# Robomower Owners - Talk to Me!



## AndyS

So I have a Toro Timemaster and an electric 21" mower, but here's the cold, hard truth:

I hate the mow!

Seriously. 15K sq. Ft. plus a job that typically requires me to travel a lot, I just don't enjoy it. Truth is I can only ever mow once a week, regardless of my aspirations.

I've thought about a Ryobi electric ride-on, but in some ways a robomower seems superior. Tell me if these assumptions are accurate or not, and tell me the downsides. I assume:

- more regular cutting = more healthy turf
- less weight = less ruts in the turf for clay soils during wet months
- time savings other than changing blades means more time for weed pulling, apps, or simply doing non-lawn stuff

Give it to me straight!


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## SOLARSUPLEX

I have a neighbor that has some form of roomba like mower. His lawn is always perfectly cut to that height with no visible wheel marks. It does however do an extremely poor job of going near edges or curbs, which means the grass gets over grown in those parts very quickly. The result of this is a very poor looking lawn. If you have the means to weed wack every once and a while i bet the electric mower would take care of the rest.


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## AndyS

SOLARSUPLEX said:


> I have a neighbor that has some form of roomba like mower. His lawn is always perfectly cut to that height with no visible wheel marks. It does however do an extremely poor job of going near edges or curbs, which means the grass gets over grown in those parts very quickly. The result of this is a very poor looking lawn. If you have the means to weed wack every once and a while i bet the electric mower would take care of the rest.


That's a great point: you're still left with the detail work. I'm my case I'd be left with my tree lawn too, as there are way too many young kids flying around here on electric bikes to make that part of the geofence

Still, it would take out the bulk of the chore. Love the idea of no wheel marks too...


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## Deadlawn

From what I have read and seen, robo-mowers are not ready for prime time just yet.

Want to reduce your mowing time? Why not reduce your lawn areas and make some perennial flower beds or better yet, grow some food?


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## FATC1TY

Simple. Hire someone to cut it. Sounds like you don't like the act of cutting or yard work, so farm it out to a landscape company to do it twice a month and you cut the other weeks they don't come.


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## tneicna

Husqvarna Automower 315X owner here.

Had it installed for my back yard ~2 years ago. (Quarter Acer)

It cuts on a timer, every other day in the spring months, and when June 1st hits, 1 time a week for 12 hours. 
It can cut in the rain, had GPS, antitheft, etc.

The quality of my back lawn is better than the front lawn in the summer and spring! I have to trim the edges with a weed eater around the border, which is not a big deal. I've saved about 100 hours a year in cutting.

Backyard: Blueberry KBG
Front: Blueberry KBG (rotary, for now)

A paper by Pirchio et al (2018) noticed that Zoysiagrasses cut with a robo mower have better quality overall, or nearly identical to reel mowers. Conversely, Ferguson and Newell (2010) observed a higher turf quality produced by an autonomous (model Bigmow; Belrobotics, Wavre, Belgium) vs. a reel mower only 6 months after their trial had started. Ferguson and Newell (2010) also found that the autonomous mower produced a lower weed encroachment compared with the reel mower throughout the trial.

Brede, D. 2000 Turfgrass maintenance reduction handbook: Sports, lawns, and golf. Sleeping Bear Press, Chelsea, MI

Autonomous Rotary Mower versus Ordinary Reel Mower-Effects of Cutting Height and Nitrogen Rate on Manila Grass Turf Quality
Authors: Michel Pirchio 1 , Marco Fontanelli 1 , Christian Frasconi 1 , Luisa Martelloni 1 , Michele Raffaelli 1 , Andrea Peruzzi 1 , Lisa Caturegli 1 , Monica Gaetani 1 , Simone Magni 1 , Marco Volterrani 1 , and Nicola Grossi 1
View Less
1 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa 56124, Italy

https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/28/4/article-p509.xml


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## AndyS

FATC1TY said:


> Simple. Hire someone to cut it. Sounds like you don't like the act of cutting or yard work, so farm it out to a landscape company to do it twice a month and you cut the other weeks they don't come.


Unfortunately that won't work for me. It was the mishaps of local landscaping companies that got me into lawn care in the first place. It culminated with them trespassing on my neighbor's property to get around a temporary fence that I'd installed specifically to keep them from mowing it (and yes - we'd called and notified them too). It had rained heavily, they tore up the yard with their Scag and destroyed my overseeding project.

And that's not to mention the creeping bent grass and other junk that would find its way into the yard.

I envy those who have decent local lawn care companies.


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## ionicatoms

Try PGR?


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## AndyS

tneicna said:


> Husqvarna Automower 315X owner here.
> 
> Had it installed for my back yard 2 years ago. (Quarter Acer)
> 
> It cuts on a timer, every other day in the spring months, and when June 1st hits, 1 time a week for 12 hours.
> It can cut in the rain, had GPS, antitheft, etc.


@tneicna - that's incredible info!! Thanks so much!

Given the effects that frequent mowing is meant to have on grass it seems to make a lot of sense.

So what drove you to choose Husqvarna vs. Worx?

Cheers!


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## tneicna

AndyS said:


> tneicna said:
> 
> 
> 
> Husqvarna Automower 315X owner here.
> 
> Had it installed for my back yard 2 years ago. (Quarter Acer)
> 
> It cuts on a timer, every other day in the spring months, and when June 1st hits, 1 time a week for 12 hours.
> It can cut in the rain, had GPS, antitheft, etc.
> 
> 
> 
> @tneicna - that's incredible info!! Thanks so much!
> 
> Given the effects that frequent mowing is meant to have on grass it seems to make a lot of sense.
> 
> So what drove you to choose Husqvarna vs. Worx?
> 
> Cheers!
Click to expand...

Tried Worx. It was terrible. Cheaply made junk. It has so many problems that the Worx people ended up telling me to go away!


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## Still learnin

@HungrySoutherner has discussed his automower in his journal.


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## cldrunner

@tneicna What kind of life expectancy do you think your 315X will give you? How often do you change the blades and have you had to have it serviced since you bought it? Has the wire needed any repair?

I am very interested in this thread as I am looking at the 430X for about 28K pretty flat back yard. I am the same as you in that I do not want a lawn service driving commercial heavy zero turns in my yard.

My though is if I could get 5 years out of the automower it would pay for itself compared to a lawn service in about two years with our longer growing season.

Thanks for the info.


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## cldrunner

@AndyS I read this article a few days ago as well. DFW company using automowers and just come out every week or two to trim and check.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2021/04/15/north-texas-grown-lawn-robot-maker-buys-up-competitor-strengthens-partnership-with-swedish-giant-husqvarna/


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## AndyS

cldrunner said:


> @AndyS I read this article a few days ago as well. DFW company using automowers and just come out every week or two to trim and check.
> 
> https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2021/04/15/north-texas-grown-lawn-robot-maker-buys-up-competitor-strengthens-partnership-with-swedish-giant-husqvarna/


@cldrunner - that's fantastic! No doubt the market will go this way eventually, but a service like that would be perfection :thumbup:


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## tneicna

cldrunner said:


> @tneicna What kind of life expectancy to you think your 315X will give you? How often do you change the blades and have you had to have it serviced since you bought it? Has the wire needed any repair?
> 
> I am very interested in this thread as I am looking at the 430X for about 28K pretty flat back yard. I am the same as you in that I do not want a lawn service driving commercial heavy zero turns in my yard.
> 
> My though is if I could get 5 years out of the automower it would pay for itself compared to a lawn service in about two years with our longer growing season.
> 
> Thanks for the info.


I changed the blades once in about a year. According to the documentation, the battery will last about 4 years.

I've never had it serviced. The biggest pain in the butt was where to put the charging station.


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## cldrunner

@HungrySoutherner In your journal you show pictures of your auto mower. Would you be able to tell us the model and your experience so far with your operation? Has it made your mowing more efficient? Thanks..


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## seebryango

I believe @HungrySoutherner has a Husqy 450X at 0.38" HOC


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## HungrySoutherner

AndyS said:


> So I have a Toro Timemaster and an electric 21" mower, but here's the cold, hard truth:
> 
> I hate the mow!
> 
> Seriously. 15K sq. Ft. plus a job that typically requires me to travel a lot, I just don't enjoy it. Truth is I can only ever mow once a week, regardless of my aspirations.
> 
> I've thought about a Ryobi electric ride-on, but in some ways a robomower seems superior. Tell me if these assumptions are accurate or not, and tell me the downsides. I assume:
> 
> - more regular cutting = more healthy turf
> - less weight = less ruts in the turf for clay soils during wet months
> - time savings other than changing blades means more time for weed pulling, apps, or simply doing non-lawn stuff
> 
> Give it to me straight!


In my humble opinion you are a perfect candidate for the Husqvarna 430x, 450X or depending on if you have extreme slopes the 435x. Before last season I had been reel mowing my lawn at .25" and then I had the chance to get a Husqvarna 450X at a price that made me take the leap and give it a shot. The first issue I needed to work through was that the minimum HOC on the Automower is .8" which wasn't going to work for me, I've got Bermuda and ideally I wanted to be down to .5". After a little research I found the fairway kit for the mower that sets the HOC down to .38" for golf course use and set the mower up to be mowing low, problem solved. After living with the mower for 1 full season, I can't imagine going back to reel mowing, unless I just want to do it for fun. My turf quality was better than it had been in the previous season, to the point that I ended the season with turf that was way to dense. 
There are pros and cons to the system so I will run those down for you. The Pros: You're lawn is always mowed and maintained at the same HOC. The turf is never riding the roller coaster of growing out and be hacked down, the automower just goes out every day and does a shave and keeps things nice and neat. Depending on the condition of your turf the mower doesn't care if its raining or sunny it will mower either way (I'll come back to this). It's an all electric system so the maintenance is extremely minimal, and the mower knows to go home and charge when the battery is low and will resume mowing when it's charged. The blades are cheap and easy to change, just 3 screws. I generally just keep an eye on my blades and just change them as needed, but just a force of habit I don't run them longer than 3 weeks your mileage will vary. Other maintenance is just checking the wheels to make sure they aren't clogged with wet grass or dirt and that the underside of the mower is clear of grass. Outside of that there isn't any other maintenance. All mechanical things will wear out, but these systems are easy to change parts and maintain and there are guys that are still running the first and second gen automowers that are 20 years old. The base station is designed to be all weather so you can pretty much stick it anywhere as long as the mower can easily get to it. The system requires guide wires and boundary wires to be buried so the mower knows how to to get to different zones, find the base station and what the boundaries of the lawn are. If you buy the mower through a local dealer they usually will include the installation in the price, but I have a suggestion work with your dealer to do the installation above ground with the stakes first so you can make adjustments to the wire boundaries before having it buried. In my case I bought a spool of wire and some extra stakes, temporarily staked it down looked at how it was cutting and then once I was happy I buried everything myself. 
Everything is managed from your phone or on the keypad of the automower. The automower has included cellular system and gps and that is included in the purchase price so you don't pay extra, which means it's not dependent on wifi. You can manage the mower from anywhere in the world in terms of changing the mowing hoc, sending it to different zones, telling it to mow, changing the schedule and getting realtime GPS location if someone gets brave and tries to steal it. If someone tries to steal the mower the alarm is blaring loud, won't shut off without the pin code and immediately alerts you on the phone with a play-by-play gps location of where your robot is headed. I've goofed around with it and stole my own mower to see if I could track where it was headed and it works great. I set mine up to mow mostly at night since the mower doesn't care. 
Cons: Mowing in the rain. The mower will mow whenever you tell it to which means in the rain. In my lawn on bermuda its not a big deal it can handle it, but the wheels get sandy because of my yard. Some yards its to abusive to have it running in the rain and the mower gets covered in wet grass clippings and the wheels will get muddy. If that's your case, you can set up an IFTTT program to tell the mower to stay home if rain is in the forecast or just tell the mower to skip mowing from your phone when the rain starts and resume later. The second con is the buried wire, if you bury it to shallow or go nuts with aerating or dethatching you can cut the wire. It's not a big deal and super easy to repair, but knowing where you have the wires buried or getting a cheap wire locator is important. The final con is what was mentioned earlier edging and weed eating areas the mower just can't get in to. Its just a limitation of the mower for tight corners or fence lines or even like in my case the curb near the street where I don't want the mower to be to close to and risk falling into the street. There is a very simple solution to this that at least limits the amount of time you need to trim to keep it looking nice till you can weedeat, PGR. I use the high edging rates of PGR on the areas that the mower can't get into so that I don't have to weed eat and the lawn doesn't look weird with areas that look great and some over grown. The first time you run that high rate those strips of grass are probably going to get bronzed out, but for me its worth it considering I go out and do that once a month and the yard looks crisp with the least amount of trimming. The final con is price, automowers aren't cheap but if you think about what it provides and consider that if your lawn is so large you are in zero turn land, the automower to me is the better buy because you don't have to ride it to do the work and don't need gas. 
If you've made it this far in the novel then you will know I love the automower and can't imagine ever going back. Considering that I can have reel low turf without doing the mowing even if I'm on vacation its perfect for me. The cut quality is great, and for me I'd rather have nice cut turf than a participation sticker that says I got out and mowed it low 3 days a week for it to look good. If you have any more questions I'm an open book.


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## ionicatoms

Nice review. Thanks!


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## Ware

Great write-up @HungrySoutherner - it makes me want one.


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## gooodawgs

:shock: Wow! I did not know they had a fairway kit to cut that low.... now I'm rethinking my GM1600 I just bought! Thanks @HungrySoutherner :lol:


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## AndyS

Wow, wow, WOW! @HungrySoutherner what an incredible write up!! Thank you! I did make it to the end of the novel and it was all worth it :thumbup:

Great point about the participation sticker... That's exactly how I feel! Maximum turf quality and health is my goal and this micro cutting seems to be the best route for me.

Quick questions:

1) I have a few pin oaks that drop branches occasionally. I assume the mower just navigates around them until you pick them up?

2) I also have acorns (what a fun yard) but I assume that at a higher HOC (I have KBG) that wouldn't be an issue for the machine?

3) Can you sharpen the blades, or is it a throw out and replace?

Thanks!!

PS - this thread has been such quality that y'all are reminding me to make a little donation to TheLawnForum. Cheers :thumbup:


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## HungrySoutherner

Ware said:


> Great write-up @HungrySoutherner - it makes me want one.


You're new place would do great with a automower. It would just be out there covering the whole thing all the time, but the benefit would be you could run the fairway kit and keep the thing down "reel automower low".


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## HungrySoutherner

AndyS said:


> Wow, wow, WOW! @HungrySoutherner what an incredible write up!! Thank you! I did make it to the end of the novel and it was all worth it :thumbup:
> 
> Great point about the participation sticker... That's exactly how I feel! Maximum turf quality and health is my goal and this micro cutting seems to be the best route for me.
> 
> Quick questions:
> 
> 1) I have a few pin oaks that drop branches occasionally. I assume the mower just navigates around them until you pick them up?
> 
> 2) I also have acorns (what a fun yard) but I assume that at a higher HOC (I have KBG) that wouldn't be an issue for the machine?
> 
> 3) Can you sharpen the blades, or is it a throw out and replace?
> 
> Thanks!!
> 
> PS - this thread has been such quality that y'all are reminding me to make a little donation to TheLawnForum. Cheers :thumbup:


Ok so here goes in my shortest attempt possible:

1) If the branches are big the mostly likely scenario is the mower will bump into it and turn around and go a different direction, if they are small enough for the mower to run over the mower will just run over the top of the stick and mow it, but it's not aggressive like a rotary. The blades are kind of like sharp thick razor blades in a straight razer, but they are swinging a pivot held out by centrifugal force, so they would just slap the stick and fold back and the mower keeps going. Worst case if your mowing sticks all the time you might have to change blades more often. My neighbor has a pecan tree that drops pecans and limbs in my yard all the time. The mower handles it no problem and I just get out and pick it up, no harm no foul. 
2) Acorns are no problem, worse case is you are mowing low like me and they get hit and mildly chopped up but does no harm. If you are mowing taller the mower probably will never see it. 
3) The blades are completely disposable. You buy them in huge packs and each blade includes a new screw. They are quick to change out and cheap to buy so I keep my changed regularly. Depending on your grass and how much you are mowing will determine how much life you get out of them. A pack of 30 blades and screws goes for about $14 which is 10 blade changes. That like 2 year supply even if you are aggressive with them. I tried 3 different blade vendors from super cheap to the OEM blades last year to see if it was worth buying Husqvarna brand at the premium price, and I will tell you don't waste the money. With the fairway kit that is the harshest you could be cutting with the blades and the cheap packs on Amazon last just as long as the Husqvarna.

BONUS: If you are one of those people that leaves water hoses in the yard, especially cheap water hoses Automowers can cut the water hose if they roll over them. I haven't experience that, but I've heard of other owners who have left hoses out and forgot and the mower went out to mow and nicked up the hose. To be fair any mower would destroy a hose if its hit, but robots aren't out surveying the lawn for hoses.


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## HungrySoutherner

gooodawgs said:


> :shock: Wow! I did not know they had a fairway kit to cut that low.... now I'm rethinking my GM1600 I just bought! Thanks @HungrySoutherner :lol:


Yep. It's pretty awesome. I have a small lawn, I can't imagine reel mowing a large property. Automower to the rescue.


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## Ware

HungrySoutherner said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> Great write-up @HungrySoutherner - it makes me want one.
> 
> 
> 
> You're new place would do great with a automower. It would just be out there covering the whole thing all the time, but the benefit would be you could run the fairway kit and keep the thing down "reel automower low".
Click to expand...

That would be cool, but it looks like the biggest ones will only mow up to about 1.25 acres?

If so, I would need a small fleet (3) of them.


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## HungrySoutherner

Ware said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> Great write-up @HungrySoutherner - it makes me want one.
> 
> 
> 
> You're new place would do great with a automower. It would just be out there covering the whole thing all the time, but the benefit would be you could run the fairway kit and keep the thing down "reel automower low".
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> That would be cool, but it looks like the biggest ones will only mow up to about 1.25 acres?
> 
> If so, I would need a small fleet (3) of them.
Click to expand...

More is always better. Start with one in an area then grow the fleet, or for my next trick create 3 large mower zones for the Automower and combine the mower with PGR applications. With reduced growth from PGR you can have the automower rotate the zones and in theory it still works out because of the reduced mowing requirements under regulation. So instead of 1 mower mowing 1 zone everyday to maintain HOC, rotate 1 mower into 3 zones each zone gets mowed completely every 3 day. In theory it works since you're hitting each zone about when you should while under regulation. I'd say its worth an experiment, worst case 1.25 acres are always mowed if it doesn't pan out and that is 1.25 you don't have to ride on the zero turn.


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## AndyS

Ware said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> Great write-up @HungrySoutherner - it makes me want one.
> 
> 
> 
> You're new place would do great with a automower. It would just be out there covering the whole thing all the time, but the benefit would be you could run the fairway kit and keep the thing down "reel automower low".
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> That would be cool, but it looks like the biggest ones will only mow up to about 1.25 acres?
> 
> If so, I would need a small fleet (3) of them.
Click to expand...

I'm sure prices will continue to drive down.

A lot of the technology from the drone world has advanced significantly in only a few years.

I knew a guy that had a $6K commercial drone that needed two pilots. A little over a year later he was using $1,200 Phantoms because the tech had moved on so much.

This is really tempting for me now given my smaller yard and @HungrySoutherner 's really detailed help!


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## Guymauve

Hello,

I'm a proud user of an automower too.

Here's my installation. (in French)


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## HungrySoutherner

AndyS said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> You're new place would do great with a automower. It would just be out there covering the whole thing all the time, but the benefit would be you could run the fairway kit and keep the thing down "reel automower low".
> 
> 
> 
> That would be cool, but it looks like the biggest ones will only mow up to about 1.25 acres?
> 
> If so, I would need a small fleet (3) of them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm sure prices will continue to drive down.
> 
> A lot of the technology from the drone world has advanced significantly in only a few years.
> 
> I knew a guy that had a $6K commercial drone that needed two pilots. A little over a year later he was using $1,200 Phantoms because the tech had moved on so much.
> 
> This is really tempting for me now given my smaller yard and @HungrySoutherner 's really detailed help!
Click to expand...

Prices will for sure come down as more competitors enter the market and more people adopt them. The technology is evolving fast with the automowers as well. The next generation automower doesn't require the buried wire anymore and instead uses precision RTK gps to establish the boundaries and a fix gps reference at the base station. At my local dealer that sells commercial zero turns and heavy lawn equipment, all of the owners and employees have automowers because of the convivence of having a maintained lawn season long.


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## Ware

@HungrySoutherner does it mow any sort of pattern or does it just bounce around like the old roomba vacs until everything is mowed?


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## HungrySoutherner

Ware said:


> @HungrySoutherner does it mow any sort of pattern or does it just bounce around like the old roomba vacs until everything is mowed?


It's a random pattern, but it uses the GPS and zone awareness to know which areas have been covered previously so it doesn't get over focused on certain areas. When you first get one you think there is no way it will cover the whole area but it does. To be honest I contribute the randomness to improved turf density in my Tifgrand because its cutting the grass from so many different directions the grass doesn't develop a grain from mowing patterns. Inadvertently if you go heavy handed with the NPK and push growth to fast, the mower will thin the turf for you if your stolons and stems are out growing the leaf material. The blades are angled down towards the turf, not flat so it has a lifting action when it cuts. When I first saw this happening I couldn't figure out what was going on, but then realized the benefit because it was lifting and snipping stolons, which then would grow back lower and denser.


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## cldrunner

@HungrySoutherner Thank you very much for answering all these questions. I have been trying to research the Husqvarna 430X the last few weeks as I think I can auto mow about 15-16K of my 20K area. Your insight is very helpful. Thanks!!


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## Ware

HungrySoutherner said:


> ...To be honest I contribute the randomness to improved turf density in my Tifgrand because its cutting the grass from so many different directions the grass doesn't develop a grain from mowing patterns...


Makes sense. :thumbsup:


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## AndyS

Turns out I have a dealer within 15 miles, which is close enough to be worth a conversation. Great info here!


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## Still learnin

Great info here. Definitely has me thinking. Wondering if it would worth holding out for the Rtk GPS.


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## thebmrust

With the current auto mower prices hovering at just above (or right at) a high end riding mower, used lawn tractor or used golf course equipment... it's hard to not take them seriously.

For me, I have a 1.6 acre property and about 1.2-1.3 acres of grass (would probably be three zones). It takes me at least 4 hours a week to mow it. A little longer if I weed eat, push mow tight spots and mow (old 42" rider).

If I value my weekend time at $25hr... that's $100 per Sunday, $400 a month or $3600 a year. In a sense, it's simplified ROI is tempting.

Granted, some people like to sit on a mower for a few hours a weekend. Not knocking it... just starting to think about what's important in my life right now and the short term future.


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## Guymauve

That's not because you are using an automower that you can't mow sometimes with your craftsman


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## HungrySoutherner

thebmrust said:


> With the current auto mower prices hovering at just above (or right at) a high end riding mower, used lawn tractor or used golf course equipment... it's hard to not take them seriously.
> 
> For me, I have a 1.6 acre property and about 1.2-1.3 acres of grass (would probably be three zones). It takes me at least 4 hours a week to mow it. A little longer if I weed eat, push mow tight spots and mow (old 42" rider).
> 
> If I value my weekend time at $25hr... that's $100 per Sunday, $400 a month or $3600 a year. In a sense, it's simplified ROI is tempting.
> 
> Granted, some people like to sit on a mower for a few hours a weekend. Not knocking it... just starting to think about what's important in my life right now and the short term future.


I have a small yard so I don't spend near as many hours mowing as guys do with bigger properties, but I also found that as an excuse to be reel mowing more times a week than I needed. When I made the decision to switch over to the automower I went into it really as an experiment and thought if it didn't work out, that I could always go back to reel mowing. Then I discovered that which did I like more the reel mowing, or how the grass looked when it was being constantly maintained low and tight. With the automower keeping things looking just as good as the reel mower without the hours spent mowing I had my answer. Now I get to come home in the afternoon, take my shoes off and spend my time just walking around in my grass and enjoying the lawn and have more time to work on other projects. My gut tells me in the next 10 years more and more people will be making the switch over to robot systems. I'm an early adopter, even though these have been around in Europe for 20 years Americans are late to the party.


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## cldrunner

@HungrySoutherner I agree that auto mowing will become a larger segment. The only downside I see for most homeowners is they own dogs. As I look around my neighborhood I would say it is at least 50%. Most do not like to clean their dogs "poop" . They would just rather have their lawn service mow over it.

Disclaimer: I do not own a dog........but I do have a few neighbors who think my lawn is their dogs lawn.

I really like the concept of the 430X.


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## HungrySoutherner

cldrunner said:


> @HungrySoutherner I agree that auto mowing will become a larger segment. The only downside I see for most homeowners is they own dogs. As I look around my neighborhood I would say it is at least 50%. Most do not like to clean their dogs "poop" . They would just rather have their lawn service mow over it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own a dog........but I do have a few neighbors who think my lawn is their dogs lawn.
> 
> I really like the concept of the 430X.


We have 2 dogs, we do our best to keep the dog poop picked up so the mower doesn't run it over but it happens. Same if you run over dog poop with a rotary wheel. It doesn't really effect the blades, I've never found it smeared on the cutting disc or underside just the wheels. If it happens I just take the hose and spray off the wheel and let it move on. It's really not that big of a deal, a lot of owners don't even do that because it will eventually just dry up and fall of the wheel since it mows all the time. I guess better said is it doesn't bother the mower, the average automower user may only check and clean the mower of grass and stuff 1 time a month or longer to change blades. There are guys in the automower group that rarely if ever check the mower and it will be cutting with nubs for blades. It's more robust than you think.


----------



## Deadlawn

HungrySoutherner said:


> We have 2 dogs, we do our best to keep the dog poop picked up so the mower doesn't run it over but it happens.


I had the unfortunate experience of chopping up a dog poop with the blade once. The stench was unbelievable and you should've seen the swarm of flies around the mower afterwards.


----------



## Deltahedge

I hadnever really given automowers much of a thought, but this thread has been eye-opening for me. Thank you @HungrySoutherner for your brief review. I have to mow the ditch in front of my house, and it's way too steep for my zero turn, but it looks like some of these automowers can handle pretty steep hills. I assume its because their center of gravity is slow low to the ground.

A quick search brought me to a brand called Ambrogio, and they have mowers that are built to mow up to up to 5 acres, and can handle 45% slopes!!! (it has a 60 amphour battery). I haven't priced one, and I haven't looked into them very much to see how they compare to the quality of the Husqvarna.

EDIT: To add price information for the Ambrogio model that can mow 5 acres. I've seen is listed at a few places for $16k. The 1.25 acre model costs around $5K.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Deadlawn said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> We have 2 dogs, we do our best to keep the dog poop picked up so the mower doesn't run it over but it happens.
> 
> 
> 
> I had the unfortunate experience of chopping up a dog poop with the blade once. The stench was unbelievable and you should've seen the swarm of flies around the mower afterwards.
Click to expand...

You must have been mowing high grass. I haven't experience that yet. Worst case for me is dog poop on the wheels, but then again I've hit dog poop with reel mowers and rotary wheels and its nasty to clean up too.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Deltahedge said:


> I hadnever really given automowers much of a thought, but this thread has been eye-opening for me. Thank you @HungrySoutherner for your brief review. I have to mow the ditch in front of my house, and it's way too steep for my zero turn, but it looks like some of these automowers can handle pretty steep hills. I assume its because their center of gravity is slow low to the ground.
> 
> A quick search brought me to a brand called Ambrogio, and they have mowers that are built to mow up to up to 5 acres, and can handle 45% slopes!!! (it has a 60 amphour battery). I haven't priced one, and I haven't looked into them very much to see how they compare to the quality of the Husqvarna.


I don't know much about the Ambrogio but they are supposed to be pretty good. I think they are the Italian brand. The Husqvarna 435x is the 4 wheel drive version of the automower and it can handle what you are talking about as well. Based on my own experience the area that the mower can handle in terms of mowing is extremely subjective because there are so many factors like slopes, terrain, grass type and obstacles. They say the battery life on the 450x that I have is rated for 4.5 hours, but mine will easily mow 7 hours on one charge.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

I've got a 315 that I modified to maintain my 419 at 0.5" in my backyard. It works very well and I just hit the edges with the landscape blade after I mow the front yard with the reel.

I recommend using thicker invisible dog fence wire for the boundaries and guide wire. And you can rent a wire trencher from home depot to make burying easy. I have aerated over mine and so far its been fine but I do know where it lies and I try to avoid going directly over it.

I still will mow the back on occasion to cut some stripes but its nice to not be committed to cut to keep it low.


----------



## Deltahedge

HungrySoutherner said:


> Based on my own experience the area that the mower can handle in terms of mowing is extremely subjective because there are so many factors like slopes, terrain, grass type and obstacles. They say the battery life on the 450x that I have is rated for 4.5 hours, but mine will easily mow 7 hours on one charge.


Thanks, that's good info.


----------



## Deadlawn

HungrySoutherner said:


> Deadlawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> We have 2 dogs, we do our best to keep the dog poop picked up so the mower doesn't run it over but it happens.
> 
> 
> 
> I had the unfortunate experience of chopping up a dog poop with the blade once. The stench was unbelievable and you should've seen the swarm of flies around the mower afterwards.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> You must have been mowing high grass. I haven't experience that yet. Worst case for me is dog poop on the wheels, but then again I've hit dog poop with reel mowers and rotary wheels and its nasty to clean up too.
Click to expand...

I think it was pretty high. It was during the heat of summer and I am not known for being vigilant about mowing in hot weather, not to mention at that time of year, I always mow at the highest HOC.

The dog poop gave the underside of the mower a new paint job.  I didn't want to go near it, I just set it outside and let the flies take care of it.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Deadlawn said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Deadlawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> I had the unfortunate experience of chopping up a dog poop with the blade once. The stench was unbelievable and you should've seen the swarm of flies around the mower afterwards.
> 
> 
> 
> You must have been mowing high grass. I haven't experience that yet. Worst case for me is dog poop on the wheels, but then again I've hit dog poop with reel mowers and rotary wheels and its nasty to clean up too.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I think it was pretty high. It was during the heat of summer and I am not known for being vigilant about mowing in hot weather, not to mention at that time of year, I always mow at the highest HOC.
> 
> The dog poop gave the underside of the mower a new paint job.  I didn't want to go near it, I just set it outside and let the flies take care of it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the perfect storm scenario.


----------



## Still learnin

I talked to our local dealer. Decent info, not much that hasn't been said here. He did say that typical battery change is every 4-5 years and they're about $150 each. They're apparently designed to be completely serviceable. Worst he has seen in 15 or so years is one that was run over by a vehicle. $1,000 to fix.

I'm not ready to pull the trigger, but close. I'm going to have him come and look over my yard to get an accurate install price. The model I need has to be professionally installed according to the website.

He also recommended that I get 2 because of my square footage. Definitely not ready for that. I'll just use my zero turn for the area it can't cover. He mentioned a homeowner in my area that has 3 setup.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Still learnin said:


> I talked to our local dealer. Decent info, not much that hasn't been said here. He did say that typical battery change is every 4-5 years and they're about $150 each. They're apparently designed to be completely serviceable. Worst he has seen in 15 or so years is one that was run over by a vehicle. $1,000 to fix.
> 
> I'm not ready to pull the trigger, but close. I'm going to have him come and look over my yard to get an accurate install price. The model I need has to be professionally installed according to the website.
> 
> He also recommended that I get 2 because of my square footage. Definitely not ready for that. I'll just use my zero turn for the area it can't cover. He mentioned a homeowner in my area that has 3 setup.


None of them require pro installation, that is totally up to you. They will sell you the mower and supplies you need to install it yourself if you want to save on installation. My dealer includes installation in the base price of the 450x and 435x model. Depending on the route you go and what the dealer is going to charge for the install you may be able to save a chunk of change doing it yourself, its not hard. In my case I laid out the boundary wire on top of the ground used the stakes to keep it in place and started running the mower so I could get an idea for the optimal placement of the boundary, made adjustments and then used a stick edger as deep as it would go to make a trench and pushed the wire in and called it a day. Rental shops and HD will rent the wire machines for pretty cheap to also bury the wire that way as well. The down side to letting the dealer do the install is they are going to make guesses about how and where to place the wire, make a few marks and will use the machine to bury it immediately, if you aren't happy with how the mower is responding to the placement after the fact you will have to dig it up and move it. Just some thoughts and options.


----------



## Still learnin

@HungrySoutherner , yeah when I was talking to him I remembered you had said you placed the wires temporarily to see how the mower responded. The dealer mentioned people making improvements to their yard (ie, grass level or above driveways) so the mower reaches more areas. Figured when I have him come out, I'd really get into the weeds regarding install. I don't see it being a huge pain, just time consuming. Can you let it just bump into items like metal edging? If not, that will require a good deal but more of wire.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Still learnin said:


> @HungrySoutherner , yeah when I was talking to him I remembered you had said you placed the wires temporarily to see how the mower responded. The dealer mentioned people making improvements to their yard (ie, grass level or above driveways) so the mower reaches more areas. Figured when I have him come out, I'd really get into the weeds regarding install. I don't see it being a huge pain, just time consuming. Can you let it just bump into items like metal edging? If not, that will require a good deal but more of wire.


Yeah the mower can handle bumping into things no problem. I think ideally you wouldn't want to rely on that but in my case I want it mowing as close to the fence as possible so I have the wire buried near the fence and it just barely touches the fence when the wire is detected and it turns around.


----------



## TheSwede

I'm actually a bit disappointed the evolution has been so slow with these things. As it happens, I was part of the team that developed the Gen 2 Automower (think it was introduced in 2003). And frankly, development has been excruciatingly slow since, IMHO.

Back then, there where severe limitations to the battery technology available compared with today (the first one they did, the "turtle mower", was actually fully solar powered, which was pretty rad in 1995!), and the random pattern was a consequence of the lack of positioning technology and the very limited system resources of the on board CPU. I remember we spent an awful lot of time on trying to come up with, and optimize algoritms on how the mower would realize it was in trouble (stuck, in a tight spot, etc.) but there was just so much you could do with the limited sensor technology available for the price point they where aiming for.

Personally, I think that's where the Husqvarna mowers excel -when other mowers give up and just stop, Husqvarna mowers are way better in escaping those situations, IMHO (but I might be a bit biased, I admit ).

The big drawback with random pattern mowing is that it is random, so there's no way to be sure that the mower has actually mowed all parts of the lawn. The more time it has on the lawn mowing, the higher the probability it has covered the lawn. Hence, a random pattern mower needs to be out there for a long time, to be reasonably sure most parts of the lawn has been cut, and if you have a fast growing lawn, it will look a bit "patchy", compared to a OCD-level reel mowed lawn (like mine).

In say 2012(?), Bosch decided they wanted to get a piece of the cake and launched a ultra high tech robotic mower that actually did structured mowing using a GPS and acelerometric navigation. A big leap forward IMHO. It was pricy, but I was really tempted to get one -finally a mower that do structured mows and will be done in no time compared to the random walkers. That was until the reviews where starting to come in...

While the idea of structured mowing was brilliant, execution by Bosch was less than. It had severe quality problems with many reports of random parts literally falling of during operation(!). Bosch did a very smart thing, to remedy their not so great launch though -they equipped the next years' model with a LTE-modem that they payed for in full, so they could relay data on how their mowers where actually used in field, and figure out why the wheels fell of their mowers.

Husqvarna and others followed...a few years later.

Now, fast forward to 2021 and positioning technology is cheap. Real cheap. And accurate. I think Husqvarna nailed it here, except perhaps for the price, but the new line of EPOS enabled mowers do not need any guide wires at all, they can do positioning down to about an inch(!) using GPS in combination with a fix mount GPS reference module positioned in your property.

Will the EPOS enabled Husqvarnas do structured mowing? I don't know, but I sure hope they will, because they are more than capable to!


----------



## HungrySoutherner

TheSwede said:


> I'm actually a bit disappointed the evolution has been so slow with these things. As it happens, I was part of the team that developed the Gen 2 Automower (think it was introduced in 2003). And frankly, development has been excruciatingly slow since, IMHO.
> 
> Back then, there where severe limitations to the battery technology available compared with today (the first one they did, the "turtle mower", was actually fully solar powered, which was pretty rad in 1995!), and the random pattern was a consequence of the lack of positioning technology and the very limited system resources of the on board CPU. I remember we spent an awful lot of time on trying to come up with, and optimize algoritms on how the mower would realize it was in trouble (stuck, in a tight spot, etc.) but there was just so much you could do with the limited sensor technology available for the price point they where aiming for.
> 
> Personally, I think that's where the Husqvarna mowers excel -when other mowers give up and just stop, Husqvarna mowers are way better in escaping those situations, IMHO (but I might be a bit biased, I admit ).
> 
> The big drawback with random pattern mowing is that it is random, so there's no way to be sure that the mower has actually mowed all parts of the lawn. The more time it has on the lawn mowing, the higher the probability it has covered the lawn. Hence, a random pattern mower needs to be out there for a long time, to be reasonably sure most parts of the lawn has been cut, and if you have a fast growing lawn, it will look a bit "patchy", compared to a OCD-level reel mowed lawn (like mine).
> 
> In say 2012(?), Bosch decided they wanted to get a piece of the cake and launched a ultra high tech robotic mower that actually did structured mowing using a GPS and acelerometric navigation. A big leap forward IMHO. It was pricy, but I was really tempted to get one -finally a mower that do structured mows and will be done in no time compared to the random walkers. That was until the reviews where starting to come in...
> 
> While the idea of structured mowing was brilliant, execution by Bosch was less than. It had severe quality problems with many reports of random parts literally falling of during operation(!). Bosch did a very smart thing, to remedy their not so great launch though -they equipped the next years' model with a LTE-modem that they payed for in full, so they could relay data on how their mowers where actually used in field, and figure out why the wheels fell of their mowers.
> 
> Husqvarna and others followed...a few years later.
> 
> Now, fast forward to 2021 and positioning technology is cheap. Real cheap. And accurate. I think Husqvarna nailed it here, except perhaps for the price, but the new line of EPOS enabled mowers do not need any guide wires at all, they can do positioning down to about an inch(!) using GPS in combination with a fix mount GPS reference module positioned in your property.
> 
> Will the EPOS enabled Husqvarnas do structured mowing? I don't know, but I sure hope they will, because they are more than capable to!


Agreed. The new Husqvarna Ceora will have structured mowing for sports turf and striping, in theory the 550 with epos could do that with a software update but I struggle with if it really makes sense with such a small single cutting head to do that, vs the random cutting and better coverage track in areas to randomly mow places more balanced time wise. Over the last 2 years the random approach has worked great so I haven't seen any problems other than it makes for really dense bermuda grass. The big issue at least here in the states with EPOS for lawns using the GPS boundaries will be satellite occlusion from buildings, trees and neighbors houses that will prevent the RTK GPS system from maintaining a fix for the rover that keeps in precision in the 3cm range. People will need clear sky for the base antenna and the rover will need sky to maintain the fix, there are ways around the base antenna but the robot depending on the yard and surroundings might be an issue. I'd say it will roll out eventually for the lower models but the fall back will still be burial wire boundaries so automowers don't run off down the street or into swimming pools. The tech is evolving fast and will increase speed, with lower prices as more competition and products enter the market and the demand increases as more people adopt these.


----------



## TheSwede

HungrySoutherner said:


> Agreed. The new Husqvarna Ceora will have structured mowing for sports turf and striping, in theory the 550 with epos could do that with a software update but I struggle with if it really makes sense with such a small single cutting head to do that, vs the random cutting and better coverage track in areas to randomly mow places more balanced time wise. Over the last 2 years the random approach has worked great so I haven't seen any problems other than it makes for really dense bermuda grass. The big issue at least here in the states with EPOS for lawns using the GPS boundaries will be satellite occlusion from buildings, trees and neighbors houses that will prevent the RTK GPS system from maintaining a fix for the rover that keeps in precision in the 3cm range. People will need clear sky for the base antenna and the rover will need sky to maintain the fix, there are ways around the base antenna but the robot depending on the yard and surroundings might be an issue. I'd say it will roll out eventually for the lower models but the fall back will still be burial wire boundaries so automowers don't run off down the street or into swimming pools. The tech is evolving fast and will increase speed, with lower prices as more competition and products enter the market and the demand increases as more people adopt these.


Don't get me wrong here, random walk works fantastic. However, when random walk mowing, the mower needs to move a lot longer distance to statistically have a high enough probability of going over every part of the lawn at least once, so the lawn appear to have an even cut. With structured mowing, even with a small diameter cutting unit, it will cover the full lawn in way less time, which means less wear on moving parts and battery. It also means that the mower can maintain a significantly larger lawn, when moving in a structured way.

Me personally, I would totally recommend a robot mower like the Husqvarna for anyone except for the most dedicated reel mowing nerds out there. I have had a lot of mowers during the last 10 years as my lawn addiction got worse, and I have used (and still is using) a Husqvarna for 15+ years now and I would say that a properly maintained Husqvarna Automower (or other decent robotic mower) will outperform even the most meticulously maintained rotary when it comes to lawn appearance. A good reel mower, however, will still outperform a robotic mower, if you cut at lower HOCs (sub inch) and have the time and dedication to mow say twice a week at least.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

TheSwede said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> Agreed. The new Husqvarna Ceora will have structured mowing for sports turf and striping, in theory the 550 with epos could do that with a software update but I struggle with if it really makes sense with such a small single cutting head to do that, vs the random cutting and better coverage track in areas to randomly mow places more balanced time wise. Over the last 2 years the random approach has worked great so I haven't seen any problems other than it makes for really dense bermuda grass. The big issue at least here in the states with EPOS for lawns using the GPS boundaries will be satellite occlusion from buildings, trees and neighbors houses that will prevent the RTK GPS system from maintaining a fix for the rover that keeps in precision in the 3cm range. People will need clear sky for the base antenna and the rover will need sky to maintain the fix, there are ways around the base antenna but the robot depending on the yard and surroundings might be an issue. I'd say it will roll out eventually for the lower models but the fall back will still be burial wire boundaries so automowers don't run off down the street or into swimming pools. The tech is evolving fast and will increase speed, with lower prices as more competition and products enter the market and the demand increases as more people adopt these.
> 
> 
> 
> Don't get me wrong here, random walk works fantastic. However, when random walk mowing, the mower needs to move a lot longer distance to statistically have a high enough probability of going over every part of the lawn at least once, so the lawn appear to have an even cut. With structured mowing, even with a small diameter cutting unit, it will cover the full lawn in way less time, which means less wear on moving parts and battery. It also means that the mower can maintain a significantly larger lawn, when moving in a structured way.
> 
> Me personally, I would totally recommend a robot mower like the Husqvarna for anyone except for the most dedicated reel mowing nerds out there. I have had a lot of mowers during the last 10 years as my lawn addiction got worse, and I have used (and still is using) a Husqvarna for 15+ years now and I would say that a properly maintained Husqvarna Automower (or other decent robotic mower) will outperform even the most meticulously maintained rotary when it comes to lawn appearance. A good reel mower, however, will still outperform a robotic mower, if you cut at lower HOCs (sub inch) and have the time and dedication to mow say twice a week at least.
Click to expand...

I'm using the fairway kit on my 450x and was previously reel mowing. I can tell you and the university research is showing this as well, my turf quality and density at 10mm was better or equal last season than in previous seasons with reel mowing only. The bermuda honestly was to dense. I agree with what you mean about structured mowing, less time mowing, less wear on the machine. I'm for that if 2 major issues can be sorted out 1) Can it automatically vary the pattern it mows everyday and 2) best case scenario the GPS systems they are using is 2-3cm if it has a perfect fix, the cutting disc is 24cm wide and the machine is even wider so getting the machine to mow overlaps to make sure everything is covered each mow means its really got to mow a lot of passes and very narrow turn arounds. I think it could be worked around but its probably why they aren't doing it with the smaller machines and held that for the big Ceora where the cutting area is so much larger.


----------



## CAB

I'll throw this into the mix. I've been VERY happy with my 430x. It replaced a Toro 3100d.

https://youtu.be/pEUYAdD3hm0

Other notes:

1) Made a custom battery harness (same as an ATX motherboard 4pin power splitter) that allowed me to add a second battery in parallel, that the bootloader/firmware allowed, lessening the C rates (charge and discharge are slower, making it gentler on the chemistry, etc). Hopefully making the packs last many more years. Also the max charge is technically an 80% charge (luckily charges by voltage and not mAH, BUT discharges by mAH not voltage), improving long term health of battery. 430x has one battery pack and a zinc weight (same weight as pack). 450x has two battery packs and higher ground speed, hence the forward facing sonar on the 450x.
2) My 430x has had a rough first year or two. Ran over bricks. Beached itself on Massive roots for months. Fell off curbs. Caught on plastic edging material. Beaten with sticks by the kids. I've had to replace the cutting disk bearing and the front two wheels. Both very easy. Runs like a champ.
3) I saw a few videos of drive motors gearing wearing out. So I disassembled when brand new and put some motorcycle axle grease where the plastic cog teeth are. No issues 2.5y later.
4) Any time you open it up to get at the insides, you have to use a new sealing strip, so get a 10 pack from your dealer if you're a tinkerer. Just a rope like gasket that goes in a channel. This is required to keep water out. Every mower tech has to use a new sealing strip EVERY time per manufacturer, and I agree.
5) neighbors and kids will take pictures and watch it
6) the wall mount bracket is worth it for winter storage.
7) use pet fence surge protectors for perimeter and guide wires. 430x you'll need two, 450x you'll need three. Lightning already fried one surge protector well worth it.
8) bought 1000' spool of the heaviest (reasonable) gauge pet fence wire with very thick insulation, highly recommend. I think it was 12 or 14 gauge. Yellow.
9) easy to open hidden dealer menu by pressing and holding two buttons while at main menu (at mower keypad). This helps with testing all major functionality, such as cutting unit rpm and amperage. Also good for finding wire breaks by looking at the radio/wire dB/strength of perimeter and guide wires.
10) I like to say it's a <$500 mower with ~$2000 firmware.
11) there are two api's. One official and rate limited. And one unofficial that allows faster polling. Both have community built addons for HomeAssistant.
12) main board (dealership) connectivity is a simple USB type B (female printer, etc), but requires dealership software. The older versions' dealer software's logon (user/pw) is easy to get around.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. The rest is in that video.


----------



## nickmg

Anyone running a Honda Miimo?


----------



## Still learnin

I've decided to go ahead and pull the pin on an automower. Got the quote and told them to order the 450X. Won't be in until next month though. My local dealer only has the XH versions in stock.

One thing he did say is that I didn't want to push the mower to its area limit, especially if I add a fairway kit. Said that the fairway kit uses a lot more battery and it isn't recommended to use the 450X for a full 1.25 acres with a fairway kit.

So I think I'm going to cut as much with it as I can and use the zero turn for the acre left over. Maybe one day get a second one if it is as good as I am hoping. It'll still save me a lot of time I'm thinking.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Still learnin said:


> I've decided to go ahead and pull the pin on an automower. Got the quote and told them to order the 450X. Won't be in until next month though. My local dealer only has the XH versions in stock.
> 
> One thing he did say is that I didn't want to push the mower to its area limit, especially if I add a fairway kit. Said that the fairway kit uses a lot more battery and it isn't recommended to use the 450X for a full 1.25 acres with a fairway kit.
> 
> So I think I'm going to cut as much with it as I can and use the zero turn for the acre left over. Maybe one day get a second one if it is as good as I am hoping. It'll still save me a lot of time I'm thinking.


I can't confirm this but that claim is a tad bit dubious about the fairway kit and battery life. Considering that is the point and they are used on golf courses, the courses utilize the full boundaries available so they don't have double the amount of mowers on the fairways. Even on my lawn if I just let the mower go go go until the batter is dead, with the fairway kit at the lowest setting its hitting into the 6 - 6.5 hour range and its been doing that for 2 seasons. At that point it would go home and charge for 30-45 min and then get back to work. So I'm not sure I fully understand his claim.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

I'm putting my 310 to basically the max sq ft recommended and cutting at 5/8 with a modified fairway kit. In my experience the battery life got better the shorter I cut. The wheel motors dont have to work as hard going through short grass vs tall.


----------



## Still learnin

@Boy_meets_lawn @HungrySoutherner 
Interesting observations. He told me that they had actually had a zoom meeting this morning and the fairway kit was discussed. I'm going to go ahead and get close to maxing it out. Maybe he is trying to think ahead in case I love it and end up getting a second one down the road. 
Regardless, he's ordering it (they only have XH) in stock and hopefully it will be mowing middle of next month.


----------



## cldrunner

@HungrySoutherner could @Still learnin still boundary wire the whole property and limit the runtime(GPS) in the section he will be using the zero turn?


----------



## Tmank87

What sort of all in cost is one looking at with these?.

What does the process look like if you move homes?


----------



## ionicatoms

Tmank87 said:


> What does the process look like if you move homes?


I'd probably sell it with the home and buy a new one for my new place.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

Tmank87 said:


> What sort of all in cost is one looking at with these?.
> 
> What does the process look like if you move homes?


I'm into my 310 for about $900 to maintain my 10k backyard.


----------



## Automate

ionicatoms said:


> I'd probably sell it with the home and buy a new one for my new place.


Would the remainder of the warrantee transfer to the new owner?
What about associating the new owner to receive notifications if someone tries to steal it? Is that a pain with Husqvarna?


----------



## ionicatoms

Automate said:


> ionicatoms said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'd probably sell it with the home and buy a new one for my new place.
> 
> 
> 
> Would the remainder of the warrantee transfer to the new owner?
> What about associating the new owner to receive notifications if someone tries to steal it? Is that a pain with Husqvarna?
Click to expand...

Those are fantastic questions. I have no idea.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

I'm pretty sure the new owner can change the pin code and setup a new account through the app. I dont think the warranty transfers though


----------



## Tmank87

Boy_meets_lawn said:


> Tmank87 said:
> 
> 
> 
> What sort of all in cost is one looking at with these?.
> 
> What does the process look like if you move homes?
> 
> 
> 
> I'm into my 310 for about $900 to maintain my 10k backyard.
Click to expand...

Man, that's not bad. Did they install, too?


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

No I did the install, if you aren't going sub 1" I'd just lay the boundary wire on top of your grass and stake it down. Home depot has a wire trench burial tool for rent that makes quick work of the job if you are mowing low; or you could just use a blade edger. I used thicker solid dog fence wire vs the stranded thin stuff that came with the mower.


----------



## Tmank87

Boy_meets_lawn said:


> No I did the install, if you aren't going sub 1" I'd just lay the boundary wire on top of your grass and stake it down. Home depot has a wire trench burial tool for rent that makes quick work of the job if you are mowing low; or you could just use a blade edger. I used thicker solid dog fence wire vs the stranded thin stuff that came with the mower.


Awesome. Thanks. May be something I have to look into.. I have 9K of turf. Is there any advantage of one of the bigger units in terms of quality (cut or otherwise) or is all just based on size?


----------



## Fab

New to the forum. I am the only using automower in my neighborhood. It is a husq 310. Small lawn 5,000 sqft total. 1,000 in the front and isolated from the back. I run the mower about 3 full days per week at .9 inch hoc. Front I only need 3 hours twice a week to keep great. Hybrid Bermuda lawn. Backyard slopes and it was the only issue I had to figure out. I ended up installing all terrain kit and built a small wood barrier in the end of the lot where the slope is at 45 degree in a 2 feet patch. Automower senses the beginning of the slope and turn nicely before hitting the barrier. If it slips for some reason then it hits the barrier and get back out of the slope. I left the wire with stakes for a season and monitored where it could get stuck in the slope ahead. When all worked all, I buried the wire this season. Works like a charm now without any assistance. I manually bring it to the front yard using the secondary area feature. Only issue in the front is people getting distracted and tripping or almost getting into a car accident but looking at the mower. I did my own installation and also built a garage. Overall I spent $900 tops when all said and done. Hope this helps someone.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

If anyone else has a 310 or 15 and wants to cut lower than 0.8" here is how I modified the fairway kit to work with mine.

I took the .394 spacer and removed a few mm from the face using sandpaper. I also had to dremmel some of the plastic from inside to allow clearance for it to spin freely once tightened down. It should spin easily without resistance. You have to use your original cutting disc and you can't use the safety plate. I also had to use small washers to get the 3 mounting bolts to sit tightly.



This mod changes all the cutting height settings and you probably want to start back out at about 3 on the height and work your way down.


----------



## Still learnin

I'm part of the club now.


----------



## Automate

Still learnin said:


> I'm part of the club now.


Which model is that? And how much area do you have it cutting?


----------



## Still learnin

> Which model is that? And how much area do you have it cutting?


 @Automate

450X. It's cutting about an acre, maybe a hair over. I have it going into a part of our property with common Bermuda that I don't try to maintain as nice at the Lat. 36.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Nice


----------



## Still learnin

Anyone have a go to for ordering parts? My dealer checked and the fairway kit won't be here until August now. I can't seem to find it online either. May be out of luck until end of the year.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Still learnin said:


> Anyone have a go to for ordering parts? My dealer checked and the fairway kit won't be here until August now. I can't seem to find it online either. May be out of luck until end of the year.


I've seen it online from several places. But it maybe back ordered or something. Have you googled around looking for it?


----------



## Still learnin

@HungrySoutherner I've googled it and have come up empty. Lots of places overseas, but not many here. I thought I found a place outside of Nashville but they said they didn't keep it in stock, they had to order it. So that would be August as well. Going to keep googling though.


----------



## Still learnin

Think I found one in Daytona. Fingers crossed. Randomness.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

@DFWdude Did you end up keeping your fairway kit when you returned your 430?


----------



## DFWdude

@Boy_meets_lawn the mower is still here. I will ask the dealer to leave the fairway kit with me when he takes the mower away.


----------



## cldrunner

@DFWdude DId you continue to use the mower after our area has dried up a bit? You were still not happy with it?


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

Think he ran it about a week total. Mine took some time to get dialed in and I was also coming from 3" grass so I just accepted that it was going to look bad before it got better.

If my lawn was already cut at 0.5" I would probably have not been happy with the cut appearance immediately. It did pull out some dead stolons almost like dethatching. This eventually went away and I haven't looked back.


----------



## cldrunner

@Boy_meets_lawn I thought there was a 60 period with a no excuse return. I though I would at least use it 45-50 days before I would make a decision.


----------



## DFWdude

@cldrunner 
Yeah, I ran it a week total. While it may have eventually looked good, it got progressively worse during the week. Plus momma told me she missed the stripes, so I almost had no choice in the matter.

In my short experience, the mower never learned where it was / had been and the quality of cut was average. Even running from 10:30am until midnight it never came close to cutting the whole back yard. With better software, it could be great.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

cldrunner said:


> @Boy_meets_lawn I thought there was a 60 period with a no excuse return. I though I would at least use it 45-50 days before I would make a decision.


Ya, theres a 60 day guarantee or your money back if you aren't satisfied. I bought mine off an auction site so I had no expectations of getting my money back if it didn't work out.


----------



## Ware

Not sure where this model falls in the spectrum of Robomowers, but the Husqvarna Automower 115H is 30% off at checkout for Amazon Prime Day.

https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-Automower-Connect-Robotic-Mower/dp/B087YZCNDJ?ref=deals_primeday_deals-grid_slot-5_21f9_dt_dcell_tlt_110_35f5e352&th=1


----------



## Automate

Ware said:


> Not sure where this model falls in the spectrum of Robomowers, but the Husqvarna Automower 115H is 30% off at checkout for Amazon Prime Day.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-Automower-Connect-Robotic-Mower/dp/B087YZCNDJ?ref=deals_primeday_deals-grid_slot-5_21f9_dt_dcell_tlt_110_35f5e352&th=1


The "H" in the model number is for high cut 2 to 3.6". Wonder how hard is this to modify.


----------



## AndyS

@HungrySoutherner I finally got my new lawn grown in the way I wanted it and am now turning my attention back to robotic lawnmowers.

I'm getting a quote tomorrow for the 430HX plus install kit plus installation tomorrow. My biggest concern is routing around three large segments of tree lawn.

In Ohio they immediately jumped on the HX as being the solution as I guess it's the best solution for most blends around here.

Do you have any experience of talking to owners that are cutting KBG at different heights? Are they happy with the results regardless of whether they are cutting at 1 inch or 3 inches?

Thanks!!


----------



## HungrySoutherner

The trees aren't that big of a deal boundaries can be set around them as islands or the mower can just mow up to them and bump and mow away. Not that big of a deal. I would only get the HX model if you never have intentions of mowing your grass lower than 2". If it were my KBG or PRG I would rather be on the normal side between .8 and 2+" than higher side being that 2" being the minimum on the HX. The other benefit is if you want to play with low cut KBG/PRG the normal model with the fairway kit gets you lower than .8" down to .25" and depending on what you want to do you can take the kit off and mow at the max HOC just above 2". My advice would be to consider the normal 430x vs the 430HX. I'm a warm season turf guy so I've never kept my grass on the high end of the mower.


----------



## AndyS

HungrySoutherner said:


> The trees aren't that big of a deal boundaries can be set around them as islands or the mower can just mow up to them and bump and mow away. Not that big of a deal. I would only get the HX model if you never have intentions of mowing your grass lower than 2". If it were my KBG or PRG I would rather be on the normal side between .8 and 2+" than higher side being that 2" being the minimum on the HX. The other benefit is if you want to play with low cut KBG/PRG the normal model with the fairway kit gets you lower than .8" down to .25" and depending on what you want to do you can take the kit off and mow at the max HOC just above 2". My advice would be to consider the normal 430x vs the 430HX. I'm a warm season turf guy so I've never kept my grass on the high end of the mower.


Love it! Thank you - I'll definitely challenge them on this and discuss it with them. I love the idea of getting a reel mowed look without ever having to reel mow :thumbup:


----------



## Eradicator

I found that my Robomow RS612's are beasts! I've been running one in the back yard for a week and just laid out the front this weekend, crossing a driveway too. It flew through the perimeter check but Mr. Bezos did not deliver the 100 added stakes I need as promised yesterday(bad Amazon) but hopefully I'll get the front running this week. During the perimeter check, it walked down my front curb with one wheel on the curb, perfectly for 110 feet, in spite of the slope it ran sideways to.

I only have 15,000 sf of grass but with gates on both sides, this became problematic with a single mower. I saw various hacks with door openers tripped by elect eyes that cost several hundred dollars so I elected for two machines.

I have never seen the Husky's in person but I was shocked to see how large the Robomower RS series is. They are the size of Hassocks! These are not the typical 7" to 9" cut found on most robotic mowers but cut a massive 22" wide with two 11" 3-star metal (tin?) blades. They actually come with a simple metal edge but cut very effectively. Even so, it only took a moment with the dremel to render them lethal! Yikes! Motors(5) are all brushless, 4.7KW battery means overkill for my yards, solid modular construction.

Understand folks, these aren't "lawn mowers", they are "Lawn maintainers" .....yes they will cut tall grass. My rear yard had 6" grass and Hose-A walked right through it....didn't look perfect at first...but give it a week---very impressive!



No, not rich, bought 2 brand new but w/o warranty....for $700 each. I figured no 1 yr warranty is worth 1300 bucks!

Erad


----------



## AndyS

Thanks to the excellent advice of @HungrySoutherner and others on this thread I bit the bullet a few weeks back on a Husqvarna 430.

In the area where I live I had to get it shipped with an install kit and installed it myself last Sunday with my 9yo son. It was a long but fun family project.

I didn't risk trenching due to an existing invisible fence, so it was a long install, but went well. On day 6 we're finally looking like an evenly cut lawn.

People are obsessed with this thing… cars slow down to take pictures… local teens… Moms… it's hilarious!

I had it include my tree lawn, so it just skips over the sidewalk and goes to town.

Probably a little more tuning to do, but I'm loving this thing!!


----------



## HungrySoutherner

AndyS said:


> Thanks to the excellent advice of @HungrySoutherner and others on this thread I bit the bullet a few weeks back on a Husqvarna 430.
> 
> In the area where I live I had to get it shipped with an install kit and installed it myself last Sunday with my 9yo son. It was a long but fun family project.
> 
> I didn't risk trenching due to an existing invisible fence, so it was a long install, but went well. On day 6 we're finally looking like an evenly cut lawn.
> 
> People are obsessed with this thing… cars slow down to take pictures… local teens… Moms… it's hilarious!
> 
> I had it include my tree lawn, so it just skips over the sidewalk and goes to town.
> 
> Probably a little more tuning to do, but I'm loving this thing!!


That's great. Welcome our robot overlords


----------



## Deltahedge

Does anyone use a robo-mower with fine bladed Zoysia like Zeon?

I have a few test spots with Zeon, and I really like it compared to my Bermuda. But, the areas of zeon that get reel mowed look much better and give me fewer problems than the Zeon sections that get rotary mowed at 1.5". I'm not sure if this is because the HOC or because the rotary mower doesn't make a clean cut like a reel does.

So, I am curious how a robo-mower handles Zeon Zoysia.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Deltahedge said:


> Does anyone use a robo-mower with fine bladed Zoysia like Zeon?
> 
> I have a few test spots with Zeon, and I really like it compared to my Bermuda. But, the areas of zeon that get reel mowed look much better and give me fewer problems than the Zeon sections that get rotary mowed at 1.5". I'm not sure if this is because the HOC or because the rotary mower doesn't make a clean cut like a reel does.
> 
> So, I am curious how a robo-mower handles Zeon Zoysia.


An automower is going to work much better with zeon than a rotary because its going to keep it managed and the blades are sharper. It will be very close to a reel in terms of cut quality.


----------



## Deltahedge

HungrySoutherner said:


> An automower is going to work much better with zeon than a rotary because its going to keep it managed and the blades are sharper. It will be very close to a reel in terms of cut quality.


Thanks, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

Deltahedge said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> An automower is going to work much better with zeon than a rotary because its going to keep it managed and the blades are sharper. It will be very close to a reel in terms of cut quality.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Click to expand...

How big is the section of zeon you are trying?
If its under 10k just get the husqvarna 310 and you can modify it to cut 0.5" and not drop more money on a larger unit.


----------



## Deltahedge

Boy_meets_lawn said:


> How big is the section of zeon you are trying?
> If its under 10k just get the husqvarna 310 and you can modify it to cut 0.5" and not drop more money on a larger unit.


Up to about 3 acres. I'll probably be waiting a few more years until I cant get the GPS guided mowers without wires. But, I need to plan ahead as I expand further and further into the unimproved sections of my lot each year.


----------



## UFG8RMIKE

Deltahedge said:


> Boy_meets_lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> How big is the section of zeon you are trying?
> If its under 10k just get the husqvarna 310 and you can modify it to cut 0.5" and not drop more money on a larger unit.
> 
> 
> 
> Up to about 3 acres. I'll probably be waiting a few more years until I cant get the GPS guided mowers without wires. But, I need to plan ahead as I expand further and further into the unimproved sections of my lot each year.
Click to expand...

I'm still waiting for a heavier duty robomower. Something metal, with a solar panel on top of it. Once this hits for a reasonable price. I'm all in.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

UFG8RMIKE said:


> Deltahedge said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Boy_meets_lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> How big is the section of zeon you are trying?
> If its under 10k just get the husqvarna 310 and you can modify it to cut 0.5" and not drop more money on a larger unit.
> 
> 
> 
> Up to about 3 acres. I'll probably be waiting a few more years until I cant get the GPS guided mowers without wires. But, I need to plan ahead as I expand further and further into the unimproved sections of my lot each year.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm still waiting for a heavier duty robomower. Something metal, with a solar panel on top of it. Once this hits for a reasonable price. I'm all in.
Click to expand...

Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.


----------



## UFG8RMIKE

HungrySoutherner said:


> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Deltahedge said:
> 
> 
> 
> Up to about 3 acres. I'll probably be waiting a few more years until I cant get the GPS guided mowers without wires. But, I need to plan ahead as I expand further and further into the unimproved sections of my lot each year.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still waiting for a heavier duty robomower. Something metal, with a solar panel on top of it. Once this hits for a reasonable price. I'm all in.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.
Click to expand...

10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

UFG8RMIKE said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still waiting for a heavier duty robomower. Something metal, with a solar panel on top of it. Once this hits for a reasonable price. I'm all in.
> 
> 
> 
> Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.
Click to expand...

https://www.yardroid.com/

I'm not saying to consider it an option but it's metal construction.


----------



## Hawkeye_311

I was out walking the dog the other night and a guy's robomower was mowing up and down his driveway. A reset or new calibration was obviously needed. Pretty hilarious.


----------



## mrigney

Those of you, like @HungrySoutherner who have gone the automower route. If you're cutting at 0.38", what do you do when you need to scalp in the spring?


----------



## MasterMech

mrigney said:


> Those of you, like @HungrySoutherner who have gone the automower route. If you're cutting at 0.38", what do you do when you need to scalp in the spring?


I would think keeping a powered reel around just for that purpose would be the ticket. Anything from an old McLane to a well-used greensmower would do the job.


----------



## mrigney

@MasterMech I assumed that was going to be the answer. Almost trashed my McLane when I moved (it's old, the bedknife is in bad shape, and the plan all along has been to replace it for next spring). But maybe I'll keep it around until I make a decision on whether to go the automower or better reel direction.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

UFG8RMIKE said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still waiting for a heavier duty robomower. Something metal, with a solar panel on top of it. Once this hits for a reasonable price. I'm all in.
> 
> 
> 
> Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.
Click to expand...

What about it implies that its not heavy duty? Its constructed of the same polymer that Honda makes their mower decks out of like football helmets. You have to understand the trade of considering this is a mower specifically designed to live out in the elements and weather without rusting or being dented when it bumps into something. The other critical factor is safety. By keeping the machine low and made of more pliable materials your less likely to cause damage to humans, property or the mower itself if it runs into it. It also means husqvarna won't have the safety hoops to jump through like Toro might if they were trying to deliver a 500lb robotic mower with a spinning reel that needs to detect every object that might break it, or human that it could come in contact with. Its just a different way of engineering around the critical safety factor and why Husqvarna's large professional machine is following the same principals. https://www.husqvarna.com/uk/lawn-garden/professional/ceora/


----------



## HungrySoutherner

mrigney said:


> Those of you, like @HungrySoutherner who have gone the automower route. If you're cutting at 0.38", what do you do when you need to scalp in the spring?


Yeah having a robot is not an absolute total solution if you are going reel low with it. I survived the spring with the Automower and a rotary for the scalp because you can actually run the mower in scalp mode at .25" and it will definitely chew the dead grass up below the next cutting HOC. You just can't maintain at that lowest setting because you have no margin between the cutting disc and the blades. It works having done that this year, but I also have a JD 220e which makes the scalping chore easier and less of a mess.


----------



## UFG8RMIKE

HungrySoutherner said:


> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.
> 
> 
> 
> 10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> What about it implies that its not heavy duty? Its constructed of the same polymer that Honda makes their mower decks out of like football helmets. You have to understand the trade of considering this is a mower specifically designed to live out in the elements and weather without rusting or being dented when it bumps into something. The other critical factor is safety. By keeping the machine low and made of more pliable materials your less likely to cause damage to humans, property or the mower itself if it runs into it. It also means husqvarna won't have the safety hoops to jump through like Toro might if they were trying to deliver a 500lb robotic mower with a spinning reel that needs to detect every object that might break it, or human that it could come in contact with. Its just a different way of engineering around the critical safety factor and why Husqvarna's large professional machine is following the same principals. https://www.husqvarna.com/uk/lawn-garden/professional/ceora/
Click to expand...

This Ceora unit looks much better from what I saw before. How much?


----------



## HungrySoutherner

UFG8RMIKE said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> 10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.
> 
> 
> 
> What about it implies that its not heavy duty? Its constructed of the same polymer that Honda makes their mower decks out of like football helmets. You have to understand the trade of considering this is a mower specifically designed to live out in the elements and weather without rusting or being dented when it bumps into something. The other critical factor is safety. By keeping the machine low and made of more pliable materials your less likely to cause damage to humans, property or the mower itself if it runs into it. It also means husqvarna won't have the safety hoops to jump through like Toro might if they were trying to deliver a 500lb robotic mower with a spinning reel that needs to detect every object that might break it, or human that it could come in contact with. Its just a different way of engineering around the critical safety factor and why Husqvarna's large professional machine is following the same principals. https://www.husqvarna.com/uk/lawn-garden/professional/ceora/
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> This Ceora unit looks much better from what I saw before. How much?
Click to expand...

It's all the same tech as their smaller units, just repackaged for pro turf and larger areas. The addition of swappable heads is cool because it opens other potential attachments. Its' looking like $25k is where it will be on pricing.


----------



## Mdjamesd

Deltahedge said:


> Boy_meets_lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> How big is the section of zeon you are trying?
> If its under 10k just get the husqvarna 310 and you can modify it to cut 0.5" and not drop more money on a larger unit.
> 
> 
> 
> Up to about 3 acres. I'll probably be waiting a few more years until I cant get the GPS guided mowers without wires. But, I need to plan ahead as I expand further and further into the unimproved sections of my lot each year.
Click to expand...

Have you seen the new Segway GPS models? I just saw an article pop up in Chrome about them.


----------



## UFG8RMIKE

HungrySoutherner said:


> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> What about it implies that its not heavy duty? Its constructed of the same polymer that Honda makes their mower decks out of like football helmets. You have to understand the trade of considering this is a mower specifically designed to live out in the elements and weather without rusting or being dented when it bumps into something. The other critical factor is safety. By keeping the machine low and made of more pliable materials your less likely to cause damage to humans, property or the mower itself if it runs into it. It also means husqvarna won't have the safety hoops to jump through like Toro might if they were trying to deliver a 500lb robotic mower with a spinning reel that needs to detect every object that might break it, or human that it could come in contact with. Its just a different way of engineering around the critical safety factor and why Husqvarna's large professional machine is following the same principals. https://www.husqvarna.com/uk/lawn-garden/professional/ceora/
> 
> 
> 
> This Ceora unit looks much better from what I saw before. How much?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It's all the same tech as their smaller units, just repackaged for pro turf and larger areas. The addition of swappable heads is cool because it opens other potential attachments. Its' looking like $25k is where it will be on pricing.
Click to expand...

Holy crap. 25K!!! There goes that idea


----------



## cavince79

UFG8RMIKE said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still waiting for a heavier duty robomower. Something metal, with a solar panel on top of it. Once this hits for a reasonable price. I'm all in.
> 
> 
> 
> Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.
Click to expand...

Not an automower... But it's metal and heavy duty:

https://www.amazon.com.au/OYLQXSGS-Control-Electricity-200-meter-controllable/dp/B098XFBFJM?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_marketplace


----------



## DavidB

Not sure if I'm any help this late, but a few months ago I bought a MowRo RM24, that I named Bo. And as I love to dad-joke to my wife, "Bo knows mow". I have just about 2100 sq of BOB Sod in my backyard in Phoenix. It mows every other day and I can't imagine not having it. I had looked at many mowers and decided on this one partly because of the good reviews, great price and the HOC goes down lower than the other affordable mowers, down to 1".

I bought mine here https://mowro.com/mowro-robot-lawn-mower-with-install-kit-rm24.html but it's on Amazon too.

There are things to learn about it as you go and if anyone gets one I'm happy to help. Just some random thoughts below.

1. they say to install the wire 12" from curbs and walls. I did this and it left a huge gap of unmowed grass. I moved the wire closer, I think about 8" from our concrete boundary curbing. Basically just set it next to your wall or curb and measure to the top dead center of it. Just to get this out of the way, installing the wire sucks, at least in the Phoenix summer. 
2. these things don't have strong motors. you can't ever try to lower the HOC over time with it. It's set to mow every two days and sometimes my grass is growing so fast I have to move the HOC up late in the week, just one notch though, which I'm guessing is 2mm. I currently run it at about 37mm HOC, which is about 1.4". If it encounters grass too tall the motor will shut off for about 20 feet of movement before it comes back on. If this happens often, it's a sign you need to raise the HOC. Sadly, you can only tell the motor is shutting off by listening for it, which means walking near it.
3. I realized late in the buying process that this mower pretty much must charge and dock inside the mowing area. I was hoping to have it dock up on the patio then drive out to the lawn but if it is possible it sounded like too much work to try. I ended up buying the rock shaped garage like thing for the charging base. 
4. I've settled on replacing the blades every two weeks. However, the way they are installed there are 4 cutting surfaces so you get 2 months on a set. They aren't expensive but I hate waste so will figure out how to sharpen them. 
5. It does leave about 4" of uncut grass near the curbing (maybe 3"?) that weed wack usually every weekend . FWIW, I also try to mow every weekend with a gas powered reel mower. Not sure why really, but partly because for a while Bo couldn't keep up with how fast the grass was growing. 
6. Downside is there's no app or WiFi or Bluetooth. But it's cheap and that's okay for the price.

That's it for now. In summary, I'm happy with it and in terms of rating per dollar I'd have to give it 4.5 stars. The one downside is there are times when the grass is too tall and you'd need to raise the HOC on it. But you can only know from walking near it and listening for it. This means that at least a few minutes a week, you need to watch it cut and make sure it's not shutting the mower off too often. This is where an app or perhaps a light on top would be great. A light that could tell you from afar that it's moving but not cutting. It's hot as hell in Phoenix right now and it's no fun having to be outside for even a couple minutes if you don't have to.


----------



## UFG8RMIKE

cavince79 said:


> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why? Just put the solar panels on the house or over where the robot lives. Doesn't make much sense to have the panels on the robot because its not generating enough while its working to keep it charged. The early versions of the Husqvarna had solar panels on it and was abandoned for that reason.
> 
> 
> 
> 10-4, but would still like to see something heavier duty/metal construction.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Not an automower... But it's metal and heavy duty:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com.au/OYLQXSGS-Control-Electricity-200-meter-controllable/dp/B098XFBFJM?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_marketplace
Click to expand...

Now we're talking, make that bad boy a robo mower and I'm sold.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

DavidB said:


> Not sure if I'm any help this late, but a few months ago I bought a MowRo RM24, that I named Bo. And as I love to dad-joke to my wife, "Bo knows mow". I have just about 2100 sq of BOB Sod in my backyard in Phoenix. It mows every other day and I can't imagine not having it. I had looked at many mowers and decided on this one partly because of the good reviews, great price and the HOC goes down lower than the other affordable mowers, down to 1".
> 
> I bought mine here https://mowro.com/mowro-robot-lawn-mower-with-install-kit-rm24.html but it's on Amazon too.
> 
> There are things to learn about it as you go and if anyone gets one I'm happy to help. Just some random thoughts below.
> 
> 1. they say to install the wire 12" from curbs and walls. I did this and it left a huge gap of unmowed grass. I moved the wire closer, I think about 8" from our concrete boundary curbing. Basically just set it next to your wall or curb and measure to the top dead center of it. Just to get this out of the way, installing the wire sucks, at least in the Phoenix summer.
> 2. these things don't have strong motors. you can't ever try to lower the HOC over time with it. It's set to mow every two days and sometimes my grass is growing so fast I have to move the HOC up late in the week, just one notch though, which I'm guessing is 2mm. I currently run it at about 37mm HOC, which is about 1.4". If it encounters grass too tall the motor will shut off for about 20 feet of movement before it comes back on. If this happens often, it's a sign you need to raise the HOC. Sadly, you can only tell the motor is shutting off by listening for it, which means walking near it.
> 3. I realized late in the buying process that this mower pretty much must charge and dock inside the mowing area. I was hoping to have it dock up on the patio then drive out to the lawn but if it is possible it sounded like too much work to try. I ended up buying the rock shaped garage like thing for the charging base.
> 4. I've settled on replacing the blades every two weeks. However, the way they are installed there are 4 cutting surfaces so you get 2 months on a set. They aren't expensive but I hate waste so will figure out how to sharpen them.
> 5. It does leave about 4" of uncut grass near the curbing (maybe 3"?) that weed wack usually every weekend . FWIW, I also try to mow every weekend with a gas powered reel mower. Not sure why really, but partly because for a while Bo couldn't keep up with how fast the grass was growing.
> 6. Downside is there's no app or WiFi or Bluetooth. But it's cheap and that's okay for the price.
> 
> That's it for now. In summary, I'm happy with it and in terms of rating per dollar I'd have to give it 4.5 stars. The one downside is there are times when the grass is too tall and you'd need to raise the HOC on it. But you can only know from walking near it and listening for it. This means that at least a few minutes a week, you need to watch it cut and make sure it's not shutting the mower off too often. This is where an app or perhaps a light on top would be great. A light that could tell you from afar that it's moving but not cutting. It's hot as hell in Phoenix right now and it's no fun having to be outside for even a couple minutes if you don't have to.


I'm sure that is great to dip a toe in the water on robots, but got our hands on a generic version of that from China and the motors and battery are way underpowered. If you find its not keeping up then you need to have it mow more often vs trying to chase the HOC up. Also I would absolutely advise against trying to sharpen those blades, waste or not they are designed to be disposable. If you try sharpening them you are effectively changing the balance of the cutting disk and wearing out the machine. If you are growing warm season turf, I'm changing them out about every 10 days at the peak of the season to keep a clean cut so every 14 days is about right in the summer. On the Husqvarna the only time I've seen the motor stop because of the grass was if I was intentionally scalping, so I'm guessing the machine you have is the same small motor in the Chinese version.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

UFG8RMIKE said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> 
> This Ceora unit looks much better from what I saw before. How much?
> 
> 
> 
> It's all the same tech as their smaller units, just repackaged for pro turf and larger areas. The addition of swappable heads is cool because it opens other potential attachments. Its' looking like $25k is where it will be on pricing.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Holy crap. 25K!!! There goes that idea
Click to expand...

Yeah did you think it would be cheap? Look at what a brand knew triplex or greensmower costs. Then add the tech factor and economy of scale minus an operator.


----------



## cr0ntab

Deltahedge said:


> Does anyone use a robo-mower with fine bladed Zoysia like Zeon?
> 
> I have a few test spots with Zeon, and I really like it compared to my Bermuda. But, the areas of zeon that get reel mowed look much better and give me fewer problems than the Zeon sections that get rotary mowed at 1.5". I'm not sure if this is because the HOC or because the rotary mower doesn't make a clean cut like a reel does.
> 
> So, I am curious how a robo-mower handles Zeon Zoysia.


I maintain a 2.1k sqft Zeon Zoysia lawn with an Automower 315x - have so for the last 2 years.

The cut certainly isn't as good as a reel mower but it keeps the lawn in check and it's THICK.

It gets hot out here and that really turns me off to the manual reel mowing. The whole thing started as an experiment that went far beyond expectations.

I love it! :mrgreen:


----------



## jayhawk

cr0ntab said:


> Deltahedge said:
> 
> 
> 
> Does anyone use a robo-mower with fine bladed Zoysia like Zeon?
> 
> I have a few test spots with Zeon, and I really like it compared to my Bermuda. But, the areas of zeon that get reel mowed look much better and give me fewer problems than the Zeon sections that get rotary mowed at 1.5". I'm not sure if this is because the HOC or because the rotary mower doesn't make a clean cut like a reel does.
> 
> So, I am curious how a robo-mower handles Zeon Zoysia.
> 
> 
> 
> I maintain a 2.1k sqft Zeon Zoysia lawn with an Automower 315x - have so for the last 2 years.
> 
> The cut certainly isn't as good as a reel mower but it keeps the lawn in check and it's THICK.
> 
> It gets hot out here and that really turns me off to the manual reel mowing. The whole thing started as an experiment that went far beyond expectations.
> 
> I love it! :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

@cr0ntab journal went silent ...give us what we want, a pic of that pool table !


----------



## cr0ntab

jayhawk said:


> @cr0ntab journal went silent ...give us what we want, a pic of that pool table !


Give the people what they want! :lol: :thumbup:


----------



## mattcoughlin

I tried creating a post about this but no one responded so maybe someone in this post can answer my question. I am looking at putting an automower in my back yard in a few years when my now old dogs are no longer with us. I'm looking at a 430x with the fairway kit mowing around .5" but would ideally like to not string trim at all. I am about to start a curbing project in my back yard and was wondering how close to a fence the automower can go. My plan is just to make my curbing wide enough so the mower can drive on it and get all the grass so I don't have to trim every few days. Thanks in advance for everyone's help.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

mattcoughlin said:


> I tried creating a post about this but no one responded so maybe someone in this post can answer my question. I am looking at putting an automower in my back yard in a few years when my now old dogs are no longer with us. I'm looking at a 430x with the fairway kit mowing around .5" but would ideally like to not string trim at all. I am about to start a curbing project in my back yard and was wondering how close to a fence the automower can go. My plan is just to make my curbing wide enough so the mower can drive on it and get all the grass so I don't have to trim every few days. Thanks in advance for everyone's help.


You would have to post pictures so we can see obstructions etc. It would have to be able to mow past any boundary to completely cut it because of the shape of the mower. Post some pictures and we can advise.


----------



## mattcoughlin

No obstacles. Just a fence. Basically I'm just trying to find out how close a fence it will mow so i know how wide to make my curbing. if it gets 8 inches from the fence I'll make it 10 inch curbing, ect.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

You can get them pretty close to the fence. I have mine leaving about 3-4 inches just because I don't want it bumping into it.

It all depends on where you want to put your perimeter wire, the manual will tell you something like 8 inches away but you can do less. And you can modify the mower setting to go over the wire slightly for a fine adjustment.


----------



## Tiffway

Husqvarna owner here. Used this entire season after having it installed in the winter months. Highly recommended, you won't look back. just don't skimp on the installation.. e#check around for the best installer you can find that knows what he's doing and has a lot of experience the more the better and you can greatly reduce your needed edging etc. and use PGR to help even more. Warranty is 3 years if remember correctly.


----------



## mattcoughlin

Boy_meets_lawn said:


> You can get them pretty close to the fence. I have mine leaving about 3-4 inches just because I don't want it bumping into it.
> 
> It all depends on where you want to put your perimeter wire, the manual will tell you something like 8 inches away but you can do less. And you can modify the mower setting to go over the wire slightly for a fine adjustment.


Thanks for the info. This exactly what I was looking for. I have a John Deere greens mower I enjoy using when I have time that can only get about 5 inches from the fence, so I had planned on a minimum 6 inch curb which sounds like it should be good enough for the automower. Now to just mix like 2 pallets of cement....


----------



## DavidB

HungrySoutherner said:


> I'm sure that is great to dip a toe in the water on robots, but got our hands on a generic version of that from China and the motors and battery are way underpowered. If you find its not keeping up then you need to have it mow more often vs trying to chase the HOC up. Also I would absolutely advise against trying to sharpen those blades, waste or not they are designed to be disposable. If you try sharpening them you are effectively changing the balance of the cutting disk and wearing out the machine. If you are growing warm season turf, I'm changing them out about every 10 days at the peak of the season to keep a clean cut so every 14 days is about right in the summer. On the Husqvarna the only time I've seen the motor stop because of the grass was if I was intentionally scalping, so I'm guessing the machine you have is the same small motor in the Chinese version.


Interesting that you say dip a toe. I wasn't bound by price, though I'd have preferred not to spend over $2,000 but nearly all seemed to have their lowest height of cut too high. After leveling the lawn this winter (Phoenix) I want to continue to lower the HOC to closer to a 1/2". Which model do you have?


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

You can modify any of the husqvarna mowers to cut under the 0.8" minimum. Just need to put a spacer to lower the cutting disc.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

DavidB said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure that is great to dip a toe in the water on robots, but got our hands on a generic version of that from China and the motors and battery are way underpowered. If you find its not keeping up then you need to have it mow more often vs trying to chase the HOC up. Also I would absolutely advise against trying to sharpen those blades, waste or not they are designed to be disposable. If you try sharpening them you are effectively changing the balance of the cutting disk and wearing out the machine. If you are growing warm season turf, I'm changing them out about every 10 days at the peak of the season to keep a clean cut so every 14 days is about right in the summer. On the Husqvarna the only time I've seen the motor stop because of the grass was if I was intentionally scalping, so I'm guessing the machine you have is the same small motor in the Chinese version.
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting that you say dip a toe. I wasn't bound by price, though I'd have preferred not to spend over $2,000 but nearly all seemed to have their lowest height of cut too high. After leveling the lawn this winter (Phoenix) I want to continue to lower the HOC to closer to a 1/2". Which model do you have?
Click to expand...

I have the Husq 450x with a fairway kit. With the fairway kit you can get down to .375", and can scalp with it at .25". Set it and forget it.


----------



## Still learnin

I've had the 450X since June. For the first month or so it was pretty great. Only issues I had were terrain issues. 
Since then, I've wanted to throw it in the trash almost every week. It is constantly losing blades, getting stuck in nothing but grass, I've gone through two cutting discs and two of the plastic discs that the blades screw into. It's currently sitting in my yard because the metal cutting disc is worn through and broken. 
Dealer says it's because the grass is too thick and it's too large of an area to mow as low as I want it. It's cutting (when it is working) about an acre. It's not even on its lowest setting any longer (it's on 3). At first I thought maybe he was right because I was pushing N to fill in some spots. But that hasn't been the case since July. It leaves clipping all over the yard and it's nasty to walk through. I've had to sweep the lawn almost weekly. It needs it more but I don't have the time, hence buying an automower. 
It was suggested to reduce the mowing area. But that really makes the point of an Automower moot. Not sure what I'm going to do at this point. I've tried explaining to the dealer that my grass isn't special, it's just not the fescue he is used to.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Still learnin said:


> I've had the 450X since June. For the first month or so it was pretty great. Only issues I had were terrain issues.
> Since then, I've wanted to throw it in the trash almost every week. It is constantly losing blades, getting stuck in nothing but grass, I've gone through two cutting discs and two of the plastic discs that the blades screw into. It's currently sitting in my yard because the metal cutting disc is worn through and broken.
> Dealer says it's because the grass is too thick and it's too large of an area to mow as low as I want it. It's cutting (when it is working) about an acre. It's not even on its lowest setting any longer (it's on 3). At first I thought maybe he was right because I was pushing N to fill in some spots. But that hasn't been the case since July. It leaves clipping all over the yard and it's nasty to walk through. I've had to sweep the lawn almost weekly. It needs it more but I don't have the time, hence buying an automower.
> It was suggested to reduce the mowing area. But that really makes the point of an Automower moot. Not sure what I'm going to do at this point. I've tried explaining to the dealer that my grass isn't special, it's just not the fescue he is used to.


Man...something honestly doesn't sound right about your set up if all of that is happening. First off how often is your mower going out during the day? With a 450x on 1 acre you basically need it running 24x7 on bermuda if you are at the 1 acre size during the growing season. Just keep it running and let it rest when its recharging. Are you letting the mower hit things in the yard like sticks, pinecones rocks etc? I can understand losing a blade if you aren't changing them frequent enough, but breaking the cutting disc etc you have to be going pretty rough on the mower for that to be happening. For instance I have the Fairway Kit on my and to use it you actually remove the metal protective cover so my plastic disc is expose and the at the lowest setting ~.35" mowing I'm not getting broken discs or missing blades etc. Is things like debris and pine straw binding of the blades around the screw? Also on bermuda if you are mowing enough you shouldn't be seeing clippings like that, thats a sign that the mower isn't going out enough. Its significantly harder on the mower if its chopping tall grass. The only time of the year I really see debris like that on my yard is when the tifgrand is throwing out seed heads and the tops shoot up much faster than the grass and I'll see some of that over night when it mows. Walk us through how you are using the mower and maybe we can figure out whats going on.


----------



## Still learnin

It is set to run 24/7. Only time it isn't mowing is when it is charging.

We have the occasional sticks, but no rocks or pine cones. One issue was it running up on the driveway in one area and onto the water meter box. I have fixed the water meter issue and made the one area of the driveway better. Other than that, MAYBE some mulch around a tree, but that was pretty much non-existent when the issues started.

I've never noticed anything but some grass clippings on the blades or anywhere else.

I haven't gone longer than maybe 2 weeks with the same set of blades.


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Still learnin said:


> It is set to run 24/7. Only time it isn't mowing is when it is charging.
> 
> We have the occasional sticks, but no rocks or pine cones. One issue was it running up on the driveway in one area and onto the water meter box. I have fixed the water meter issue and made the one area of the driveway better. Other than that, MAYBE some mulch around a tree, but that was pretty much non-existent when the issues started.
> 
> I've never noticed anything but some grass clippings on the blades or anywhere else.
> 
> I haven't gone longer than maybe 2 weeks with the same set of blades.


Honestly if the the blades are hitting solid objects I can't come up with a reason you're having the issues. I believe you when you say its happening I just don't really understand why. I've abused mine the last 2 season with no issues. It's been chopping up limbs and pecans the last week with everything falling out of the trees and haven't had problems. Wish I could help but if the machine is running 24/7 and the blades are monitored it should be keeping up. Its possible you need to reconsider how much time the mower is spending in each zone as it might be lingering in areas to long and some areas not enough. If you keep having issues with losing blades, I would remove the metal protective shield from the cutting disc, it sounds like its some how involved with whats going on.


----------



## Still learnin

I took the metal disc off as it was broken anyway. Seemed to work ok but it was losing blades because the plastic disc was broken as well.

They came out and looked at it this week and noticed that the height adjustment was not working. It would say it was cutting at "X" height but because a part was broken, would revert to the lowest setting. That is now fixed and the mower is working fine so far.

I think spring greenuo and early summer growth surge will be the test. I doubt the mower will have issues now that the grass has slowed its growth so much. We will see.


----------



## Jagermeister

HungrySoutherner said:


> AndyS said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> That would be cool, but it looks like the biggest ones will only mow up to about 1.25 acres?
> 
> If so, I would need a small fleet (3) of them.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure prices will continue to drive down.
> 
> A lot of the technology from the drone world has advanced significantly in only a few years.
> 
> I knew a guy that had a $6K commercial drone that needed two pilots. A little over a year later he was using $1,200 Phantoms because the tech had moved on so much.
> 
> This is really tempting for me now given my smaller yard and @HungrySoutherner 's really detailed help!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Prices will for sure come down as more competitors enter the market and more people adopt them. The technology is evolving fast with the automowers as well. The next generation automower doesn't require the buried wire anymore and instead uses precision RTK gps to establish the boundaries and a fix gps reference at the base station. At my local dealer that sells commercial zero turns and heavy lawn equipment, all of the owners and employees have automowers because of the convivence of having a maintained lawn season long.
Click to expand...

One thing that is keeping me away is the guide wire. Are there any mowers out there yet using just the RTK GPS? Also, if I wanted to mow at 0.5", how level does the lawn need to be?


----------



## mowww

@Jagermeister I may be wrong but I believe only the Husqvarna 550H EPOS, the Segway Navimow (they are unsure when in 2022 it will release in US), and eventually one of the irobot models as well. All in the 550H EPOS would run $5,500+ from what I understand since you need an EPOS station as well.


----------



## Jagermeister

@HungrySoutherner @Boy_meets_lawn thanks for all of your comments on this thread about automowers. I am seriously thinking about taking the plunge for 2022. I currently have a service that mows once a week at 1" and cut quality suffers from only being able to cut once a week. Cost of the service annually is higher than the cost of a 430X. I like the idea of being able to cut a little bit every day or every other day. After doing a lot of research, o have a few questions that I was hoping you might be able to explain. I have a large, complex lawn and so would need to set up areas or zones plus I have a section of fescue in the back.

1) can you set up the mower to cut each area one by one until fully cut and then move to the next? Does it move to the next when complete or is it based upon time? Also not fully understanding how the guide wire works with the areas.

2) how does the unit divide the areas when there isn't a boundary wire for each zone?

3) I mentioned the fescue section. This would have to be cut at max height so is this possible to create a higher cut zone? The fescue runs up against the bermuda section so how would I divide these zones?

4) I have a section on the other side of NY driveway so the unit would have to cross. Would it try to mow the driveway section? I would be worried about it criss crossing and some running the unit over.

5) for thunderstorms, have you successfully use the forecast capability to pause cutting? When I have heavy rain, I get a river in the front yard for a bit of time and wouldn't want the it to get stuck or flooded.

6) I had issues with scalping mid summer and had to do a HOC reset. If you use the automower consistently and shave top growth everyday, can you avoid the periodic HOC reset?

7) I don't have any fences or obstructions, just curbs driveways, pinestraw beds with deeper edgings. Can I avoid trimming around the perimeter at all if I place the wire close or will it get stuck? Also, I do have some pretty steep boundary areas so wondering how those would be handled?

Lots of questions! Appreciate you all helping me with this decision!


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

I'm not going to be much help as I just have one zone. As far as I know you have to physically move the mower to other zones you created.

If you have a large complex yard I feel it may be best to find an installer set it up. You can definitely do it yourself but the time you spend ensuring everything works correctly may be significant.

The mower is basically a grass roomba and will roam throughout the zone including the driveway. If equipped with auto mower connect you can connect and have the mower stop in flooding conditions via the app.

I did not have to do any hoc resets in my backyard since getting the robot.

As for edging, you can modify the travel distance over the boundary wire to probably eliminate most edging. Again an installer would probably give the best advice on this. I would make sure the mower isn't getting stuck if you are going to have it mow to curb edges.


----------



## Jagermeister

@Boy_meets_lawn thank you! @HungrySoutherner , appreciate any comments and help!

I have done a bunch more research the past few days. It appears Husqvarna already has an applet in IFTTT to park the mower if heavy rain is in the forecast so that is cool! My other bug worry is crossing the driveway and having someone run it over. We have delivery trucks, contractors, wife and kids, etc. Should this be a worry?

For the fescue section, seems like the only way this would work is to create a secondary area and manually change HOC to max when I place the mower. I would have to create a fake barrier by creating an island but keeping the boundary wires like 4" apart instead of 0".

Also seems like the remote areas aren't really zones. They are more virtual remote areas with an approximate size. Seems like the GPS navigation would be more beneficial than manual area management.


----------



## Khs2424

Hope this thread is still active. I've read through every comment and now I'm VERY interested in going the automower route. I still have a couple of questions I do not believe were asked in this thread. I hope @HungrySoutherner and @Boy_meets_lawn are still active and could maybe help me out. And anyone else, for that matter.

1) Can the Husqvarna 450x do a spring scalp or is that something I should keep my Mclane reel mower for?

2) Can it go over driveways or sidewalks to access different parts of the yard that are cut off by them?

3) We have an underground fence system for our dog. Would that fencing system effect the mower?

Thanks!


----------



## HungrySoutherner

Khs2424 said:


> Hope this thread is still active. I've read through every comment and now I'm VERY interested in going the automower route. I still have a couple of questions I do not believe were asked in this thread. I hope @HungrySoutherner and @Boy_meets_lawn are still active and could maybe help me out. And anyone else, for that matter.
> 
> 1) Can the Husqvarna 450x do a spring scalp or is that something I should keep my Mclane reel mower for?
> 
> 2) Can it go over driveways or sidewalks to access different parts of the yard that are cut off by them?
> 
> 3) We have an underground fence system for our dog. Would that fencing system effect the mower?
> 
> Thanks!


If you have a fairway kit you can do a sort of scalp but you will need to have a rotary mower to bag all the clippings. You can run the lowest HOC kit and run it on 1 and it will chew up dormant grass over the course of a day or 2. Not the same as scalping with a reel, but that is how I got it done last year and it worked out fine. It can cross driveways and sidewalks no problem as long as you've sorted how to run the wires, with the new GPS software you can define zones in GPS so it makes that easier. You won't be able to use the dog fence for the mower unless you are willing to sacrifice it for the mower only. You may want to test the frequency the fence runs at to make sure it doesn't interfere with the mowers.


----------



## Khs2424

HungrySoutherner said:


> Khs2424 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hope this thread is still active. I've read through every comment and now I'm VERY interested in going the automower route. I still have a couple of questions I do not believe were asked in this thread. I hope @HungrySoutherner and @Boy_meets_lawn are still active and could maybe help me out. And anyone else, for that matter.
> 
> 1) Can the Husqvarna 450x do a spring scalp or is that something I should keep my Mclane reel mower for?
> 
> 2) Can it go over driveways or sidewalks to access different parts of the yard that are cut off by them?
> 
> 3) We have an underground fence system for our dog. Would that fencing system effect the mower?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> If you have a fairway kit you can do a sort of scalp but you will need to have a rotary mower to bag all the clippings. You can run the lowest HOC kit and run it on 1 and it will chew up dormant grass over the course of a day or 2. Not the same as scalping with a reel, but that is how I got it done last year and it worked out fine. It can cross driveways and sidewalks no problem as long as you've sorted how to run the wires, with the new GPS software you can define zones in GPS so it makes that easier. You won't be able to use the dog fence for the mower unless you are willing to sacrifice it for the mower only. You may want to test the frequency the fence runs at to make sure it doesn't interfere with the mowers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input!

I may have phrased the question about the dog fence part wrong. Or I'm misunderstanding your answer. I don't want to use the dog fence for the mower. I would end up having both wires in the lawn. The dog fence still working and the boundary fence for the mower. I guess I could contact both companies (Husqavarna & the fence company) and ask their opinions on interference. Surely I'm not the first person to want to have both.


----------



## MasterMech

I'm still waiting for a viable solution for fenced lawns. As soon as we start talking about two mowers, expensive DIY gate openers that pose a security risk (can't have the dogs getting out), manually moving the mower between sections... the whole idea begins to lose appeal.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

Ya, I still use my reel on the front yard as setting up another zone would be a hassle for my lot.

As far as the dog fence goes I'd probably install the mower boundary wire inside of the dog fence. But I'd ask the manufacturer about interference between the two but I think it could be done.


----------



## dsc123

MasterMech said:


> I'm still waiting for a viable solution for fenced lawns. As soon as we start talking about two mowers, expensive DIY gate openers that pose a security risk (can't have the dogs getting out), manually moving the mower between sections... the whole idea begins to lose appeal.


I have the cheap model, the 115h. Last year I left a gate open and ran the wire through the opening. After having our landscaping redone, that's no longer an option. I'm just going to buy a second 115h.



Khs2424 said:


> HungrySoutherner said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Khs2424 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hope this thread is still active. I've read through every comment and now I'm VERY interested in going the automower route. I still have a couple of questions I do not believe were asked in this thread. I hope @HungrySoutherner and @Boy_meets_lawn are still active and could maybe help me out. And anyone else, for that matter.
> 
> 1) Can the Husqvarna 450x do a spring scalp or is that something I should keep my Mclane reel mower for?
> 
> 2) Can it go over driveways or sidewalks to access different parts of the yard that are cut off by them?
> 
> 3) We have an underground fence system for our dog. Would that fencing system effect the mower?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> If you have a fairway kit you can do a sort of scalp but you will need to have a rotary mower to bag all the clippings. You can run the lowest HOC kit and run it on 1 and it will chew up dormant grass over the course of a day or 2. Not the same as scalping with a reel, but that is how I got it done last year and it worked out fine. It can cross driveways and sidewalks no problem as long as you've sorted how to run the wires, with the new GPS software you can define zones in GPS so it makes that easier. You won't be able to use the dog fence for the mower unless you are willing to sacrifice it for the mower only. You may want to test the frequency the fence runs at to make sure it doesn't interfere with the mowers.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks for the input!
> 
> I may have phrased the question about the dog fence part wrong. Or I'm misunderstanding your answer. I don't want to use the dog fence for the mower. I would end up having both wires in the lawn. The dog fence still working and the boundary fence for the mower. I guess I could contact both companies (Husqavarna & the fence company) and ask their opinions on interference. Surely I'm not the first person to want to have both.
Click to expand...

Unless something has changed since last spring when I spent a while trying to solve this problem, none of the boundary wire models work with a dog fence. Fences, physical or electronic, are the Achilles heel of these things.


----------



## grumpsterfire

Does anyone have their automower boundary wire setup so manual trimming isnt needed on the borders of mulch beds? Do you just let the mower drive right onto the mulch bed? Or do you need a solid surface like brick pavers so the wheels don't get caught in the mulch or on the edge?

I'm preparing to install an automower 550h but I don't feel I have the confidence in how wide of a border is needed to achieve this. I'd hate to put in all the work to create the border only to find that trimming is still needed because I didn't make it wide enough.

Thanks!


----------



## Still learnin

grumpsterfire said:


> Does anyone have their automower boundary wire setup so manual trimming isnt needed on the borders of mulch beds? Do you just let the mower drive right onto the mulch bed? Or do you need a solid surface like brick pavers so the wheels don't get caught in the mulch or on the edge?
> 
> I'm preparing to install an automower 550h but I don't feel I have the confidence in how wide of a border is needed to achieve this. I'd hate to put in all the work to create the border only to find that trimming is still needed because I didn't make it wide enough.
> 
> Thanks!


I'd say it depends on how your beds are setup. The Automower does not cut at the front of the machine, the blades are in the middle. I rarely have to trim anything around my driveway where the grass is level or higher. But around the house I do because it can't cut close. A good portion of my landscaping is living edge and I don't have to trim much. But if it's a sharp drop, the mower may drop and get stuck.

I'm short, the blades are in the middle and the sensor that senses the boundary is just in front of the blades. So the mower goes just past the boundary, but not by much.


----------



## grumpsterfire

Still learnin said:


> I'd say it depends on how your beds are setup. The Automower does not cut at the front of the machine, the blades are in the middle. I rarely have to trim anything around my driveway where the grass is level or higher. But around the house I do because it can't cut close. A good portion of my landscaping is living edge and I don't have to trim much. But if it's a sharp drop, the mower may drop and get stuck.
> 
> I'm short, the blades are in the middle and the sensor that senses the boundary is just in front of the blades. So the mower goes just past the boundary, but not by much.


Thank you! I'll try the short (4") edge-to-wire spacing first with my beds and see how it goes. I'm staking the wire for now to keep flexibility as I learn.


----------



## cavince79

@HungrySoutherner did you get the fairway kit locally or online? I can't seem to find it online in the US. SuperSod is the local Husqvarna dealer, I haven't talked to them yet.

@Boy_meets_lawn have you done the spacer to lower the cut rather than a fairway kit? Any problems?


----------



## Fab

@ cavince79: you can find the fairway kit here: https://saffordequipment.com/product/husqvarna-automower-golf-fairway-kit-597496301/
I ordered it few months ago and got very good experience with vendor. I was a little worried why this is the only place I could find it in the US. I got a brand new part in original box, etc. I had to sand off the top part to fit in my 310 as indicated in one of the messages in the thread. Worked like a charm. 
I tried to scalp my lawn with the kit and managed to go down as short as 1/2 inch. Automower would spend most time stuck when I tried lower. The disc would slow down and stop. The automower would then back off and go another direction. Only to get stuck and do same thing again. I was afraid to damage my boy and called it good enough. Maybe next year I can scalp lower if I keep low all season. My plan is to maintain at 3/4 inch. Maybe this will solve my only problem that is the automower keeps pulling dead grass all season and I need to use the rotary to bag or the blower to remove the dead grass every other week. I hope it helps someone.


----------



## cavince79

@Fab thanks for pointing me back to Safford. I do recall seeing that link but thought it was an Australian site for some reason. Ordered! Thanks!


----------



## HungrySoutherner

cavince79 said:


> @HungrySoutherner did you get the fairway kit locally or online? I can't seem to find it online in the US. SuperSod is the local Husqvarna dealer, I haven't talked to them yet.
> 
> @Boy_meets_lawn have you done the spacer to lower the cut rather than a fairway kit? Any problems?


I bought mine online but I don't remember from where. I bought a second one through my dealer.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

I purchased the original fairway kit and modified the spacer it came with to fit on my 310.


----------



## AndyS

I've been away from this forum for far too long!

Now that I have the best part of a year on the 430XH I thought I'd give a quick summary:

Pros

Significant upgrade to the quality of the turf KBG cut around 2 inches). Thick and carpet-like. Single greatest influence on the overall look of my lawn

Handles a bumpy lawn well. Somehow makes it look more even

No interference with electric dog fence

No issues with kids etc. as it crosses the sidewalk. No incidents at all

No issues with my dog or other dogs or cats

Cuts really well in the rain. I actually don't send mine home unless it's a storm

Cons

The boundary wire WILL get cut if you have a lawn exposed to neighbors (and their lawn contractors). Also had one break due to a squirrel digging and chewing. I use a fluke wire tracer to make the break location process much less tedious, but it's still a process. Having a boundary wire magnetically attracts idiots... it's a thing.

I got wheel ruts right by the charging station until I realized there was a setting to extend the distance that it reverses out of the station

IMHO you still need a regular gas mower (or access to one) for those times you use a mover as a vacum/mulcher. At least that's my opinion. I bought an electric mower and thought I'd get rid of my TimeMaster, but it has no suction so the TimeMaster stays for now

The help of folks in this thread were pivotal in my decision to buy. I haven't regretted it for one minute. Happy to answer any questions...


----------



## cglarsen

Jagermeister said:


> I have done a bunch more research the past few days. It appears Husqvarna already has an applet in IFTTT to park the mower if heavy rain is in the forecast so that is cool!


That is a good start. Next step is one that works with smart plug to disconnect power during thunderstorms per the manual.


----------



## dsc123

AndyS said:


> I've been away from this forum for far too long!
> 
> Now that I have the best part of a year on the 430XH I thought I'd give a quick summary:
> 
> Pros
> 
> Significant upgrade to the quality of the turf KBG cut around 2 inches). Thick and carpet-like. Single greatest influence on the overall look of my lawn
> 
> Handles a bumpy lawn well. Somehow makes it look more even
> 
> No interference with electric dog fence
> 
> No issues with kids etc. as it crosses the sidewalk. No incidents at all
> 
> No issues with my dog or other dogs or cats
> 
> Cuts really well in the rain. I actually don't send mine home unless it's a storm
> 
> Cons
> 
> The boundary wire WILL get cut if you have a lawn exposed to neighbors (and their lawn contractors). Also had one break due to a squirrel digging and chewing. I use a fluke wire tracer to make the break location process much less tedious, but it's still a process. Having a boundary wire magnetically attracts idiots... it's a thing.
> 
> I got wheel ruts right by the charging station until I realized there was a setting to extend the distance that it reverses out of the station
> 
> IMHO you still need a regular gas mower (or access to one) for those times you use a mover as a vacum/mulcher. At least that's my opinion. I bought an electric mower and thought I'd get rid of my TimeMaster, but it has no suction so the TimeMaster stays for now
> 
> The help of folks in this thread were pivotal in my decision to buy. I haven't regretted it for one minute. Happy to answer any questions...


No interference with the electric dog fence? Is that new? All I've read said you can't have both. That's a real game changer.

As I mentioned above, I planned to stop leaving my gate open and buy a second mower. Opted for the 430XH for my steep front yard and its been great. I'll keep using the 115h in the backyard. Couldn't be happier with the performance...except for the fence issue.

There's a company called smart dots in Texas that sells gates designed to let the mower pass.


----------



## AndyS

dsc123 said:


> AndyS said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've been away from this forum for far too long!
> 
> Now that I have the best part of a year on the 430XH I thought I'd give a quick summary:
> 
> Pros
> 
> Significant upgrade to the quality of the turf KBG cut around 2 inches). Thick and carpet-like. Single greatest influence on the overall look of my lawn
> 
> Handles a bumpy lawn well. Somehow makes it look more even
> 
> No interference with electric dog fence
> 
> No issues with kids etc. as it crosses the sidewalk. No incidents at all
> 
> No issues with my dog or other dogs or cats
> 
> Cuts really well in the rain. I actually don't send mine home unless it's a storm
> 
> Cons
> 
> The boundary wire WILL get cut if you have a lawn exposed to neighbors (and their lawn contractors). Also had one break due to a squirrel digging and chewing. I use a fluke wire tracer to make the break location process much less tedious, but it's still a process. Having a boundary wire magnetically attracts idiots... it's a thing.
> 
> I got wheel ruts right by the charging station until I realized there was a setting to extend the distance that it reverses out of the station
> 
> IMHO you still need a regular gas mower (or access to one) for those times you use a mover as a vacum/mulcher. At least that's my opinion. I bought an electric mower and thought I'd get rid of my TimeMaster, but it has no suction so the TimeMaster stays for now
> 
> The help of folks in this thread were pivotal in my decision to buy. I haven't regretted it for one minute. Happy to answer any questions...
> 
> 
> 
> No interference with the electric dog fence? Is that new? All I've read said you can't have both. That's a real game changer.
> 
> As I mentioned above, I planned to stop leaving my gate open and buy a second mower. Opted for the 430XH for my steep front yard and its been great. I'll keep using the 115h in the backyard. Couldn't be happier with the performance...except for the fence issue.
> 
> There's a company called smart dots in Texas that sells gates designed to let the mower pass.
Click to expand...

All I can say is I've had zero issues personally, and I installed the boundary wire myself, so not exactly an expert job. I can't imagine the basic design/frequencies have changed, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'll have to look into that gate… that's a really cool concept!


----------



## jemerson2196

I just got the 430x about a week ago. Still cutting to get down to 20mm. I like it so far. Got my fairway kit from these guys *https://www.youtube.com/c/RoboticMowerServices*

Shipping was quick, haven't installed it yet. Still getting down to the lowest setting but it definitely pull up stolons / dead grass. Might get better once I am at my target length.

Annoying issue: 415x that just came out appears to have better features but fairway kit isn't compatible. Hopefully there is a firmware update to the 430x to get such features.


----------



## jemerson2196

Quick update. Installed the fairway kit and mower started to slow down substantially (my grass is fairly thick).

Anyone know a good machinist to make something like the below?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWkSnYtLWWU


----------



## Still learnin

jemerson2196 said:


> Quick update. Installed the fairway kit and mower started to slow down substantially (my grass is fairly thick).
> 
> Anyone know a good machinist to make something like the below?


That would most likely solve my biggest issue with the automower. It bogs down and stops when it hits some areas (when I am trying to lower it a notch) and then I have to go start it again. Which can be a long time if it's in the middle of the night or while I'm away. I cannot get lower than #3 with the fairway kit. My plan was to let it keep cutting this fall after it goes dormant to see if it can cut then.


----------



## jemerson2196

Same issue. I work closely with a guy that lives in German. I'm going to have him look through the forum the YouTuber mentioned / linked. Maybe he can find the guy who made this and can order one (or at least send the CAD) Only issue would be 315 vs 430 in my case.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

Scalping with the robot if your grass is already thick is going to be a real problem. I'd scalp with a reel lower than you plan on maintaining and then you should have no problem. I can only go to about 1/2" hoc with the robot until I level. If you are planning on going lower than that your yard must be almost perfectly flat.


----------



## Jagermeister

jemerson2196 said:


> I just got the 430x about a week ago. Still cutting to get down to 20mm. I like it so far. Got my fairway kit from these guys *https://www.youtube.com/c/RoboticMowerServices*
> 
> Shipping was quick, haven't installed it yet. Still getting down to the lowest setting but it definitely pull up stolons / dead grass. Might get better once I am at my target length.
> 
> Annoying issue: 415x that just came out appears to have better features but fairway kit isn't compatible. Hopefully there is a firmware update to the 430x to get such features.


Is it true that the fairway kit is not compatible with the 415X? That would burst my bubble! I am holding out for AIM on whatever new 450x equivalent battery life version comes out. Hoping in 2023.


----------



## Greasmatta

jemerson2196 said:


> Same issue. I work closely with a guy that lives in German. I'm going to have him look through the forum the YouTuber mentioned / linked. Maybe he can find the guy who made this and can order one (or at least send the CAD) Only issue would be 315 vs 430 in my case.


I use a similar custom made disc with 9 standard 3-hole industrial razor blades. It is like day and night in cut quality. With stock disc and blades my 430X cant cut my thick grass clean. The lawn gets a gray taint all over at 25mm. With this custom disc i get a clean cut and never bogs down.

Here is the German forum thread about the custom disc in the youtube video.
https://www.roboter-forum.com/index.php?thread/36877-modifizierter-messerteller/&pageNo=1

I bought my disc from an guy named Jan Oerter in that thread. It is laser cut and 3D printed. Much less money than the machined disc in the video.
You can scroll to last pages to find him and pictures of his custom disc.


----------



## jemerson2196

Buddy in Germany was able to order me one. Will let you know how it goes. cost 180 euro.


----------



## ENVY23

Do y'all with the XH version cutting at a higher setting have a problem with random tracks all over the yard? I've been looking into these and watching several YouTube videos and one guy mentioned a bunch of tracks all over his yard, they were clearly visible in the video. Just wondering if it's common with higher cut turf? I imagine it would be less noticeable with a lower cut turf. If I get one, I would likely be cutting at the highest 3.6" setting.


----------



## MasterMech

ENVY23 said:


> Do y'all with the XH version cutting at a higher setting have a problem with random tracks all over the yard? I've been looking into these and watching several YouTube videos and one guy mentioned a bunch of tracks all over his yard, they were clearly visible in the video. Just wondering if it's common with higher cut turf? I imagine it would be less noticeable with a lower cut turf. If I get one, I would likely be cutting at the highest 3.6" setting.


Are you irrigated? If yes, why not bring that KBG down a bit lower since you'd be able to mow much more frequently....


----------



## ENVY23

MasterMech said:


> ENVY23 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Do y'all with the XH version cutting at a higher setting have a problem with random tracks all over the yard? I've been looking into these and watching several YouTube videos and one guy mentioned a bunch of tracks all over his yard, they were clearly visible in the video. Just wondering if it's common with higher cut turf? I imagine it would be less noticeable with a lower cut turf. If I get one, I would likely be cutting at the highest 3.6" setting.
> 
> 
> 
> Are you irrigated? If yes, why not bring that KBG down a bit lower since you'd be able to mow much more frequently....
Click to expand...

Yes, I have irrigation. I probably will bring the height down some once I level it. We bought the house in late 2020, I did irrigation and renovated in 2021 and there's been some settling since then. I want everything to settle well before I level so hopefully I only have to do it once. lol I don't plan to mow too low though, but I would like to play around with heights and figure out a sweet spot that I like.


----------



## lacrossekite

Seems to be a bunch of these on eBay for a lower price.

One concern on the open box items is what to do if a PIN was set? Is there anyway to reset or bypass a PIN on an open box or used mower?


----------



## grumpsterfire

I bought my automower on ebay and that was a nail-biter for similar reasons. 
It was new old stock that the dealer sold to the eBay seller. So when it arrived at my house it was a brick because I didn't have the dealer-provided factory pin (and you can't set up a new mower without one). Thankfully the seller was still in touch with the dealer and I was able to get the factory pin and get the item registered with Husqvarna (seller was really nice and helpful). If you're buying a used automower I think you might want to make sure the seller provides the current pin and the factory pin as well.

I would look for a service manual pdf for the model you're interested in to confirm, but I believe resetting to the factory pin is possible and setting whatever pin you like is possible.


----------



## Jagermeister

All, are you all able to have your boundary and guide wires installed deep enough to allow freedom to aerate as you wish? I am most worried about the guide wires in the middle of the lawn. I need to be able to easily aerate annually along with topdressing.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn

Jagermeister said:


> All, are you all able to have your boundary and guide wires installed deep enough to allow freedom to aerate as you wish? I am most worried about the guide wires in the middle of the lawn. I need to be able to easily aerate annually along with topdressing.


There's a cable burial tool you can rent from sunbelt or HD to accomplish this. It lays it a few inches deep and would allow you to verticut and aerate without worry.


----------



## Boy_meets_lawn




----------



## cglarsen

That's a great deal on that trencher's daily rental to do your own install. Stick edger isn't going to get the job done right.


----------



## ENVY23

​Quick question about trying to determine how much boundary wire I will need. My "lawn" is separated from the rest of my property by a 3 rail vinyl fence. I want the mower to mow a 4' strip on the other side of fence and use this "path" to also access the backyard. According to specs, the 450XH is roughly 12-13" tall and the bottom rail of the fence is ~9" off the ground. Since the bumper is near ground level, what happens if just the top of the mower hits the fence? Does it just keep digging forward, or will it sense it's not moving and turn around? I'm wondering if the boundary wire needs to run along both sides of the fence, creating a "no-go zone" where the fence is, or if the fence can just be included within the boundary wire and the mower will handle it? Thanks!


----------



## Guymauve

Please add a picture


----------



## ENVY23

You want like a satellite photo or just a photo of the fence?


----------



## Guymauve

Photo of the fence would be enough


----------



## ENVY23

Here's the front yard. The fence stops approx. 10ft from that road to the right, so the mower has plenty of room to go around the fence.



I want it to mow about 4ft on the other side of the fence, follow it around and come through this opening to access the backyard. I was planning on running a guide wire through this opening.



I just don't know if I can lay the boundary wire 4ft off the fence, or if I need to run boundary wire down both sides of the fence to section it off so it avoids the fence. I'm just not sure how the mower reacts to things like this. Obviously it would just bounce off the posts, but I'm afraid it might wedge itself under the fence.


----------



## Guymauve

It is better that the mower does not touch the fence. In the long run this could damage the robot and the fence. So I would place the boundary wire around the fence. Hope it helps. For example there is a discussion about narrow installation here.


----------



## ENVY23

Thanks for the help. That's what I was thinking, but I was also thinking it would save a lot of boundary wire and effort if I didn't have to block off the fence. I just wasn't sure the best route to take.


----------



## cglarsen

Bad news for Automowers....

SuperSod just stopped carrying and servicing them two weeks ago per my local dealer. Said Husqvarna was not helping them with warranty claims....

No one else in the area really carries them either.


----------



## MasterMech

cglarsen said:


> Bad news for Automowers....
> 
> SuperSod just stopped carrying and servicing them two weeks ago per my local dealer. Said Husqvarna was not helping them with warranty claims....
> 
> No one else in the area really carries them either.


Wow.

Toro has gotten into the robot game now though so should make things more interesting going forward.


----------



## DocTodd

Demo'ing a 550h epos unit for three weeks now, and I'm impressed. Will be purchasing the standard unit next spring with intent to bring HOC down to the fairway kit height. Husq supposed to release structured mowing next year which will increase coverage up to around 2 acres/day. They also supposedly adding a 5th blade to the cutting disc, and also releasing a "coverage extender" to help improve the satellite reception around residential properties. That will be helpful as I seem to randomly lose coverage in a specific area of my backyard.

EDIT: I'm hoping for the opportunity to get a hands on test of the Toro unit prior to dropping the coin for the Husq unit.


----------



## cldrunner

DocTodd said:


> Demo'ing a 550h epos unit for three weeks now, and I'm impressed. Will be purchasing the standard unit next spring with intent to bring HOC down to the fairway kit height. Husq supposed to release structured mowing next year which will increase coverage up to around 2 acres/day. They also supposedly adding a 5th blade to the cutting disc, and also releasing a "coverage extender" to help improve the satellite reception around residential properties. That will be helpful as I seem to randomly lose coverage in a specific area of my backyard.
> 
> EDIT: I'm hoping for the opportunity to get a hands on test of the Toro unit prior to dropping the coin for the Husq unit.


Price Range?


----------



## coreystooks

DocTodd said:


> Demo'ing a 550h epos unit for three weeks now, and I'm impressed. Will be purchasing the standard unit next spring with intent to bring HOC down to the fairway kit height. Husq supposed to release structured mowing next year which will increase coverage up to around 2 acres/day. They also supposedly adding a 5th blade to the cutting disc, and also releasing a "coverage extender" to help improve the satellite reception around residential properties. That will be helpful as I seem to randomly lose coverage in a specific area of my backyard.
> 
> EDIT: I'm hoping for the opportunity to get a hands on test of the Toro unit prior to dropping the coin for the Husq unit.


That's great to hear about the structured mowing. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these to maintain my big area but I just feel like it just wastes so much time going around roomba style and putting unnecessary wear and tear on the unit. With the GPS units it shouldn't be hard to implement.


----------



## DocTodd

cldrunner said:


> DocTodd said:
> 
> 
> 
> Demo'ing a 550h epos unit for three weeks now, and I'm impressed. Will be purchasing the standard unit next spring with intent to bring HOC down to the fairway kit height. Husq supposed to release structured mowing next year which will increase coverage up to around 2 acres/day. They also supposedly adding a 5th blade to the cutting disc, and also releasing a "coverage extender" to help improve the satellite reception around residential properties. That will be helpful as I seem to randomly lose coverage in a specific area of my backyard.
> 
> EDIT: I'm hoping for the opportunity to get a hands on test of the Toro unit prior to dropping the coin for the Husq unit.
> 
> 
> 
> Price Range?
Click to expand...

The 550 is around $5k, satellite unit is around $800, addon "extender" $unknown


----------



## DocTodd

coreystooks said:


> That's great to hear about the structured mowing. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these to maintain my big area but I just feel like it just wastes so much time going around roomba style and putting unnecessary wear and tear on the unit. With the GPS units it shouldn't be hard to implement.


I don't like the random lines in my 2" bermuda, but I do expect that to improve once it is mowed lower. Same for the less smooth mow. My zero turn is super quick to scalp, but it leaves a much smoother appearance (so far). I also have a small 100 sq ft area between concrete walk way and the flower bed that got shredded to bits in just a couple days bc the mower was going back and forth so much on that area. The structured mowing should much improve that.


----------



## Eradicator

It's been a year since I posted I think. I have two RS612's bought brand new on ebay at steep discounts from a defunct Robin franchise. The only thing they didn't come with, was a one year warranty....I paid 1500 total for two machines the warranty periods would have expired anyway, with no issues.

I've run them over a year. I took them into my sunroom last fall, removed the batteries and charged them 2 times over the winter.

I use Hose A in the back yard and Hose B in the front so I don't have to deal with gates.

I have had to reset entering the subzone where the front robot crosses my driveway once, prob due to GPS anomalies.

Too bad these have been discontinued, they are both bullet proof, *cut TWENTY-TWO INCHES wide*, does my hill easily even though it's sharper than the 25 degrees specified and are plenty quiet enough to run at night, but watching them is hypnotizing so I usually send them off in the early afternoon....generally twice each, per cut.....so they pick up any areas missed first time.

No issues at all. I have 3 sets of blades and sharpen the ones that come off so I always have sharp blades in my rotation. About 4-6 mows btwn swaps if I want it to look perfect.

Last week I was in the garage when I heard Hose A run up on a stump in the back yard and shut down. He showed "bumper pressed" and would not reset. I disassembled to the bumper sensors(no tools required), reinstalled and reassembled....still had error. I had to leave so I turned it off and put it back in it's home... leaving for a couple days....when I got back last Sunday, I turned it on and sent it mowing and it was fine....it resolved itself.

I did not buy these to operate with my phone so the app is meaningless to me unless I need to locate one<LOL>....besides, I don't install any apps I don't HAVE to!


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## Boy_meets_lawn

Just had the cutting disc on my 310 split after 3 years of daily cutting. Ordered a replacement but I should probably order some other spare parts to have in case stuff gets hard to find.


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## Eradicator

Boy_meets_lawn said:


> Just had the cutting disc on my 310 split after 3 years of daily cutting. Ordered a replacement but I should probably order some other spare parts to have in case stuff gets hard to find.


That's a good machine. How do you like the 310? I looked hard at that one. 

I love the tech of these machines.....even on the simple machines like mine, they cleaned up the algorithms well enough there isn't much that isn't covered in a few days if you send them out every other day at first. Super smooth cut, easily adjustable. Having them allows me to plan my weekends around what I WANT to do as opposed to "have to". I enjoyed mowing the lawn, I admit....but I enjoy canoeing or doing day trips with my girlfriend too! Like anyone would make a different choice?<LOL>

I know robo has discontinued the RS series(only difference btwn the machines is the battery) but it might be b/c they were over-engineered. They took the shops completely out of the equation and that probably wasn't too popular but we all have to earn a living, right? There is no part that can't be disassembled with two hands, they give us the Service Codes for the computer and any bits of "Service-ware" that I cannot get a hold of on my own. I know that parts will eventually dry up but I'm guessing guys will unload them cheaply and since nothings broke, I don't know what to "stock up" on yet. 

The manufacture says;


22-in mowing width featuring twin solid blades with edging mode, cutting up to 1/2 acre of grass
Premium solid blade with edge mode reduces need for trimming(edit- I have 3 sets and sharpen them at home w/no issues)
Robomow App allows interaction with and control from your phone
Zero emissions – no gas needed and no exhaust fumes
Multiple zones- Robomow can handle lawns with several zones and mow each one individually
Robomow can mow areas inside the working area with slopes of up to 20 degrees (edit- actually, it easily climbs a measured hill of 30 degrees with thick grass and automatically goes into "turbomode" with lots of thick grass)
Rain sensor- allows the user to choose whether or not Robomow will operate when sensing rain or high humidity

But the real beauty of them is a beautifully cut lawn with zero effort and the multiple zones is priceless! 

Okay, it's also cool to watch it walk to a subzone, cross the driveway then fire up the blades as it enters the zone on the other said. I'm sorry, but it's pretty badazz! LOL


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## Boy_meets_lawn

The 310 has been a solid machine and this is the first part I’ve had to replace in 3 seasons of heavy use. I’ve been reel mowing the backyard now while I’m awaiting the new disc and there’s no way I’d be able to keep it at 1/2” without the robot.


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## Deltahedge

It's probably been asked and answered in this thread, but I missed it, so here goes. What do you do about leaves? This is what my front yard looks like the next day after cleaning it all off. It basically looks like this for a solid 4-5 weeks October and November each year. 



The reel mower throws the leaves into the grass catcher, and a rotary mower mulches them into smaller pieces before they go out the side discharge. What does an automower do to leaves?


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## Kiza

A regular automower doesn't pick up leaves. It's not a 100% replacement for your regular mower.


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## Deltahedge

Kiza said:


> A regular automower doesn't pick up leaves. It's not a 100% replacement for your regular mower.


Good to know. A small part of the appeal of a RoboMower would be not owning/storing/maintaining a zero turn mower.


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## Boy_meets_lawn

I don’t have much tree debris so I can’t really give a good opinion on the mulching ability of the robot but I’d say it really wouldn’t clean that up at all. Ive got a lawn vacuum I use to clean up big debris or my beds after trimming plants and it would be excellent in that application but it’s another piece of equipment to maintain. I think I’d just hit that with a blower every once and a while and call it good.


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## Phxphenom

I think it would be cool to have an Automower here in Phoenix where the Summer heat is brutal. I only have 1,400 square feet and my lawn is a simple, boring rectangle. I also like to cut my bermuda sub 3/4" but if anyone has an old 310 of 315 Husky (or anything else that cuts low) that they are looking to upgrade, let me know....


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## Grass Whisper

I have started to hear a bit about auto mowers and was wondering how many folks have them. I don’t see them in big box stores, and it’s not in my neighborhood. I my mind, I can see this catching on very quickly if it’s a proven technology. I have read about the Husqvarna line and an Italian company, Ambrogio. Some use a wire in the perimeter of your property that turns the device around and some use a GPS for guidance. The difficult part will be installing all the details. Although, I enjoy my yard, it can get away from me if I don’t mow it frequently. The auto mower can mow it daily at any time. Trimming, edging and maintaining flower beds will still need to be done. So, I will remain connected to my yard. 

Wondering how it would handle Empire Zoysia? Does any have experience?

https://www.ambrogiorobot.com/en-us









*Robotic Lawn Mowers*
Explore our Automower® range to find the ideal robotic lawn mower for you and your garden. A perfectly cut lawn 24/7 – no matter the size, shape or terrain.







www.husqvarna.com

cheers


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## Grass Whisper

invested in Graze mowing.

most likely not a choice for everyone but surely interested in where it might go.

my personal opinion is that any auto mower must have really good styling. If it’s not cool to see, I am not interested. I’m thinking cylon, red light and all!!


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## DocTodd

Grass Whisper said:


> I have started to hear a bit about auto mowers and was wondering how many folks have them. I don’t see them in big box stores, and it’s not in my neighborhood. I my mind, I can see this catching on very quickly if it’s a proven technology… Although, I enjoy my yard, it can get away from me if I don’t mow it frequently. The auto mower can mow it daily at any time. Trimming, edging and maintaining flower beds will still need to be done. So, I will remain connected to my yard…
> Wondering how it would handle Empire Zoysia? Does any have experience?
> cheers


@Grass Whisper 
I believe that there are a lot of people that are interested or committed to coming on board with the automower option. Having the automower keep the lawn under control and then top off with a weekly reel mow has been a topic of discussion with a few guys here most recently. I was able to demo a unit for the better part of 2 months this season, and I am fully committed to purchasing a unit this spring. It will be my sole mower outside of keeping the McLane to scalp and do HOC resets. My driving factor to purchase is time, and secondarily money. I have an acreage to take care of and a family that I’d rather spend time playing with as opposed to out on the mower or tractor. The automower will provide that freedom. It also pays for itself rather quickly if one considers the cost of hiring a lawn service to mow and edge...1, maybe 2 seasons in my opinion. If I am able to use the mower to cut my other 2-3 acres of pasture…even better, but I’m not holding my breath on that just yet.

Will it work on zoysia? The automowers should be just fine for any warm or cool season grass


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