Picking a Robotic Mower

The place for discussions about mowers, stripers, edgers, weeders, etc.
User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 7th, 2021, 3:25 pm

Yeah, they tend to report by percent to make it sound better. Still, 45% is not to be sneezed at.

Otis just finished his mow as I finished my first day of work from home. Which I like and which, I suspect, is likely to become more prevalent again after Thursday. But talk about a mess of new wires...

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 7th, 2021, 6:01 pm

Otis has settled in. Here's a picture of him in his new house.

Image

The lawn is also finishing its adjustment to Otis.

Image

Image

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by bpgreen » September 8th, 2021, 12:15 am

MorpheusPA wrote:
September 7th, 2021, 3:25 pm
Yeah, they tend to report by percent to make it sound better. Still, 45% is not to be sneezed at.

Otis just finished his mow as I finished my first day of work from home. Which I like and which, I suspect, is likely to become more prevalent again after Thursday. But talk about a mess of new wires...
Why after Thursday?

bolson32
Posts: 203
Joined: May 27th, 2021, 10:10 am
Location: St Paul, MN
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by bolson32 » September 8th, 2021, 10:44 am

How often does yours run Morph?

Jealousy crept in last night and I started looking at robotic mowers but it seems as though large lots, 1.5ish acres are maybe just not quite there yet. I feel like a robot would be running constantly to cut on a daily basis on that large of a lot, but if you run it less often I'm guessing it can't handle it?

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 8th, 2021, 4:39 pm

There will be some announcements at the Federal level Thursday and our company tends to follow Microsoft and other large ones.

The mower's name changed. We decided Olivia was nicer than Otis.

The programmed run for my lawn? Ridiculous, to be honest, at 40 hours a week. The lawn doesn't need that much mowing, and I cut it back to 20 to start. Which is still looking pretty ridiculous as I go through the first week of cutting. Myrtle could do the entire lawn in 7.5 hours, with a few misses. Olivia has a much smaller deck, but conversely moves faster. I'm thinking 12 hours will do it. The mower runs 2 hours on a charge, so 6 charges per week. Battery use, in practice, is fairly conservative and will last for far more than 600 charges. Even so, 100 weeks of use is still way over 3 years for most of us, which is the lifespan of a lithium battery normally.

For 1.5 acres, you could either have more than one wire zone and more than one mower (at half acre each), or longer run times. The restriction is that the border lines do have limits, of about 1,400 feet, after which the signal cannot transmit. But I'd have to look up the exact limit. I was way under it at less than 900 feet even with a large island to isolate.


User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 8th, 2021, 7:37 pm

I had a moment, so:

NOTE: The maximum permitted length for the boundary wire is 350m. If there is an island that sits inside your lawn where you don't want Landroid®L to go, please follow the path as shown in the picture to peg your wire.

For us Americans, 350 meters = 1,150 feet.

Two acres side to side is 1,250 feet in perimeter. 1.5 acres square would be around 1,000 feet. Knocking out the house and grounds would cost some length but also gain some in terms of what you're not including. Using a thicker wire for part of the run would decrease signal loss...

bolson32
Posts: 203
Joined: May 27th, 2021, 10:10 am
Location: St Paul, MN
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by bolson32 » September 8th, 2021, 8:40 pm

That's kind of what I thought. Multiple units. Husqvarna has units that do 1.25 acres, that might be more reasonable as well.

That said, at 12 hours a week, are you only cutting it once a week? Cutting every day like they mention seems ridiculous. Just wondering if they'd have issues with taller grass if it was too long/thick.

Eradicator
Posts: 14
Joined: September 9th, 2021, 6:14 am
Location: Annapolis
Grass Type: Tall Fescue
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by Eradicator » September 9th, 2021, 8:42 am

I'm very new on this forum, 1st post....but you will LOVE your mower Morph, the Worx 155 is an excellent machine and you didn't waste money on stuff you don't need....they are amazingly simple yet effective machines.

Here is the best part....I am now free to feed/fertilize, over seed with NO WORRIES of having to mow it twice a week! What a relief!

The robots can be very expensive though BUT, you can find these on fleabay and if you are willing to buy it without a warranty or boundary wire, they are as cheap as 700 bucks...the price I paid for each of mine! Is ANY 1 yr warranty worth 1300 bucks? I decided it wasn't. That's why mine have the lighter colored cover, they were built for Robin Autopilot who is now selling them off, at steep discounts! There is one seller on there now selling RS612's at $1200....still cheap but you can do much better for that model. Be clear, you will NOT be able to buy a warranty for a discounted robot but with their modular and simple construction, you can replace anything that ever needs replacing. I have $1600, all-in for two complete & operating mowing systems.

What a lot of folks don't understand that these robot mowers are really "Lawn maintainers" not mowers. I send mine out 2-3 times a week. I bought the Robomow robots. The Robomow RS series all come with twin 11" Blades that cut an astonishingly 22" wide path and have no issues with my hill.
Don't be fooled into thinking these can't handle thick, tall grass. When I first sent Hose-A into the year, it was 7-8" tall and REALLY thick in some areas. Hose-A would hit the really thick stuff, then spool the mowing motors way up and "Mighty-Mike" it through! What a BEAST!


I have a gate issue so I bought two RS612's. The on-demand gate system would have cost me 300 so financially, I was better off buying two machines. The back yard took me 2-3 hours to lay the perimeter wire, most on hands and knees to install the wire, program and set loose Hose-A in the back yard. Flawless in every respect. He cuts 2-3 times a week. so my back yard is always pristine.

The front was more involved as I have Hose-B crossing my driveway to enter a subzone. I simply lay the wires 5.75" apart, cover with a 8" strip of cement patch 1/4" thick...done!


I love these robots, some of my fav toys now and I've got really good toys! I did a lot of research before buying so if anyone has ??, I"ll be happy to help if I can.

jeff

Image

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 9th, 2021, 4:51 pm

Hey, Jeff, welcome!

Yeah, Olivia has hit some taller grass already and done it like a trooper. Plus discarded weeds, things from the garden, and so on.

"That said, at 12 hours a week, are you only cutting it once a week? Cutting every day like they mention seems ridiculous. Just wondering if they'd have issues with taller grass if it was too long/thick."

Around once a week, but not all at once, if you catch the drift. Although I'm likely to do most of the mowing on weekends. It's also conceptually nice to have a lawn that always looks tailored and mowed, though, so I do see the point there.

Eradicator
Posts: 14
Joined: September 9th, 2021, 6:14 am
Location: Annapolis
Grass Type: Tall Fescue
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by Eradicator » September 10th, 2021, 5:42 am

Thanks for the welcome Morph.... I should have warned people not to buy a machine worth several hundred or more dollars on fleabay from sellers with 0 feedback. There are many on there selling for 1/2 price but no one vouches for them....no FB, no buy!

My guys each have about 8k SF to cover and they knock it out in about an hour. They run for 60(front)80(rear) minutes ea but they pretty much get everything in 1 session, especially if I have them edge&mow vs just mowing. There will be little triangle strips missed sometimes but they always get it next time they come out.

It is a different paradigm with yard robots....they can be sent out every single day if you choose...if there is nothing to cut, there won't be anything to cut but since it's zero effort on your part(since you don't mow anymore), the only "risk" is wear & tear on the machine.

Glad to hear that one of the more senior guys here is a "believer"! LOL

jeff

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 10th, 2021, 6:37 pm

Oh, I have been a believer for ages. I had Myrtle, my old mower, for almost twenty years. She was a Robomower 850. I loved that thing.

Olivia is out now, point in fact. My husband thinks the grass looks better at 3.25", so we're moving it down a notch. He's right. It does. But now I have to move it down. While I also have around 8-9k SF, it's in a weird horseshoe shape with a large dangling hook on the end of a thousand square feet, which can get missed, so it does take far more than an hour average to mow the lawn.

But the weekend will be more than enough.

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 14th, 2021, 1:00 pm

HUGE WARNING

I just had a problem with the Worx (I'm on my Work from Home Schedule) and figuring it out. Slowly. Customer Service has hung up on me twice (and trust me, I'm very nice; the first time, on pick up to get their call numbers up, obviously; the second time because she clearly didn't want to be bothered).

The Landroid line will call back "Sometime in the next 24 hours." At this point, I'm seriously ready to return a ten day old machine that has an obvious problem...but Customer Service won't help with that either. They demand I talk to the robot experts for a return OF A WORX PRODUCT.

So while my score is falling to a C, the support is now at an F.

The fix might be simple (I suspect a mildly damaged wire), the assistance is nil.

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » September 14th, 2021, 1:34 pm

They DID call me back quickly and DID help. The big error was a known problem. Simple fix--let the robot sit and reset itself. Not efficient. Not handy. But at least it works.

The second error was a break in my wire. I suspected I knew where it was, and I was right, so a three-second fix. It was a join between the wires where I changed spools, of course. Their joins are terrible--if you buy (I'm sure, any) mower, get a good set of wire joins that hand-clamp, pull the wires, and keep them internally in gel. They're pricey, but worth it for any wire that's joined outside. The ones you get are not good.

I'll replace the other two joins when I have a moment.

From that interaction, I'm increasing their customer service to a D. He was...less than complimentary about their regular CS. Since the main issue was NOT the mower's fault, and I'm otherwise pleased, I'll write off that rating to annoyance and increase my rating back to an A-. I'm just a little less than thrilled with the patterning and work time.

But at least the batteries are comparatively cheap and, if you time the work sequences to an hour, you can get 1200 recharges easily out of the battery before it falls under 75% capacity.

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » October 2nd, 2021, 12:33 pm

Post a new software update, I'm more impressed again. OK, I was a programmer. Things happen. I get that. I've been one of those things.

I purchased a line break detector, which I probably should have had long before this (although I've always just used an AM radio). It should arrive today for any future issues. I'm getting too old for induction calculations.

They moved the turn back away from the line, and it no longer throws an Out of Bounds error. In fact, it hasn't done so at all since the new version was released, but the line edges are mowed perfectly.

The battery thing I was doing was completely unnecessary. A bit of investigation shows the charger tops the battery at a bit under 4 volts, about 70% capacity. Batteries will last circa 2,000 charges all by themselves. Use them. Abuse them. They'll last five years all on their own, which is all you can expect of a lithium battery anyway.--and it'll still work, just at a reduced capacity of about 3.5A instead of 4A (out of the 6A battery, which is now really reduced to about 5A). Amortized, that's $25 battery per year (electricity will cost you $2 a year assuming you have really expensive electricity; I don't, so closer to $0.50). I suspect most spend more than that on gas.

I've found blades on Amazon, AliExpress, and half a dozen other places, all rated pretty well (I wouldn't buy a badly-rated blade) and all cheaper than the stock Worx blades. And sharpening the blades can easily be done, too. But for $30, I got 3 years of blades, even if I simply toss the old ones every 2 months. And you know I have no plans to do that, so I probably have blades for the lifetime of the machine. I'm coming up on 6 weeks on the first set of blades, with no decrease in cut quality, but don't allow items to sit on the lawn that would be a problem.

The last remaining error I have is that occasionally the mower reports "WIRE MISSING" when returning to home base, and shuts down. Turning it back on and sending it back home to the charger base usually fixes it. No big deal.

Extended review on the cut: Stellar to flawless. As it runs on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, it's always cut nearly perfectly. Cut time is a grand total of 12 hours per week, for about 9,000 square feet (per the Google Maps estimate). The lawn's adjusted to it at jig speed. It always just looks amazing. Over time, I increased cut height to 3.5" from the 3" my mower was set at.

If it looks a little shaggy on Thursday afternoon, out comes the phone and I expend the endless effort necessary to pull up the app and hit the Start button to send the mower out. The app also runs on both our tablets (Samsung and Apple, respectively), and my computer (Android simulator).

WiFi access to the lawnmower across the property is pretty good, with fifty feet front and back and fore and aft from the beacons not being any problem. I do have a modern gigabit router, tri-band WiFi (so 2.4 and dual-band 5 gHz), plus a range extender for downstairs as things always were a little weak and the house is kind of large (and when working in the cellar studio, I couldn't get my tunez on my radio app, which was, like, a bummer). It can get momentarily out of range at the far point northwest or southeast, but it doesn't last long, and the mower doesn't care--you just won't get updates as to the status on the app during that time period.

Eradicator
Posts: 14
Joined: September 9th, 2021, 6:14 am
Location: Annapolis
Grass Type: Tall Fescue
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by Eradicator » October 4th, 2021, 9:01 am

Glad your mower is working so well for you Morph, guess the new firmware resolved some "outstanding issues"! The am radio works well but you have to pount it on a stick so it is very close to the ground when searching so you'll hear the squeal.

The quality of cut is pretty golf-green like, isn't it? My Hose-A and Hose-B go out and cover their respective front or rear(about 6K SF ea) in one or two hours per week. I turned off the schedule to ensure one isn't crossing the driveway when I'm backing up to go to work! I use the app to play with it once in a while....it's fun to remote control it but since you have to be in Bluetooth range, you pretty much have to be standing next to it to operate it remotely. I have my GPS set to notify me if it leaves the yard but that's it. I have mine under little canopies and one is visible from the road but Erie will cover them so I'm not too worried about someone ever taking one.

I have a large 8-pole canopy over my Expedition and Hose-A managed to hook a pole with his wheel, causing him to spin around the pole over and over and over and over....no telling how he'd been doing that trick when I found him but the grass was already cut so I wasn't upset with him for playing!

erad

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » October 4th, 2021, 2:24 pm

Yeah, I got tired of the AM radio and bought a more formal wire reader with a pendulum.

Cut quality keeps increasing. At the moment, less golf green than just consistently perfect--mostly due to the 3.5" length I like! And I don't allow driveway crossing, it's a big U. :-)

NJDan
Posts: 75
Joined: February 19th, 2017, 11:10 pm
Location: Northern NJ
Grass Type: KBG
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by NJDan » November 25th, 2021, 4:47 pm

Quick question. Can these mowers handle mulching leaves in the fall or do you need a traditional mower to handle that?

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » November 25th, 2021, 9:44 pm

Fifty-fifty. I'd say they do mulch leaves, but I've also been touching up irregularly with the old Toro at the edges. Leaves that are on good lawn are mowed down. Leaves that fall into not such great lawn and hit areas with more soil exposed are not cut up because Olivia just doesn't have the suction.

There aren't many bad sections of lawn, and I don't need to touch up often anyway. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with the job she's done, but will go over some of it with the Toro once more before winter hits.

NJDan
Posts: 75
Joined: February 19th, 2017, 11:10 pm
Location: Northern NJ
Grass Type: KBG
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by NJDan » November 25th, 2021, 10:37 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
November 25th, 2021, 9:44 pm
Fifty-fifty. I'd say they do mulch leaves, but I've also been touching up irregularly with the old Toro at the edges. Leaves that are on good lawn are mowed down. Leaves that fall into not such great lawn and hit areas with more soil exposed are not cut up because Olivia just doesn't have the suction.

There aren't many bad sections of lawn, and I don't need to touch up often anyway. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with the job she's done, but will go over some of it with the Toro once more before winter hits.
How about at the edges of the property and around mulch edges? If you bury a wire near the curb, for example, is the robot able to cut grass up to the edge of the lawn or do you have to do that with a mower? My curb is Belgian block and I run two wheels of the mower on top of the block to mow the grass.

User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Picking a Robotic Mower

Post by MorpheusPA » November 26th, 2021, 12:25 pm

The edges are one hundred percent flawless at garden edge and curb edge and she'll go right to the edge on both (to use the word edge to excess). The processing on that is perfect, and I haven't actually used the edger since I got the new mower--I haven't had to.

She has an edge program that I've set to run on Saturday and Tuesday, which rides the wire (set at the property edges) and cuts just that, then turns into the lawn and cuts the remainder of the lawn until the battery runs out and it heads home to recharge. If I feel the edges are looking shaggy, I simply pull up the app and hit the "Edge Routine" button. She'll go, mow the edge, and go home again.

So there, setup is the key. I had to move the wire at the curb once to get it right, but once I got it correct, the edges were perfect.

The ONLY use of my mower this year post-Olivia has been to mow in the garden mass (2,000 square feet of annual gardens) and some leaves that Olivia didn't handle, which were minimal.

I'm winterizing her today, so after this, I'll probably have one last mow with the Toro here and there to mow in some leaves. While most of the neighborhood is de-leafed, I extend summer here. My trees still have leaves. Dying leaves, and they won't last the shot of snow we have coming in, but they do have leaves.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests