Robot mowers

[mikeiow]

Podie said:

Some brands sell "off road" wheels I think.

I think he needs more "on-road" than "off" - he has hard 'spiky' plastic treads that are sliding on the hard wood around the lawn!

swisstoni said:

You can buy knobbly slip-over rubber treads for golf trolleys for a few ££.
Not sure how the diameters would match up but could be a cheap experiment.

Good shout, I will check.....wonder if you can get all-season treads.....Michelin Cross Climates for robomows!!

[TryingHard]

eyebeebe said:

Does anyone have any experience with the Gardena Smart system, which includes the robo mower plus smart watering?

We only have a simple 60m2 flat almost rectangular patch of grass, but we both work long hours and there are a lot of noise restrictions here in Switzerland e.g. can‘t use power tools after 7pm or on a Sunday or other lunchtime. We also have a small section of grapevines and a vegetable patch as well as various flowers, bushes, trees etc that need looking after. The mower we inherited with the house seems to be on its last legs, so this seems like an ideal solution to allow us to focus on other parts of the garden, but is it any good in reality?

I have the Gardena Smart System. Only use the lawnmower bit of it, I have used the smart system to turn the hosepipe on from my phone but only to try it out, but so far its been excellent. Lots of Husqvarna labelled parts and when I did have an issue the mower was picked up and returned quickly and fixed.

[wjwren]

I've drilled screws in the bottom of mine as it kept slipping if the grass was slightly wet.

[Harry Flashman]

I am currently at war with a fox that is enjoying digging up my lawn. No deterrent has worked, and apparently I am not allowed to shoot the fker in the face, as I live in London (reasonable) and foxes are cute, cuddly and should not be blown away with extreme prejudice (unreasonable).

Side effect of this is that the garden is full of small holes that my Robomow treats as miniature tank traps, stranding itself ALL THE TIME.

Gah.

[eyebeebe]

TryingHard said:

I have the Gardena Smart System. Only use the lawnmower bit of it, I have used the smart system to turn the hosepipe on from my phone but only to try it out, but so far its been excellent. Lots of Husqvarna labelled parts and when I did have an issue the mower was picked up and returned quickly and fixed.

Thanks. It’s on its way for delivery. It will arrive before the garden is rigged for power though, so will need to wait a week or so to see how well it works. I can’t imagine there will be many problems with the mower itself, but will be interesting to see how the watering side gets on.

[Podie]

Harry Flashman said:

I am currently at war with a fox that is enjoying digging up my lawn. No deterrent has worked, and apparently I am not allowed to shoot the fker in the face, as I live in London (reasonable) and foxes are cute, cuddly and should not be blown away with extreme prejudice (unreasonable).

Side effect of this is that the garden is full of small holes that my Robomow treats as miniature tank traps, stranding itself ALL THE TIME.

Gah.

Robomow do "Robogrips" which are clip on spikes or "Power Wheels" - might be worth looking at to help it excavate itself from the holes?

[wjwren]

Do robot mowers change the direction of cut on the blade? My bosch needs new blades, I might try the ones on amazon. Is it worth going for the copies or the originals? And as the blade is sharp on both sides does the mower spin one way then the other sometimes, otherwise it's a waste of the blade?

[Podie]

wjwren said:

Do robot mowers change the direction of cut on the blade? My bosch needs new blades, I might try the ones on amazon. Is it worth going for the copies or the originals? And as the blade is sharp on both sides does the mower spin one way then the other sometimes, otherwise it's a waste of the blade?

I've got some of the "upgraded" ones, and been quite impressed. Seem to stay sharper for longer.

[Zoon]

wjwren said:

Do robot mowers change the direction of cut on the blade? My bosch needs new blades, I might try the ones on amazon. Is it worth going for the copies or the originals? And as the blade is sharp on both sides does the mower spin one way then the other sometimes, otherwise it's a waste of the blade?

Most of the Worx do, the Flymo doesn't.

[snake_oil]

I've only vaguely thought about this one, and have a couple of points.

1. The blades are not fixed, they spin around the retaining bolt. So if the disc spins do they spin too with both edges doing some cutting? The mulching effect will also have grass flying around underneath so maybe a lot of fine chopping going on.

2. If only one edge cuts, then at least you can flip the blades upside down and double the life as they are symmetrical about the vertical axis.

Coincidentally, I changed mine for the first time this morning. One had broken in half so I was down on cutting efficiency...

[mikeiow]

mikeiow said:

Podie said:

Some brands sell "off road" wheels I think.

I think he needs more "on-road" than "off" - he has hard 'spiky' plastic treads that are sliding on the hard wood around the lawn!

swisstoni said:

You can buy knobbly slip-over rubber treads for golf trolleys for a few ££.
Not sure how the diameters would match up but could be a cheap experiment.

Good shout, I will check.....wonder if you can get all-season treads.....Michelin Cross Climates for robomows!!

Haven't spotted anything really easily to fit. Tried a thick rubber band. Just spun off on the grass: something more substantial might do it, but the golf ones look wider.....& I suspect putting a band on that might lead to it sliding on the grass. Might have to bit the bullet and re-cable more carefully to allow it to get close to the edge but not on it!

However, I have solved part of the problem by *cough* removing a blade guard the mower had. Because the blade is offset to cut to the edge, they obviously felt it was needed, but it was bumping into things a lot causing grief. Will see how I get on over coming weeks!

wjwren said:

Do robot mowers change the direction of cut on the blade? My bosch needs new blades, I might try the ones on amazon. Is it worth going for the copies or the originals? And as the blade is sharp on both sides does the mower spin one way then the other sometimes, otherwise it's a waste of the blade?

The Worxs ones we have can be flipped upside down: of course it might depend on how much in the way of twigs they have to batter against, but our one lasted a season nicely.
We bought a load of fairly cheap amazabay (can't recall which!) replacements and they work just fine too

[Amateurish]

wjwren said:

Do robot mowers change the direction of cut on the blade? My bosch needs new blades, I might try the ones on amazon. Is it worth going for the copies or the originals? And as the blade is sharp on both sides does the mower spin one way then the other sometimes, otherwise it's a waste of the blade?

I bought 30 replacement blades for less than £10 on Amazon, they work exactly the same.

[Podie]

Amateurish said:

wjwren said:

Do robot mowers change the direction of cut on the blade? My bosch needs new blades, I might try the ones on amazon. Is it worth going for the copies or the originals? And as the blade is sharp on both sides does the mower spin one way then the other sometimes, otherwise it's a waste of the blade?

I bought 30 replacement blades for less than £10 on Amazon, they work exactly the same.

I bought these ones last year (when they were £9.99) - seem to do the job

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D7T5C84/ref...

[Zoon]

mikeiow said:

The Worxs ones we have can be flipped upside down: of course it might depend on how much in the way of twigs they have to batter against, but our one lasted a season nicely.

Be careful, some Worx models alternate the cutting direction during mowing so you may be turning a blunt blade upside down.

[Ean218]

Podie said:

I bought these ones last year (when they were £9.99) - seem to do the job

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D7T5C84/ref...

I'm puzzled, our McCulloch Rob600 is 2 years old, has done 1100 hours and I'm still using the original blades. I take a stone to them every 3-4 weeks, they're still as sharp as ever and not even noticeably smaller. The spare set that came with the mower are still in their bag.

[Podie]

Ean218 said:

Podie said:

I bought these ones last year (when they were £9.99) - seem to do the job

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D7T5C84/ref...

I'm puzzled, our McCulloch Rob600 is 2 years old, has done 1100 hours and I'm still using the original blades. I take a stone to them every 3-4 weeks, they're still as sharp as ever and not even noticeably smaller. The spare set that came with the mower are still in their bag.

Ours has a good chew on an exposed tree root every day...

[Zoon]

Ean218 said:

Podie said:

I bought these ones last year (when they were £9.99) - seem to do the job

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D7T5C84/ref...

I'm puzzled, our McCulloch Rob600 is 2 years old, has done 1100 hours and I'm still using the original blades. I take a stone to them every 3-4 weeks, they're still as sharp as ever and not even noticeably smaller. The spare set that came with the mower are still in their bag.

Do you have Triggers broom?

[prand]

Jyst to give this thread a bit of a bump, the Flymo 1200 is up on Amazon Prime for £399 today. Just ordered one for my parents.

[Zoon]

Podie said:

prand said:

Jyst to give this thread a bit of a bump, the Flymo 1200 is up on Amazon Prime for £399 today. Just ordered one for my parents.

Came to post the link... Flymo 1200 R Lithium-Ion Robotic Lawnmower Up to 400 sq m, 18 V https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C70LUQ4/ref=cm_sw_r...

And the affiliate link to your associates account. Nice work

[Podie]

Zoon said:

And the affiliate link to your associates account. Nice work

OK, you'll have to explain my stupidity in words of one syllable...