Robot mower

Finally, we are considering getting a robot mower. We see plenty in gardens as we go around and the grass looks to be very well kept. Surprised to find there are so many different makes available and how much they have come down in price. So any recommendations or experience would be very welcome. I think initially we would be looking at covering 1,000 sq metres.
Looking forward to finding out what other folks think.

I’m waiting until the ones that you can programme via GPS (or similar) and operate from solar panel come down in price as the whole fuss of getting guide wires installed seems too much bother. And ones that can mow high, as don’t want my ‘lawn’ scalped as bad for water and insects.

Haven’t looked recently so maybe they are already here?

We couldnt have one in the garden
A. due to the shape and
B. the dog would savage it as an intruder

Still prefer my Husky ride on

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So your dog lets you use him for mowing? :upside_down_face:

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Having been a Husqvarna Automower owner for several years I would highly recommend them. Not the cheapest, but we all know the expression about buying cheap.

One of my neighbours has gone for a Honda Mimo. Compared to our Husqvarna it’s a toy in terms of robustness & is also noisier (although still quiet of course).

Unless your lawn is very steep or has actual steps then size & complexity are not an issue.

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My husky is better for digging than mowing. He also does a good impression of a leaf blower in suction mode, currently trying to hoover up every piece of fruit he can find on my trees, just to keep the place looking as tidy as possible no doubt.

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I was thinking of offering our doggy to JCB as a test piece.

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I dont thnk the OH would be chuffed if I spent 3k on a robot mower when the Husqvarna is in the garage. In addition based on the mowing figures it would take 50 cutting hours to mow the lawn, not including the charging time. They look nice and I am sure they are amusing to watch but not for me.

my FIL had one, he was happy with it.

Happily, I don’t have a lawn, just a gravel driveway and my traction Husqvana copes very well with its ups and downs. Bought many years ago 2nd hand for about €400, or was it Francs(?) I think it will see me out. :smile:

We highly rate our McCulloch robo mower, called Cedders, who cost us about £750. Cedders works about 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have a very irregular J shaped lawn of about 750m2. He happily navigates his way round trees stumps, washing lines, dogs, their toys (and bones!). He does get stuck in various places from time to time and has to be released. Overall a major saving in my time not having to mow the vast bulk of our lawn. The laying down of his guide wires took a little time to set up initially but is remarkably flexible to adjust whenever we change the area we want him to mow (eg some lawn gets converted into veg and flower beds)…

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How is he on slopes? And what is the maximum area he can do in one go? I currently have to get out my sit-on mower for my 10,000 m2 of scrub most of which is hill, but if there were another way of mowing I’d be delighted.

Husqvarna now have a robot mower which can cover 10,000m2.

They run via GPS so no perimeter wire to lay.

Cost approx 6500€

I get to see quite a few lawns through work and the ones cut by robots are always in exceptional condition.

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A few Pigmy goats if your ground is fenced off. Also good for pets or the freezer/ family méchoui.

People have grass left to mow?

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I have a lot of fruit trees in the scrub :pensive: poor little goats to think of eating them if they were members of the family.

When I win the lottery then!

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As they constantly mow/nibbble I can’t see how that figure is relevant.

Our robot (called Heisenberg) is a bit over specified for our lawn area as we reduced the amount of grass a few years after we bought him - he’s rated for 3500m² but only cuts under half of that. He’s out from 12 noon until 20.00, just Monday to Friday.

In the very dry summer last year (2022) we parked him a lot of the time, plus he does detect when he’s not really cutting much & will park up automatically.

We set the cutting height to maximum at the start fo the season when the grass is a bit fluffy, but only reduce the cut to about level 7 (out of 9) as we don’t want a scalped lawn pls a bit more clearance is better dealing with fallne apples, walnuts & other lumps & lumps.

He rarely gets stuck these days as we’ve had long enough to eliminate problem areas.

P.S. Despite the dealer saying that he would need a new battery after 2 years, & Husqvarna themselves stating 4 years life, Heisenberg is still on his original battery, with no sign of a problem - this is now his 8th season.

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Haven’t yet seen any robot mowers around here…

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I think your exceptional might be my lifeless and sterile!! Nothing so dull as a blanket sward, and to pay €6500 to get there!! When they get down to €2000 and have variable cuttings heights I’ll be in the queue.

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