Robot mowers

[beltbreaker]

I am running out of ride on mower staff as they have either left school or about to and myself and wife don't have time or inclination to cut the grass. Therefore I am looking at a fleet (3 maybe 4) robot mowers to cut the garden and around the cottages. Normally takes 3-4hrs a week with a 4ft Iseki 19hp. I am looking at Husquarvana and Stiga are there any others to look at. 1 big one and 3 smaller. Experience and problems and pitfalls much appreciate.

 

[YELROM]

@Daniel got a gps robot mower on the new toy thread

 

[ffukedfarmer]

I was looking this time last year and the advice I heard from several people is to buy Husqvarna as they have the most experience and best technology. I've only got a small one but it's been brilliant so far.

Laying the perimeter cable was a ball ache and would no doubt be a better job if done by a professional with the machine but I was too tight to pay someone to do it. It occasionally gets stuck on the steepest and roughest parts of the lawn or the trampoline but once rescued it's away again.

 

[Daniel]

x.com

x.com

@Daniel got a gps robot mower on the new toy thread

Pleased with it, straight lines and no boundary wire.

 

[milkloss]

I would seriously consider a kress (I think). Much like the Luba it uses rtk to mow (for the stripes as well as efficiency). Because of the rtk it can cross driveways or go down passageways to get to other areas.

boundary wires are ok but you’re looking at random mowing sequences which can need good capacity to keep it in trim. Can get a little mole plough type fitting for a garden rotavator to put the perimeter wire in.

RTKn technology

www.kress.com

 

[warksfarmer]

I am running out of ride on mower staff as they have either left school or about to and myself and wife don't have time or inclination to cut the grass. Therefore I am looking at a fleet (3 maybe 4) robot mowers to cut the garden and around the cottages. Normally takes 3-4hrs a week with a 4ft Iseki 19hp. I am looking at Husquarvana and Stiga are there any others to look at. 1 big one and 3 smaller. Experience and problems and pitfalls much appreciate.

Put 8000 hours on one before it was nicked. Now the current one is on about 4500 hours. Both Husquavana 450 models. Overall very happy with them. We had one drive system fail and the height control but other than that the most common fault is with the boundary wire which gets cut from time to time as its not buried very deep. Its so much cheaper than running a mower even though we run it 5 days week 9 - 4 but that covers 0.8acres comfortably.

 

[beltbreaker]

Been following Luba for a while but very varied reports and backup seems to be very iffy I hope @Daniel will comment when he has a minute.

Local Kress dealer also sold my Iseki so will have a chat with him.

 

[Mark C]

I have a Husquevarna 430. it's done 4000 hours in the last 2 years. Having the garden reconfigured with more lawn and considering changing to a Kress to get round the fact that all the boundary wires would need replacing and it will clock 1.5 times the hours with the extra mowing

 

[BuskhillFarm]

I would seriously consider a kress (I think). Much like the Luba it uses rtk to mow (for the stripes as well as efficiency). Because of the rtk it can cross driveways or go down passageways to get to other areas.

boundary wires are ok but you’re looking at random mowing sequences which can need good capacity to keep it in trim. Can get a little mole plough type fitting for a garden rotavator to put the perimeter wire in.

RTKn technology

www.kress.com

I have 2 kress amazing bits of kit.

Only negatives are they get stuck easily when it gets very wet on slopy bits apart from that.

Was advised to take finger guards off and they won’t block up too

Would never go back to ride on

 

[snarling bee]

I have a Kress, using a boundary wire.
Its okay.
I think I probably should have got a Husky, but at the time there was a long wait for one.
I have heard the RTK Kress struggle with signal, so possibly okay for a playing field but not a garden.
The lawn has never looked better though.

I'll look at taking the finger guard off mine. I have to get it in for new blades so I'll take a look.

 

[JonL]

I’ve had a husky 450x for 7 years in which time it’s done 15,000 hours!
It was originally looking after 3700m2 of lawn but had to run 24 hours a day to achieve it. Whilst they work in dew/rain they do a better job in the dry and you want to be on top of the job to avoid grass clippings getting traipsed into the house.
Now have a 430x looking after 1200m2 of that total and both mowers run 10-12 hours a day.
Had to replace various parts over the years and when you’re trying to find a break in the boundary wire you ask yourself whether you actually save any time but the reality is you save loads
The RTK models should in theory solve the one real weakness of the Husky which is the inefficient random cutting pattern, but I guess the question is how reliable are they?

 

[deleted user 837354]

Buy a nice push mower and alternate the cutting with your partner. Try to do it 3 times per fortnight.

Your cardiovascular health will thank you for it.

 

[Will Blackburn]

Definitely a wireless rtk robot, Kress is one to look at, I like mine.

 

[Daniel]

Been following Luba for a while but very varied reports and backup seems to be very iffy I hope @Daniel will comment when he has a minute.

Local Kress dealer also sold my Iseki so will have a chat with him.

I like it, it’s much more efficient than our old random path Worx Landroid. It has its annoying quirks, like for example the old mower would restart 2hrs after its rain sensor dried out, whereas this one just sits there till you remember to tell it to restart. They could fix that with a software update.

Like all of them you want it just nipping the top 10mm off, otherwise it leaves a crop of hay behind, so run it every 2 or 3 days.

As for backup, I joined a couple of Facebook groups which answered most of the questions you’d have about using it and provides quick responses. I did email them for a VAT receipt and got one emailed the next day but other than that I haven’t contacted them.

 

[nick...]

Am I the only one who likes cutting grass.got a Deere X584 and got lots of bits of grass so can't see a robot would be any good to me.got 18 separate bits to cut.
nick...

 

[milkloss]

I have 2 kress amazing bits of kit.

Only negatives are they get stuck easily when it gets very wet on slopy bits apart from that.

Was advised to take finger guards off and they won’t block up too

Would never go back to ride on

Have an ambrogio mower here which also has a finger guard which can get in the way. Problem with taking it off is that the guard also brushes up the grass a bit so you get a better cut.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Am I the only one who likes cutting grass.got a Deere X584 and got lots of bits of grass so can't see a robot would be any good to me.got 18 separate bits to cut.
nick...

I'm the same, I try to find any excuse to run the mower. Serviced the thing early this spring and it's in rip-roaring fettle, starts on the very first pull.

 

[essex man]

Am I the only one who likes cutting grass.got a Deere X584 and got lots of bits of grass so can't see a robot would be any good to me.got 18 separate bits to cut.
nick...

I have lots of separate bits too, was thinking i could get a robot to do this?
Only road to cross is the drive(quite busy) could be done at night?
My mower too small as limited to 42" by wall openings.

 

[milkloss]

I have lots of separate bits too, was thinking i could get a robot to do this?
Only road to cross is the drive(quite busy) could be done at night?
My mower too small as limited to 42" by wall openings.

Turn the volume down but this demonstrates how much better robo mowers have got.

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Mccormick 94]

Husqvarna now do GPS machines as well as boundary wire machines. Works off a reference station which you install at a high point so the mower should always have line of sight to it.