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+--- Thread: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! (/showthread.php?tid=232445)
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - Speedy - 09-20-2019
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Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - 3d - 09-20-2019
OWC Jamie, thanks for the review of the Husqvarna.
Couple of quick questions:
• Does it have some sort of dock to go "home" to charge by itself?
• Does it shred and mulch the grass and weed clippings back into the grass? Or can it bag and dump out?
• The site says the typical mow time on one charge is 145 minutes. Has the battery not fared well? You're only getting about half a charge in the year you've had it.
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - Speedy - 09-20-2019
OWC Jaime, more questions:
What about theft?
Where is your dock (hidden)?
Do you get any alarms in the middle of the night?
Can you set it to mow only during specific hours, i.e., daylight only?
I, too, am interested in battery life as well as battery replacement cost.
The model you link to is about what I paid for my Deere zero-turn mower 10 years ago and I could probably recoup 2/3 of that today which would put me well on the way to buying one of these. I usually burn about a gallon of gas each time I mow: $3 x 20 mowings per season so my guess is that because this mows most of the time that the running cost is similar.
Ps.: I hope they are working on a snowblower analog!
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - OWC Jamie - 09-20-2019
I will be honest I do not pay attention to how long it runs or takes to charge. It seems to be mowing more than charging so
Not worried about it. I am sure the battery is perfectly fine. And for much of the summer it was mowing after dark. So, not sitting there with a stopwatch.There is a docking station for it, at the back of the house up against the deck, not hidden. However, you can put it inside of a doghouse if you want, or even under your deck if you want to make a patio block path for it to go up and onto, and under the deck. I thought about that but honestly I do not think it's necessary.
Theft:
Does Automower® have a theft alarm?
Yes. Automower® has several theft protection systems that may be activated. The mower cannot be used without the personal PIN code. The installation lock prevents it from functioning on any other installation other than your own. The time lock requests your four-digit PIN to be entered at an interval decided by yourself. The alarm requires the PIN code to be entered when Automower® is stopped – or an audio alarm will go off. In addition, GPS communication units include a GPS tracker available as an accessory for most models.
Mulching - yes, the clippings are tiny and you do not even see them to be honest. It trims and they mulch right into the soil.
Timer - yes, you can set it to whatever you want or automatic where it mows as weather sensor and grass length dictate.
Alarms in the middle of the night - not since I fine tuned things, it was getting stuck in the steep ditch until that was reconfigured but since then in all honesty it has gotten stuck exactly twice - and I added some mulch and a rock edge to the driveway ditch line and absolutely zero issues since. Simple, effective fixes.
And finally - yep, you can sell a gas mower and get money back in 10 years I am sure. But can you get your time back? Nope. You can't. And I do not have to spend but 30 minutes every 3 weeks waklking around with my battery powered Ryobi One Plus 40V trimmer hitting the few spots the mower does not get close enough to or there are edges that it which it does not quite cut all of. Simple and a lot more nice looking every day of the year vs. just for a short period of time.
Oh yeah - silent operation. Can't say enough about that
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - mrlynn - 09-20-2019
I'm still back in the 20th century: Craftsman gasoline-powered push mower, no powered wheels. Pushing it around provides exercise, with the satisfaction of doing useful work.
/Mr Lynn
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - 3d - 09-20-2019
Come to think of it, since it mows so frequently in the night, it doesn't give the weeds time to sprout seeds so it might be ok for the clippings to be mulched into the soil.
If there's a bonus extension that picks up disgusting cat turds from the lawn I'm IN.
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - OWC Jamie - 09-20-2019
I still do weed & feed on the lawn but yes, weeds are definitely diminished. Even more so because mulching the clippings into the soil helps with that as well.
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - JPK - 09-20-2019
That is really cool. If I had a bigger yard, that is something to consider.
This is the first year I have not cut my own lawn. I live in a upscale, snooty Chicago suburb and I was the last person in my town who still cut their own lawn. My father died in June and due the the hectic times a then I hired someone to do it for a week or two. I thought I was so admirable and proud by cutting it myself - but I realized what took me 2 hours on a saturday took this crew of 4 only 20 minutes on a Wednesday! They have been doing ever since - I have not looked back.
Best money I've spent.
My question is to I sell my Honda mower now?
JPK
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - deckeda - 09-20-2019
Jamie that was great reading about your experience. Not only it is a non-traditional mower, but the usage and service involved is interesting. It makes the usual tactic of hiring a landscaper to use a gas machine you could just use yourself even more odd, to me.
I totally get why people hire landscapers to mow their yard but this makes more sense to me since you can control the gear plus make use of his lawn expertise, AND you've got someone you trust for other lawn issues most people ignore.
I think what I like best about this scenario is that it could get landscapers to rise to a new level of service that will soon separate them from just some dude in a truck with a mower.
Re: Lawn Mowing in the 21st Century! - RAMd®d - 09-20-2019
It makes the usual tactic of hiring a landscaper to use a gas machine you could just use yourself even more odd, to me.
Nothing odd at all.
There's the balance of costs and time.
It's not the same for everyone.