# AUTOMOWER Lawn Photos



## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Does anyone feel like sharing some up close photos of their lawn maintained by an Automower? Interested in quality of cut and general appearance, particularly low-cut bermuda lawns and fairway kit HOC. @HungrySoutherner ??


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## Memphis2830 (Sep 19, 2021)

Are you for sure going with the Automower? I went with Worx Landroid 1/2 acre last year and couldn't be happier....I modified the disc to lower the cutting height to 1.5" which is perfect for my backyard 10k.


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## Boy_meets_lawn (Sep 27, 2020)

I'll get a closeup when I get home but this is at a little over 1/2". How level is your yard because if you have to be pretty flat to go under 0.5". I had to bump mine up as it was getting hung on places like the drains and other low spots.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

@Memphis2830 I'm open to the Landroid too if it can get down to 1 inch or less.

@Boy_meets_lawn I reel mow at sub 1/2" without problems - probably similar to your yard with some undulations and slope but no longer full of bumps after some leveling.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Beware that your lawn will look much worse with an auto-mower until it evens back out. 
I tried one last year and returned it. Maybe it would have eventually been fine, but as it was still trending in the negative direction I punted.

There are some pics in my journal, starting on page 3.


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## Memphis2830 (Sep 19, 2021)

@cglarsen I love mine at 1.5" in the back as I'm not going to level. It struggles to keep up even at this height as I don't do PGR in my backyard. My goals may be different than yours as mine stays in the back and saves me time to reel mow my front so I honestly just want it maintained. I'm confident I could take it down to 1" if I wanted....I'd just need to buy a few additional cheap spacers and remove the safety guard. I'll try to get some close-ups if I remember later.


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## Boy_meets_lawn (Sep 27, 2020)

I can reel the backyard around 3/8 without scalping. The auto mower cutting disc is different it has a very slight rake to it and will hang on elevation changes. 


Having both a reel and the auto mower is really the best of both worlds. If I don't want to mow the backyard I don't have to. If I'm having people over and want to put some stripes out I can. The aftercut appearance looks better with the reel but my time is limited and without the robot I'd be rotary mowing the backyard.


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## Chadwicktr (May 26, 2020)

@DFWdude thanks for those photo references. That mowing pattern sucked. I've thought about one for my backyard-20k, but not if it looks like that.

Didn't Sean Smith have a good experience with his? Maybe he had a much smaller yard…?


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## Boy_meets_lawn (Sep 27, 2020)

DFW didn't give it enough time, the robot is basically a bounce around Roomba and needs a lot of time cutting to keep it all at the same height. I have mine running 15 hours a day during the peak season. Also when you first install one and lower your cut it will pull out a lot of stems because you probably had a large amount of grain present, if this happens you have a few options. Scalp lower than your desired cut with a reel and let it grow back up to robot height or just tough it out and they will go away after a period of time.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

IMO, for the price of the unit and with today's technology, it should not be a bounce around roomba-type mowing pattern. I let mine run almost all day and it never covered the whole area. If you have a large yard I'd look at other options.


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

I got one last year and love it. No fairway kit but it's set on the lowest setting.


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

Here is an overview shot.


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## Chadwicktr (May 26, 2020)

@rntaylo are you using it for 14k or just the back? How many hours a day does it run to achieve those results? Yard looks great !


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

The way my yard is situated there was no pathway from the front to the back so I have one for each. Initially I moved it back and forth but honestly that was a pain in the rear and defeated the purpose. The back is way bigger and runs from 12:30pm until 8pm. The front only runs at night from 9:30pm until about 12:30am. That said I don't think it would have any trouble cutting front and back if there was a way for it to reach both.


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## latitude36 (Mar 27, 2019)

how low will one of these mow?


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

Without a fairway kit it will get down to about 3/4 inch.


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## latitude36 (Mar 27, 2019)

rntaylo said:


> Without a fairway kit it will get down to about 3/4 inch.


i cant find on there website what it is the HOC with fairway kit--1/2" or less?


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

latitude36 said:


> rntaylo said:
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It's under half an inch. Website says 10mm so right at .4''


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## latitude36 (Mar 27, 2019)

rntaylo said:


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wow--if the guide line can be buried then I have to question my sanity of not using one from June-Sept every year.


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## Boy_meets_lawn (Sep 27, 2020)

Yes, you can bury all the lines a few inches into the soil and not have to worry about hitting them with a verticuter or aerator.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

latitude36 said:


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That's where I'm at now too. All wires are burial installation currently.

@Boy_meets_lawn Your cut quality looks excellent.

@rntaylo Beautiful lawn. Which size models are you running and how long have you employed them? Any power surges, lightning strikes, interruptions occurred yet?


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

Boy_meets_lawn said:


> Yes, you can bury all the lines a few inches into the soil and not have to worry about hitting them with a verticuter or aerator.


If you wait, apparently next years automowers won't need a boundary wire. I know Toro is coming out with a robotic mower that won't need one either.


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

cglarsen said:


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450x in the back and 430x in the front which is over kill for the size of my front yard but it was a demo model that I got for cheap. Started it about this time last year. Took a while to start looking good but once it did it stayed that way. The color of my grass is so much better because it's never scalped. No issues with power surges or anything like that. I clipped the boundary wire while digging once but was an easy fix.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

@rntaylo yeah I was considering a 450 or 430 for my front 15k sf as well and probably another for the rear 12k down the road. When you say it took a while to look good how long is a while? And how did you find the demo deal?


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## latitude36 (Mar 27, 2019)

rntaylo said:


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how low are you keeping it?


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## DocTodd (9 mo ago)

@cglarsen I thinking very hard about going the automower route, especially once they come up with a reliable non-boundary wire option. We are pushing 36k sq ft with our new sod and I really want to take the lawn under 1-1.5". I'm presently mowing with 61" zero turn, and even mowing twice per week is tough with my work schedule and 3 little ones at home. I was hot and heavy on wanting a riding reel mower, but with the difficulty mowing multiple times/wk, an automower robot seems the best option.


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## Deltahedge (Apr 1, 2020)

I don't remember which university did the study, but there were some studies showing that razor blade type automowers were achieving turf quality higher than that of reel mowing. There seems to be a fast pace of tech innovation in automowers right now, and I'll be getting one as soon as 1) it doesn't bounce around in random patterns and 2) I don't have to burry a wire.


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## latitude36 (Mar 27, 2019)

A stress less vacation could be had with one of these. Anxious waiting on the toro debut--hopefully its not more than a car. No stripes would be fine with me since they create so much grain.


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## Boy_meets_lawn (Sep 27, 2020)

Deltahedge said:


> I don't remember which university did the study, but there were some studies showing that razor blade type automowers were achieving turf quality higher than that of reel mowing. There seems to be a fast pace of tech innovation in automowers right now, and I'll be getting one as soon as 1) it doesn't bounce around in random patterns and 2) I don't have to burry a wire.


The blades are very inexpensive and I change mine probably every 2 weeks or so. You could definitely get away with running them a month with the double sided endurance blades. I have had no down time with my mower but will probably order a spare battery next season as I've got a lot of cycles on the factory unit. I payed under half of MSRP before these things started getting more popular and it was money well spent in my opinion. If they can get them to cut in a more efficient manner to limit run time I can see a mower lasting a very long time.


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

latitude36 said:


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It's on the lowest setting in the back which is just under an inch and setting 2 in the front which is almost exactly an inch.


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## rntaylo (Aug 8, 2017)

cglarsen said:


> @rntaylo yeah I was considering a 450 or 430 for my front 15k sf as well and probably another for the rear 12k down the road. When you say it took a while to look good how long is a while? And how did you find the demo deal?


It was probably about a month maybe a little more. In the grand scheme of things not too bad. I basically ran it 24/7 for the first month and sucked up the clipping with my rotary mower.

It was one of supersods demo units. Has some wear and tear but runs fantastic. The guy that did the install hooked me up when we realized I needed a second unit.


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## wiseowl (May 25, 2020)

Not going to lie this thread has peaked my interest in robot mowers but I still don't mine getting out with the GM1000, but can someone please create a robot edger please &#128514;&#128514;&#128514;


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## Chadwicktr (May 26, 2020)

@wiseowl yes! That would be awesome. For me it's trimming 450 linear feet of fence 😂


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## Chadwicktr (May 26, 2020)

How easily does it change cutting heights @rntaylo? 430x specs says .8 to 2.4in... I'd probably get the fairway kit for the summer (.4 inch), and then remove it (if possible) for 2.4 inches winter rye.


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