Well its mowing season again and looking out at the thriving weeds I decided its finally time to write a proper review on the life (and death) of my once prized Automower 450x. If you don’t want to read this whole saga skip to the last couple paragraphs.
My Automower journey started 5 years ago in August of 2018. I had just planted a new, generously sized lawn a couple of months before and quickly realized that mowing sucks. Desperate as I was to have a thriving beautiful lawn without the time and effort required for weekly (at least) mowings I talked myself into dropping $3k on an Automower 450x.
That first year was perfect. I got the boundary wire and charging station installed, scheduled nightly mowings and never touched it again the rest of the season save for one blade change. And my lawn was beautiful. Not only was it always the perfect height but the Automower kept the weeds at bay while my new lawn got established. I think it would have taken at least another season for it to really establish without it. Happy customer. Despite the cost I felt satisfied with my purchase. 5 stars.
The second year when I pulled the mower out of hibernation I had some issues with the boundary wire. I got a “boundary wire disconnected” error and spent a couple afternoons chasing cuts with a handheld radio. It was a PITA but still far less time overall than a season worth of mowing and I considered it worth it. Got the mower going and it ran flawlessly for the first few weeks.
As the season progressed I kept getting boundary wire errors and kept fixing it. The wire sold with the mower is terrible, 18 or 20 GA stranded aluminum. ANY little nick in the jacket, from gophers or dogs or whatever, moisture gets in and its toast within weeks. At that point I decided F this and replaced it with 14 GA solid copper, which is really what the mower should have shipped with at the very least considering the cost. After that, no more boundary wire issues (still intact to this day).
At this point I am still a satisfied customer. I considered the boundary wire replacement an unfortunate but acceptable trade off for the otherwise essentially input free yard I was able to enjoy. I reasoned that the mower was still relatively new technology and perhaps Husqvarna would realize the error of their ways over time and include more robust boundary wire in the future. 4.5 stars.
Midway into year 3 I had my first real issue with the mower itself. I kept getting a “wheel motor blocked” error or some such thing and after determining nothing was actually blocking either of the rear drive wheels but one was unable to rotate I ordered a new drive wheel. After cutting the tamper tape, opening the mower and replacing the wheel motor, which was a relatively straightforward and simple process, she was back to work with no issues the rest of the year. I was still a happy customer. Things break, I can generally fix them, and I would take removing a few screws and unplugging a cable harness over cleaning a tiny carburetor any day. Chalked it up as routine maintenance and moved on. Still 4.5 stars.
Year 4 was the beginning of the end of my once beloved Automower. At this point I have moved into my new (current) home and my in-laws are excited to enjoy their new maintenance free lawn. The season started off fine, with the little Husqy doing what he once did so well, keeping their lawn at a constant 3 inch green. Then one evening the mower gave an error that the cutting motor was blocked and returned home without mowing. I went to check it and noticed an awful racket when it tried to start cutting, flipped it over and found that the plastic bracket that held the mower blade assembly and motor had broken and the whole assembly was spinning in the mower housing. I opened it up and found the wire harness had twisted so badly that a couple of the wires had broken. No big deal, I thought. I ordered a new motor and mount and proceeded to replace it. Only this time I still got the same error, cutting motor blocked. I put it in test mode on a bench top and when I ran the motor it would only spin after I got it started manually, and still read 0 RPM. I started to suspect that the main control board had been damaged and decided to replace it as well.
After doing some reading I discovered that the board can only be replaced by a licensed repair center, due to a software package required to program the new board with the mower’s serial number. Well there is not a single repair center in my entire state and I would have to ship the mower in order to get it repaired.
Around the same time I received an email that the 3G cell chip in my mower was obsolete and Husqvarna was replacing them for free. Great! I thought. I could ship my mower for free to get the chip upgraded and have it repaired in the process. I called Husqvarna to arrange the upgrade and asked about having the mower repaired in the process. They said that could be done and they would make a note in the service log to repair the mower. However when I asked to have the repair center call me with a quote before doing the work, that’s when I hit a road block. They informed me that could not be done and that they would simply fix it, no matter the cost. So, I could end up with a bill the cost of a replacement mower without ever being offered a choice? I don’t think so. And now the mower sits, a relic of bygone days of wonderfully work free lawn enjoyment. No stars. I should have bought a zero turn mower.
While I love the concept of robotic performance of the mundane like lawnmowing and time it can give back to our lives, and was willing to pay quite a premium for it, I value even more the freedom to maintain my devices and equipment on my own. I live in a rural area with few amenities and services so the ability to do my own maintenance and repair is essential. Its super unfortunate, and had this not been the case I very likely (almost certainly) would have bought a second Automower for my new property and continued to enjoy a maintenance free and happy lawn. I should have done my due diligence and determined this was not the product for me due to Husqvarna’s captive maintenance policy, but I didn’t. Never again. I believe this type of practice should be illegal, and hopefully this “right to repair” bill making its way through congress makes it so. Until then, I will be walking behind or riding on a mower manufactured by someone other than Husqvarna, or watching a robot that lets me repair it.
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Reviews with images
EXCELLENT and Tiresome
This was the most extreme installation I have ever had to do on my own. My property has a long stretch of soft soil that suffers after the rain. I have to wait for days of sunlight before I can mow that part of my yard (on the side of the house.) A John Deere would be too heavy, so I figured I'd put that $3500 toward a machine that might be able to handle my grassy quicksand. The 30 pound Husq came to my attention via Amazon. I said to myself "I could use the exercise. I'll handle the setup myself!"My yard is pretty big. I saved a lot of money doing this myself, but I thought it was going to kill me.When you buy something like this, you have to make sure it gets power. I didn't have a way to get power outside. I had this idea to add solar panels to my workshed, create a solar power management system inside the shed, and let it power the mower. It was a no-brainer anyway because that area of my property was the absolute best location for the mower. That was hard to do also, btw. I studied solar for weeks before trying that. But I'm letting the sun charge the mower.I got on my hands and knees and meticulously lined my yard with the boundary wire. Get ready to be intimate with ants and all kinds of bugs you never knew were there before. I bought the installation kit, which included spikes to secure the wire, but I bought more. I knew I wouldn't have a machine to embed the cable into the ground so I just used extra spikes to keep things secure. Five bags of spikes kept me on the ground for 3 hours of cabling.That's the worst part. After that, you're sailing. Just follow the directions for connecting the wires to the charging base. My base is mostly fitted underneath my shed with the carport bought here on Amazon for extra protection. If you're new at this like I was, you need all the above info if you're gonna install this yourself - this IS the Mower Only page, after all.But let's talk about the machine itself. I downloaded the app and it mostly does what I tell it to do. But it can be janky while also quite user friendly. Also, the GPS map is on delay and won't always tell you exactly where the machine is but eventually catches up to the timing. Kind of.So far, it follows the schedule perfectly as long as it's fully charged. Using the app, it has made me wait before doing ANYTHING because it wasn't fully charged. If I personally march out there and start it, it goes out to work. In retrospect, I'm just gonna wait for it to fully charge from now on. I didn't build that solar energy bank for nothing.The headlights are ludicrous and useful at once. First, it can't see where its going, so it doesn't need headlights. But not only do they look cool but when it ran into an issue one night, I came out to check on it. I couldn't find it because the GPS hadn't properly updated its position. The blinking headlights lead me to it being stuck in my drainage ditch.Let's talk about that. It handles beautifully, but when it comes to things like drainage ditches, this machine is supposed to handle them well every time. But twice in several uses, I've had to go outside and re-right it out of the drainage ditch. I just accepted that if that's all I need to do is save it from a ditch now and then, I'm fine with that.Word of advice, start out using the MAXIMUM CUTTING HEIGHT! I tried to meet it in the middle at around 2.5 inches and it moved very sluggishly through my lawn. I thought it was just gonna do that until it mapped the area, but no. I had it too low. Using the app, I maxed out the height and over the course of a few days, I lowered it. I plan to stop at 2 inches.If you look at my pics, you'll see an example of the GPS mapping its run. The red lines are its travel path. It covered a nice portion of the side of my yard in just an hour. I have high hopes for this thing.Get ready to answer a lot of questions. People are fascinated by this thing. Dogs are too. Every morning my neighbor's horses come out to watch it mow. It blows their minds.Someone said the mower looks like the Batmobile, so that's what I named it. And it connects with Alexa very well as long as you know the language. Say "Alexa, mow the lawn" and she'll ignore you. Say "Alexa, ask the automower to mow the lawn" and she'll respond with "Okay, the Batmobile will now mow the lawn." It's easy when you know how she speaks. You can also ask things like "Alexa, ask the automower what it is doing" or "Alexa, park the automower." Stuff like that.So far, it's been really fun. I'm obsessed with watching it work. It's an imperfect system, but so is Roomba and we love those things anyway.Okay bye.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018
Never mow your yard again... seriously it is that good!
My neighbors commented they are jealous of how good my grass looks ALL the time, never too long
Change blades 2-3 times a season. You can buy around 30 blades for $20
The Automower connect app is the coolest thing. Change schedule,cutting speed, and height settings from my phone,
The App can also track progress and GPS location of mower
Set weekly schedule - main growing season I had it running about 53 hours per week for a .5 acre mildly complex yard
I set it up to mow when I'd see it working because it makes me smile every time I see it trundling around the yard
I have a lot of small inclines about 3ft increase over 3-4 ft distance on the property, no issue with getting up or down the slope
Very quiet when it's not running over sticks/or hard debris. Don't really hear it cutting more than 20 feet away.
Put perimeter wire around the edge of property, I let the mower bump into the house, trees, any hard obstacles
Has sensor and slows down when it's going to hit obstacles, speeds up when it has open space to cut faster
It plugs itself in to recharge.
The only time you have to interact with it is when it gets stuck.
It cuts in the rain
Seems very rugged - I ran it from April to November last year.
--------------- CONS ----------------------- valid but nit picky
It is EXPENSIVE. BUT Get the top model 450X , it moves 30% faster than the lower models and comes with the autoconnect app/gps
It's loud when it hits sticks/exposed rocks/ toys / etc.
It used to get stuck on 2-3" tall exposed roots in my yard and old holes dug by a dog - I covered them all with dirt to fix that problem
Will get stuck under bushes - I trim them high so it can get under them
Perimeter wire not included - separate installation kit needed
perimeter wire does break (deer walking on it, I cut it with a shovel)
Buy a lot more 3m scotchlok connectors to keep on hand to repair wire if needed. I used all mine in the initial installation.
In my irregular yard, it gets stuck about once a week from fallen branches, tree roots, or some other hazards in yard I haven't fixed yet
It does not pulverize fruit, pine cones, or sticks like a traditional mower.
Max grass height is 2.3 inches
accuracy by volume not intelligence, there is no pattern so the mower wanders wherever it wants to
--------------------------------------
Overall I HIGHLY recommend this to ALL of my friends.
My neighbors love it, I love it, I have other things to do with my time than mow the lawn
This is the future.
I took a chance buying the 450X Automower and it has delighted me at every turn.
I took a chance buying the 450X Automower and it has delighted me at every turn.
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018
--------------- Pros -----------------------Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018
Never mow your yard again... seriously it is that good!
My neighbors commented they are jealous of how good my grass looks ALL the time, never too long
Change blades 2-3 times a season. You can buy around 30 blades for $20
The Automower connect app is the coolest thing. Change schedule,cutting speed, and height settings from my phone,
The App can also track progress and GPS location of mower
Set weekly schedule - main growing season I had it running about 53 hours per week for a .5 acre mildly complex yard
I set it up to mow when I'd see it working because it makes me smile every time I see it trundling around the yard
I have a lot of small inclines about 3ft increase over 3-4 ft distance on the property, no issue with getting up or down the slope
Very quiet when it's not running over sticks/or hard debris. Don't really hear it cutting more than 20 feet away.
Put perimeter wire around the edge of property, I let the mower bump into the house, trees, any hard obstacles
Has sensor and slows down when it's going to hit obstacles, speeds up when it has open space to cut faster
It plugs itself in to recharge.
The only time you have to interact with it is when it gets stuck.
It cuts in the rain
Seems very rugged - I ran it from April to November last year.
--------------- CONS ----------------------- valid but nit picky
It is EXPENSIVE. BUT Get the top model 450X , it moves 30% faster than the lower models and comes with the autoconnect app/gps
It's loud when it hits sticks/exposed rocks/ toys / etc.
It used to get stuck on 2-3" tall exposed roots in my yard and old holes dug by a dog - I covered them all with dirt to fix that problem
Will get stuck under bushes - I trim them high so it can get under them
Perimeter wire not included - separate installation kit needed
perimeter wire does break (deer walking on it, I cut it with a shovel)
Buy a lot more 3m scotchlok connectors to keep on hand to repair wire if needed. I used all mine in the initial installation.
In my irregular yard, it gets stuck about once a week from fallen branches, tree roots, or some other hazards in yard I haven't fixed yet
It does not pulverize fruit, pine cones, or sticks like a traditional mower.
Max grass height is 2.3 inches
accuracy by volume not intelligence, there is no pattern so the mower wanders wherever it wants to
--------------------------------------
Overall I HIGHLY recommend this to ALL of my friends.
My neighbors love it, I love it, I have other things to do with my time than mow the lawn
This is the future.
I took a chance buying the 450X Automower and it has delighted me at every turn.
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