This property is situated at the top of a hill with panoramic views of the Wye Valley and Wales. The grassed area amounted to around half an acre of rough paddock on sloping ground with a tarmac drive separating a small area of grass from the main lawn. The owners, an elderly couple, had been struggling for some time to keep the grass maintained with a tractor mower, and a pedestrian machine for the edges and smaller areas. Closer to the house a small electric mower was being used to maintain a small area of lawn, but this appeared to be a losing battle.
The job of keeping the grass cut during the summer had become a burden and the owners were resorting to infrequent mowing by whoever they could get to do the job and rough cuts by a local farmer when the grass became too long to be mowed. The cost of maintenance of the machinery, plus the charges of outside contractors, had also become considerable.
So, at the time of our survey the paddock was quite overgrown, with thick tufts and tall weeds. There was also some mole activity which left many molehills and tyre ruts left by the tractor when travelling over the soft ground. On the other side of the driveway the separated area of grass had become completely overgrown and very unsightly, making the garden appear very neglected on approach.
It has to be said, that at this point the householders were extremely sceptical about the idea of a robot lawnmower, and they were concerned that we would not be able to help them. Our technician Chris Harrison rose to the challenge and the Husqvarna Automower 330x was selected to do the job because of it’s GPS mapping capability, and provision for two guidewires if required. At just over half an acre, or 2000 m², is was well within the capability of the 330x which is suitable for larger areas up to 3200 m² and can handle steep slopes with an incline of as much as 45%.This would ensure full coverage of the lawn including the separate area on the other side of the drive.
The survey highlighted a few problems requiring special attention. The driveway had a small raised curb stone along either edge, too high for the robot to bump over. The extremely tough and overgrown grass would present difficulties initially and there were a few trees with raised roots. The local mole family appeared to own the lawn from top to bottom. There was no outside mains socket available to power the base station. At one side of the garden the slope was considerably steeper because of a mound hiding a septic tank.
The selection of the Automower 330x allowed us to specify a complete solution including a corridor across the drive to allow the robot to cut the separate grass area. Chris decided, rather than cutting into the tarmac drive to allow the perimeter and guidewires to cross the drive, he would lay two of our rubber cable conduits across the drive. Theses allow complete protection of the perimeter cables whilst allowing vehicles to drive over safely. A small fillet on cement was required on either side of the drive to create a small ramp to get over the raised curb stones.
Once the installation was completed the grass was roughly cut to around 2 inches to allow the mower to make a start. It turned out to be even tougher for the Automower because the cuttings were not collected. Initially there were a few stoppages because the thick tufts and quantity of cuttings to be mulched, there were also brambles, twigs and toys encountered. Some of the wheel ruts were filled and the mole hills were raked down. Amazingly, the 330x proved to be easily up to the task and after a few days had managed to get the whole area under control. The cuttings steadily disappeared and, after some rain, the lawn started to “green-up”
This video was taken around 4 months after the installation, you can really see the difference the 330x Automower has made! The lawn has improved continuously despite the mole problem and some rabbit activity. The owners are now convinced that Husqvarna Automowers are the most economic and effective way to maintain a lawn and the condition and quality of the grass has never been so good.