Lidl Parkside 20V 1000M2 robot mower review

Hi Folks,

It’s time for a brief update on my original review posted at the start of this thread. It is now my third season running the Lidl 20V robot mowers.I originally bought two of them in Summer 2023. These were the original models and both developed issues. The first one was caused by water ingress around the keypad and water got in and corroded the ribbon cable that resulted in me being unable to turn the mower on.The second one developed a problem with one of the wheel motors and the wheel would just stop turning if it got slightly stuck leaving the other wheel still turning and running down the battery. Now I was running the second mower for 17 hours a day as I was moving it between lawns to make up for the loss of my first mower which may have been too much work for it.

I reported my issues to Lidl support and they offered me a full refund. I did not want to take a refund as I wanted the mowers and I opted to wait until they got stock back in. I suspect Lidl’s partners only manufacture once or twice a year and you simply have to wait until the next manufacturing run before you will receive your replacement. Anyway, a DPD courier turned up at my door unexpectedly one morning with two new replacement mowers! Lidl did not want my old mowers back. The DPD courier told me they received about 40 of them at the warehouse. I do suspect Lidl have a fairly high return rate on these mower with some being returned due to user error when the base station is not installed correctly and others due to genuine faults.

I was able to make a third working mower by removing the bottom section from the mower with the faulty keypad and using the top section from the mower with the faulty wheel motor. I also have two new base stations as I used my old base stations with the new mowers.

Another issue I found with the mowers is one or both of the front wheels will eventually fall off. This is due to a poor quality circlip holding the wheels on the steel wheel shafts. The original clips simply rust away and the wheel falls off. This is very easily fixed by removing the wheels, and opening up both wheel sections by removing the three screws and replacing the circlip with a better quality one. I purchased a pack of stainless steel circlips from Amazon for about 12euros and replaced the clips on the front wheels of all my robot mowers. I think it was the 6MM one. You can see the thin original rusty circlip in the photo with the single wheel compared to the more robust stainless steel one I replaced it with.

Link to replacement stainless steel circlips I used.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09ZFCK42D?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3

Link to the replacement blades I used. The blades fit but the screws do not. You have to use the original screws holding the blades if they are not too rusty.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGYVJGJ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

The performance of the new generation mowers I received last Summer with the slightly raised keypad seems to be even better that the original mowers. They both cut the grass very well, but the newer generation mowers have far less problems when docking at the base stations. They seem to dock correctly first time every time when the previous generation often ended up going around the loop again to try and dock a second time. The docking issue with the original mowers may have since been fixed by a firmware update. My base stations positions have not changed. It is still very important to install your base station correctly as I explained in my original review.

Now I was still worried about water ingress on the newer models, although the keypad has been re-designed. I ran a bead of clear silicone around the keypad section on my new mowers just in case. I did not run the silicone around the stop button section to allow for drainage.

I also note some people have had problems with their base stations at the start of this mowing season. Always bring in your base stations during the winter and I would encourage people to buy the base station enclosure or build one yourself like I described in my original review to protect the mower from heavy rain. The new models have to be manually set off again when the rain sensor activates and the mower to return to base. This was not the case on the older models which kept trying to go out in the rain once the rain sensor dried out.

Leaving aside the issues with the original 2023 models as I explained above, I am still very pleased with the performance of these mowers. You

simply can not beat the value you get with these mowers when compared to other manufacturers models costing many thousands with smaller and far more expensive batteries. If the 1000M2 model is not big enough for you,buy two of them or you could try extending your boundary cable as I explained in my original review. If the mowers develop a fault with the front wheel falling off, fix it yourself! If there is a more serious fault, simply report it to Lidl support and wait for a replacement. You should always keep your original petrol or electric push mower as a backup if possible.

In summary, I still recommend picking one of these mowers up if you have decided a robot mower is right for your garden and you want to save some money. The 500m2 model is back on sale in Ireland on the 1stMay 2025. I reckon the 1000M2 model will follow later in May. If you want one, get to your local Lidl store before it opens and wait inline or you may miss out!

I would appreciate if an admin could link this updated review to my original to save people time reading all the replies!