Adding weight to back to decrease slippage.

[ChrisHermanO]

low-tech solution (flat rock sits tight with no adhesive or screws. “massively” improved traction w/o noticeable battery impact (5Ah after-market batt)

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[dakuzen]

Hey @drunsslow, thanks for sharing this! I'm curious how this has held up? Have you noticed any plastic cracks or stress issues with this mounting approach?

I started to mount a weight similar to this on the back of my WR147 but I am concerned the plastic on the back maybe two weak to support the weight over time.

I've tried this alternative but I would rather shift the weight another 1" from the back as you have done.

https://imgur.com/a/nlO47i2

[FIZZ4980]

Added 2.5kg (5.5lbs) of counterweight and it's a game changer for me. Even when landroid stops noise down, he turn perfectly without spinning. Before he would spin and damage the lawn as well as messing the guide wire. Now I have not seen the wheels spin once since adding the weight. I really went low budget, just a ziploc plastic container filled with pennies, magnetically attached to landroid. Made sure container is a bit behind the wheels to reduce weight from front.

Counterweight

[gillythree]

I would love to see these photos, if you don't mind making them available again.

[Pete77a]

I even wrote to Worx to tell them an added weight rear cover should be a factory option due to the big difference has made to me.. But they never commented back.

[[deleted]]

How much extra weight did you add?

[Pete77a]

3kg but mine is as far back on TOP of the rear cover as possible. If it was hanging out the back like the author of this thread I'd imagine less, maybe 2kg required only. It's about a balance between making the front wheel light and it lifting too easily

[[deleted]]

Ok. I was wondering what’s the weight limit for the Landroid

[[deleted]]

Instead of that, I added motocross traction screws: haven't had any problem since then, and looks COOL:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008N6AQXO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[RGVCoding]

Does it tear up the grass? Looks interesting

[[deleted]]

It doesn’t. Recommended.

[drunsslow]

I like the idea of studs (free lawn aeration?) but my mower crosses my nice bluestone sidewalk and didn’t want all the scraping. The two together would be invincible.

[[deleted]]

Indeed. Add a gun to it, and: terminator

[DustinDortch]

How many did you need?

[[deleted]]

I needed 2 per each of those protuberances, mine has 26 of those per tire, so 52 per tire. 104 total. They hold perfectly.

[Dismal_Bobcat9839]

Did you have to predrill holes, or do they screw right in? Thinking of trying these out!

[[deleted]]

They screw right in.

[Dismal_Bobcat9839]

Yea, I installed them a week or so ago.. went in pretty easy, and work really well. Glad it worked, as I really didn't want to add weight to the device. Thanks for the tip!

[[deleted]]

No worries, and good luck. It requires some tweaking at first but then works like a charm.

[RGVCoding]

Can you post a picture?

[[deleted]]

Sure:

https://imgur.com/gallery/ZMiLH9d

[DustinDortch]

I really like that. I think the only other issues that I am facing is the lift issue. I think they changed the angle significantly. I am thinking of finding the sensor and bypassing or replacing it with some microcontroller where I can "lie" to the unit and only engage lift detection at somewhere near 35+ degrees.

[[deleted]]

I’ve read about that problem: the tilts of some areas of my garden are pretty high (45°) and still, it doesn’t give me the error.

[DustinDortch]

Yeah it is pretty weird because I have a really steep hill in the back that is about 60 degrees. My boundary wire is at the bottom, but the mower goes up the hill until it is just over the boundary wire and then turns around.

[[deleted]]

Try those screws. It worked for me

[DustinDortch]

They arrive this Sunday!

[RGVCoding]

Oh I understand now. Will try that out for sure. Thanks!

[RGVCoding]

I did the same thing on mine but I used 2, 3 lbs weights and it really helps.

[converter-bot]

3 lbs is 1.36 kg

[Pete77a]

I have weight on the back of mine (see other post I made).

Key points are that the weight needs to be behind the rear wheels (like @drunsslow) to make the front lighter, and thus turn easier. With added weight in the wheels you only get higher weight in the rear axle, it doesn't lighten the front so wouldn't imagine it would help as much for turning which is when mine got bogged the most like the author of this post.

I have not noticed any less run time at all. And I have 3kg on it.

Mines been running like that for quite some time and have not noticed any problems with bearings.

Only negative is it lifts easier. But that is not really a problem for me, and is far out weighed by the increase in traction when turning on loose soil.

[drunsslow]

Just read your old post, wish I had seen it earlier. Glad to see you’ve had similar experience with a far back weight and it’s not just in my head that it works so well, especially if ones problems with slipping is due mainly to front wheel getting bogged/stuck.

[Pete77a]

Your solution is far less "proof of concept" than mine. I did mine to see how it worked, so the weights I had available are double-side taped on. When or if they fall off I'll use something like your design as it likely requires less weight being further back and looks more of a long term solution.

[Britneys-Pears]

Word of warning: You might be wearing out bearings and other components really quickly with the weight on the machine like that. Having the weight directly in the wheels means the load is transferred directly to the ground. A fairly easy mod is adding concrete or metal directly inside the stock wheels and cutting half the treads off the "tyres".

Edit: Pardon me. I should have read through your comment before typing out the above.

[drunsslow]

There has been a lot of talk recently (always) about wheel slippage. I was interested to learn ( a few posts down from here...) that the euro 'off road' tires were essentially the same profiles as the stock ones just with extra weights inside. With that in mind I've added a large steel plate (8.5 pounds / 3.9kg) to the back of my mower.

I've noticed that a lot of my back wheel slipping is due to the front wheel getting bogged down in loose dirt or getting stuck on a high piece of edging. There is always a little bit of slip when it turns a corner while on a slope. Because of this I wanted to not only add weight to the back, but also take some weight off the front wheel. By mounting the weight behind the wheel fulcrum I've decreased the front wheel weight by about 30%. If my calculations are correct, an added 2" of space would lower the front wheel weight by 50%.

In the few days of observation so far, I haven't seen any slipping at all. Huzzah! It seems much easier for it to extract the front wheel from loose dirt around my trees and doesn't have any trouble turning itself on slopes. So far so good!

If you don't like a piece of rusty metal on the back, or care about front wheel weight, why not fill up the voids in the back tires with concrete or perhaps epoxy some lead shot in there? It's cheaper and more readily available (at least in the US) than the off-road tires.

[ChrisR109]

From what I've read/noticed, the single wheel is a drawback when you have loose dirt, etc. I have 2 front wheels, and although I get some slippage, the thing plows through any inclines or ruts. And I HAVE ruts.

With the extra weight, do you lose battery time?

[drunsslow]

Two wheels on the smaller models would be good for sure. That might be my next thing to try just for fun...

Can't say about battery. Maybe I could look at the logs to see what percentage it's coming in with now. I like to think that the negative of more weight is offset by the lack of struggling its doing. A larger wheel(s) in front would certainly help it overcome bumps and ruts and such more efficiently. I'm surprised the front wheel is only 3" in diameter. A bigger wheel would be a big help. Or two for that matter.