a REALLY off topic question ROBOT LAWN MOWER!

willbrady · #1 17-07-2003, 09:09 AM

Now, here is a REALLY of topic question.

I am a VERY lazy person and am thinking of purchasing one of those robot lawn mowers from http://www.mowbot.co.uk

Has anyone any experience of these??
Are they any good??

Told you it was off topic!!

Best

Will

Gadget17 · #2 17-07-2003, 09:50 AM

That is Freaking Cool. Shame about the £700+ price tag for the standard. You could pay a real gardener for a good amount of time for that price.

willbrady · #3 17-07-2003, 09:53 AM

Yeah - £700 is a LOT to waste if it turns out to be crap :(
Thou we paid nearly £300 for our phones!

So £700 is cheap if I NEVER have to mow the freeking lawn again!
Gives me more time to play VRPOOL on my phone

And a nice toy to show off at the BBQ!!

N/A · #4 17-07-2003, 09:57 AM

Another (the first one, I believe): http://www.usa.husqvarna.com/Folder_263/node756.asp

No personal experience, but I've seen it working, though.

cmatthee · #5 17-07-2003, 12:02 PM

I've looked into robot lawn mowers, but the price tag is a bit too much. So I got a garden service instead.

LAuRA · #6 17-07-2003, 04:02 PM

We have the Husqvarna and it works like a dream. Bought it last summer and this spring it started working just like that again, no problems. Just surround the area with a cable and let it move around freely. If it hits a tree (or anything vertical), it backs up a bit and changes direction. It's so great! Like a pet really, it goes real silent and not too fast, our cats for instance have grown used to it

I warmly recommend it, the lawn looks so much better, the grass grows thicker. And no, I'm not working for the company

willbrady · #7 17-07-2003, 04:10 PM

Thanks for the replies guys

Thanks Luara!!
The one I'm looking it is very simular to yours - the thing that concerns me is that my grass goes right up the the flower beds and against a log roll 'wall' so I assume it can not mow right to the edge - but how much of an uncut border will it give me?
I guess I can just go along the edges with hand shears?

Do you think my lawn is too small (2 areas of about 11ft*8ft, told I was lazy!)
Does it really go to it's house to recharge and come out again or do you find it gets lost and mindlessly roams the garden looking for it's 'home'.

Was it easy to install?

Sorry for all the questions - I have to convince myself (and the wife) that I'm not about to waste £700!!
And I get very vauge answers from the company..

Also my daughter always leaves her ball & toys on the lawn - will this cause a problem do you think?

Cheers

Will

LAuRA · #8 17-07-2003, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbrady

...my grass goes right up the the flower beds and against a log roll 'wall' so I assume it can not mow right to the edge - but how much of an uncut border will it give me?

Walls are no problem, if the mower hits anything vertical and stable, it just backs up and turns. If you want to protect the wall from being bumbed into, use the cable. The Husqvarna (the tip of the mower I mean) continues about 30 centimeters over the boundary cable before it stops and turns, so the cable has to be placed accordingly. To protect flowers or anything you don't want it to bumb into, surround it with the cable. And yes, use the shears for the edges. There will be 15-20 cm borders of uncut grass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbrady

...Do you think my lawn is too small (2 areas of about 11ft*8ft, told I was lazy!)

The Husvarna is recommended for areas up to 1500 sqare meters, I don't what it is in square feet. It says in the manual it mows about 100 sqm per hour. If there are two areas there are things to consider when placing the cables. But you'd better refer to the company manual. Steep slopes are a problem too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbrady

...Does it really go to it's house to recharge and come out again or do you find it gets lost and mindlessly roams the garden looking for it's 'home'.

No, never. It always goes home to recharge. It has a cabeling for that, it uses a certain path every time. It recharges for about an hour and then it starts to mow again. It's amazing but it works

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbrady

...Was it easy to install?

Some guys came and did it, it took couple of hours if I remember correctly. The cables can be moved later to a certain extent, it's no big deal. I guess you could do it by yourself too if you have the specs and a manual.

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbrady

...Also my daughter always leaves her ball & toys on the lawn - will this cause a problem do you think?

This might be a problem. I have now learned to put everything in it's right place, shoes, gloves, scissors, rakes etc lying around make bad noise when they get caught in the blades. But the Husqvarna has a timer, so you can set it to mow only during night time for instance or some other time when it's convenient.

My husband has never been happier! Now that he doesn't have a guilty conscionce about the unmowed lawn all the time, he actually likes to do things in the garden

willbrady · #9 17-07-2003, 09:59 PM

Thanks Laura, you've convinced me

Sounds just what I need

LAuRA · #10 18-07-2003, 08:10 AM

One more tip willbrady. You might want to check what kind of blades the mower uses. The Husqvarna we have, has similar to the normal Stanley knife, and they cost only a fraction of the 'official' spare ones Husqvarna sells. The blades need to be changed maybe once or twice per summer (depending of course on the area and how often they get damaged when rakes etc were forgotten on the ground

). The newer Husqvarna models seem to have a different blade construction, making it more difficult to use Stanley knife blades (I guess Husqvarna found out about this trick). Anyway it pays to try and find alternative solutions to the manufacturer's.

willbrady · #11 23-07-2003, 12:24 PM

Wife just phoned to say my mowbot has just been delivered!!

Can't wait to get home! I just love a new gadget, and this certainly is a gadget!!

Thanks Laura for you help in making up my mind

Best

Will

willbrady · #12 23-07-2003, 11:17 PM

Sorry to keep going on about this off topic subject.

But this thing is the dogs bollo#ks!!

N/A · #13 24-07-2003, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbrady

But this thing is the dog bollo#ks!!

Does it mean that it is good or that it is bad? Did you buy the Husqvarna or the one you wrote about initially? (Just curious.)

willbrady · #14 24-07-2003, 07:25 AM

Dogs Bollo#ks means it's good, very, very, good

In England we have the mowbot & the robomow

I bought the mowbot - VERY simular to the one Laura has, this one has a cover over the charging station to protect the mowbot from the rain whilst charging, other than that they appear pretty identical. I could only find laura's one on US websites.

In the rest of Europe the mowbot is known as the Ambrogio, because I bought direct from the UK distributor at www.mowbot.co.uk and it's nearing the end of the season, the guy knocked of £150 too!

Best

Will

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