Perry
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2012
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 127
I've ordered my e-beastie for 7 August. $NZ5,500 ($US4394 on present exchange rates)
I downloaded some manuals and have been doing some preliminary reading. Plus a more
detailed site assessment. The specs say it comes with 400 meters of wire so I've ordered
two x 100M rolls of wire extra. Plus extra staples and joiners.
One or two quirky bits, but, generally, the Swenglish manual is not too bad. A lot easier
than Chinglish manuals! I'll be doing some more reading afresh, over the next few days,
but taking notes, this time. The 20M of low voltage cable means that charging station
location I've chosen will not require a mains cable and plug/switch run to it. But the
plan to have it a little further in under a deck needs revising as that relationship is
constrained by the limitations on the placement of the boundary wire and its relation-
ship to the charging station.
A frosty morning view
I have a lot of lawn, some awkward layout aspects, a large (empty) pond and a lot of
trees. Plus an overnight pop-up sprinkler system that the mower needs to be safely
tucked away from, for about 5 hours. According to some of the sample layouts in the
manual, it will need to be running 17 hours a day in the high-grass-growth season,
so five hours time out for watering will just work.
One of the esoteric aspects of a robotic mower is its inherent inflexibility. I.e. it has
certain expectations and, if those are met, it should perform well. Branches blown off
trees, a kid's toy or dog's ball left on the lawn, a pince cone fallen from a tree - all are
unexpected events in a robot mower's life. I hope dog turds are not a problem! Regular
lawn patrols by a human will be essential!
I have a couple of slender young saplings that I suspect will need a plastic pipe ring
around them, to avoid them being knocked about when the mower bumps into them.
Plus a couple of paving slabs that need a change in height.
Trying to think ahead a bit, too. There's a couple of places that might have raised beds
in the future, so I'm considering laying the boundary wire out a bit from the edge, so
I don't have to change the line, later. There are areas which will have to be man-mowed,
so a little around the edges to cope with wider margins for future expansion isn't a huge
imposition. Even if they never happen!
:confused3:
More later . . .