Good point about wheel tracks in the lawn when using the same path repeatedly. I've got a robot vacuum in the house that's leaving tracks in the edge of carpets, easy enough to get rid of but then the carpets aren't growing.
Thank you for this excellent video. As a maybe adopter I had no real idea even what questions to ask. I had not thought about leaves or cat and dog poo so your observations are much appreciated. It was also very useful to actually see the beast in action. The manufacturers seem to ignore this but it does show why some of the planning requirements are needed. ............John
2nd year with a 450X (KaChow--named by the grandson) it mows continually on 1.99 acres and makes it look like a well groomed golf course. Life is great!
Thank you, fantastic review! Couple questions - (a) Does it work while it is raining and how does it handle muddy areas (b) How often do you run it? . Thanks again!
Thanks! Very clear. Can you share you experience with twigs and leaves. I love the look of my lawn after I mow with a ride on and a catcher. Looking at your video it seems the mower will just mow on top of them… do you have to take care of leaves and twigs separately? My yard has a lot of trees so leaves and twigs are all the time making the lawn look untidy… thanks!!
For anyone who just bought a Husqvarna automower be aware that the cutting height adjustment does not show up for the first two weeks in the app or on the mower's menu (as of April 26 2022 anyway). Husqvarna states this is to let the boundary wire lay down - it forces the mower cutting height to max for the first two weeks.
I'm a gardener and I can tell you that each time you cut a lawn you must cut one way and then the next cut the opersit way each time to provent grooves and damage to service. It also helps promote strong grass and allowing grass to recover. And that's why robotic mowers cut in what appears to be random patterns.
That's not why they cut in random patterns. The Roomba vacuum for your home follows the same random patterning. Do you think it's because the dirt needs to be vacuumed differently each cleaning?
Hi Garren, if I used it to mow 2 different lawns do you think it know if it would remember which areas need more attention in both lawns? Is it using GPS to remember those kind of details or is it going to forget every time it is moved to a different wire-enclosed area? My thought is to wire off my parents' lawn and have it spend half the week at each yard. Each lawn is less than 1000 as meters. So it would have more time to spend on each lawn than your lawn. This is a lengthy question, I know. Your best answer is appreciated Thanks.
How do you deal with the mower crossing over loose chipping pathways. Mine is getting stuck on the chippings path which it has to cross to get to the grass either side. I'm thinking of removing the chippings, putting down concrete and placing the chipping back into the concrete so they set in it? Anyone have similar situation?
Thinking of purchasing an auto mower as have a large lawn and your videos are excellent for helping me in making up my mind on the decision. Very informative in answering all the questions I would have. Have you noticed a significant increase in your electricity costs since you’ve had it for charging the unit.
Hi Caroline, Thanks for the feedback and I am glad the videos help. I have seen noticeable rise in electricity charges myself and based on the number of times it recharges and the power consumption it works out around £30 per year so a lot less than petrol. It has 2 batteries which last around 3 - 4 years and they are about £100 each but I will do an update when that happens. Offset against that I am not paying to have an annual service on a petrol lawn mower though.
Dog poo? Oh I know what you mean, fertilizer! And it has an automatic fertilizer spreader function. It simply runs over the fertilizer offering and scatters it over a wider area of the yard/garden. No wonder your yard looks so good. Cheers!
NonyaBusiness! It’s ok if it doesn’t matter to you and your lawn. I thought I was clear that it makes me nuts. I would say that the verdict is probably split somewhere in the middle. I see why the auto mower does not follow the same track due to possible rutting like at the charging station entrance. The random mowing takes this mower off of my Christmas list.
Thanks for the video. How long does it take to mow your lawn (how big is it too) please, and how often does it cut each week in the growing season? Do you ever run it at night?
Hi, the lawn is about 80m by 40m. At the start of the season it normally takes the Automower a couple of days to get the lawn down to the fully finished state. Normally I have it running about 3-4 days a week for about 9 hours although it does have a weather timer and will reduce the hours it cuts when the weather is hot and the grass is not growing. I do tend to run the mower at night especially when the children are at home and playing in the garden. I have a GPS unit installed on the Automower (I believe this is now standard on many models) which allows me to change the schedule of when it runs on an iPhone app and it will also notify me of any errors.
It has security features. The mower will only work with the recharging base station. It has gps tracking and a pin code. If u lift the mower without inputting the pin it starts a high pitched continuous siren
Hi Carlo, They are small stainless steel blades, similar to Stanley trimming knife blades. They will cut through the usual weed easily and have cut through small twigs that have fallen from the tree. Remember however, that once you start to use the Automower, it is always just taking off the very latest growth which is minimal. I have also found that the usual weeds like Dandelions get crowded out and eventually die off anyway.
Good video, thanks - just a question - does the unit ever go OVER the boundary wire? I ask because I have a natural pond and for obvious reasons I don't want it to go in there. the boundary wire can be a few metres from it but I worry that it can get lost and go over the wire. Is that possible?
Hi Donna, No the Automower never actually goes over the wire. The front of the unit will go up to it but the front wheels will sit behind the front of the unit and the boundary wire. I know people that have installed them up to river banks, ponds and swimming pools with no issues. One works of advice though is that if the bank to the pond is sloping down towards it then I would place the wire a little further back - the units don't usually slip but I have had mine out when we have had a bad frost overnight and the wheels can then accumulate ice. Alternatively if your pond water level rises and lowers with rainfall also take that into consideration when deciding the boundary wire position.
I want to get one of these Auto Mowers. But You see, My lawn is split in to TWO separate parts. As You open the gate to come in to the property the lawn in on one side of the drive way. And the rest of the lawn is on the other. And the drive way is concrete, and I do not now how it would stop hitting the car and other thing. It would be a little tricky. Putting a boundary wire to guide the machine would be hard to install. please help
Go to Husqvarna's website & download the manual for the Automower. It's in PDF format of about 100 pages. There's a large portion of it that explains tricky situations and Installations
Hi Blacksheep; Once up and running the Automower runs perpetually, although you can set the days of the week and times per day that it mows. The basic idea is that it constantly takes a minimal amount of the top of the grass, hence mulches at the same time. There is a weather timer that adjusts the Automaker if there has been significant rainfall or drought in summer for example and also it builds up an internal map of where in the garden the grass grows the most - in my garden, the grass under the tress in summer doesn't grow as much as the centre of the lawn and and Automower will spend more time in these areas. I tend to set my Automower not to come out at weekends and during the week set it to come out from 22:00 - 07:00 so never impacting on my day to day use
Good morning. Please can you tell me if thIS automower able to cut on a slope? We have 2 or 3 slopes in the front garden ( at the bottom there are fruit trees)? The other one is where and how do you recharge it? Thanks
Hi, Yes the Automower will handle slopes up to 45% or 21degrees. I have fruit trees in my garden and it has no problem mowing around them or in handling fallen fruit. It recharges itself in a base station and finds it's own way back after about an hour or so mowing, recharges and sets off again. It also docks itself there overnight or whenever you set the times for it to mow or not mow.
Hello, Gerren. Wonderful reviews! I have a couple questions for you from across the big pond. In the past, we have used a lawn service to provide a basic cut and trim every week. I am wondering if I could replace the lawn service with the automower? In the 18 months that you have owned and used the automower, has it performed sufficiently as your only method of grass cutting? Or do you have to occasionally pull out a hand mower and clean up areas that the automower misses or doesn't do a particular good on? How is your yard situated? I have about a 1/4-acre plot, and my house is right in the middle. So, I have a front yard and a back yard (I like how you call them gardens over there across the pond), and the two are separated by a gated fence. Our back yard is fenced in for our dogs. Does the automower have any issues continuing from the back yard into the front yard and getting at all the areas that need to be cut? Or is it better suited to be used in one continuous, uninterrupted lawn? Thanks!
Hi Robb, Thanks for the feedback. I have used the Automower now for 18 months and apart from changes the blades and the occasional clean, I haven't touched it at all. I do tidy up the edges every couple of weeks and used a streamer to do that and its just a 10 minute job. My lawn does wrap itself around the house and garage and my model (430X) has the option for 2 loop wires that go from the base station to the further reaches of your garden - it can go through garden gates etc. You then create a setting for the Automower to follow the loop wire when coming out of its base station after a charge say 20% of the time. Bottom line is that if you really want a service where you don't have to think about it all then an outside service may be better however the Automower, once set up is really easy with very little to do or worry about.
i think the batteries need changing approx every 4 years of continuos use. I have a 450x and trees in my garden too, it doesn't bother it so much but will affect the blades and make them blunt quicker. I try to have a walk around a pick up twigs after a storm.
If you live in the UK and there's even the slightest chance of someone in the public seeing that mower - it will be stolen. My advice is to hire a private security guard to walk round with it. If you live in Japan you'll be fine though.
Have you heard of any problems with them? Have a 450X. It's over 2 yes old and recently stopped a few times in middle of lawn as it was out of battery. I opened it and saw that a connection from the battery to the motherboard is fried. Going into dealer tomorrow. I also have had to have the power pack replaced as it kept disconnecting the power.. apparently some of them are faulty.
Hi, No, the only issue I've had recently are the wheel motors needed replacing but that is after 7000 hours. My mower is now over 4 years old so I wonder if they have a quality control issue with some later models?
Thanks for an informative video. One question, we have a number of hedgehogs that visit our garden each night, is this mower safe around small wildlife such as hedgehogs?
Robot mowers are known to disturb and potentially harm hedgehogs. But they can be set to not run at nighttime, if hedgehogs are prevalent. But I guess different models will have smaller or bigger risk to harm depending on system design.
Thanks for the reviews, Gerren! Can you tell me a little bit about how often you'll go out and trim the edges of your yard where the automower isn't quite able to reach?
Hi Dallas, I tend to go around the outside edges once every two weeks in summer and once a week in spring. It really does tend to depend on how fast the grass is growing. I cut the edge with a trimmer and as it's only a 20 - 30cm strip can complete the job in 10 mins
Hi, not at all. I have several trees in the back garden and the Automower has either a bump sensor or in some of the newer models scan for them to avoid
The only exception would be island flower beds where there is no vertical obstacle but here you come out from the boundary with the guide wire, around the flower bed and then when you return to the boundary place both cables (the one coming out to the boundary and the one returning) together. By placing cables together this cancels out the signal if that makes sense
Laying that boundary wire is so tedious! It took me half a day to enclose 2/3 acres!! But I haven’t walked behind, or ridden on, a mower since then!!! 12 years.
Hi Blaze. I live in the Uk and rain is a daily part of life! I tun our Automower well into Autumn and early Winter. I live at the bottom of a hill and on clay and often get standing water. The Automower works better than a standard mower as it is light and cuts the lawn without making a mess. If there is standing water of say an inch or more then I keep the Automower in his house to prevent damage although they are completely weather sealed. I have no hesitation for example running the Automower in summer when it is showing it down in rain.
When the mower starts out, it has obviously 'missed' the entire lawn, so I (and you) cannot tell from the video whether the mower has completed it's run and therefore whether it has missed any areas. AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO SHOUT.
I have one of these Automowers. It’ll miss patches today, and mow some of them tomorrow. Those it misses tomorrow it’ll mow the next day. By next week I won’t be able to find missed patches.
Hi Andy, Congratulations on your new 430x. I have just got mine out after the winter and so have started off at height setting 6. Once the lawn has been cut to that level I will then reduce to 5 and then 4 during the main summer months. I tend then to raise it to level 5 in the Autumn.
I’m disabled and now all my kids moved out no one wants to mow my lawn. I’m thinking of getting one of these. It’s cheaper than paying someone $250 a fortnight to mow. Are the blades expensive?
Hi Gerren, I have one of these and it saves me 2 hours every week in the Summer. I love it! Best thing I've ever brought. Have you ever cut your wire while doing garden bed maintenance, and if so, whats your best version of how you do the line repair? BTW, love your 'home' for your Parker, might just get my Dad to build me one for my 'Shaun'. Thanks from NZ, Michelle
Hi, yes, in a standard wired loop around the garden, the Automower would indeed just cut down the daffodils as they grew and eventually kill them. I have however spoken to my dealer this morning who have a work around for this. Basically you can create a loop in the wire around the daffodils and connect to the main boundary loop with an outdoor 2 way 12v switch. In Sprint you switch on the prevent the Automower going into this space and then once the flowering season is over, switch off again and the Automower cuts this area as normal. I will look into it a bit more and maybe create a video to explain it in detail.
@@Gerren I have the same issue which has partly prevented me from investing in a robot mower; could you please go into more detail as to how one can install this additional wiring system? Thanks
I have had a Husqvarna mower for about 12 years and had it serviced regularly. Recently after a check it goes into the charging station and comes out immediately and then stops. Is it likely that the battery needs to be replaced or do you have any other suggestion please
Hi, it does sound like it maybe the batteries. All dealers can hook your Automower up to a laptop and it will let them know the status of your batteries. I found that they last about 4 years of continual use before needing to be replaced.
U can check almost all the settings urself if u press and hold 7 and 9 in the menu u get extra settings to test just about everything and every sensor and motor urself. I used this to find out my wheel motor was faulty, took it apart, cleaned it, regreased it for €5 . main dealer would charge about €300 at least
I think it is different climates and grass. Here everyone cuts real low. That is what kills the weeds, and makes the grass grow sideways. I use 40 mm, my next door neighbor 30 mm.
Yes, when you start lowering the height, a type of grass that have thinner blades takes over. You can find that type of grass on the green near the hole on golf courses. The best part of the robot is not the work. It is that you never have cut grass that is on top of the lawn. So the kids or you gets it on the shoes and then in the house.
Hi Gerren. Very useful video. You mention changing the blades every 6-8 weeks. Do you mean you sharpen them this often or you fit new ones? If so, are the replacement blades expensive? Thanks in advance.
Terry Towelling Hi, thanks for the feedback. The blades are disposable, very much like Stanley trimming blades. There are three underneath the Automower attached to a spinning disk via a screw. They cost about £1 a blade and I tend to replace them every 6-8 weeks.
@@mario295816 Its mostly automatic once set up, but with the 450x and possibly a few others, you can control them to a certain degree with an app on your mobile phone.
The thing is like with my flymo robot mower, there no point nicking it as u need docking station and cables that in ground to use it so useless just nicking the robot 😂
Hi Annavie, Yes, I can fully recommend the Automower in the rain. I am now going into the third year with the Automower and we have had some very wet Springs and Autumns and the Automower has had no issues whatsoever. You do find that some small grass clipping stick a little to it (same as a normal mower) which I brush off once a week or so. I've taken a close look at the Automower and it is incredibly well sealed with a rubber gasket (similar to a waterproof watch).
It will work away in the rain, but if u have slopes then it's weight and lack of traction means it can slide outside the boundary wire and then it stops and sends u a message. U can buy larger wheels with more grip and little brushes to clean the grass off them, they do help but if it's heavy rain it will slide,
Best investment I have made in years! Haven´t moved our law in two years as our little robot has done the job. The law is looking much better now because of the bio cut of the robot.
It could possibly hit the hedgehog but it couldn't run over it or cut it. I also think the hedgehog would just keep out of the way as the mower came towards it.
@@glenhomson301 I have had two "incidents" with hedgehogs and my automower over the last 12 years, one of which was fatal to the poor hog. Most of the times I imagine the hedgehogs curling up into a ball big enough to make to mower turn around after bumping into it, it's obviously no guarantee though. Newer models of the automower might be more sensitive, I had a 230ACX until recently when I got a 430X. So far no hog-related accidents with it :)
@@joakimolsen5202 HI Joakim, ok thanks for that answer, as you said maybe the newer versions are a little more sensative. I'd hope they don't run right over them but I don't think they would. Then again I don't want to find out to be honest, poor hedgehogs. I guess you could do a test with maybe a ball of paper or material could be of similar weight and texture. Personally I'd would of thought the hedgehog would of kept out of the way, after all they can certainly run faster than the mower!
Okay, this is the first time I've watched your automower video and I have to ask, what good does it do to mow a lawn that doesn't need mowing? Yes it rolls over the leaves but so does a remote controlled car. That thing isn't even picking the leaves up. It looks exactly the same after the mower goes over it as it does before.
I have an Automower 450X. The idea is that it just cuts 1/8 of an inch or so of grass when it cuts. Never any clippings in the yard. Grass always looks the same. Works absolutely great. I have about 3/4 acre of land & I have it go out 5 hours in the middle of the night to cut the grass, and it stays maintained.
It’s a different concept to traditional mowing. Traditional mowing once a week or when the weather is fine makes a bigger cut. Auto mowers continually work in all wethers just taking a tiny amount.
Thanks for the review. I find the leaves situation an issue - love not having to do the lawn but I also love how it looks after it’s made. I fee the auto mower will not deal with the leaves and therefore the lawn will look untidy - short grass not not a clean garden… just a tjought
Hi, The lawn is approx 3500 Square meters and I now have 3200 hours of running which is after 2 seasons of mowing. The batteries are still running fine with the mower still running the same amount of time before each charge.
i have a 1 acre yard with house/pool over 4 years of Florida mowing i have 64 hours on my cub cadet 48" deck ride on, just to give you a comparison Cutting varies year to year here dependent on how long the winter (lol) is. I tend to only cut 1 time during the months of Jan. and Feb. full time weekly cutting starts in march usually and by the rainy season I cut usually twice a week then slows down around Oct/Nov to once a week or bi monthly. I have St. Augustine grass. That is a lot of hours at 3200 for only 2 seasons! even with the small deck print. I think i would try the auto mower but i need a much higher grass height with augustine, i wouldnt even try it unless they gave me the ability to do 4 inch cuts, the heat here is too hot and would burn it out easily. We are restricted for as long as I've lived here to once per week watering.
Hi John, you can't really compare the two. With a traditional lawn mower you let the lawn grow over a week or so and then cut maybe an inch or two of growth depending on the weather and heat. With the Automower it is designed to take only the very top growth off continually so your lawn always looks mown. It will be interesting to see how long the Automower lasts before a motor, bearings etc need replacing but I will keep you updated.
Yes they are perfectly safe with kids. If it senses something in the way it will slow ans bump into it and turn around without harming them. Also if the kids pick up the mower it will turn off and stop spinning the blades immediately.
Hi there, It does seem like a great mower but your videos never show Parker actually in "Cut" mode. He just runs around, not appearing to cut a thing or move any leaves. Show him under power to make it a convincing video, please.
Lou Lou only a very very small amount of grass is cut each day ( a days growth ) and each blade only contacts around 1cm of it at any one moment. You won’t see the cut unless it’s started on an uncut lawn and set well below the grasses current hight.
Our bahia grass grows tall fast. That factor and the vast size of our property, makes this luxury item unfeasible for us. Interesting though. Just the practicality of that application here is nonsense. Would be great for my folk's lazy neighbor in the suburbs maybe.
My 435 AWD has been in repair shop for 3 months now. I am paying monthly payments on my automower on top of monthly payments to a local lawn service. The company is completely unresponsive and unsympathetic to my situation. How long is too long for a repair? This was a known factory defect. European customers were compensated with cash payments. If this were a new car purchase the dealer would provide a loaner. I don’t understand how husqvarna can stand by these business practices. DO NOT BUY AN AUTOMOWER
Good point about wheel tracks in the lawn when using the same path repeatedly. I've got a robot vacuum in the house that's leaving tracks in the edge of carpets, easy enough to get rid of but then the carpets aren't growing.
I read the questions from others below and saw that you have already answered both my questions. No response needed. Thanks!
Thank you for this excellent video. As a maybe adopter I had no real idea even what questions to ask. I had not thought about leaves or cat and dog poo so your observations are much appreciated. It was also very useful to actually see the beast in action. The manufacturers seem to ignore this but it does show why some of the planning requirements are needed. ............John
2nd year with a 450X (KaChow--named by the grandson) it mows continually on 1.99 acres and makes it look like a well groomed golf course. Life is great!
Why don't you show us on your channel?
This is good to know. I have .55 acres and was worried one of these wouldn't be sufficient lol
Thank you, fantastic review! Couple questions - (a) Does it work while it is raining and how does it handle muddy areas (b) How often do you run it? . Thanks again!
Thanks! Very clear. Can you share you experience with twigs and leaves. I love the look of my lawn after I mow with a ride on and a catcher. Looking at your video it seems the mower will just mow on top of them… do you have to take care of leaves and twigs separately? My yard has a lot of trees so leaves and twigs are all the time making the lawn look untidy… thanks!!
good vid - do you have to install wire around the swings or does it just sense such obstacles?
For anyone who just bought a Husqvarna automower be aware that the cutting height adjustment does not show up for the first two weeks in the app or on the mower's menu (as of April 26 2022 anyway). Husqvarna states this is to let the boundary wire lay down - it forces the mower cutting height to max for the first two weeks.
The lawn looks great
I'm a gardener and I can tell you that each time you cut a lawn you must cut one way and then the next cut the opersit way each time to provent grooves and damage to service. It also helps promote strong grass and allowing grass to recover. And that's why robotic mowers cut in what appears to be random patterns.
That's not why they cut in random patterns. The Roomba vacuum for your home follows the same random patterning. Do you think it's because the dirt needs to be vacuumed differently each cleaning?
Hi Garren, if I used it to mow 2 different lawns do you think it know if it would remember which areas need more attention in both lawns? Is it using GPS to remember those kind of details or is it going to forget every time it is moved to a different wire-enclosed area? My thought is to wire off my parents' lawn and have it spend half the week at each yard. Each lawn is less than 1000 as meters. So it would have more time to spend on each lawn than your lawn. This is a lengthy question, I know. Your best answer is appreciated Thanks.
Hi. What do you do in the spring for bulbs? Is there a temporary guide wire available?
Your mowers alarm woke my kid up 🤣
great review!!! Thanks
As for blades get file and resharpen easy I recon and thnks for your reply cheers from Australia
I get my blades for €3 per set, could not be bothered to sharpen
I'm struggling to learn how it mows narrow corridors? Also, how long does it need to complete the lawn?
How do you deal with the mower crossing over loose chipping pathways. Mine is getting stuck on the chippings path which it has to cross to get to the grass either side. I'm thinking of removing the chippings, putting down concrete and placing the chipping back into the concrete so they set in it? Anyone have similar situation?
Thanks for the review.
Thinking of purchasing an auto mower as have a large lawn and your videos are excellent for helping me in making up my mind on the decision. Very informative in answering all the questions I would have. Have you noticed a significant increase in your electricity costs since you’ve had it for charging the unit.
Hi Caroline, Thanks for the feedback and I am glad the videos help. I have seen noticeable rise in electricity charges myself and based on the number of times it recharges and the power consumption it works out around £30 per year so a lot less than petrol. It has 2 batteries which last around 3 - 4 years and they are about £100 each but I will do an update when that happens. Offset against that I am not paying to have an annual service on a petrol lawn mower though.
Gerren Mayne - thank you for taking the time to reply. Looking forward to my purchase in the spring
Because of your review I’m buying one
Thanks for the feedback dizzystj. Let me know how you get on and if you have any specific questions fire them across
How does it handle rain?
@@miles267 no problems.
Any updates? Still using the Husqvarna ? thanks
Dog poo? Oh I know what you mean, fertilizer! And it has an automatic fertilizer spreader function. It simply runs over the fertilizer offering and scatters it over a wider area of the yard/garden. No wonder your yard looks so good.
Cheers!
Great review. Thx
Thanks for the feedback
details on how to make/buy rouse please
Yeah, the willy nilly erratic pattern would make me nuts. I love abstract art, but I mow in rows.
NonyaBusiness! It’s ok if it doesn’t matter to you and your lawn. I thought I was clear that it makes me nuts. I would say that the verdict is probably split somewhere in the middle. I see why the auto mower does not follow the same track due to possible rutting like at the charging station entrance. The random mowing takes this mower off of my Christmas list.
Thanks for the video. How long does it take to mow your lawn (how big is it too) please, and how often does it cut each week in the growing season? Do you ever run it at night?
Hi, the lawn is about 80m by 40m. At the start of the season it normally takes the Automower a couple of days to get the lawn down to the fully finished state. Normally I have it running about 3-4 days a week for about 9 hours although it does have a weather timer and will reduce the hours it cuts when the weather is hot and the grass is not growing. I do tend to run the mower at night especially when the children are at home and playing in the garden. I have a GPS unit installed on the Automower (I believe this is now standard on many models) which allows me to change the schedule of when it runs on an iPhone app and it will also notify me of any errors.
If I lived in a neighborhood that was a bit sketchy, I think I would set my mower up to run only at night when prying eyes aren't aware.
It has security features. The mower will only work with the recharging base station. It has gps tracking and a pin code. If u lift the mower without inputting the pin it starts a high pitched continuous siren
Hello. Can you tell me if this robot mower with this kind of blades is able to cut weeds, maybe even the hard ones? Thank you
Hi Carlo, They are small stainless steel blades, similar to Stanley trimming knife blades. They will cut through the usual weed easily and have cut through small twigs that have fallen from the tree. Remember however, that once you start to use the Automower, it is always just taking off the very latest growth which is minimal. I have also found that the usual weeds like Dandelions get crowded out and eventually die off anyway.
where is this at what you call garden there we call yard or lawn :) mean nothing by it just striking up a ?
Good video, thanks - just a question - does the unit ever go OVER the boundary wire? I ask because I have a natural pond and for obvious reasons I don't want it to go in there. the boundary wire can be a few metres from it but I worry that it can get lost and go over the wire. Is that possible?
Hi Donna, No the Automower never actually goes over the wire. The front of the unit will go up to it but the front wheels will sit behind the front of the unit and the boundary wire. I know people that have installed them up to river banks, ponds and swimming pools with no issues. One works of advice though is that if the bank to the pond is sloping down towards it then I would place the wire a little further back - the units don't usually slip but I have had mine out when we have had a bad frost overnight and the wheels can then accumulate ice. Alternatively if your pond water level rises and lowers with rainfall also take that into consideration when deciding the boundary wire position.
@@Gerren Thanks for the reply, sounds like it's 'do'able' from your advice, much appreciated.
Nice video, I was wondering if the water from sprinklers is any problem, Thanks for any info you can give
I guess it will be like heavy rain, so no it won't affect it at all.
I want to get one of these Auto Mowers. But You see, My lawn is split in to TWO separate parts. As You open the gate to come in to the property the lawn in on one side of the drive way. And the rest of the lawn is on the other. And the drive way is concrete, and I do not now how it would stop hitting the car and other thing. It would be a little tricky. Putting a boundary wire to guide the machine would be hard to install. please help
Go to Husqvarna's website & download the manual for the Automower. It's in PDF format of about 100 pages. There's a large portion of it that explains tricky situations and Installations
How long does it take to finish the lawn? Or does it perpetually mow randomly?
Hi Blacksheep; Once up and running the Automower runs perpetually, although you can set the days of the week and times per day that it mows. The basic idea is that it constantly takes a minimal amount of the top of the grass, hence mulches at the same time. There is a weather timer that adjusts the Automaker if there has been significant rainfall or drought in summer for example and also it builds up an internal map of where in the garden the grass grows the most - in my garden, the grass under the tress in summer doesn't grow as much as the centre of the lawn and and Automower will spend more time in these areas. I tend to set my Automower not to come out at weekends and during the week set it to come out from 22:00 - 07:00 so never impacting on my day to day use
Good morning. Please can you tell me if thIS automower able to cut on a slope? We have 2 or 3 slopes in the front garden ( at the bottom there are fruit trees)? The other one is where and how do you recharge it? Thanks
Hi, Yes the Automower will handle slopes up to 45% or 21degrees. I have fruit trees in my garden and it has no problem mowing around them or in handling fallen fruit. It recharges itself in a base station and finds it's own way back after about an hour or so mowing, recharges and sets off again. It also docks itself there overnight or whenever you set the times for it to mow or not mow.
Hello, Gerren. Wonderful reviews! I have a couple questions for you from across the big pond. In the past, we have used a lawn service to provide a basic cut and trim every week. I am wondering if I could replace the lawn service with the automower? In the 18 months that you have owned and used the automower, has it performed sufficiently as your only method of grass cutting? Or do you have to occasionally pull out a hand mower and clean up areas that the automower misses or doesn't do a particular good on? How is your yard situated? I have about a 1/4-acre plot, and my house is right in the middle. So, I have a front yard and a back yard (I like how you call them gardens over there across the pond), and the two are separated by a gated fence. Our back yard is fenced in for our dogs. Does the automower have any issues continuing from the back yard into the front yard and getting at all the areas that need to be cut? Or is it better suited to be used in one continuous, uninterrupted lawn? Thanks!
Hi Robb, Thanks for the feedback. I have used the Automower now for 18 months and apart from changes the blades and the occasional clean, I haven't touched it at all. I do tidy up the edges every couple of weeks and used a streamer to do that and its just a 10 minute job. My lawn does wrap itself around the house and garage and my model (430X) has the option for 2 loop wires that go from the base station to the further reaches of your garden - it can go through garden gates etc. You then create a setting for the Automower to follow the loop wire when coming out of its base station after a charge say 20% of the time. Bottom line is that if you really want a service where you don't have to think about it all then an outside service may be better however the Automower, once set up is really easy with very little to do or worry about.
Thank you very much for your detailed reply!
When do you need to change the battery? I have old trees about 60 of them, limbs and twigs fall frequently. How does it do after a wind storm?
It charges itself when needed you don't do anything
i think the batteries need changing approx every 4 years of continuos use. I have a 450x and trees in my garden too, it doesn't bother it so much but will affect the blades and make them blunt quicker. I try to have a walk around a pick up twigs after a storm.
If you live in the UK and there's even the slightest chance of someone in the public seeing that mower - it will be stolen. My advice is to hire a private security guard to walk round with it. If you live in Japan you'll be fine though.
Excellent. Thank you.
Thanks for the feedback
Getting a 415x installed this Saturday. Just checking the uk plug, is it normal size?
Yes, the transformer comes with a standard UK plug
How's Parker?
Have you heard of any problems with them? Have a 450X. It's over 2 yes old and recently stopped a few times in middle of lawn as it was out of battery.
I opened it and saw that a connection from the battery to the motherboard is fried. Going into dealer tomorrow. I also have had to have the power pack replaced as it kept disconnecting the power.. apparently some of them are faulty.
Hi, No, the only issue I've had recently are the wheel motors needed replacing but that is after 7000 hours. My mower is now over 4 years old so I wonder if they have a quality control issue with some later models?
Thanks for an informative video. One question, we have a number of hedgehogs that visit our garden each night, is this mower safe around small wildlife such as hedgehogs?
Good shot placement with a .22 rifle will make sure they don't clog up your mower.
My Automower has never harmed a hedgehog or a cat; they move out of the way!
Robot mowers are known to disturb and potentially harm hedgehogs. But they can be set to not run at nighttime, if hedgehogs are prevalent. But I guess different models will have smaller or bigger risk to harm depending on system design.
Thanks for the reviews, Gerren! Can you tell me a little bit about how often you'll go out and trim the edges of your yard where the automower isn't quite able to reach?
Hi Dallas, I tend to go around the outside edges once every two weeks in summer and once a week in spring. It really does tend to depend on how fast the grass is growing. I cut the edge with a trimmer and as it's only a 20 - 30cm strip can complete the job in 10 mins
Thanks for the video. If I have abig Lawn with few trees, do I have to put guide wire around each tree? I am thunking of buy the AM at 430X thanks
Hi, not at all. I have several trees in the back garden and the Automower has either a bump sensor or in some of the newer models scan for them to avoid
@@Gerren Thanks heaps So only lay wire around the bounderies?
The only exception would be island flower beds where there is no vertical obstacle but here you come out from the boundary with the guide wire, around the flower bed and then when you return to the boundary place both cables (the one coming out to the boundary and the one returning) together. By placing cables together this cancels out the signal if that makes sense
@@Gerren Thanks heaps. Can't decide between Husqvana, Stihl or Worx (landroid). Any sugesstions? Happy New Year
This is a cool lawn mower gadgets but scared that this cool thing might get stolen . Thanks for sharing . Watching from 🇺🇸
I got the 310 and I happy with it, but I wish it was wireless... You have to put the boundary wires all around the yard...
Depending on your yard , you could also put an edging around so it will just hit the edging and turn around. I do thing the wire is easier though.
@@glenhomson301 No, it needs a boundary wire in any case or it won't even start.
@@joakimolsen5202 yes Joakim you are right. I didn't think of it like that.
Laying that boundary wire is so tedious!
It took me half a day to enclose 2/3 acres!!
But I haven’t walked behind, or ridden on, a mower since then!!!
12 years.
Latest models have ability to create virtual map in app. It's called "epos technology". No more boundary wires needed!
How would rain affect it. I live in Florida where it rains 2-3 times a day almost every day
Hi Blaze. I live in the Uk and rain is a daily part of life! I tun our Automower well into Autumn and early Winter. I live at the bottom of a hill and on clay and often get standing water. The Automower works better than a standard mower as it is light and cuts the lawn without making a mess. If there is standing water of say an inch or more then I keep the Automower in his house to prevent damage although they are completely weather sealed. I have no hesitation for example running the Automower in summer when it is showing it down in rain.
I take it that the pattern is "random"? Do you see any areas which (by chance) have not been gotten to yet?
watch the video!
@@speedbird737 I did. I asked the question after I watched the video. No help.
FROM THE VIDEO IF YOU LOOK YOU'LL SEE LOTS OF EM. THESE MOWERS BLOW,
When the mower starts out, it has obviously 'missed' the entire lawn, so I (and you) cannot tell from the video whether the mower has completed it's run and therefore whether it has missed any areas. AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO SHOUT.
I have one of these Automowers.
It’ll miss patches today, and mow some of them tomorrow.
Those it misses tomorrow it’ll mow the next day.
By next week I won’t be able to find missed patches.
Hi I just got the 430x installed. Can you tell what cutting high you use that gives you a good think looking lawn.
Hi Andy, Congratulations on your new 430x. I have just got mine out after the winter and so have started off at height setting 6. Once the lawn has been cut to that level I will then reduce to 5 and then 4 during the main summer months. I tend then to raise it to level 5 in the Autumn.
My wife owns one of those. His name is Roaming Gnome. 😂
I’m disabled and now all my kids moved out no one wants to mow my lawn. I’m thinking of getting one of these. It’s cheaper than paying someone $250 a fortnight to mow. Are the blades expensive?
No.
Hi Gerren, I have one of these and it saves me 2 hours every week in the Summer. I love it! Best thing I've ever brought. Have you ever cut your wire while doing garden bed maintenance, and if so, whats your best version of how you do the line repair? BTW, love your 'home' for your Parker, might just get my Dad to build me one for my 'Shaun'. Thanks from NZ, Michelle
Shaun of the lawn lol
We have daffodils and crocuses in the lawn. Will it just cut them down or whats the best way to protect them?
Hi, yes, in a standard wired loop around the garden, the Automower would indeed just cut down the daffodils as they grew and eventually kill them. I have however spoken to my dealer this morning who have a work around for this. Basically you can create a loop in the wire around the daffodils and connect to the main boundary loop with an outdoor 2 way 12v switch. In Sprint you switch on the prevent the Automower going into this space and then once the flowering season is over, switch off again and the Automower cuts this area as normal. I will look into it a bit more and maybe create a video to explain it in detail.
Thank you very much thats very helpful.
@@Gerren you should let them grow after the flowers are gone to store energy in the bulbs
@@Gerren I have the same issue which has partly prevented me from investing in a robot mower; could you please go into more detail as to how one can install this additional wiring system? Thanks
How often do you set it up to mow the lawn? We have a 310 and we have it full time set
I have a 450X. Try cutting back the time an hour or so at a time. Once you see uncut areas showing up, add 2 hours and you should be good
@@rodneykantorski736 thank you!
Each mower cuts so much per hour, u divide the area of ur lawn by that and that's how much time it needs to be out
@@Truthbomb918 very accurate!
What about the cut grass ?? There is no catch box .. doesn't it just build up ??
It cuts short bits each time so they just fall down and mulch, feeds the garden and stops weeds
Cutting height?
I have had a Husqvarna mower for about 12 years and had it serviced regularly. Recently after a check it goes into the charging station and comes out immediately and then stops. Is it likely that the battery needs to be replaced or do you have any other suggestion please
Hi, it does sound like it maybe the batteries. All dealers can hook your Automower up to a laptop and it will let them know the status of your batteries. I found that they last about 4 years of continual use before needing to be replaced.
U can check almost all the settings urself if u press and hold 7 and 9 in the menu u get extra settings to test just about everything and every sensor and motor urself. I used this to find out my wheel motor was faulty, took it apart, cleaned it, regreased it for €5 . main dealer would charge about €300 at least
I just take my petrol mower and do a round. It takes the leaves and make a fine powder of them. And that powder goes down in the lawn.
I think it is different climates and grass. Here everyone cuts real low. That is what kills the weeds, and makes the grass grow sideways. I use 40 mm, my next door neighbor 30 mm.
Yes, when you start lowering the height, a type of grass that have thinner blades takes over. You can find that type of grass on the green near the hole on golf courses. The best part of the robot is not the work. It is that you never have cut grass that is on top of the lawn. So the kids or you gets it on the shoes and then in the house.
Hi Gerren. Very useful video. You mention changing the blades every 6-8 weeks. Do you mean you sharpen them this often or you fit new ones? If so, are the replacement blades expensive? Thanks in advance.
Terry Towelling Hi, thanks for the feedback. The blades are disposable, very much like Stanley trimming blades. There are three underneath the Automower attached to a spinning disk via a screw. They cost about £1 a blade and I tend to replace them every 6-8 weeks.
Thanks Gerren.
would it work if i dont have a fenced in yard
how do you controll it
@@mario295816 Its mostly automatic once set up, but with the 450x and possibly a few others, you can control them to a certain degree with an app on your mobile phone.
What if the outomower goes to the street, how can you keep this thing in your property?
The thing is like with my flymo robot mower, there no point nicking it as u need docking station and cables that in ground to use it so useless just nicking the robot 😂
It rains sooo much in our area! Can I run my mower in the rain? I know in the website they said it can, but will you recommend? Thanks in advance!
Hi Annavie, Yes, I can fully recommend the Automower in the rain. I am now going into the third year with the Automower and we have had some very wet Springs and Autumns and the Automower has had no issues whatsoever. You do find that some small grass clipping stick a little to it (same as a normal mower) which I brush off once a week or so. I've taken a close look at the Automower and it is incredibly well sealed with a rubber gasket (similar to a waterproof watch).
It will work away in the rain, but if u have slopes then it's weight and lack of traction means it can slide outside the boundary wire and then it stops and sends u a message. U can buy larger wheels with more grip and little brushes to clean the grass off them, they do help but if it's heavy rain it will slide,
Oh what happens when it rains? Does it run and hide in its shed?
It just cuts away, rain doesn't bother it
Best investment I have made in years! Haven´t moved our law in two years as our little robot has done the job. The law is looking much better now because of the bio cut of the robot.
Does it miss spots? Yours is a big yard like mine and curious.
It’ll miss spots today,
and mow some of them tomorrow.
Those it misses tomorrow it’ll mow the day after.
By next week it’ll have mowed all the grass.
How about my Great Dane dog poop?
Hi. Could anyone post how safe these are with hedgehogs. I have a hog in the garden and would hate to harm her.
Just have the installers outline to garden area. Then it won't go where the hedgehog is
It could possibly hit the hedgehog but it couldn't run over it or cut it. I also think the hedgehog would just keep out of the way as the mower came towards it.
@@glenhomson301 I have had two "incidents" with hedgehogs and my automower over the last 12 years, one of which was fatal to the poor hog. Most of the times I imagine the hedgehogs curling up into a ball big enough to make to mower turn around after bumping into it, it's obviously no guarantee though. Newer models of the automower might be more sensitive, I had a 230ACX until recently when I got a 430X. So far no hog-related accidents with it :)
@@joakimolsen5202 HI Joakim, ok thanks for that answer, as you said maybe the newer versions are a little more sensative. I'd hope they don't run right over them but I don't think they would. Then again I don't want to find out to be honest, poor hedgehogs. I guess you could do a test with maybe a ball of paper or material could be of similar weight and texture. Personally I'd would of thought the hedgehog would of kept out of the way, after all they can certainly run faster than the mower!
Okay, this is the first time I've watched your automower video and I have to ask, what good does it do to mow a lawn that doesn't need mowing? Yes it rolls over the leaves but so does a remote controlled car. That thing isn't even picking the leaves up. It looks exactly the same after the mower goes over it as it does before.
I have an Automower 450X. The idea is that it just cuts 1/8 of an inch or so of grass when it cuts. Never any clippings in the yard. Grass always looks the same. Works absolutely great. I have about 3/4 acre of land & I have it go out 5 hours in the middle of the night to cut the grass, and it stays maintained.
It’s a different concept to traditional mowing. Traditional mowing once a week or when the weather is fine makes a bigger cut. Auto mowers continually work in all wethers just taking a tiny amount.
It’s called Maintenance
Thanks for the review. I find the leaves situation an issue - love not having to do the lawn but I also love how it looks after it’s made. I fee the auto mower will not deal with the leaves and therefore the lawn will look untidy - short grass not not a clean garden… just a tjought
how many Hours does you mower have on it now ?? and can you tell me your area that it mows(I know you stated it in one of your early videos)
Hi, The lawn is approx 3500 Square meters and I now have 3200 hours of running which is after 2 seasons of mowing. The batteries are still running fine with the mower still running the same amount of time before each charge.
Have you had to change your wheel/drive motors ? I have had to replace both of mine at around 2200 hours
opps---- forgot both motors were under warranty of course
i have a 1 acre yard with house/pool over 4 years of Florida mowing i have 64 hours on my cub cadet 48" deck ride on, just to give you a comparison Cutting varies year to year here dependent on how long the winter (lol) is. I tend to only cut 1 time during the months of Jan. and Feb. full time weekly cutting starts in march usually and by the rainy season I cut usually twice a week then slows down around Oct/Nov to once a week or bi monthly. I have St. Augustine grass. That is a lot of hours at 3200 for only 2 seasons! even with the small deck print. I think i would try the auto mower but i need a much higher grass height with augustine, i wouldnt even try it unless they gave me the ability to do 4 inch cuts, the heat here is too hot and would burn it out easily. We are restricted for as long as I've lived here to once per week watering.
Hi John, you can't really compare the two. With a traditional lawn mower you let the lawn grow over a week or so and then cut maybe an inch or two of growth depending on the weather and heat. With the Automower it is designed to take only the very top growth off continually so your lawn always looks mown. It will be interesting to see how long the Automower lasts before a motor, bearings etc need replacing but I will keep you updated.
If I don't have to cut the grass.... It's efficient enough for me!!
Is this safe with kids (my own or neighborhood kids$?
Yes they are perfectly safe with kids. If it senses something in the way it will slow ans bump into it and turn around without harming them. Also if the kids pick up the mower it will turn off and stop spinning the blades immediately.
Absolutely, I've 4 dogs that sleep on the lawn, mower will bump into them and stop and change direction, no harm to the dogs bar waking them up
I cut grass across the street from a house that has one of these it goes around and around in circles for the whole time I'm there
What's the main difference between 430x and 450x?
Speed and the area it can cover.
Also has 2 batteries
Hi there, It does seem like a great mower but your videos never show Parker actually in "Cut" mode. He just runs around, not appearing to cut a thing or move any leaves. Show him under power to make it a convincing video, please.
Lou Lou only a very very small amount of grass is cut each day ( a days growth ) and each blade only contacts around 1cm of it at any one moment. You won’t see the cut unless it’s started on an uncut lawn and set well below the grasses current hight.
Our bahia grass grows tall fast. That factor and the vast size of our property, makes this luxury item unfeasible for us. Interesting though. Just the practicality of that application here is nonsense. Would be great for my folk's lazy neighbor in the suburbs maybe.
LOOKS LIKE THE BATMOBILE !
Original Gardena knife
3031
Lol... you need a lawn tractor
My 435 AWD has been in repair shop for 3 months now. I am paying monthly payments on my automower on top of monthly payments to a local lawn service. The company is completely unresponsive and unsympathetic to my situation. How long is too long for a repair? This was a known factory defect. European customers were compensated with cash payments. If this were a new car purchase the dealer would provide a loaner. I don’t understand how husqvarna can stand by these business practices.
DO NOT BUY AN AUTOMOWER
It looks like a blind person cut the lawn, and it runs right over the leaves.
who cares if it's efficient i'm not moving the lawn....thats your problem!!!!!
Krap with a capital K. Why isn’t it cutting up the leaves? Well...it’s a piece of shit.
Lawns are a massive waste of resources and require tons of toxic chemicals. If you feel you need a lawn get two goats.
That all depends on where the lawn is, doesn't it?
Goats need fencing in and shit everywhere!
Goats will produce methane and cover ur lawn in droppings