ᐅ Lawn mowing robot is here – which one do you use and what are your thoughts on it?

@hausnrplus25 Good luck with the construction.
With a 3-meter (10-foot) setback, there isn’t enough space for boundaries and splash protection.
A search cable belongs there, not the station.

So, here we go. It got late, but that’s just how it is...

Thanks again for all the great, informative answers.
Maybe a few more details about our garden. It’s about 250sqm (2,690 sq ft) and @rick2018 has a very good memory – the garden is laid out like a U around the house. Along the fence, we have a curved mowing edge, but the rest is very straight and linear. The legs of the U are exactly 3m (10 feet) from the neighbor’s property. We actually planned to place the Robbie at the end of one of the legs as well.
The lawn is completely level, no slope, no sharp angles. What we’ve noticed by now is that our soil is quite clayey; when it rains heavily, real puddles form and the lawn remains muddy for a long time afterwards. Does that affect the choice or general use in any way?
For your information, here are some pictures of the garden.
Left side...

Right side. (Please ignore the “umbrella.” That’s our current shelter :p)

Closer view of the right side. Here the little shed for the Robbie is planned. To the right, under the garage window.

Is that really a bad position?

Regarding Gardena: sure, you hear that their mowing results are allegedly poor. Is there any truth to that? Or is it simply a matter of sizing, meaning how much area it can handle before the battery runs out?
So far, I found Worx very appealing. They sound like a good value for money. Father-in-law swears by his Husqvarna. Everything else is rubbish, according to him. But he doesn’t have to watch the budget at all and buys whatever people he trusts recommend.

@rick2018, about the SIM with Husqvarna: does the lifetime plan really work?
A few months ago, we were offered a device at Bauhaus. An American brand sold exclusively at Bauhaus. Apparently a market leader there. Unfortunately, I forgot the name.
The deal was that the device could only be controlled via the SIM card and the subscription was included for two years, after which you have to renew at a certain price. If you don’t, the machine still runs but only with preset settings and you can’t change anything anymore.
I researched and it seems there are Husqvarna parts inside.
I just checked again. The brand is Powerworks. Seems to be Husqvarna.

Does anyone know about this?

In my parents’ garden, a Husqvarna robotic mower took care of about 400sqm (4,300 sq ft) of uneven lawn very reliably. It was quiet, produced excellent results, and worked without issues even under the apple tree. I no longer have a lawn and used to be a fan of reel mowers.

Bookstar schrieb:

The problem: It’s not just some eccentric person with such a device and everyone mowing at different times. That causes severe noise pollution and, therefore, environmental damage. There needs to be a law so I can involve my lawyer 🙂. Fortunately, hobby chainsaw users have now been banned from villages and are restricted to wood storage yards... it could be so nice

That’s funny. In another thread, you are strongly against bans.
We are somewhat interested in a meadow, and the basic equipment for mowing is available. Compared to a 56-year-old single-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine, any lawn mower is quiet. That thing shakes the grills of the small-town neighbors, yet it generally receives positive reactions :p.
Good thing we live in the countryside.

Equip your robotic mower, whatever model it may be, with the Robonect module, which offers a wide range of customizable settings. I have a Gardena r35i, which has more features than the larger r70i.
The charging station can be ideally placed in front of the garage, especially since, as I can see, you have paved that area :-) I would lay the guide wire in a U-shape and set 3 or 4 different start positions for the mower on the guide wire in Robonect. This way, the entire area around the house will be nicely mowed.

@Tarnari: For Robbys with search cables, a 3m (10 ft) width is tight because the required distances between the search cable and the boundary wire cannot be maintained. However, you can easily use Robbys that navigate into the charging station by following the boundary wire.

I use the Worx WR153E myself. The current models are side-loaders, meaning they charge from the side and don't need space to reverse out of the charging station. Instead, you need straight boundary wire sections in front of and behind the station.

Actually, you can’t go wrong with any of the three brands (Gardena, Husqvarna, or Worx). All of them can have occasional issues, but overall, they run smoothly—at least the ones I’ve seen in my circle of friends or neighborhood.

In my opinion, Huskys are definitely the top tier, but you have to be willing to pay the price. On top of that cost, you also need to factor in the installation kit, as far as I know, no boundary wire is included.

My neighbor’s Gardena also runs fairly smoothly; the problems he has are mostly due to his installation skills with the wire.

The Worx models here also run without issues, and like the Huskys, I’m not aware of any major problems.

For poor or suboptimal ground conditions, many manufacturers offer different wheels with more aggressive tread patterns. Passing through puddles of 3–4 cm (1–1.5 inches) depth should be manageable for all models. However, in the long term, you should improve the soil, for example by adding sand.

I would advise against using Robonect at first. The manufacturer’s warranty becomes void after installation, and Robonect takes no responsibility for damage caused by its use or installation.

@Tarnari
The location of the station is not ideal. Width-wise, it just fits if you place it in the middle. However, it will always be in the walkway from the door. You can either place it on the existing slabs and run 4-5 small empty conduits underneath (1 x BK left, 1 x SK 1, 1 x power from the transformer, 1 x SK 2, 1 x BK right), put it on the lawn which means there will always be grass around the station that you need to trim, or lay additional slabs to place the station on.
The advantage of placing it in the corner is that you can manage with just one locating cable easily.

Thanks to the level terrace and the edge borders, you have great conditions for a robotic mower. You can install the boundary wires directly along the edges, so the mower drives a bit over them and no stripes are left uncut.

If budget allows, I would always go for Husqvarna. The service is lifetime.
Gardena units are not worse. Sometimes they are a generation behind Husqvarna, but Gardena is part of Husqvarna.
You can even use your father-in-law’s blades :p
There are also some enthusiasts in the forum you mentioned, some with pure Poa supina lawns where the mower can no longer get through, etc.
With a robotic mower, you will never get the same result as with a cylinder mower. A robotic mower does a lot of things very well, but if you want a really great lawn, you still need to fertilize and water regularly...

Before the robotic mower starts, you should definitely mow manually. Robotic mowers are meant to trim just the tips, ideally every day.
On a weekly basis, you can lower the cutting height until the desired height is reached.
The blades should also be replaced regularly. The interval depends on many factors (type of lawn, area, etc.). You can usually tell by the sound, and at the latest when the grass tips start to fray and turn yellow...
If you choose the recommended Gardena, replacing the blades 2-3 times per season is probably enough.
Gardena does not provide worse mowing results. It’s usually user error.