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Robot lawn mowers
Comments
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I guess the advantage of cutting it three or four time more frequently than you do would be enough to ensure the amount being clipped off each blade is so small that is can act as a fast-breaking down mulch.charltonkeston said:
I cut mine twice a week in the summer, there is know way the grass will break down that quickly and act as a dressing. I know Forest Green use one on their pitch but I bet the groundmen do more work ie rack out the dead leaf. Decent pitches and lawns you can see ground through the grass.Chizz said:
How I understand it is that a robot mower takes off such small amounts of grass at a time, the resultant mulch can compost very quickly. Whereas a once-a-week mow with a traditional mower will cut off bigger bits of grass which would take longer to break down.Dave Rudd said:The bit I don't get is what happens to the clippings.
I understand that the robot only chops off small bits ... but it's doing it repeatedly. And, at the end of the day, the same amount of grass will grow irrespective of the type of mower.
That means that the lawn is full of (small bits of) dead grass. This is a bad thing.
Is there a robot scarifier too?
Also what about the edges? If you have to cut those manually I cant see much point in have a robot doing half a job.
One the mowers - Worx - has a setting that makes the mower cut the perimeter of the lawn (or areas) once or twice a week (however you set it). So the edges get trimmed as well as the main body of the lawn.
By "half a job", I assume you mean cutting the lawn is one half of the job and trimming the edges and perimeter of the lawn area is the other half. I suppose the attraction of a robot mower is for those people who can't, or don't want to, do both "halves" of that job several times a week.0 -
You cannot compare cutting your grass with a mower and a robot. As said above the robot goes out and cuts the grass daily or every other day twice a day for an hour, if you cut your grass with a mower every other day for a an hour I doubt you would get anything off.charltonkeston said:
I cut mine twice a week in the summer, there is know way the grass will break down that quickly and act as a dressing. I know Forest Green use one on their pitch but I bet the groundmen do more work ie rack out the dead leaf. Decent pitches and lawns you can see ground through the grass.Chizz said:
How I understand it is that a robot mower takes off such small amounts of grass at a time, the resultant mulch can compost very quickly. Whereas a once-a-week mow with a traditional mower will cut off bigger bits of grass which would take longer to break down.Dave Rudd said:The bit I don't get is what happens to the clippings.
I understand that the robot only chops off small bits ... but it's doing it repeatedly. And, at the end of the day, the same amount of grass will grow irrespective of the type of mower.
That means that the lawn is full of (small bits of) dead grass. This is a bad thing.
Is there a robot scarifier too?
Also what about the edges? If you have to cut those manually I cant see much point in have a robot doing half a job.
Not sure what he did with the edges but the set up seemed to suit him.0 -
An advantage of cutting grass more frequently is the tufts of grass respond by producing horizontal blades from the foot of the plant, resulting in a lusher, finer lawn. Constant cutting doesn't appear to have has a detrimental effect on my neighbour's lawn.eaststandmike said:
You cannot compare cutting your grass with a mower and a robot. As said above the robot goes out and cuts the grass daily or every other day twice a day for an hour, if you cut your grass with a mower every other day for a an hour I doubt you would get anything off.charltonkeston said:
I cut mine twice a week in the summer, there is know way the grass will break down that quickly and act as a dressing. I know Forest Green use one on their pitch but I bet the groundmen do more work ie rack out the dead leaf. Decent pitches and lawns you can see ground through the grass.Chizz said:
How I understand it is that a robot mower takes off such small amounts of grass at a time, the resultant mulch can compost very quickly. Whereas a once-a-week mow with a traditional mower will cut off bigger bits of grass which would take longer to break down.Dave Rudd said:The bit I don't get is what happens to the clippings.
I understand that the robot only chops off small bits ... but it's doing it repeatedly. And, at the end of the day, the same amount of grass will grow irrespective of the type of mower.
That means that the lawn is full of (small bits of) dead grass. This is a bad thing.
Is there a robot scarifier too?
Also what about the edges? If you have to cut those manually I cant see much point in have a robot doing half a job.
Not sure what he did with the edges but the set up seemed to suit him.
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As said above the guy I was working for/talking to had one of the best lawns I have seen, bowling green short, weed free, even blades of grass, as you say no tufty bits and lush. All down to his little robot.Hex said:
An advantage of cutting grass more frequently is the tufts of grass respond by producing horizontal blades from the foot of the plant, resulting in a lusher, finer lawn. Constant cutting doesn't appear to have has a detrimental effect on my neighbour's lawn.eaststandmike said:
You cannot compare cutting your grass with a mower and a robot. As said above the robot goes out and cuts the grass daily or every other day twice a day for an hour, if you cut your grass with a mower every other day for a an hour I doubt you would get anything off.charltonkeston said:
I cut mine twice a week in the summer, there is know way the grass will break down that quickly and act as a dressing. I know Forest Green use one on their pitch but I bet the groundmen do more work ie rack out the dead leaf. Decent pitches and lawns you can see ground through the grass.Chizz said:
How I understand it is that a robot mower takes off such small amounts of grass at a time, the resultant mulch can compost very quickly. Whereas a once-a-week mow with a traditional mower will cut off bigger bits of grass which would take longer to break down.Dave Rudd said:The bit I don't get is what happens to the clippings.
I understand that the robot only chops off small bits ... but it's doing it repeatedly. And, at the end of the day, the same amount of grass will grow irrespective of the type of mower.
That means that the lawn is full of (small bits of) dead grass. This is a bad thing.
Is there a robot scarifier too?
Also what about the edges? If you have to cut those manually I cant see much point in have a robot doing half a job.
Not sure what he did with the edges but the set up seemed to suit him.0 -
It's down to frequent cutting and a robot makes that easier.eaststandmike said:
As said above the guy I was working for/talking to had one of the best lawns I have seen, bowling green short, weed free, even blades of grass, as you say no tufty bits and lush. All down to his little robot.Hex said:
An advantage of cutting grass more frequently is the tufts of grass respond by producing horizontal blades from the foot of the plant, resulting in a lusher, finer lawn. Constant cutting doesn't appear to have has a detrimental effect on my neighbour's lawn.eaststandmike said:
You cannot compare cutting your grass with a mower and a robot. As said above the robot goes out and cuts the grass daily or every other day twice a day for an hour, if you cut your grass with a mower every other day for a an hour I doubt you would get anything off.charltonkeston said:
I cut mine twice a week in the summer, there is know way the grass will break down that quickly and act as a dressing. I know Forest Green use one on their pitch but I bet the groundmen do more work ie rack out the dead leaf. Decent pitches and lawns you can see ground through the grass.Chizz said:
How I understand it is that a robot mower takes off such small amounts of grass at a time, the resultant mulch can compost very quickly. Whereas a once-a-week mow with a traditional mower will cut off bigger bits of grass which would take longer to break down.Dave Rudd said:The bit I don't get is what happens to the clippings.
I understand that the robot only chops off small bits ... but it's doing it repeatedly. And, at the end of the day, the same amount of grass will grow irrespective of the type of mower.
That means that the lawn is full of (small bits of) dead grass. This is a bad thing.
Is there a robot scarifier too?
Also what about the edges? If you have to cut those manually I cant see much point in have a robot doing half a job.
Not sure what he did with the edges but the set up seemed to suit him.
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I’ve got one, a Bosch, and I love it. Due to the mulching ( discussed above) my grass now actually looks like what the Czechs call an “Anglicky travnik” (English lawn) with super neat tramlines in a uniformly lush area, whereas before the arrival of “Gunther” about 30% was pale and scraggy despite all my efforts. It’s not a big lawn and there’s a tree in the middle and the electric corded mower used to piss me off.That said, it’s naughty of Bosch to suggest that customers can do the cable laying easy-peasy, especially if you have odd bits down a bit of a slope, or trees and other fixed objects. We had to pay quite a lot extra for their cable-laying service. Also Gunther Snr last year kept stopping outside the perimeter, and you have to retrieve it manually. Which is especially bad when you go on your two week holiday…after a lot of hell raising, Bosch eventually conceded that it had a terminal fault. Gunther Jnr is almost faultless, although Sod’s law dictated that he too found an “Obstruction” 3 days into our hoildays.Actually I find the borders of taller grass quite nice because they are very neat. I just trimmed them a few times. The best bit is that the constant cloud of “gotta do the lawn” was lifted from my mind. This summer we grew a lot more veggies, and there was quite enough to do while Gunther trundled around doing his job. A great machine!“Gunther”? My wife’s idea. Being a Bosch he is German, so Gunther Grass, geddit? Not Gunter, Chris….2
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In that case I'm 90% converted. Back garden sounds great, once you sort out the perimeter guide. The 10% I don't like, is it doing the front garden by itself unattended. I have strong feeling someone would nick it and for that reason alone I would cut the front manually.
I might put one on my Christmas list.0 -
Had a couple of ride on mowers but, like everyones else's it appears, I spent more time fixing them or searching for parts onlne than actually using them to cut the herb.
If we were staying here, the plan was to do what was mentioned above and get a couple of goats for the main lawn and cut the other parts with petrol push mower. As it is now, I just wait for the lawn to get to knee height, then do it with a brush cutter (helps to encourage more wildlife n all). Use the push alomg still for the other parts and small rear lawn.0 -
How does it cope with dog sh*t?
if it picks that up, I'm buying one immediately!
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They have anti theft devices, including being digitally tethered to the docking station, meaning that, if someone nicks it, it won't work.charltonkeston said:In that case I'm 90% converted. Back garden sounds great, once you sort out the perimeter guide. The 10% I don't like, is it doing the front garden by itself unattended. I have strong feeling someone would nick it and for that reason alone I would cut the front manually.
I might put one on my Christmas list.2 - Sponsored links:
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It does if they take the docking station n allChizz said:
They have anti theft devices, including being digitally tethered to the docking station, meaning that, if someone nicks it, it won't work.charltonkeston said:In that case I'm 90% converted. Back garden sounds great, once you sort out the perimeter guide. The 10% I don't like, is it doing the front garden by itself unattended. I have strong feeling someone would nick it and for that reason alone I would cut the front manually.
I might put one on my Christmas list.0 -
Yes, if they take the signing station and uproot the cable, it's possible that it could be nicked. But cutting the front lawn won't significantly add to the risk. And if someone is concerned about that all being taken, then they'll hardly be assured that a 'normal' mower wouldn't be stolen.Gribbo said:
It does if they take the docking station n allChizz said:
They have anti theft devices, including being digitally tethered to the docking station, meaning that, if someone nicks it, it won't work.charltonkeston said:In that case I'm 90% converted. Back garden sounds great, once you sort out the perimeter guide. The 10% I don't like, is it doing the front garden by itself unattended. I have strong feeling someone would nick it and for that reason alone I would cut the front manually.
I might put one on my Christmas list.0 -
I take it, you don’t sing “one man went to mow” whilst doing it.JohnBoyUK said:I love my petrol mower and the 20-30 mins it takes me to cut the lawn gives me peace from the wife and kids twice a week.
Shame I havent got a couple of acres to mow
Must admit to being lazy though, our gardener trims the edge for me as I cant be faffing with the trimmer or half-moon spade, absolutely kills my back!0 -
Why not, we've got a robot manager.Dave Rudd said:We're just not thinking, are we?
Step back and look at the big picture ... we should field eleven robot lawn mowers against Accrington on Tuesday.
I'll give Adkins a call.0 -
I have a synthetic lawn, no need for mowing - sooperb, we got it because the dogs pee killed the grass, (and I slid over when taking him out one rainy night), so this lawn is specially for pets, so far its been 2 years and it still looks good, no smells and just has the occasional brooming. Pisses off the Blackbirds though.
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What brand of synthetic grass did you use? Mine whiffs of pee from time to time and I have to treat it with an enzymatic cleaner to sort it out.Hal1x said:I have a synthetic lawn, no need for mowing - sooperb, we got it because the dogs pee killed the grass, (and I slid over when taking him out one rainy night), so this lawn is specially for pets, so far its been 2 years and it still looks good, no smells and just has the occasional brooming. Pisses off the Blackbirds though.0 -
Gawd knows we got it from a specialist supplier and fitter, bloody expensive mind.0
