Can a Robot Really Mow Your Lawn?

!±8± Can a Robot Really Mow Your Lawn?

Let me start off by saying I have been using this mower now for three seasons. I am really passionate about robotic lawnmowers. I have the Lawnbott LB3250.

I still find myself stopping and looking out the window of the house in disbelief that a robot is mowing my lawn. At least once, if not more times, per day people stop in the street and stare at the mower wondering what it is. I have gotten to the point that I have put a sign on top of the mower telling what it is, where you can buy one and how much it costs. Unless you have a lawn service already doing the mowing, you can't believe how much time mowing your lawn actually takes. A Lawnbott will free you from that duty and give you more free time to do things you like.

Here is the basic operation of the mower:

If you live in the Midwest like me, you start this mower some time in the spring, March or April, when the snow is out of the yard. Generally I don't touch it until the late fall when the grass stops growing, November or so.

I have to be kidding right? When do you start it, recharge it?

The mower decides what days and how often per day to mow. Yes it can mow more than one time per day. My mower can go 5 hours per charge, drive back to the base and recharge only to come back out and mow if necessary.

That is pretty much it. Trim the yard around the bushes and the tiny areas it doesn't get. Really!

How does it know when to mow?

That is a really good question. I don't do software code writing so I can't tell you any more than it just does. It will adjust the amount of mowing it does depending on how fast the grass is growing and how large your lawn is. The LB3250 (and all the models) detects the load on the cutting motor and determines that the grass is deep or not deep.

How long does it take to mow the lawn?

This really is a moot point. You have to change the way you think about mowing the lawn. This mower will just go and go and go and eventually it is done. Your grass will stay the same height all year long. No more tall grass, short grass, tall grass, short grass. No more giant clumps of grass laying in your lawn turning brown after you mow.

What does it run on?

The mower has one or two 24 volt batteries depending on the model.

How do you charge it?

You don't, it does. When the battery gets to a set point, the mower will make a return trip around the perimeter wire, trimming as it goes, to the charging house and park itself.

What if it rains?

That is a pretty good question. If it rains the mower can do two things. It will go back to the charging house and wait until you come out and push the start button or it can wait for 24 hours and try to come out again. If the rain sensor detects rain, it will then go back to the house and wait more, repeat, repeat, etc.

But I have hills, it can't do them can it?

Yes, it can do pretty darn steep hills. 27 degrees is the limit of hills most of the models can handle. The LB3500 series can do 30 degree hills. It might not sound steep but a 27 degree hill is steeper than any riding mower will handle with the exception of the National Greens Mower. Granted, to do this grade, you will need the optional spiked wheels and wheelie bars. How do I know? I have them for my mower.

How loud is this thing?

Put it this way, you can't hear it when you are in the house. In fact, you really can't hear it if you are 50 feet away. It is quieter than your dishwasher (unless you have a Bosch like I do). You will start to get annoyed at gas mowers in the neighborhood because they are so loud. This thing can sneak up on you at night. It has a blinking light in the front so you can see it at night.

What if it leaves the yard?

You don't have to worry about this. If the mower leaves your perimeter wire area it will hunt for the wire by turning in a circle. If after a few seconds it doesn't see the wire it will shut down and beep. The LCD will display a message, "Out of bounds". You just pick it up and restart it in your yard. This can happen when you have a 90 degree corner in the wire (a no, no in the setup) or it slides on a steep, wet slope and you don't have the spiked wheels. I experienced both of these and learned from them.

Won't it hurt my dogs or kids?

If the mower is picked up, the blade immediately stops. You have the option of putting a start-up password in so if you want the mower won't be able to start again unless you key in the password. The blade has a guard around it so wayward fingers are protected quite a bit from accidental injury. Now understand this, it is a lawn mower. If someone intentionally finds a way to get the wheels off the ground, tilt the mower and reach around the guard, they are going to get hurt. But then again, no amount of protection can prevent a truly stupid person from doing a truly stupid thing, you can't fix stupid

The big brother of my LB3250, the LB3500, has a feature that stops the blade as soon as someone touches the rear handle. Honestly, it has never been an issue for me. I have a 4 year old and 6 year old and neither goes near the mower. They call it Moe.

The neighbors have a dog, one of those little barky things that bark at a leaf. It ignores this mower.

Someone will steal it won't they?

The mower will not work outside your yard. The perimeter wire sends a coded signal that tells the mower it is in an approved yard. Without this signal, the mower will not start. (there is a dealer diagnostic mode that bypasses this but how many thieves are dealers or even know how to enter this diagnostic mode) The mower also has a built in alarm that will sound if someone picks up the mower and tries to carry it away from your yard. That should be enough to deter nearly everyone. According to the manufacturer, no one has ever reported one of their mowers stolen.

My house insurance will go up won't it?

My insurance has not changed and my agent knows I have this mower because I listed it specifically on my policy.

Setup:

The first thing you do is mow your lawn one last time. It states this in the owner's manual. This makes laying the perimeter wire so much better and eliminates cut stripes in your lawn from the first mowing. Read on for more.

The initial setup of the mower might seem a little daunting at first. It will take you a Saturday afternoon, but so does mowing. You have to place a perimeter wire around your yard, like an underground wired dog fence. The big difference between the mower's wire and the dog fence is you don't have to bury the mower's wire. It just sits on top of the grass held in place with pegs.

After about 6 weeks of grass growth, it is integrated into the lawn and you can't see it.

After a full season, the wire is actually under the lawn and you will have trouble finding it. I have around 3/4 acre that is mowed by my LB3250 and setting up the wire took me about 2.5 hours. If you have bushes or trees you don't want the mower to hit, just put a loop of wire off the main line around this bush and it gets included in the perimeter and is protected from getting bumped into by the mower.

The perimeter wire acts not only as a fence to keep the mower in but also as a follow line for edging the yard when it is done with the cutting cycle for the given period.

Throughout the year:

The first day you have the mower and it goes out you will stand there and stare at it. No doubt in my mind. Then it will go back to its house at the end of the cycle and your lawn will not be completely mowed. (but you did mow before installation so it won't be that noticeable. I didn't read the manual and thought "I just spent how much?!!!" ) The same thing the second day, but by the third day your lawn will be nearly entirely done. Remember, you aren't mowing so give it time to learn your lawn. It appears to drive around randomly and couldn't possibly get everything. It will.

You will find in the beginning that your mower will be getting stuck here and there in places of your lawn that there is a hole, rock or something else you didn't see or consider. Just fill them in with topsoil or sand and grass seed. After some initial futzing around, the mower needs very little attention. Your border needs to be set up in such a way that the mower won't slide into a pond, off a ledge or something else like that.

There are various suggested distances in the setup guide to tell you how far to place the perimeter wire from these obstacles. Follow them and you'll keep the mower for a long time. As the manufacturer told me, the mower is waterproof but it only works as a submarine one time before you have to buy a new one.

Maintenance:

You really only have to flip the blade over in the middle of the season. It has 8 sharp edges, 4 on each side. The blade on my LB3250 is about 12" in diameter and about as thick as the cardboard on a cereal box. You'll have to replace the wheel motor brushes after about 4 years or so, but that isn't hard or expensive. Everything mechanical needs some type of maintenance. You just won't be changing oil, adding gas, getting tune ups, etc.

How long will it last?

The mower come with a 12 month warranty on all parts. Well, I have had mine for two years now. The outer shell is showing scratches and one crack in the lower edge. All of this was caused by me not completely following the perimeter setup and the mower impacting something it wasn't designed to impact, retaining walls in the front and sides and dropping off a retaining wall edge cracking the cover.

A nice side note is that when a part goes bad, the warranty on that part begins again.

The batteries are rated to last 5 seasons. At 0 each they aren't cheap but they are cheaper than 5 seasons of gas and going to get the gas and futzing with changing the oil and tune ups, etc. Your time isn't free remember.

Winter Storage:

Bring it inside and put it on the winter charger to maintain the battery. While in storage it is the perfect time to sharpen the blade which you can do with a kitchen knife sharpener. That is the extent of winter storage.

Cost of Operation:

It costs about a year (if you leave it turned on in the winter too mind you) in electricity to charge and run the perimeter wire to run the mower. No gas, no oil changes.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions on this mower that aren't explained here. jspahn@mac.com