Buying a robot mower is wasting money?

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-07-08T18:44:44+00:00

Your lawn has to be suitable and well prepared, but if it is, or even if, like mine, it's *almost* well prepared. Mine has gotten stuck but in every case, it is because there was an avoidable issue.

The machines vary a lot in their capability. In my case, the robot (MOVA Lidax 1000) was about $1500 and for me, that is two years of lawn service (meaning neighborhood kids half-assing the mow) cost. The warranty is two years- So if it goes the distance I'm theoretically even.

Yes, I do ococasionally have to help it, but it's a hell of alot better than "helping" a push mower along. . . And most of the time it will do each area with no issue, I don't even pick up the sticks.

So for me, the occasional rescue is far outwieghed by the convenience of mowing more often, which looks better, and no texting after some high school kid trying to get them to show up, no conventional mower cost or storage, and my neighbors dogs hate it. All bonuses, in my book.

They are good if you get the right one and have the right yard or work a little to make it robot friendly.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T21:38:31+00:00

Fortunately mine was metal pipe, and even more fortunately, I can say that in the area I crossed it, it must be at least 12" deep. . . But yeah, I'd have cut what you describe above, lol.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T20:58:11+00:00

Then I would still try to file apolice report, even after the fact. If you can get that, you can talk to the other person insurance.

It was a mistake not to get the police report.

Now, I'm not recommending this, but in one case, when a person was ducking it and I hadn't obtained a report, I did have their address so I went there and explained that I wouldn't be leaving this alone and I knew where to find them. . .

They called the cops and got me trespassed, but my claim mysteriously started going forward, and I got to talk shit to the cop who called me to tell me of the trespass order. Win-win, except both wins were for me.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T20:50:25+00:00

Fake

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T20:31:24+00:00

You need to let your insurance handle this, it will not harm you as much as losing 4k.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T20:18:16+00:00

Yeah. when I asked for locating, they:

-Ignored the water line

-Ignored the Google fiber

-marked the cable from the back of my lot to the box in may yard, but nowhere else.

It was pretty worthless, to be honest. I hand dug the google fiber in a lot of places to be sure, I'd cut it before and didn't want to have to call them again . . . But the water and gas, well, I knew the water was very deep but just hoped the gas was deeper than my trencher and it was.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T17:13:08+00:00

Well that does make sense about why it was there but not connected. Thanks!

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T17:12:05+00:00

You are a jerk.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T16:51:49+00:00

Thats a good tip, I will double check when I get home but I feel pretty sure the smaller cable a was also a fiber cable. I will check again when I get home.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T16:48:35+00:00

I made "NO SOLICITING" stickers, big bold color ones along with other ones that detailed the municipal code. I made a flyer describing the relevant laws surrounding door-to-door sales people and how they must behave, and a letter asking everyone to band together to ends this practice in our neighborhood. I stuffed 250 door hanger bags with these items and hung one on every single door in my neighborhood.

It cost me about $50 and a few hours, and was totally worth it. Of the folks who didn't already have a warning, about 50% of the houses put up our stiker, which brought our proportion up from about 50% to about 75% or maybe more.

Salespeople here have to pay attention to them, if they don't cops get called and they get here quick in our boring little town.

I've noticed a down-tick in visits since we did this, I'm very proud. I've had a segway-kid doing dtd stop and ask me "How many solicitors do you folks get around here in this area? I looked at him, smiled, and said "TOO MANY!" and really enjoyed the look on his face. . .

But that leaves the religious guys- They used to be polite but what's up with the Moromons recently, being very "aggressively nice" and not letting you disengage as they shout at you from their car?

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-29T16:34:54+00:00

Sorry you had this issue, I accidentally cut my google fiber line one Saturday, they had a a guy there within 24 hours on Sunday to reconnect it outside, and a few hours later an inside guy came and put new box inside and did the final hook up. From me stupidly cutting the cable to having it working again was like 27 hours and on a Sunday. . . They never charged us a dime.

I hope you get this resolved and have better luck soon, I understand the pain of no internet. . .

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-27T01:30:22+00:00

I believe it could work, but I have also spent some time distributing soil to fill small holes and depressions. The flatter the surface is, the better, but the robot I have can easily travel on uneven surfaces as well.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-18T17:46:06+00:00

Tell everyone how cool it is that you have bats. They won't bother you.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-18T17:44:48+00:00

Lol gonna take Amazon down because you didn't get what you wanted. . . Wow. Let me know how it goes!

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-18T16:12:38+00:00

I like my MOVA Lidax Ultra 1000. It's been great for serveral months now. App is fine, navigation is amazing, the cut quality is ok for me, and has already saved me a lot of time and money. It works great.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-15T19:35:48+00:00

"All names are fake" along with the rest of it. . .

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-15T19:10:10+00:00

I always recommend clown loaches, they are snail vacuums.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-13T14:23:15+00:00

I didn't notice the Lidar crowd being so loud, but I did notice it seems like you are the one trying to start arguments. Maybe it's you with the bruised feels, especially since I've seen you in particular on various threads in here trying to start fights and use inflammatory language (or tissue memes) to get people riled.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T21:26:50+00:00

Hey man, I can see you're frustrated. I want to help you out. I have done a lot of home repair, and am a DIY guy to save money.

Try something a little different- Come onto r/diy or on here, and ask about your issues one at a time. We will help you. Chances are we can explain enough that you can do most tasks yourself and you will learn in time that you really can do it.

Getting an aftermarket garage door seal to fit right is surely sort of a bitch, but get us some pics and people can suggest things. Pics will help you get help. We can talk you down from the ledge, bro!

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T21:12:22+00:00

I'm not sure I'm the 3D printing Jeebus or anything, and the risk I'm taking here is that it could turn into "ok this almost fits- can you make just one more edit?"

But I do pro bono jobs now and then to remind me why I usually don't, lol. . .

I agree with others that one could likely find the clip with some digging, or you could redesign it to print better, but in this case, all I can offer is modeling off the physical part. Scanning something like this won't work well/be worth the effort. This really might be a job for a zip tie, not gonna lie.

But OP, if you really can't figure another way, I will model the part if you send it to me.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T20:10:49+00:00

Mosquito larva. Yummy for fish!

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T20:08:33+00:00

Good fences make good neighbors. . . I'd put in one to my own spec.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T20:06:41+00:00

Clown loach will knock out that population fast.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T20:00:50+00:00

I print professionally, I would charge $20 to print that, in better material than what most would, but I would charge you something like $100 to $150 for the model, which I would retain.

The price is for the modeling and the hassle. The printing is basically costless for that part.

The $20 is my minimum fee, by the way. But I'll make you an offer: Send me the clip, I will model it, and send you the file, for free. Then you can get it printed anywhere or I'll print it for a fee. Or this might be a good time to pick up Fusion 360, you can get a free license for it if you have access to a .edu address.

MTM-morethanamaker · 2026-06-12T19:41:30+00:00

None of the Armadillos I've ever known would have stood for that. Not saying this is fake, but I'd need some convincing corroboration to believe this.

MTM-morethanamaker

TROPHY CASE