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I'm rapidly approaching a move to a larger piece of property where I need to decide if I want to purchase a riding lawn mower. Now a lot of people (goons as well I image) enjoy taking care of their lawns. I don't. That poo poo sucks. Enter the modern (and somewhat lackluster) realm of the robot lawn mower. For now, there are only a few robot mowers to choose from: WORX Landroid - Cheapest option Robomow - I found more 3rd party and owner reviews of this brand than any other Husqvarna Automower - Biggest recognizable name in lawn equipment manufacturer making these There's a few other manufacturer's out there but these three seem to be the ones that I came across most frequently. To give you an idea of the different performers here is a totally not sponsored by Husqvarna video that gives a completely unbiased head to head of a few of the available products: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-4J98EWrI] So what's great? Number 1: Time saving. You can set any of these up to run as frequently as you want during whatever time of day you want. Number 2: Fully electric. No motor to maintain, gas to refill, super quiet (relative to a gas mower), etc. All of the benefits of an electrical motor system over a gas motor system. What sucks? Number 1: Difficult to setup. Nearly all the mowers use a perimeter wire that the mower randomly bounces around inside of. Setup of the wire has to be done properly or problems will arise. This seems to be the number one complaint I came across. Number 2: Not that widely adopted. There just do not seem to be that many people jumping on the robotic lawn mower and it shows in a lack of 3rd party reviews. Number 3: Every manufacturer uses their own proprietary hardware and longevity is still in question. The last thing someone wants is a super expensive piece of lawn equipment being rendered useless because the manufacturer doesn't make blades for it anymore. Final verdict? I will likely be buying one of these because I hate mowing the lawn just that much. If I'm going to invest thousands of dollars in a lawn mower I want one that does the job for me and makes my life easier. That said, does anyone here actually own one of these and if so, what has been your experience?
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Jun 26, 2017 23:03
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 23:17 |
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Aeka 2.0 posted:I have a lawnbott/ambrogio/Husqvarna. I got the largest residential unit they make under the Lawnbott name and it has been going good for 4 years. I did have a wheel motor and transmitter break at the same time. I think my automotive battery charger spiked the house wiring and fried them. Well that's good to know. I'm waffling between the Husqvarna and the Robomow. I like the Husqwarna because of the name/size of the company and I like their lawn equipment. But I like the Robomow because it's designed to be serviced by the owner. Since you've had to work on the Automower yourself, is working on it fairly straight forward? Since you've owned it for 4 years (and that's longer than any other review I've come across), if you had to do it again would you?
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Jul 4, 2017 03:37
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The initial investment is pretty high but I'm not sure the total cost of ownership is that far out of line. You figure with a typical walk behind gas mower you'll spend anywhere from $150 to $300 but then you have the recurring cost of gas, oil, spark plugs, filters, etc. And then the biggest cost is time. I'm on 1/3 of an acre now and it takes me 2-3 hours every week to mow, edge and trim. For a robomower it's a high initial purchase but the only recurring charge is the electricity and blades. And then you have what is probably the biggest savings which is time. Even comparing robovacs to manual vacuum cleaners has the same kind of cost spread but it's just a lower dollar amount.
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Jul 5, 2017 15:06
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That's correct. They're expected to run every 1-3 days so that the lawn is constantly getting clipped as opposed to growing for a week between mowings. The argument for this seems to be 2 fold. 1) It's healthier for the grass to be cut more frequently and 2) the tiny pieces of grass biodegrade quickly and avoid thatching/clipping buildup. I think another reason for the 1-3 days is that the mowers do the random path method as opposed to a back and forth method. So the entire lawn isn't going to be mowed everyday but by day 3 it should have covered everything.
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Jul 6, 2017 20:04
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I've gone ahead and ordered the silly thing. Got the Robomow RS622. I'm having a fence installed in a couple of weeks so I won't be able to set it up until after that's done. Not going to lie. I almost chickened out and bought a lawn tractor. Then I thought to myself, "self, what kind of silly fucker doesn't spend more money on questionable technology to do a job for you that you could just as easily do yourself?" And then I hit the purchase button and it should be here on Tuesday.
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Jul 23, 2017 12:31
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Fence is finally getting installed today and tomorrow. I'll probably be setting the little monster up this weekend. Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates!
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Aug 8, 2017 15:28
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Looks like it'll be a few more weeks before I get a chance to set it up. Weather didn't cooperate and I have a trip coming up which both poo pood my plans. I'll see if I can get some video of the setup and the little rascal at work though.
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Aug 13, 2017 16:15
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I started the install today and I've been at it on and off for 4 or 5 hours now. What I've learned: If your lot is flat and square this will be cake. If you lot is not flat and square, getting to about 90% functionality is easy but that last 10% is a real fucker. I didn't think it would matter but the app for controlling the Robomower uses bluetooth. Anyone who knows anything about bluetooth knows that the range isn't great which is fine for headphones but not fine when your mower is stuck in the back 40 and it can't notify you. My experience with the app is also less than stellar in that it seems to have trouble making the initial connection to the robomow and I've already had to reset the mower once because the app connected but couldn't download the settings. So far I would rank my experience with the Robomow a 6 our of 10. Setting up the wire is a pain (even if it is only once) and the app, while fully featured and very useful, is incredibly limited due to the inconsistent and short range of bluetooth. I'm sure once it's all setup and running I'll love it but so far I'm not sure I would recommend it to the average person.
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Aug 20, 2017 20:02
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 23:17 |
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My experience is similar. I've had to fiddle with the wire placement a fair bit to try and get everything dialed in. What I've found to be helpful is to set up the mower in sections. Initially I got the backyard mostly how I wanted it. Then, once it was good I expanded to the front yard and got that mostly how I wanted it. Just this last weekend I cleaned out a section of the backyard that was an old fire pit that had been over grown and adjusted the wire for the mower to include that area. Once I'm happy with that there's a section of old garden that needs to be flattened out and cleaned before adding it to the mowed section. But once it's setup it really is hands/worry free. It'll be interesting to see what the new mower offerings are in the next few years. I would say the biggest hurdle is the wire setup. If they can figure out a better or easier way to fence in the mower I could see them really gaining some momentum.
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Sep 19, 2017 22:49
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