Automower recommendations

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DannyBoyD

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After 5 years continuous service, my poor old Husqvarna is likely facing its EOL.

I'm thinking to go for a wireless version this time round.

Not sure if I should stay w Husqvarna or jump to another brand; I'm sure lots has changed in 5 years.

Lawn area around 500m2.

Recommendations?
 
This guy has at least 1 video on such devices, but his career is tools

youtube.com

Dean Doherty

I do NOT take in any extra tools for repair. I am a tool repair technician based in co Donegal in Ireland. I repair all brands and types of power tools new and old for a living. For me, professional power tools should be reliable, repairable and should last year's. Working with all tools...
youtube.com youtube.com
 
We have a Husqvarna that is still going strong after a lot of abuse, so I would probably go for another myself. Wireless has made a lot of progress so I would definitely be tempted to swap to it.

Kress are also getting a very good name, worth a look I’d say.
 
Yeah I’d guess they’re all recouping R&D costs on the wireless at the moment. Might be better to do another 5 years with a wired one then swap
 
Husqvarna spares are pretty widely available, if not the cheapest! I've recently replaced the battery on mine.

I'd still be concerned about wireless unless you have good physical boundaries to limit where they operate. Domestic grade GPS just isn't all that accurate. I've the 415X which uses a boundary wire, but has GPS in order to allow you specify areas to avoid. It very regularly strays several meters beyond the limit I had set.

Some of the better wireless ones are using lidar or additional sensors, but those options all cost more than a simple wire signal detector.
 
On the Husky over the last 5 years, I had to get repairs to boundary / guide wire about 3 or 4 times (€180 a pop) replaced the two main wheels (80ish) & the back wheel (another 40ish).

Also upgraded the push connectors for the guide / boundary wires on the charging station - it costs pennies, so why manufacturers skimp on this I dont know.

The main irritation with the Husky was the boundary wire breaking & getting that repaired. And spring set up never seemed simple.

So for better or worse I got the Segway Navimow. Delivered this morning.

Set up was pretty painless & its cheerfully mowing away.

The attenna positioning is important & the supplied ground spike works well enough. But I'm thinking I might mount on a wall for longevity.

Quality wise the connections / cabling are streets ahead of the old Husky. So I'm hopeful setting up each spring will be easier.

Either way - its a joy not to have to cut grass!
 
DannyBoyD said:
I had to get repairs to boundary / guide wire about 3 or 4 times (€180 a pop)
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Wire repairs are very DIYable. Buying some wire and a few connectors would have cost a fraction of one of those call outs. In fact even adding a break detector wouldn't have cost €180.
 
DannyBoyD said:
I'm pretty handy & I tried; pure frustration!
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I had a couple over the years, but just adding a little extra section of wire and a connector each end was pretty simple. There's no wire stripping or anything required, just insert two wire ends into the special connector and press close with a pliers,

I had added a little extra wire in a couple of places where I thought I might need it to accommodate changes in the garden layout but of course the breaks happened nowhere near those.

DannyBoyD said:
Thems the magic words!
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Regular cable continuity testers are ~€25 and up and worth every penny if you're unsure where the break is. In my case I didn't need one as the cause of each break was pretty obvious. Even the pro-grade tools aren't all that expensive.
 
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