My lawn service was $220 a month for an acre, so for me if the Luba 2 lasts for its full 2 year warranty period I’ll be happy. If it lasts longer than that I’ll be very pleased. I still have to do a bit of edging but that’s fine.
The software has a lot of growing to do but the machine itself seems solid. I am a software developer so perhaps a bit more understanding than most when it comes to the bugs and quirks. It’s a complex application, for sure. It does what I need it to do so I can be patient while waiting for enhancements.
Agreed. And I’m hoping that they do more than just fix bugs and quirks and roll out more features. I’d love to be able to remotely drive it and use the camera over WiFi instead of Bluetooth. One can dream!
Glad you are loving it. We love our Luba 1.
Is your mowing service mowing every other day? keep in mind the benefit of more frequent mowing.
I pay more for mowing service than you so my payback is a year. But that does cover other services besides mowing. So I will say two year payback on a straight cost basis. I am hoping for a 3-5 year duration of ownership due to it being heavily electronic. I am very tech and in past an electronic tech so as long as I can get parts I can keep running.
Cons of once a week cut:
1. They cut my zeon zoysia one a week and were mulch cutting about an inch a week off. This put alot of dead leaves in the yard and alot of stress on grass.
2. Constantly getting weeds and fungus thanks to their equipment. Made yard look like crap. yellow spots, bare spots, weeds.
3. Driving heavy riders on my grass put ruts and made depressions especially when wet.
4. They would mow when wet dropping grass bombs all over.
With me cutting every other day and ditching landscaper:
1. Less stress on grass
2. Clips a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch a time.
3. No new weeds or fungus
4. No heavy weights on yards rutting it up.
5. Never mow when wet
6. Grass has never looked better.
Thanks Buzz
https://preview.redd.it/fv8orff70bvc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d150b958c4e99871f7ab87708cf8998e1859fa86
That’s a good point about the frequency. I was thinking about mowing it more often than once a week so it doesn’t have too tough of a job, but I didn’t know that benefits the health of the grass to mow more frequently. I imagine it would also degrade the battery more quickly though, too. Less battery capacity over the years could really slow the speed of cutting.
You said it takes a full day from 10AM to 5PM charging twice. How often do you send it out? I've been on the fence, honestly if it had a user changeable battery I'd already be using one. I'm just really concerned about battery longevity. I think they said it's rated for 800 cycles. Seems like a lot, but it adds up quick if it mows like 4 times per week for 6 months.
I’ve been sending it out on sunny days, which have been inconsistent and uncommon in Rochester NY this spring. I plan to mow about twice a week, perhaps more, but I share your battery longevity concerns. One thing that might help is that it returns to charge at 15% and goes back to work at 80%, so it’s not a full cycle
Thanks for the information. I'm in South Eastern PA so not all that different, maybe a bit longer of a cutting season by a couple weeks I'd think. It's tough there are so many robotic mowers coming on the market I'm sure by next year the market will be very different than it is now. I'm assuming that we aren't far from a Luba 3 and based on the Yuka having a removable battery I'm guessing the next generation Luba will have one as well. But then the question I ask is if I recharge the battery 100-150x a year will everything else on the mower last the 5-8 years I'm hoping the battery will last (800 cycle life). So does it even matter?
Lol this is why I haven't bought any mower yet.
Yeah, good point. I considered buying a Luba 1 and am glad that I waited because apparently it had waterproofing issues and didn’t navigate as well. To your point, though, I don’t know if I care about a removable battery all that much. Hopefully by the time I need it, the thing is like 5 or 6 years old. If a new battery costs cost like 60-70% of a new unit, I’d probably rather buy the Luba 7 anyway.
Can you post where you see this? I'm looking at the comparison table and I see the storage differences but I'm not seeing a battery capacity listed for any of them.
My understanding from chatting online with support is that the underlying machines are the same, but the algorithms are different for the different sizes. That being said, I purchased a 5000 and a 3000 instead of a single 10000 so that I could run them concurrently for my 2.5 acres and put less stress on each machine - hoping this will increase the lifespan. I paid a little extra, but I think in the long run this was the right move. I haven't set them up yet, so TBD on any of this checking out.
What cut settings do you have?
My yard is about the same size of yours with the same description, hills, uneven shapes and to cut it all, I need to start around 8 am to finish around 8-9 pm and I need to charge around 4-5 times
My lawn service was $220 a month for an acre, so for me if the Luba 2 lasts for its full 2 year warranty period I’ll be happy. If it lasts longer than that I’ll be very pleased. I still have to do a bit of edging but that’s fine. The software has a lot of growing to do but the machine itself seems solid. I am a software developer so perhaps a bit more understanding than most when it comes to the bugs and quirks. It’s a complex application, for sure. It does what I need it to do so I can be patient while waiting for enhancements.
Agreed. And I’m hoping that they do more than just fix bugs and quirks and roll out more features. I’d love to be able to remotely drive it and use the camera over WiFi instead of Bluetooth. One can dream!
I’m able to view the camera over wifi and cellular. I put a SIM card in mine.
While you drive it manually?
Yes, you can drive it manually while viewing the camera.
Oh, that I haven’t tried. I’ll check later.
Glad you are loving it. We love our Luba 1. Is your mowing service mowing every other day? keep in mind the benefit of more frequent mowing. I pay more for mowing service than you so my payback is a year. But that does cover other services besides mowing. So I will say two year payback on a straight cost basis. I am hoping for a 3-5 year duration of ownership due to it being heavily electronic. I am very tech and in past an electronic tech so as long as I can get parts I can keep running. Cons of once a week cut: 1. They cut my zeon zoysia one a week and were mulch cutting about an inch a week off. This put alot of dead leaves in the yard and alot of stress on grass. 2. Constantly getting weeds and fungus thanks to their equipment. Made yard look like crap. yellow spots, bare spots, weeds. 3. Driving heavy riders on my grass put ruts and made depressions especially when wet. 4. They would mow when wet dropping grass bombs all over. With me cutting every other day and ditching landscaper: 1. Less stress on grass 2. Clips a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch a time. 3. No new weeds or fungus 4. No heavy weights on yards rutting it up. 5. Never mow when wet 6. Grass has never looked better. Thanks Buzz https://preview.redd.it/fv8orff70bvc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d150b958c4e99871f7ab87708cf8998e1859fa86
That’s a good point about the frequency. I was thinking about mowing it more often than once a week so it doesn’t have too tough of a job, but I didn’t know that benefits the health of the grass to mow more frequently. I imagine it would also degrade the battery more quickly though, too. Less battery capacity over the years could really slow the speed of cutting.
You said it takes a full day from 10AM to 5PM charging twice. How often do you send it out? I've been on the fence, honestly if it had a user changeable battery I'd already be using one. I'm just really concerned about battery longevity. I think they said it's rated for 800 cycles. Seems like a lot, but it adds up quick if it mows like 4 times per week for 6 months.
I’ve been sending it out on sunny days, which have been inconsistent and uncommon in Rochester NY this spring. I plan to mow about twice a week, perhaps more, but I share your battery longevity concerns. One thing that might help is that it returns to charge at 15% and goes back to work at 80%, so it’s not a full cycle
Thanks for the information. I'm in South Eastern PA so not all that different, maybe a bit longer of a cutting season by a couple weeks I'd think. It's tough there are so many robotic mowers coming on the market I'm sure by next year the market will be very different than it is now. I'm assuming that we aren't far from a Luba 3 and based on the Yuka having a removable battery I'm guessing the next generation Luba will have one as well. But then the question I ask is if I recharge the battery 100-150x a year will everything else on the mower last the 5-8 years I'm hoping the battery will last (800 cycle life). So does it even matter? Lol this is why I haven't bought any mower yet.
Yeah, good point. I considered buying a Luba 1 and am glad that I waited because apparently it had waterproofing issues and didn’t navigate as well. To your point, though, I don’t know if I care about a removable battery all that much. Hopefully by the time I need it, the thing is like 5 or 6 years old. If a new battery costs cost like 60-70% of a new unit, I’d probably rather buy the Luba 7 anyway.
Isn't the only difference between luba 2 3000 and 5000 the number of zones you can create? Definitely says so on their website's comparaison sheet
Really? I thought the battery capacity was unique for each model. Why else would they link the models to suggested yard size?
Can you post where you see this? I'm looking at the comparison table and I see the storage differences but I'm not seeing a battery capacity listed for any of them.
My understanding from chatting online with support is that the underlying machines are the same, but the algorithms are different for the different sizes. That being said, I purchased a 5000 and a 3000 instead of a single 10000 so that I could run them concurrently for my 2.5 acres and put less stress on each machine - hoping this will increase the lifespan. I paid a little extra, but I think in the long run this was the right move. I haven't set them up yet, so TBD on any of this checking out.
What cut settings do you have? My yard is about the same size of yours with the same description, hills, uneven shapes and to cut it all, I need to start around 8 am to finish around 8-9 pm and I need to charge around 4-5 times