I’m looking at the possibility of using robot lawn mowers to manage different parts of our land and thought I would start with the lawn in front of our cottage/gite (about 400 sqm) and the lawn to the side (about 1000sqm) See photo.
I know nothing about robot lawn mowers other than I see neighbours with them and beautifully smooth swards and the little I’ve gleaned from the press.
Ideally I’d like a solar version and something based on GPS rather than a wire.
I’d welcome feedback from those of you who have them and what your experience has been.
I have some specific questions.
Do they require a lot of setting up (especially if GPS) and after sales service? In other words will the company who sells us the kit have to set it all up for us? Our local InnoVert seems to be the main local supplier and their sales service is awful so I wonder to what extent these days we can just open a box and do it ourselves?
We have two large trees in front of the cottage so much of the lawn is in shade - will that be a problem for a GPS signal?
I’m assuming these days that two large tree trunks and a flower border that goes the length of the lawn will be no problem for the robot.
I’m also assuming that one mower will be able to do both lawns and that it will just trundle across from one to the other.
Does anyone have problems with their mower being attacked by their dog(s)? Our new Airedale teenager thinks going for the hand mower while I’m mowing is great fun and I rather fear she will feel the same about a robot.
I’d be grateful for any other thoughts/suggestions. Thanks.
I only know that because of the way Madame leaped when one of the many at the Parc Oriental at Maulévrier left the lawn it was busily mowing and headed straight across the path at her.
When I was thinking about one, I found a fair amount of information on YouTube.
Yes, a robot mower will happily handle that area if you buy the right specification. Mine is rated for 3500m² & by no means the biggest.
Your tree trunks & borders will be no problem, nor will any obstacle that is high enough not to pass under the mower.
Sadly I can’t advise about GPS versions as we have a wire loop. All’s been running well & the machine (a Husqvarna 430X) is now is it’s 10th season. It still using it’s original battery, which is pretty good going as the manufacturer estimates 4 years use, the dealer said two!
I’ve some minor loop issues, & know others who have many, but that’s due to poor installation. Clearly wire free/GPS ones avoid that issue.
I’ve just replaced the bearing for the spinning platter that is there to protect the blades - it was still working but had become noisy - cost 30€. The biggest expense was replacing both drive motors, one after 8 seasons, the other after 9. The motor part was fine, but the gears on them failed & you can’t get the parts separately; cost about 170€ per motor. Otherwise it’s just been blades & they are cheap if you don’t buy the branded ones - a pack of 30 (i.e.10 sets of 3) for around 20€ lasts over two seasons.
Oh, due to rusted circlips I had one of the front wheels come off it’s axle. I fixed that (with a 40 cent circlip), only to have the whole castor come off for the same reason, but located elsewhere - again an easy fix. I can now vouch for the fact that this particular model will carry on working with only 3 wheels…!
Two weeks ago I would have had nothing but praise for the things. My neighbour has had one for six or seven years and it has done a fantastic job on her large and quite complicated garden. During the winter she had it serviced and that was quite expensive because it had both wheels and tyres replaced. When it came back it became erratic and went back to the shop. It needed one of its motors replaced and that was even more expensive. It is back home again and seems to be behaving normally but my neighbour has lost confidence in it. She should be pleased because during its absence she was out mowing for a couple of hours every day.
We have quite a big lawn of just over a hectare and at this time of year it needs cutting approx every 6 days - I have that joy tomorrow. It will take 4-5 hours and use approx 15€ of petrol on my ride on.
I have been looking at these ones:
For clients gardens that I visit the lawns with robot mowers are always immaculate.
One of the things I’ve found interesting about animals and the robot mower is that the cats and dogs ignore it. I suppose there must have been a time when they were either terrified or intrigued by it but these days it trundles by without any of them reacting at all.
I am also looking into the same solution Sue. I have no experience of them but have used satellite positioning extensively in my previous occupation so I might have some relevant observations for you.
Two neighbours have been using them (wired) for about 3 years and their lawns are immaculate. They operate right up to the edge of our road. Their gardens are not fenced off and it amazes me that they are not stolen. It amuses me that they have headlights when working at night. They are very quiet and our two dogs, which usually chase anything that moves, ignore them completely.
GPS signals ARE affected by tree cover because a clear line of sight is required but I suspect that this is less of a problem than you might imagine. Firstly, the satellite sight line may not be directly above but may come from any direction in the open sky. To get a unique position fix you only need to see two satellites and there are a huge number up there to choose from. Obviously the more satellites seen the better the fix.
Secondly, these satellites are moving all the time so if you can’t get a fix this instant you may well get a fix later on. The robot may well have a system of predicting where it is in the meantime by monitoring its current speed and direction.
Also there are four satellite constellations which can be used individually or (better still) combined together. These are GPS (Global Positioning System) – USA, GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) – Russia, Galileo – European Union, BeiDou – China. What your robot use might affect your purchase.
The big problem with using GPS is the effect the atmosphere has on the signal being received and your accuracy is affected by current climatic conditions which are unknown. GPS on its own will only give an accuracy of a few metres which is useless for precision mowing. For this reason, a second GPS receiver is located in a fixed position. The position measured at its location will also vary with climate but we know that it has not actually moved. The same variations are being received at the robot so the former are used to correct the latter to give and accuracy of a centimetre or two. This is known as RTK (Real Time Kinematic). Don’t worry about the technicalities. Just be aware that for your robot to work accurately you will need a second aerial (called RTK) mounted (usually on a roof or a pole) so that it covers the whole mowing area.
I hope this gives a bit of background when talking about GPS controlled robot mowers.
We’ve had two wired robot mowers in 7 years (1 of which was relocated to Toyroo!)
We struggled to find ones that weren’t either GPS or WiFi, as we wanted the simplest possible mowers, on the basis of there being less to go wrong. The price difference between wired and the rest seemed huge, and we really didn’t think it worth the higher price to have GPS etc.
They probably aren’t stolen as they require PIN numbers to work with their base charger. We used to leave ours happily for several months when our house was a second home.
Putting the wire down takes a little while, a one off but is simple , and it beds in very quickly.
They do save us a huge amount of time not having to mow the lawn ourselves, especially if they’re doing 8-9 hours a day. Every day. Throughout the winter too (with less hours).
Highly recommended overall, but being non technical folk, we don’t regret the simple approach…I’m sure the more technically minded SF folk would have no difficulty with setting up GPS etc but it isn’t for us.
Hi. I have a Kress 174 robot mower - no wires requires. Works with GPS and mobile phone signal. Has obstacle avoidance system, rain sensor, adjustable cutting height. Is programmed to cut round some trees, the pool, the pond , go up a ramp, cross paths. Its excellent. I will be installing a small solar pv circuit for it + a few other garage outlets. My cutting area is rougher 3500sqm.
Hi. The mowing area was completely mapped, including all avoidance areas, charging point , paths etc beforehand as part of my purchase. Chappie walks around with a gps ‘trolly’ device.
Programming of the Kress is via an smartphone app. The only wire involved is a 3 metre (ish) leas-in magnetic strip for very precise guidance into the charging/docking station.
The machine cuts very accurately. You can set the cutting pattern too. It runs for about 2 hours b4 charging for 1 hour (approx).
Couple of addl screenshot attached fyi.
Many thanks,
Paul G Miller
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The full installation was undertaken by a technician from the store - Espace Emmeraud, Vihiers, in my case.
My contribution was to provide a mains electrical socket near the charging/docking station.
Many thanks,
Paul G Miller
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Hi Paul, thanks very much for the additional information. I guess you are reading posts from SF via your email and replying the same way. Please note that your posts come with your email footnote - which gets quite irritating for readers on SF after a while - I’m sure you barely notice it. Is there any way you can delete it before pressing send? If so, thanks.
When you say “beds in” George, what does that mean? I’m imagining a line of long grass where the wire is because the mower mows up to the wire but not over, or a wire in a flower bed that then gets chopped when I come to weed the flower bed.
