dock is on gravel and the lawn is 10m away? This would be the most convenient location for me to get power to it. Is normal pea gravel easy terrain for these things?

searay · 23-03-2021 3:41pm

Pique wrote: »

Has anyone got a mower where the dock is on gravel and the lawn is 10m away? This would be the most convenient location for me to get power to it. Is normal pea gravel easy terrain for these things?

The mower would be mowing as it travels to the dock and would get damaged. Why not run a weatherproof extension lead to the lawn and put the dock there?

Thud · 23-03-2021 3:45pm

krissovo wrote: »

I did put the 5ah battery in and it works a charm, mow time increased for the S300 over the L2000 by at least an hour.

you'd wonder what they claim the price difference is for then. Motor lifespan?

krissovo · 23-03-2021 3:55pm

Thud wrote: »

you'd wonder what they claim the price difference is for then. Motor lifespan?

The larger mower has cut to edge and is half the noise for the motors so there is certainly differences but €700 worth is questionable. The cutting wheel is only 4cms wider in circumference.

Pique · 23-03-2021 4:05pm

searay wrote: »

The mower would be mowing as it travels to the dock and would get damaged. Why not run a weatherproof extension lead to the lawn and put the dock there?

That's what I was worried about alright. Ah well, thanks anyway.

blackbox · 24-03-2021 10:16am

What height are people cutting at?

Joey the Husky is still set to 4 but grass doesn't look great. Is it too early to reduce it to 3? (3 is my normal Summer height)

jwhat · 24-03-2021 10:25am

richardw001 wrote: »

Anyone got a dealer service for an husqvarna automower - got charged 70 euro today which seems a bit steep :-( - Aside from plugging it into a laptop and changing blades - do they do anything else ?

The last two years it's been €150 a pop and that's from two different dealers. I thought that was the standard cost!

Ketron · 24-03-2021 10:31am

I'm cutting at 7

Would have thought 3 was too low?

witnessmenow · 24-03-2021 11:05am

Mango Joe wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm doing my install this weekend and I'd love some general tips and advice please. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on anything to do with laying my boundary and guide wires so I do it right and have no issues in future.

I'm basically thinking of any considerations I should take into account that I might not be aware of. A good example I'm thinking of is that a friend of mine mentioned that its a good idea to coil up a little extra cable and leave it pinned at some sensible interval under a hedge or in a quiet corner in case you need to make repairs or adjustments later in that particular section - this way you've a bit of leeway to draw some spare wire a short distance to where you need it or even gives you flexibility to plant a shrub or tree etc.

I'd never have thought of this in a million years - So are there any more really useful and essential tips like this people?!

Definitely do this, I did it a little bit, but not enough. I would do it at every corner for sure if I was doing it again. If you have long stretches I would do it on straights as well, but maybe find someway of marking or lay it at a landmark of some kind as the wire really does bury itself after a few months so its hard to find.

I think the two way switch idea is good one, although I have never tried it.

Some other tips:
- Make sure you have enough wire. I had a pond area that really added to the length of wire needed, I probably would have been able to work it out ahead of time and realised I was short. I ended up buying some wire meant for the dog collars to finish off the job as I wanted to finish it that weekend. (its not as thick as the original wire but has worked fine). Google maps is actually a really easy way to measure your area and perimeter if needed.

- Make sure you have enough Pegs, similar to above, I ran out of pegs. I ran out of pegs before I ran out of wire though (if that makes sense) I ended up getting by with pegs I found in dealz (same thing, I just wanted to get the job done) but pegs are inexpensive on amazon so I would recommend getting a pack of extra just to have. My lawn is kinda uneven so I thing thats why i needed to use so many. I also kind of took no chances with any loose bit of wire.

- Buy some of the wire connectors things - pretty cheap and useful to have if you have any breaks. (I've only had one break of the wire , but we have moved the boundary in a couple of places and these have been really handy).

- If you have a dog, have a good pooper scooper solution

- in terms of toys left on the lawn etc, my one at least would bounce off bigger stuff like a bike , would push a football around, but it will make mince meat of soft toys or clothes, so best to get into a good habit of clearing the lawn too.

Lurching · 24-03-2021 11:34am

I had been closely following this thread prior to buying my own mower.
I'm thinking of treating my mower to a house this year, but I'd prefer if it wasn't just a boring plastic cover.

Is anyone willing to share photos of their mower houses?

My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

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