The quality of cheaper models is not great. I bought two from Einhell (power tool brand like DeWalt in Europe) and they both had to be returned due to motor failures. A replacement motor was €150 - for a €400 robot without battery (it uses their 18V tool batteries which is what appealed to me - easy replacement).
- deal with rougher, bumpier terrain (friction!)
- do so uphill through uncut grass
- not stall the mowing motor with high grass
- cover a larger area
- be waterproof against rain
All of these points need a lot more power individually, and especially so when taken together (and carrying the weight increase of all those upgrades). It seems reasonable they'd cost at least twice as much for "similar" feature/budget levels. And I think that's pretty much what we're seeing.
If that's not the case, GP must be a madman.
So they surely ain't as loud as a combustion lawn mower and are pretty silent in comparison, so maybe you won't notice them in the city with its background noise. But in rural areas I perceive them as noisy even on daylight with normal noise level. And I never saw anyone using them at night - for a reason.
And as for gp .. he is already shadowbanned and you likely cannot see his answer (I have showdead=true). He reacted poorly I think.
Edit: but I only know of mowers noise level from what I experience walking around, I don't own one, nor did I research that model number. Maybe I will.
I could hear a neighbours smoke alarm beeping periodically due to low battery the other night and went around to replace the battery for them the next day.
Also, I wasn't aware of the showdead setting (and had no idea about the answer that had been hidden), thanks for the tip.
There’s a growing discovery on YouTube and TikTok videos, that some people just live like this.
It's hard to believe until it happens to you.
I doubt that. At daylight with normal background noise level, possible.
In a loud city where it doesn't matter anyway, yeah well, who cares.
Mine is also electric and my wife says (i'm always too close to it) it's easily 4x as loud. Not sure what the difference is.
...how late you were checking?
I can see reason to set them on say 5AM so it finishes before you wake up
The mechanical components are entirely different, instead of a helicopter-like blade it is a ~silent solid disc with some razor blades on the edges.
I’m a big fan of natural landscaping, but just letting your grass over grow is not that.
At least it's not fawns. Baby deer seem to be a magnet for combines harvesting corn.
Nice wildlife auditing. Hedgehogs are endangered in lots of areas of the world. Run your robot lawnmower during the day.
If you don't like that mental image, you should feel for the people working at hedgehog rescues
Domestic gardens make up an almost insignificant percentage of their natural habitat in any case, and any sort of HOA or Estate Management scenario would likely make it a violation to rewild a garden sufficient to create an amenable hedgehog habitat.
In short, its the responsibility of land utilised for agriculture - and this is recognised by measures around Europe such as the Eco-Scheme and ACRES (Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme) which indirectly support the re-establishment of hedgehog populations.
It’s still pretty new though, an