Anyone have a robot mower?

[jedispork]

Hello everyone.

We recently purchased a neato xv-21 vacuum and think its great. You still have to do some prep and there is a lot of room for improvement but we like it. If this works so well then what about robot mowers? Its difficult to find a lot of information on them. I was looking at the lawnbott spyder because it does not require a perimeter wire. The few reviews I can find are ok and it seems a lot of the repairs you can do yourself. Its rated to handle a 27 degree slope and yards up to 5500 square feet. However I'm still curious how it would do if most of the yard is sloped even if its within spec. I don't mind if it takes a while as long as it could do my backyard on one charge.

My instincts are telling me I should buy the conventional lithium mower instead that I have been checking out. If the bot would get stuck even once every time you mow it would limit its usefulness unless you stay outside for the 3-5 hours or whatever it would take to do the job. If you have to carry it in for a recharge before finishing a section of your yard this would also limit its usefulness.

[forrestcupp]

That would be flippin awesome. I would love to have something like that.

[BrokenKingpin]

That would be flippin awesome. I would love to have something like that.

Agreed.

[jedispork]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKbjJba4Bsw

This is the one I have been checking out. You have to bring it inside yourself to charge which I wouldn't mind. All others mowers require a boundary wire which adds to the cost and hassle.

I'm still uncertain as I can rip through my entire yard in 60 min with a fiskars reel mower (no gas or batteries). I'm just guessing that this thing would take at least 2 hours to finish most of my back yard alone and would probably require 2-3 mowings per week to take care of missed spots. Then you have the yearly $50 blade and every 2-3 years a battery that costs upwards of $100.