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My New Husqvarna Robot Lawnmower
#1
B
BigNutz
B
BigNutz
Yes, I know, I won't find many allies here, after all, isn't it a homeowner's solemn right and duty to mow the property with pride and enthusiasm? Well, I won't give you any BS about not having time, or family commitments, because I don't. The truth is, I'm lazy, I have orange hair (which makes me allergic to outside and nature), and my kid who I used to make more the lawn did exactly what I had hoped his entire life, he left after high school. More specifically he enlisted in the Air Force and is just living life right now.
So last summer after he left, it didn't dawn on me until about week 14 that there were not going to be any magical dancing midgets who would magically mow my grass, and things for real. Fellas (gender non-specific), my poor dog was even having trouble finding a place where the grass was mostly bent over under its own weight so she could discharge her processed kibble without being tickled.
Thank GOD I don't live in some sub division where some recent retiree with an HOA clipboard would have pestered me to no end. I have 2 neighbors that could have cared, but you know what? They didn't, because they are the best neighbors on earth, and I make sure they know this.
I did actually go see it a go, but alas, it was too late. A 26 HP twin cylinder Briggs & Stratton sounds great, but if somewhere between an optimized mixture of gasoline and air meeting a spark and the three blades of glory showing the grass who's boss, an engineer decided to go with a rubber belt, because it's less expensive and complex than a clutched direct drive, it mine as well be ½ HP steam engine. I made it through 1½ passes before the trouble started showing itself in the form of belt squealing and eventually black smoke with a chemical burn oder. The engine didn't care, I was asking for all 26 horses, and she was delivering, all the way until that belt ceased existing as a belt, and emerged into the world as small 6 I strips of burnt useless rubber.
I kid you not, when the day of reckoning finally fell, I was actually very close to hiring no fewer than 25 goats, who would over 3 days replace what was now a hay field of grass with that same grass, only in condensed form. Oh, my friends and coworkers were excited at the prospect. The plan was to invite everyone over, bring a lawn chair, bring beer, sit, get drunk, watch goats, get more drunk, lose bet and attempt to mount a goat, get kicked in the face by goat, drink more, etc.
But alas, it was not to be. It was going to cost me $700 to "rent" the goats for those three days. Entertainment value notwithstanding, it seemed to me that I was in fact providing 3 days of food for the aforementioned beasts, and it were I who should be compensated. And no, I know what you're thinking, NO, they don't take the goat poo when the goats leave. It's like having a party for someone you don't know at your house where you pay for everything... And all the guests poo all over the lawn.
When I compared that to the $350 professional grounds keeping quote I was looking at, the choice was not difficult. I do, however sometimes regret not going with the goats. In the big scheme of things, that ~$400 wouldn't mean anything, but the stories would be legendary!
This year, with every passing day of slightly warmer temperatures, an anxiety filled my heart. I couldn't even get ahead of the mowing if I wasn't lazy and wanted to. The stupid mower does I in the exactly the same position it was shamefully left in the day it quit on me, and quit on America. I don't remember precisely what compelled me to look into it, but I began exploring robots, robots that mow grass.
What I was expecting and what I found couldn't have been more divergent if I had tried to make them.. divergent. I expected an immature, beta testing, bug filled nightmare of an industry sector, and in since cases I did. But there seemed to be a lot of attention being paid to one manufacturer in particular. Not a company which only made robots that cut grass with some stupid millennial name. Not a bargain brand known for cutting corners, and which everyone considers to be disposable. No, this was a consumer and commercial lawn equipment designer, innovator, and highly respected benchmark setting company with a storied history of high quality and long lasting equipment.
Husqvarna, those beautiful Swedish kids were leading the industry in this emerging sector, and from what I was reading, they seemed to have worked out most of the kinks.
It is by far, the absolutely most satisfying purchase I have made in decades! I ran the boundary wire, turned it on, and THAT'S IT! It mows all day and all night because it's nearly silent, it mows less if the grass isn't growing, it mows more where the grass is thicker, it is AWESOME! In a nod to a good to be never had, I named him Mr. Goat, and folks I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love Mr. Goat, I love every brilliant circuit running him.
Yes I realize that once the machines develop self awareness, Mr. Goat will likely kill me, but it will all be worth it!!
So last summer after he left, it didn't dawn on me until about week 14 that there were not going to be any magical dancing midgets who would magically mow my grass, and things for real. Fellas (gender non-specific), my poor dog was even having trouble finding a place where the grass was mostly bent over under its own weight so she could discharge her processed kibble without being tickled.
Thank GOD I don't live in some sub division where some recent retiree with an HOA clipboard would have pestered me to no end. I have 2 neighbors that could have cared, but you know what? They didn't, because they are the best neighbors on earth, and I make sure they know this.
I did actually go see it a go, but alas, it was too late. A 26 HP twin cylinder Briggs & Stratton sounds great, but if somewhere between an optimized mixture of gasoline and air meeting a spark and the three blades of glory showing the grass who's boss, an engineer decided to go with a rubber belt, because it's less expensive and complex than a clutched direct drive, it mine as well be ½ HP steam engine. I made it through 1½ passes before the trouble started showing itself in the form of belt squealing and eventually black smoke with a chemical burn oder. The engine didn't care, I was asking for all 26 horses, and she was delivering, all the way until that belt ceased existing as a belt, and emerged into the world as small 6 I strips of burnt useless rubber.
I kid you not, when the day of reckoning finally fell, I was actually very close to hiring no fewer than 25 goats, who would over 3 days replace what was now a hay field of grass with that same grass, only in condensed form. Oh, my friends and coworkers were excited at the prospect. The plan was to invite everyone over, bring a lawn chair, bring beer, sit, get drunk, watch goats, get more drunk, lose bet and attempt to mount a goat, get kicked in the face by goat, drink more, etc.
But alas, it was not to be. It was going to cost me $700 to "rent" the goats for those three days. Entertainment value notwithstanding, it seemed to me that I was in fact providing 3 days of food for the aforementioned beasts, and it were I who should be compensated. And no, I know what you're thinking, NO, they don't take the goat poo when the goats leave. It's like having a party for someone you don't know at your house where you pay for everything... And all the guests poo all over the lawn.
When I compared that to the $350 professional grounds keeping quote I was looking at, the choice was not difficult. I do, however sometimes regret not going with the goats. In the big scheme of things, that ~$400 wouldn't mean anything, but the stories would be legendary!
This year, with every passing day of slightly warmer temperatures, an anxiety filled my heart. I couldn't even get ahead of the mowing if I wasn't lazy and wanted to. The stupid mower does I in the exactly the same position it was shamefully left in the day it quit on me, and quit on America. I don't remember precisely what compelled me to look into it, but I began exploring robots, robots that mow grass.
What I was expecting and what I found couldn't have been more divergent if I had tried to make them.. divergent. I expected an immature, beta testing, bug filled nightmare of an industry sector, and in since cases I did. But there seemed to be a lot of attention being paid to one manufacturer in particular. Not a company which only made robots that cut grass with some stupid millennial name. Not a bargain brand known for cutting corners, and which everyone considers to be disposable. No, this was a consumer and commercial lawn equipment designer, innovator, and highly respected benchmark setting company with a storied history of high quality and long lasting equipment.
Husqvarna, those beautiful Swedish kids were leading the industry in this emerging sector, and from what I was reading, they seemed to have worked out most of the kinks.
It is by far, the absolutely most satisfying purchase I have made in decades! I ran the boundary wire, turned it on, and THAT'S IT! It mows all day and all night because it's nearly silent, it mows less if the grass isn't growing, it mows more where the grass is thicker, it is AWESOME! In a nod to a good to be never had, I named him Mr. Goat, and folks I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love Mr. Goat, I love every brilliant circuit running him.
Yes I realize that once the machines develop self awareness, Mr. Goat will likely kill me, but it will all be worth it!!
#2
cpurvis
cpurvis
Congratulations! How many acres will one of those contraptions do? I, too, have enjoyed about as much mowing as I can stand.
Like the way you told about it, too!
And welcome to the forum!
Like the way you told about it, too!
And welcome to the forum!
#3
B
BigNutz
So they claim up to 1.4 acres for the biggest consumer model. They have a Pro model which I believe is a little bigger, but I could never find anything on it. I decided on the model just below the biggest which is listed as .8 acres. I only have about .25 acres to mow, however I've never been one to shy away from overkill.
I'm a pilot and was a Black Hawk crewchief in the Army, so I'm well conditioned to a doctrine which states in no uncertain terms
"There shall be no measure of excess or reserve power available to the operator of a machine great enough to be considered to be 'enough' or 'too much' for a certain set of variables. Further, a deliberate effort to test this claim shall be undertook eden an opportunity to do so becomes apparent, by any purveyor of machines without exception or excuse. Failure to comply shall result in a period of Amish shunning for a duration no less than a fortnight."
I've got some pretty steep grades I need it to crawl up as well, so I took a handicap for that.
All that aside, what eventually convinced me to purchase a 430XH over the next step down model, a 315 (which also listed .8 acres as maximum area) was a few review articles and YouTube videos. They all varied slightly in focus, but a few actually focused on and addressed specifically what I needed to know, why would I pay an extra few hundred dollars for a model which lists the same maximum coverage?
The common message was that if you were pondering which model for a almost any reason, you will not regret going with the 430. I figured that this would be justified by the standard brovado, and would be obfuscated under a thin veil of ambiguous untested comparisons, like racing then or something. However, this was not at all what I learned.
While all the reviewers always have a courtesy caveat which made sure it was well understood that both mowers were Husqvarna products, and both deserved to wear that badge. However, once the niceties subsided, I learned that when one gets into the guts of the mowers, a far larger delta in build quality and materials than I expected was apparent. The motor, battery, and features found in the 315 were a minimum 1-2 tiers below what was found with the 415.
Moving to the largest model, the 450, didn't pass my cost/ benefit analysis with respect to gained capabilities. The benefit was limited to a larger maximum coverage area in account of a larger battery, with nothing more of note. The additional $700 to upgrade was instead used to purchase a 3D printer, so I'm sure you can understand why I ignored my own doctrine!
One other detail which both helped push me up to the 430, as well as compelled me to pass on the 450 related to a specific capability new to the 430 this year. Previous year of the model I purchased were designated as 430X. As I mentioned above, my mowers model designation is 430XH. What's that "H" get me? About 3/4".
Apparently one of the most common complaints levied on the Husqvarna Barn of BadAssery by owners of all AutoMower models was that it cut the grass shorter than they would like, and offers no options to mitigate the issue. The 430XH is the first of the new line which is configured to enable an additional 3/4" higher cut. In my experience, cutting too short invites weed, patching, and homeless hookers.... Just seeing of you're still with me, everyone knows the homeless hookers loath any lawn not buzzcut to the dirt.
I'll finish up by saying "Thanks Brother"!! Believe me, my shirking of brevity and long winded mini novels are very much a case of one loving or hating my prose. If a hater tries to hate, I explain to them that they should probably get over themselves. I don't write what I write for them, I write for me. Me and his like you! I have a huge file on the computer designated "Nonsensicals" where I store all of my poetry (the two posts here are the latest contributions) to have and make archeologists at some point 4000 years from now determine that we were all insane.
B
BigNutz
Congratulations! How many acres will one of those contraptions do? I, too, have enjoyed about as much mowing as I can stand.
Like the way you told about it, too!
And welcome to the forum!
So they claim up to 1.4 acres for the biggest consumer model. They have a Pro model which I believe is a little bigger, but I could never find anything on it. I decided on the model just below the biggest which is listed as .8 acres. I only have about .25 acres to mow, however I've never been one to shy away from overkill.
I'm a pilot and was a Black Hawk crewchief in the Army, so I'm well conditioned to a doctrine which states in no uncertain terms
"There shall be no measure of excess or reserve power available to the operator of a machine great enough to be considered to be 'enough' or 'too much' for a certain set of variables. Further, a deliberate effort to test this claim shall be undertook eden an opportunity to do so becomes apparent, by any purveyor of machines without exception or excuse. Failure to comply shall result in a period of Amish shunning for a duration no less than a fortnight."
I've got some pretty steep grades I need it to crawl up as well, so I took a handicap for that.
All that aside, what eventually convinced me to purchase a 430XH over the next step down model, a 315 (which also listed .8 acres as maximum area) was a few review articles and YouTube videos. They all varied slightly in focus, but a few actually focused on and addressed specifically what I needed to know, why would I pay an extra few hundred dollars for a model which lists the same maximum coverage?
The common message was that if you were pondering which model for a almost any reason, you will not regret going with the 430. I figured that this would be justified by the standard brovado, and would be obfuscated under a thin veil of ambiguous untested comparisons, like racing then or something. However, this was not at all what I learned.
While all the reviewers always have a courtesy caveat which made sure it was well understood that both mowers were Husqvarna products, and both deserved to wear that badge. However, once the niceties subsided, I learned that when one gets into the guts of the mowers, a far larger delta in build quality and materials than I expected was apparent. The motor, battery, and features found in the 315 were a minimum 1-2 tiers below what was found with the 415.
Moving to the largest model, the 450, didn't pass my cost/ benefit analysis with respect to gained capabilities. The benefit was limited to a larger maximum coverage area in account of a larger battery, with nothing more of note. The additional $700 to upgrade was instead used to purchase a 3D printer, so I'm sure you can understand why I ignored my own doctrine!
One other detail which both helped push me up to the 430, as well as compelled me to pass on the 450 related to a specific capability new to the 430 this year. Previous year of the model I purchased were designated as 430X. As I mentioned above, my mowers model designation is 430XH. What's that "H" get me? About 3/4".
Apparently one of the most common complaints levied on the Husqvarna Barn of BadAssery by owners of all AutoMower models was that it cut the grass shorter than they would like, and offers no options to mitigate the issue. The 430XH is the first of the new line which is configured to enable an additional 3/4" higher cut. In my experience, cutting too short invites weed, patching, and homeless hookers.... Just seeing of you're still with me, everyone knows the homeless hookers loath any lawn not buzzcut to the dirt.
I'll finish up by saying "Thanks Brother"!! Believe me, my shirking of brevity and long winded mini novels are very much a case of one loving or hating my prose. If a hater tries to hate, I explain to them that they should probably get over themselves. I don't write what I write for them, I write for me. Me and his like you! I have a huge file on the computer designated "Nonsensicals" where I store all of my poetry (the two posts here are the latest contributions) to have and make archeologists at some point 4000 years from now determine that we were all insane.
#4
7394
7394
Welcome & good luck with that..
Is 3/4" as tall as it will mow ?
Is 3/4" as tall as it will mow ?
#5
B
BigNutz
No sir, the new model was enabled to cut 3/4" taller than the previous models. In not certain of the actual cut heights though.
B
BigNutz
Welcome & good luck with that..
Is 3/4" as tall as it will mow ?
No sir, the new model was enabled to cut 3/4" taller than the previous models. In not certain of the actual cut heights though.
#6
7394
Appreciate yer reply, but that doesn't really answer my question.. 3/4" taller that what ?
I mow @ 3.5" till summer when I go to 4 inch tall.
7394
No sir, the new model was enabled to cut 3/4" taller than the previous models. In not certain of the actual cut heights though.
Appreciate yer reply, but that doesn't really answer my question.. 3/4" taller that what ?
I mow @ 3.5" till summer when I go to 4 inch tall.
#7
B
bjoecool
B
bjoecool
BigNutz, I recently bought the Automower 430XH for all of the same reasons. We must have read the same reviews and watched the same videos. I started to install the wire, then paused in order to minimize the number of splices while we finish planting obstacles (trees, fire pit, etc.) that will need to be wired around. We have a hill in the backyard that is hazardous to mow, so this mower is meant to resolve that problem and save time spent on a chore that I do not enjoy.
I really want to get a doghouse for the charging station in order to offer some protection to the mower while it is charging, even though it will be doing it's job come rain or shine. I've seen some promising videos, but no detailed instructions to build or modify a store-bought doghouse. Is this something that you have looked into?
I really want to get a doghouse for the charging station in order to offer some protection to the mower while it is charging, even though it will be doing it's job come rain or shine. I've seen some promising videos, but no detailed instructions to build or modify a store-bought doghouse. Is this something that you have looked into?
#8
B
bjoecool
For the Automower 430XH, the cutting height min-max is 2-3.6 inches. More details available on the product page. https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/automower-430xh/967852905/
B
bjoecool
Appreciate yer reply, but that doesn't really answer my question.. 3/4" taller that what ?
I mow @ 3.5" till summer when I go to 4 inch tall.
For the Automower 430XH, the cutting height min-max is 2-3.6 inches. More details available on the product page. https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/automower-430xh/967852905/
#9
7394
7394
Thanks for the reply & link.
#10
Glenn Yee
Glenn Yee
I can totally relate to your struggle with lawn maintenance and the unexpected joy you found in a robotic lawnmower. The convenience and efficiency of the Husqvarna mower seem to have won you over completely. Just remember, when the machines rise, your love for Mr. Goat might come with some unintended consequences. Nonetheless, enjoy your beautifully maintained lawn!
#11
Tiger Small Engine
Tiger Small Engine
A friend of mine sells these with installation and service for homeowners. I don’t think they will ever become a real factor in market share of mower sales. However, as people become more and more lazy, you never know.I can totally relate to your struggle with lawn maintenance and the unexpected joy you found in a robotic lawnmower. The convenience and efficiency of the Husqvarna mower seem to have won you over completely. Just remember, when the machines rise, your love for Mr. Goat might come with some unintended consequences. Nonetheless, enjoy your beautifully maintained lawn!
#12
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Good for city folks
The new houses now days are being built on blocks as small as 350 Sq yards
A "large family sized block" is 600 yds ( well meters really but close enough )
Apparently the greedy developers want to turn the entire country into anothe Beruit / St Paulo or any other crowded out city .
The new houses now days are being built on blocks as small as 350 Sq yards
A "large family sized block" is 600 yds ( well meters really but close enough )
Apparently the greedy developers want to turn the entire country into anothe Beruit / St Paulo or any other crowded out city .