Really interested in getting once as I just realised they aren't quite as expensive as I thought. I've been watching videos of both the Moebot and Landroid robot mowers and look great. And roughly $1000-$1200ish. Does anyone have experience with these and know if they are worth it?
What Is The Verdict on Robot Lawn Mowers?
Bazzaaa on 29/10/2023 - 11:31
Comments
Ours got stolen off the front lawn - even though they have pin codes making them useless to the thieves.
Infuriating - took the L and just mow by hand now.
lol.. that’s kind of funny
I had a similar experience, but with a robot woman. She got stolen even though she has a pin code. I also now have to do it by hand.
Are you sure it wasn't just the robot gaining sentience and uprising against its human overlords?
just mow by hand now.
Still refusing to use a lawn mower? Gnarly
They look pretty good so long as you have a fairly simple area to be mowed without any drop offs or hills.
Have moebot and love it. Does a great job on the lawn (I have buffalo). You need to install a boundary which was easy with a whipper snipper to create the line. Issues are non contiguous areas and need somewhere for it to park, preferably out of sight and weather.
Haha I'm quite happy not being a real man if it means I have more free time.
real men don't need cars to take them places… htfu smell the fresh air and start walking!
real men don't need legs to take them on walks… htfu saw your own legs off from just above the knee and bleed out!
Robot lawn mower? Nope, unless it's T-800 Terminator.
I need your clothes, your boots and your brush cutter!
I have a landroid for a few years now. It's amazing. It used to get bogged and wheels keep spinning digging in deeper but then I got these spikes wheels for an extra $100 and that completely solved all problems. I still have to whipper snip around the edges occasionally but the robot mower is highly recommended. The best thing about it is that it cuts a few mm off the top every single day so the cuttings mulch without having an obvious tonne of dead grass over the lawn and the lawn is permanently always at the ideal length as opposed to getting long then cut short only to grow long again. I have 400m2 of grass and I got the 1000m2 model for its 4h battery so it can cut longer on each charge. The robot was actually completely submerged underwater for a few hours during a flood a couple years ago but besides the battery which I replaced with a 6h for >5h cutting time per charge, there was one small $20 part with a corroded connection to replace and it's been fine since then. Highly recommended to also get the one with 3ah charger for an extra $100 not the 1.5ah. And the guy who runs robotlawnmowers.com.au was hugely helpful with tips and advice when getting it setup and repairing after the flood and will price match worx sales.
I know the Landroids cut closer to the edges, do you think it's worth paying extra for that over the Moebot? Do you have a picture of how much grass doesn't get cut on the edges?
I don't know about Moebot or how much it costs, but the Landroid edge cut gets pretty close.
This is the yard in general:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/64704/107849/770cf236-…
This is the edge cut as it follows the boundary wire:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/64704/107850/3d0fa5c1-…
And these are how close it gets to obstacles while avoiding bumping into them with the ultrasonic sensors:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/64704/107851/da922967-…
and:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/64704/107852/f8f73592-…
With the ultrasonic sensors and something like the garden bed, it will turn and travel along the length of the garden bed, which approximates the edge cut when it follows the boundary wire.
I'm very happy with the Landroid and highly recommend it, but I would definitely get these wheel spikes to go with it… They solved every problem I had with the Landroid getting stuck or digging up the yard at tricky/sloped corners in the wet etc.
https://robotlawnmowers.com.au/robot-lawn-mowers/robot-acces…
Thanks for all of that I really appreciate the reply and photos. Your yard looks great. You may have just sold me on the Landroid. How often does yours run?
@Bazzaaa: I have it set to start at 10 AM when the sun has dried out any dew and it cuts for around 5 hours which is one full charge with the 6Ah battery. My lawn is about 400m2 in 3 zones with some garden beds and planter boxes along the fence.
Because it cuts every day taking just a few mm off the top, that's how it maintains the perfect length all the time and you don't notice the clippings which fall below the surface to mulch, which is the best thing about it.
You can also run it at night no problem, it's very quiet.
Over peak summer when the grass is growing fast you can just bump up the cutting time by 10-100% on the app. In Winter you can drop it down by -10 to -100%. At any time you can enable "party mode" to stop it working until you resume.
The other benefit to running a larger battery is fewer trips back to base and out again, so less time wasted following the boundary wire and less time treading the same path which can leave tracks. The larger battery should also maintain better battery health for longer.
@mrmachine: Fantastic. Thankyou. I hate mowing and always just assumed these were too expensive. But I'd much rather pay for this and worry less about my lawn. The cut to edge feature was what made me start to consider the Landroid. Might wait to see if they have any black friday deals.
@Bazzaaa: I think it was 30% off from Worx direct last year for Black Friday, and robotlawnmowers.com.au will price match their sales including free delivery. I believe they also do the warranty work for Worx so if you have any issues they will know what to do, and Jason was always super helpful with tips on how to best setup the boundary wire for different zones etc.
@mrmachine: So I ended up getting a Landroid and it's been such a game changer! Lawn looks great all the time now. My green bin used to overflow with clippings and now I have none!
I wouldn’t mind having one, but you’d need a single continuous bit of lawn to have it fully automated. I’ve got front, back, side separated by gates plus nature strip so it wouldn’t work for me. I’d have to set up multiple zones, then move it between them and still do edges. It’d be quicker to hand mow.
Having said that, I’d be more interested once they button down the smarts in them to not randomly bump and turn around the lawn. Learn a pattern or two for the zone and stick to that.
Just buy four of them.
You can have it cross hard surfaces to get to a new zone. Run the wire across the hard surface in an existing channel for cracks or cut a new channel if concrete or under pavers or stick it under a low profile heavy duty cable runner if it will be driven over. I have the landroid configured to stay in one zone if the gate is closed or go through to another zone if left open. Just leave the gate open occasionally. I also have the ultrasonic sensor accessory so it actively avoids obstacles instead of bumping into them. It still drives in a random pattern but it works very well and cuts everywhere. It also does an edge routine to cut a clean line just a few inches from the fence. You do still need to whipper snip occasionally, but basically I never manually mow the lawn unless we've gone away for several weeks and it got stuck somewhere early in the trip. Though it doesn't often get stuck anymore since I added the spiked wheel attachments. Even if there was one small section you need to hand mow, having the main yard maintained at the perfect length 99% of the time with zero effort or input is amazing and saves a tonne of time.
Most mowers have weight to them that keeps grass mowed down. Can't see how these would maintain the grass level without having to scarify every now and then to thin it out. Wouldnt be surprised that they have plastic blades and require a powered docking station to recharge out of the weather. I'd be more up for an automated vaccum cleaner
My landroid has a 7 inch cutting deck with 3 small razor blades. I've replaced them once in about 3 years. It doesn't work on long grass. You have to manually mow into the right length and then the robot will maintain it at that perfect length almost 100% of the time by cutting a few mm off the top every day. You can have it run at night if you don't want to have it rolling around underfoot in the day, it's very quiet. Although I get a huge amount of satisfaction watching it do it's thing every day. The docking station doesn't need to be out of the weather.
You’re not using lawn mowing as an excuse to have 5-6 ice cold garage beers and 2-5 hours of peace time on a Sunday morning?