My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

That's the path

Thanks - fill with some soil?

Hi Fellow Automowers,

Looking for some help advice here.

I have the Husqavarna 430x for 3.5 years cutting a 2000 sq meter lawn. No issues at all until today that is.

It has 5817 hrs total total run time (93.6% cutting time), distance is 9214 km.

Today was its first cutting day this year since November and it was working fine for 3 or 4 hours before the "Wheel Motor Blocked" error appeared.

I went out and I turned off the error and tried to get it going again. The right rear wheel was not moving at all. I then turned it off and looked at it more but I could seen nothing. Nothing stuck or caught on it. Both wheels moved the same by hand when i rotate them while under investigation. I then placed it back down and tried it again but this time the right wheel tried to move but was very jumpy and rough. It moved forward for about 10 meters and then awkwardly turned around but the movement was not smooth and its seem like it would damage if it continued. I parked it up for now.

In the 3.5 years, i would maintain it by cleaning (removing heavy, stuck grass underneath) it every ~1 month and changing blades every ~3 months. I house it during the mowing season in a timber kennel I made and then I take it into the garage for winter. I have never serviced it.

Has anyone seen this issue or know of what the solution is?

Thanks

Thanks for the comment KCross.

Update here. After the last post I came across this site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm47zEhPhs which explained how to open it up and take a look.

Last last night I followed the video and I saw the right rear wheel cogs were indeed very dry so I applied some lubricant to it. I put it back together and Hey Presto it started working again. At least in the short term.

Couple of follow on questions?

1) What lubricant/grease is recommend for this?

2) Should I still bring it for a service?

3) I know it depends on the Husqavarna branch but what service tasks do they do or should they do?

FYI I only realized last night how easy it was to remove the automower hood after it came across this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzlHGyWo0wQ . This makes cleaning much easier going forward.

no it hasnt arrived yet but will probably this week. I don't expect to use it for a few weeks though yet. I've already done one cut with the petrol mower i bought the plastic garage roof thing as well which was bit pricey.

Lads bought another house for Luigi as the Amazon both metal ikea job couldn’t hold up to Irish weather. Now I know there are many camps in robot mower land as to whether to cover and protect the charge station. Originally I was in the it’s an outdoor ma hone it will be fine but as we are high up and get serious wind and rain from time I felt sorry for Luigi.

totally a plug for John on done deal but the house I got is fantastic. I’ll need to clean up the garden around the house now.

delivered to cork for €70 euro

Hi folks,

I have a hosqvarna 105 automower and looking ahead to the cutting season which will be starting shortly,I have checked the manual and investigated all video,s on utube but nowhere gave me the answer I,m looking for,that is how to remove the cover of the 105 to clean it, I want to make sure I do no damage if I try to remove it,I m assuming you can remove the cover as I see with all the other hosqvarna,s,can anyone point me to where I can get info on this,

Mad money alright but go to a pet shop and check out the prices for basic cheapo plastic pet shelters. The wooden ones aren't far off what was posted above tbh and the quality could be way worse.

Just saying

To be fair lads I prefer my electrics to my carpentry.So I was never putting something like it together. It’s pressurised wood used through out. I didn’t want the flimsy dog box that would disintegrate. I agree not the cheapest but it will outlast Luigi. I needed a solid/heavy house as the wind we get here took the original house into the neighbours more than once. Tried everything bar concreting it in.

I've seen these on myrobotcenter

The Worx is a more recognisable brand, but I don't know much about either brand to be honest.

Edit: can't attach pics

Well, thought I might put a few notes on my expereince with my robot lawnmower over the last 3-4 years, while its specific to a robomow product, you might find it usefull to know, and also maybe someone might be able to advise on my latest problem.

Overall, I got my robomow back in 2017, so i've had 5 cutting seasons so far, going in to my sixth. After some initial issues with the install (ws professionaly installed), the robow mow (rs615pro) worked like a dream for prob 2-3 seasons. It then started to have a few issues, and I will list them out.

1) Wheel motor spindle broke, eventuially needed a new wheel motor

2) Mow motor died, needed a new mow motor.

3) LCD screen buttons stopped working (manged to keep it going by just using the app on the phone), but finally had to buy a new lcd panel.

4) Charging head failed (rush and corrosion on the PCB), had to purchase a new charging head.

Each of the above items costs about 150-200 euro, so not cheap, in addition to having to replace the lawnmower blades every year at a cost of 100 euro.

Now, to be fair, the machine is very repair friendly, most of the replacement parts are very easy to replace, following youtube videos etc.

I suppose, looking at the above, in parts and maintenance its cost be the best part of 800 euro so far, so the argument of it being a low maintenance solution compared to a ride on, didnt really stack up for me.

Clincher now, is, having replaced the charging head, it now appears that the lawnmower has to be "re-paired" to the head, as it is not detecting wire signal. Guess what.... I have to send both the charging head and the lawnmower itself back to dealer to get this done....150 euro more. Thats about 600 euro so far this year (ldc panel, cahrging head, set of blades and now the servicing charge from the dealer).

These things are not cheap. Work great though, but not cheap.

I had a small section of lawn also that last year I went and bought a cheap macallister B&Q robot mower for at a cost of just over 300euro, and despite its bare bones functionality, I cant fault it. Would nearly have considered a brand new mower instaed of all these repair parts for my robomow.

Anyway, if anyone knows how to pair a robomow with a new charging head or had this problem, would love to know if I can save the serving cost.

Thanks,

Neighbor had his out cutting the last week and yesterday morning it was gone. I wonder did it climb the fence and go for a walk itself :)

Lads any recommendations for an an Ambrogio service in cork. Not happy with where I bought it so looking around

It wasn't by any chance a company with the initials DC ?

I am on my second flymo and couldn’t get neither of them working. Don’t seem to be charging. Dies the minute it loses connection with the dock. No idea what to do with it at this point. Want out. Have the boundary installl done so happy to just buy a husk at this point.