Good Lawn Mowers

Well, you didn't need to modify the post Gunner - I didn't specify right or left. (Not being paranoid, are you?) Extremists of both persuasions are a danger to us all......ignorance, prejudice,stupidity

- neither side has a monopoly on them. Andrew VK3BFA.

Reply to
Andrew VK3BFA
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Blast - got that address wrong. Thank God it wasn't the launch code for a nuclear weapon. You can work it out Gunner . Here in Oz, lawn mowing sheep are usually called Victor, after a well know local lawn mower manufacturer.

Andrew VK3BFA.

Reply to
Andrew VK3BFA

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:54:51 -0700, the infamous Winston scrawled the following:

What, $300 a year for that kind of inefficiency?

Q: How long does it take for a Roomba to clean every inch of a 10x10' room? It takes 5 minutes with my vacuum, going both X and Y directions for best cleaning.

Cuuuuuute.

-- If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. -- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I take it that black thing hanging down behind the saucer is what does the cleaning. :-) ...lew...

Reply to
Lewis Hartswick

(...)

Yeah but every day it cleans, it costs me less!

Billy Mays and I go 'way back. (Grin).

About 20 minutes. Who cares? That's 20 minutes I get to spend designing stuff or fixing stuff or making stuff! You know, Fun Stuff!

Plus, if I let it run for the entire hour, it cleans two more rooms. Whats Not To Like!

Honestly, if I were Electrolux or Kirby right now, I'd be chittin bricks.

That is a brave cat.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Well, half of the cleaning anyway. :)

Otherwise, how can I believe him when he says he's 'multitasking'?

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Winston wrote: about Rhoomba

We bought one of those a few years back. It threw a tread then the battery died, right before they sent us an upgraded smart charger.

Haven't used it since. Now I'm wondering if I should buy a battery ($$$$) or just buy the newest model.

Have they improved much in the last two years?

Reply to
RBnDFW

Here is one example:

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"Professional lawn care providers are using the SRX22T remote control commercial lawn mower on slopes up to 70 degrees. One man, equipped with a remote control commercial lawn mower, is in control of the slopes and ditches, instead of 6 or 8 men with weed eaters..."

This isn't the one I was thinking of, obviously there are more out there...

Reply to
Leon Fisk

You _bastard_!

Now I'm either going to have to stop doing paying work until I get one built, or I'm going to have to pine away 'cause I can't find time to build one!

@#$%!

(Did you notice the price? $10K!!! Maybe I should build some myself -- although I bet that's $3000 for the mower and $7000 for liability insurance).

Reply to
Tim Wescott

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:01:10 -0600, the infamous Lewis Hartswick scrawled the following:

No, that's just the duster.

-- If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. -- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Reply to
Larry Jaques
  1. you can buy tread repair kits from a seller on ebay for
  2. you can buy batteries from a different seller (actually 8 or 9 sellers) for
Reply to
Bill Noble

I really like the 530. Just picked up two more of them as refurbs from the iRobot Outlet Store.

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They work great.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Wrong again. Grounding strap. YEOWWWW!

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Pete Keillor

OH Ya! I noticed the price :) Still would be fun to run one a few times.

This is the one I was thinking of:

"The Spider IDL02:

Based around the capability of remote operation, the Spider Slope Mower offers a safer alternative to the maintenance of sloped terrain.

The patent-protected design of this machines travel ensures excellent properties and stability even when changing driving directions on a steep slope. In areas with rapidly changing slopes and in places where other machines can hardly move, the slope mower SPIDER and its original "dance step" are absolutely unsurpassable." See:

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If I remember right, it wasn't any less expensive...

Maybe something like this would work:

"The SSM38-72D SuperSlopeMaster? from Kut Kwick is in a class all its own when it comes to extra heavy-duty commercial steep slope mowing. In fact, it is the only mower manufactured in the U.S. that is engineered and tested to perform on slopes up to 40°.

The SuperSlopeMaster? is designed to cut rough terrain, including heavy grass and weeds. It has a powerful 38 HP Yanmar diesel engine and 1/4? steel deck, with three 3/8? flat cutting blades. And, the SuperSlopeMaster??s skid steering mechanism, through its twin, closed loop hydraulic systems, offers the great maneuverability and power that is required to mow steep slopes. Machines with steering wheels are not as maneuverable and cannot operate on steep slopes." See:

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There is another commercial unit that I have seen that uses two wheels and you ride like a motorcycle. A mowing deck to your right and left. The "cycle" trys to stay straight up and down, the decks can move like wings. I'll see if I can find info if you are truly interested. I'm sure it is $$$ though. Marketed towards municipalities for mowing slopes.

Reply to
Leon Fisk

I've not looked at this particular unit, however if you think $10k is out of line for a commercial grade mower, I'd suggest you look at what the commercial grade ZT mowers like the Ferris, SCAG, and the like go for.

Reply to
Pete C.

Ours is Pre-Self-Docking, so that alone is a big improvement. I would also like to see those "room barriers" in a smaller size.

Reply to
RBnDFW

On Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:00:02 -0400, the infamous Pete Keillor scrawled the following:

Knowing where it connects to the driver, that's a Roger!

-- You know, in about 40 years, we'll have literally thousands of OLD LADIES running around with TATTOOS, and Rap Music will be the Golden Oldies. Now that's SCARY! --Maxine

Reply to
Larry Jaques

"Bill Noble" wrote in news:h6fv1i$75s$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

OK, I've got a question for the Rhoomba owners. I think they are a neat idea, but our house has hardwood floors with big pieces of area carpet filling in most of the space in any given room. There's usually a 4" to

6" border of hardwood showing around the edges. The carpet is ~ 3/8" to 1/2" thick.

Am I correct in assuming that a Rhoomba can't handle the transitions from carpet to hardwood very well? I could unlease one is a room and move it and the charging station to each room, but at that point I might as well haul out the Sears-sucker canister vacuum.

Doug White

Reply to
Doug White

The 530 does handle the transitions well for things like throw rugs. Even rugs with tassels, (though it can hang up on very long tassels).

For small throw rugs, I found that I can get a better cleaning job done faster. I just pick the rugs up and shake them onto the hardwood. It takes a few seconds each. The Roomba cleans up after me.

The 530 *does* vacuum, so you would probably be surprised how well it handles the hardwood border around your area rugs. Try it, would be my advice. If it doesn't work, you can always sell me your

530. :)

The unit was initially marketed as a way to lengthen the time between manual cleanings. I find that I can take a quick swipe with a moistened towel behind doors and in the odd corner to catch the few places our 530 doesn't access and I'm good to go.

We gave our upright vacuum cleaner to charity a couple months ago.

We have 'sunken' rooms too. I solved that problem by putting a 530 in both these rooms. Occasionally I will lift one of these units 3" into the main part of the house. It vacuums the kitchen, hallways, bathrooms and offices and stops at the end of the job.

Then I trigger the 530 in the garage. SWMBO was extremely happy at the lack of dirt tracked from garage to house! She mentioned that several times with a kind of awestruck wonder.

I was retrieving a pen that had fallen under the bed soon after getting the first 530. Glancing under the bed, I was pleasantly shocked by the clean 'polished' appearance of the hardwood. Before the Roomba, it *never* was that clean!

It is cool to have 3 robots cleaning the house while I go off and do something more entertaining.

Here is the bad news:

SWMBO's office and the hall bath door don't latch open the way my office door does. Our Roomba has a way of closing the door behind it in these rooms. Luckily both doors can be wedged open easily.

Vertical clearance *can* be an issue. We have one chest in SWMBO's office that is exactly the right height to trap the Roomba underneath. I expect that I will offer SWMBO a hardwood box for storing stuff under that chest to solve that problem.

Chairs can be an issue. Our Roomba spends a lot of time in the dining room because the chair legs comprise a real obstacle course.

I normally set up a 'lighthouse' to prevent it from going into the dining room.

Otherwise, I am a *very* happy customer and only wish that I bought them sooner.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Put a nickel under each leg?

OK, I'm sold. The usual commission applies?

Reply to
RBnDFW

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