Robot mowers

[Podie]

ash73 said:

Anyone tried a Husqvarna 105?

From what I can see, it’s pretty much a re-skinned Flymo / Gardena / McCullogh mower.

[Angrybiker]

Podie said:

ash73 said:

Anyone tried a Husqvarna 105?

From what I can see, it’s pretty much a re-skinned Flymo / Gardena / McCullogh mower.

I have a 105. Much more reliable than the Flymo at least; Flymo has reviews of it breaking down and many returns; my 105 has been rock solid. Nice piece of kit, the garden specialists I went to specifically recommended it above the others.

[Podie]

Angrybiker said:

I have a 105. Much more reliable than the Flymo at least; Flymo has reviews of it breaking down and many returns; my 105 has been rock solid. Nice piece of kit, the garden specialists I went to specifically recommended it above the others.

Turn over the Flymo, and guess what branding is on the wheels and blades, as well as the cable and power pack... Husqvana.

[Angrybiker]

Podie said:

Angrybiker said:

I have a 105. Much more reliable than the Flymo at least; Flymo has reviews of it breaking down and many returns; my 105 has been rock solid. Nice piece of kit, the garden specialists I went to specifically recommended it above the others.

Turn over the Flymo, and guess what branding is on the wheels and blades, as well as the cable and power pack... Husqvana.

wow. wonder why the difference in reliability then.

[Podie]

Angrybiker said:

wow. wonder why the difference in reliability then.

Honestly not sure.

When we first setup the Flymo (figured it was worth a punt at £350) we did have some issues. The cable connectors (also Husqvana branded) are fiddly - and I didn’t have a decent connection on ONE of them.

I rang the helpdesk and spoke to a helpful engineer who pointed out where I had most likely gone wrong. He said that most issues are the purple dock connectors on all the brands - or people not reading instructions.

We’ve bought the Gardena “garage” for our Flymo and it fits perfectly.

Looking at the diffeeent models, they have different area coverage... 400 - 1000 m2, so there must be something about them that does differ.

The Flymo is a bit basic - no rain sensor for example, but the little fella has done us proud this year and after the initial setup issue, has been brilliant.

[Angrybiker]

Podie said:

Angrybiker said:

wow. wonder why the difference in reliability then.

Honestly not sure.

When we first setup the Flymo (figured it was worth a punt at £350) we did have some issues. The cable connectors (also Husqvana branded) are fiddly - and I didn’t have a decent connection on ONE of them.

I rang the helpdesk and spoke to a helpful engineer who pointed out where I had most likely gone wrong. He said that most issues are the purple dock connectors on all the brands - or people not reading instructions.

We’ve bought the Gardena “garage” for our Flymo and it fits perfectly.

Looking at the diffeeent models, they have different area coverage... 400 - 1000 m2, so there must be something about them that does differ.

The Flymo is a bit basic - no rain sensor for example, but the little fella has done us proud this year and after the initial setup issue, has been brilliant.

Interesting. I actually found the connectors OK (I did RTFM!); the 106 is up to 600m2 so maybe one of the major differences is battery size.. 105 doesn't have a rain sensor either, but since you're cutting every day you don't get caked layers of grass on the underside so I wonder how much of a gimmick that is.
Only issues I've had are:
- Ants eating the underside electronics of the base station, resulting in a new base station and tile base for it (they can try eat the tile as much as they like!)
- Foxes etc digging up and biting the boundary cable

But this year it's been solid.

[Podie]

Angrybiker said:

Podie said:

Angrybiker said:

wow. wonder why the difference in reliability then.

Honestly not sure.

When we first setup the Flymo (figured it was worth a punt at £350) we did have some issues. The cable connectors (also Husqvana branded) are fiddly - and I didn’t have a decent connection on ONE of them.

I rang the helpdesk and spoke to a helpful engineer who pointed out where I had most likely gone wrong. He said that most issues are the purple dock connectors on all the brands - or people not reading instructions.

We’ve bought the Gardena “garage” for our Flymo and it fits perfectly.

Looking at the diffeeent models, they have different area coverage... 400 - 1000 m2, so there must be something about them that does differ.

The Flymo is a bit basic - no rain sensor for example, but the little fella has done us proud this year and after the initial setup issue, has been brilliant.

Interesting. I actually found the connectors OK (I did RTFM!); the 106 is up to 600m2 so maybe one of the major differences is battery size.. 105 doesn't have a rain sensor either, but since you're cutting every day you don't get caked layers of grass on the underside so I wonder how much of a gimmick that is.
Only issues I've had are:
- Ants eating the underside electronics of the base station, resulting in a new base station and tile base for it (they can try eat the tile as much as they like!)
- Foxes etc digging up and biting the boundary cable

But this year it's been solid.

Battery size would make sense as a reason for the recommended lawn size.

[Muncher]

Some suggestion that the latest firmware is dodgy, it's actually worked ok today by and large, but something is clearly amiss as the battery status in the app is always 100%.

When it is working I can confirm it can almost reverse out of the dock, as long as there is enough room for it to turn on the spot 0.5m is enough on the out leg.

[Muncher]

[quote]2.85 is here
Changelog:
- Torque settings during start-changed (reduced) torque settings when turning further increased (but shorter)
- A setting that was introduced with 2.84 is undone -> 2.84 has prevented the mower was started manually if the battery <70% was (but he was allowed to go home of course). This has been reversed because it can not be communicated to the user and you do not recognize why he is not driving


[/quote]
That's why it wasn't moving.

[Muncher]

Updated the firmware and it seems much better now.

[Zoon]

Angrybiker said:

wow. wonder why the difference in reliability then.

User error possibly?
I can confirm it is the exact same machine with a different body shell on the front.

[Podie]

Zoon said:

Angrybiker said:

wow. wonder why the difference in reliability then.

User error possibly?
I can confirm it is the exact same machine with a different body shell on the front.

I think people expect to roll it out of the box and it just work. They don't read the instructions and plan the installation.

[wjwren]

^ that doesnt look like a review site, more a clickbait site. I doubt they have even physically seen the machines, it's all far too vague

[Zoon]

ash73 said:

Really? Here they are reviewed by the same person:

https://easylawnmowing.co.uk/husqvarna-105-automow...
https://easylawnmowing.co.uk/flymo-1200r-review

9/10 versus 6/10...

Look at the specs, 17cm cutting width, 20W power consumption, 20-50mm cutting height, max incline 14 degrees.

They are the same machine, built in the same factory but badged for different customers.

The website you've given is an amazon affiliate, now I wonder why they'd want you to buy the more expensive unit?

[Podie]

ash73 said:

Interesting thanks. More research required then, maybe they'll come down in price by the time I make my mind up!

No idea what's happened... we paid £350 for the Flymo, and now it seems to have gone up in price to £580!

The robots that seem to be the same basic design are...

• Flymo 1200R
• Gardena R40Li / R60Li
• McCulloch R600 / R1000
• Husqvana 105

Having bought the Flymo, and discovered that the bloody Pigeons decided to nest above it this year we purchased the Gardena garage, and it fits perfectly. Our base station is Flymo orange, so the orange handle on the garage fits in better than with the Gardena blue.

[Zoon]

ash73 said:

Good to know. I suppose it's possible they have different firmware, but it hardly justifies the price difference.

I notice some others (e.g. Robomow RC304U) have a solid blade, are these better or worse? They look a bit noisier in the specs.

More expensive to replace, but should be easier to sharpen if you have a grindstone.

[steveatesh]

New to this party, but seriously considering one, but and its a big but, Mrs Steve would only consider one that cuts as short as the current Fly XL500 hover mower, or in other words 10mm.

Does anybody have one that cuts that short, they all seem to specify 20mm as their shortest height of cut, Bosch states 30mm for theirs?

[Angrybiker]

steveatesh said:

New to this party, but seriously considering one, but and its a big but, Mrs Steve would only consider one that cuts as short as the current Fly XL500 hover mower, or in other words 10mm.

Does anybody have one that cuts that short, they all seem to specify 20mm as their shortest height of cut, Bosch states 30mm for theirs?

That's a bad idea, if you cut too short you encourage weeds and the grass is less resilient. All the people I spoke to said set height to highest that the mower will allow (can't remember offhand what that is)

[Herbs]

So whats the consensus of these - small ish garden with a budget up to £600.

Where should my money go?

[Zoon]

Herbs said:

So whats the consensus of these - small ish garden with a budget up to £600.

Where should my money go?

Flymo is good enough if you can pick one up cheaply.
I can vouch for the Worx landroid WR106SI, if you want one that cuts close to the edge. But bear in mind the straight run of guide wire for locating the dock.