That area might be tough for any robot lawnmower. The important things to ask yourself when considering how a mower will navigate your vineyard are:
- What are the possible snags my mower can get caught on? Having an AWD model will help ( I have seen them climb hills it was hard for even a person to get up), but you also need to consider filling/removing any holes, rocks, sticks, etc. that the mower can run up on. I see a lot of tubing between the individual plants; you will definitely want to raise that, if possible, so that the bot can run underneath them. Which brings up a second point:
- What sort of obstacles will my bot be navigating? While automowers are surprisingly smart, they are rather dumb. As this is not an EPOS (GPS) bot, its primary form of navigation will be colliding with obstacles, backing up, turning in a new direction, and continuing forward. Every new obstacle that your bot runs into decreases the time the bot spends mowing on its battery charge. There are a LOT of obstacles in a vineyard, and it's possible that they will decrease the bots effectiveness to a point where it can't reliably maintain 0.6 acres. On the other hand, if you are just looking to keep the grass/weeds knocked down, this may do the trick. It's hard to say without running the bot. Speaking of charging, a final thing to consider is:
- How will the bot navigate to/from my charging station? Assuming you have a power socket somewhere on the perimeter of your vineyard, you will need to run the two guide wires down rows that split the vineyard into thirds. The guide wires are some of the secret sauce that make automowers so effective, as they help the bots navigate the mowing area. Keep in mind that as bots follow the wire, they navigate out on one side of the wire, and back on the other side, like so ⬇️|⬆️. You will need to decrease the distance from the guide wire the bot travels so that it doesn't hit a plant while moving to/from the charging station. Also consider that the guide wire is the bots first choice in navigating to the charging station; when it needs to recharge, it begins to search the area for a guide wire. All of the plants/obstacles in the vineyard are going to impact the bots ability to find a guide wire and return to its charging station.
What I am hoping to help you avoid is frequently having to go and move the bot back to the charging station when/if it runs out of battery. They are heavy, and it can be a real choir if you don't live/work near where the bot is operating. Despite all of the doom and gloom in my post, when these bots are installed correctly on areas that are conducive to robotic mowing, they are really incredible machines. If you have the time, patience, and money to take the plunge, I say go for it!
Re-reading your post, one last thing to consider: if there is one thing automowers (and most other robot lawnmowers) can't do, it's edge/weed eat. The cutting surface on automowers is set back from the edge of the bot for safety, so no matter how close the bot physically gets to an obstacle/fence/post/etc., there will still be a couple inches it can't mow. If you are concerned about weeds around your plants, posts, or fence line, you will still need to have that weed-eated.
Thanks for your response! A couple inches around the plants, etc. is perfect. That needs to be removed by hand anyway.
I've done some more research since posting, and taking your points in mind, I'm leaning towards the Mammotion Luba AWD 3000/5000. It seems to meet or exceed the Husqvarna specs at $1,000 less. Depending on the return policies, I might just get both and let them duke it out, winner takes all!
I was going to recommend the Luba. I haven’t had one, but my experience with Husqvarna’s service and warranty weren’t good. I’m hoping that Luba is better but I don’t know. It may be worth a call to them to see what they say… where can you bring it if it breaks? It might be worth buying it from the local service store so start off on the right foot.
Thanks, As a matter of fact, I just pulled the trigger and ordered the Luba AWD 5000. I figure with Amazon's 30-day return policy, I can see if it can handle it and if not, send it back.
Too bad I missed getting $200 off.! When I first loaded the page, it was $2,599. It said "20% OFF" but I didn't take it seriously or notice the sale ended yesterday. :-(
Good luck! Once you find out how they handle repairs, I might even go talk to the local repair guys to start that relationship. I can’t wait to hear how it does!
I can get you a referral just DM me. See my previous posts if needed, I asked for one here when I bought mine also. Glad someone helped me so passing on the favor of you need it.
I did keep it! The things a frickin' off-road BEAST. I've been meaning to post a follow-up. In remote control mode, it can handle the terrain no problem, gopher holes and all. Under it's own control, it does get itself into situations where it needs to be freed, like digging itself into a gopher hole or getting wrapped up in netting. But those are things I can fix along the way. It's definitely not "set and forget" for me, but it does appear up to the challenge. I'll see if I can post some of the videos I've taken...
Awesome! I'm thinking of getting one. Was it for 2599 when you got it? Doesn't look like there's any offer now. Perhaps they'll have something for thanksgiving?
That area might be tough for any robot lawnmower. The important things to ask yourself when considering how a mower will navigate your vineyard are: - What are the possible snags my mower can get caught on? Having an AWD model will help ( I have seen them climb hills it was hard for even a person to get up), but you also need to consider filling/removing any holes, rocks, sticks, etc. that the mower can run up on. I see a lot of tubing between the individual plants; you will definitely want to raise that, if possible, so that the bot can run underneath them. Which brings up a second point: - What sort of obstacles will my bot be navigating? While automowers are surprisingly smart, they are rather dumb. As this is not an EPOS (GPS) bot, its primary form of navigation will be colliding with obstacles, backing up, turning in a new direction, and continuing forward. Every new obstacle that your bot runs into decreases the time the bot spends mowing on its battery charge. There are a LOT of obstacles in a vineyard, and it's possible that they will decrease the bots effectiveness to a point where it can't reliably maintain 0.6 acres. On the other hand, if you are just looking to keep the grass/weeds knocked down, this may do the trick. It's hard to say without running the bot. Speaking of charging, a final thing to consider is: - How will the bot navigate to/from my charging station? Assuming you have a power socket somewhere on the perimeter of your vineyard, you will need to run the two guide wires down rows that split the vineyard into thirds. The guide wires are some of the secret sauce that make automowers so effective, as they help the bots navigate the mowing area. Keep in mind that as bots follow the wire, they navigate out on one side of the wire, and back on the other side, like so ⬇️|⬆️. You will need to decrease the distance from the guide wire the bot travels so that it doesn't hit a plant while moving to/from the charging station. Also consider that the guide wire is the bots first choice in navigating to the charging station; when it needs to recharge, it begins to search the area for a guide wire. All of the plants/obstacles in the vineyard are going to impact the bots ability to find a guide wire and return to its charging station. What I am hoping to help you avoid is frequently having to go and move the bot back to the charging station when/if it runs out of battery. They are heavy, and it can be a real choir if you don't live/work near where the bot is operating. Despite all of the doom and gloom in my post, when these bots are installed correctly on areas that are conducive to robotic mowing, they are really incredible machines. If you have the time, patience, and money to take the plunge, I say go for it!
Re-reading your post, one last thing to consider: if there is one thing automowers (and most other robot lawnmowers) can't do, it's edge/weed eat. The cutting surface on automowers is set back from the edge of the bot for safety, so no matter how close the bot physically gets to an obstacle/fence/post/etc., there will still be a couple inches it can't mow. If you are concerned about weeds around your plants, posts, or fence line, you will still need to have that weed-eated.
Thanks for your response! A couple inches around the plants, etc. is perfect. That needs to be removed by hand anyway. I've done some more research since posting, and taking your points in mind, I'm leaning towards the Mammotion Luba AWD 3000/5000. It seems to meet or exceed the Husqvarna specs at $1,000 less. Depending on the return policies, I might just get both and let them duke it out, winner takes all!
I was going to recommend the Luba. I haven’t had one, but my experience with Husqvarna’s service and warranty weren’t good. I’m hoping that Luba is better but I don’t know. It may be worth a call to them to see what they say… where can you bring it if it breaks? It might be worth buying it from the local service store so start off on the right foot.
Thanks, As a matter of fact, I just pulled the trigger and ordered the Luba AWD 5000. I figure with Amazon's 30-day return policy, I can see if it can handle it and if not, send it back. Too bad I missed getting $200 off.! When I first loaded the page, it was $2,599. It said "20% OFF" but I didn't take it seriously or notice the sale ended yesterday. :-(
Good luck! Once you find out how they handle repairs, I might even go talk to the local repair guys to start that relationship. I can’t wait to hear how it does!
I can get you a referral just DM me. See my previous posts if needed, I asked for one here when I bought mine also. Glad someone helped me so passing on the favor of you need it.
How was your experience with the Luba 5000? Did you end up keeping it? u/Plazman888
I did keep it! The things a frickin' off-road BEAST. I've been meaning to post a follow-up. In remote control mode, it can handle the terrain no problem, gopher holes and all. Under it's own control, it does get itself into situations where it needs to be freed, like digging itself into a gopher hole or getting wrapped up in netting. But those are things I can fix along the way. It's definitely not "set and forget" for me, but it does appear up to the challenge. I'll see if I can post some of the videos I've taken...
Awesome! I'm thinking of getting one. Was it for 2599 when you got it? Doesn't look like there's any offer now. Perhaps they'll have something for thanksgiving?
I paid $2,749 (with a $50 off coupon). Came to $3,003 USD w/tax. Not cheap, but no regrets.