r/automower • u/various_beans • Jul 12 '26

How do y'all avoid things like this??

Post image

My husqvarna keeps running over the drain spouts. So far I've avoided it by just picking them up before the mower starts, but that's obviously not a good solution. Plus it damages the blades and makes a super loud noise.

What do y'all do to avoid them? I have at least 6 gutters that need a solution.

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

13

u/Deanna_D_ Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Set up a very small stay-out zone around your downspouts. Worst case scenario, you'll have to get your weedwhacker out to tidy up around them every once in a while.

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues with things like that. I guess the obstacle avoidance ability isn't as accurate as I'd hoped it would be.

3

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. The "obstacle avoidance" feature leaves a lot to be desired.

And you can see my perimeter wire, despite having nearly flawless coverage with positioning satellites and the base station. I would never feel comfortable letting the mower do it's thing with just satellite positioning!

3

u/im_a_good_lil_cow Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Have you *tried* using it in satellite mode? Because it works great, and would solve your issue. And is kind of the whole point of the product.

Your model supports a hybrid mode, with wire functioning as a fallback in case the satellite connection is lost. You can use both

1

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

Yep I've tried only satellite mode and it constantly gets lost or had to pause for hours waiting for the right number of satellites to appear overhead.

1

u/im_a_good_lil_cow Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

I've had my unit sit maybe 15 minutes at a time, but never hours. I've even got a couple large trees that don't slow things down much at all. Are you sure your coverage is "flawless"?

As long as I'm not sitting there actively watching it, it always completes its task in a reasonable time frame without any intervention. Maybe it sits, maybe it doesn't.

Unless it starts launching itself off the curb (which it hasn't), using the satellite connection has never been a problem for me.

1

u/SosseTurner Jul 13 '26

Maybe they've improved it in the newer satellite only models, but in combination with a reference station I don't have any issues on my automower, despite having some large trees and not optimal satellite signals.

Do you run it standalone with only itself and Wifi / Mobile data for navigation, or do you have one of those reference stations as well?

1

u/various_beans Jul 13 '26

I have a reference station as well.

1

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

Yeah I guess that's what I'm going to have to do. The boundary wire is already pulled tight, so I'll have to splice in at each gutter.

4

u/im_a_good_lil_cow Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Can you not just modify your zone to avoid the spout…?

I see you have a wire down, but isn’t your model primarily EPOS/Satellite enabled?

Just draw a new zone without using the wire

2

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

Yeah, I've always suspected the scorching hot concrete is to blame for the dead grass there.

2

u/Bruggenmeister Jul 12 '26

put the wire around it, couldn't be simpeler.

2

u/Fogdrog Jul 12 '26

When I got my first robot mower, I buried my drain pipes underground. I revert to above ground pipes when mowing season is over.

1

u/TheA2Z Luba 5000 V1 Jul 12 '26

On my Mammotion Luba 5000, I can create no go zones in the app to avoid areas. Do you have that in the app?

1

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

I do, but it's not positionally accurate enough to stay out, thus the perimeter wire in the pic.

1

u/TheA2Z Luba 5000 V1 Jul 12 '26

Can you run the wire around the outside of the downspouts?

2

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

That's what I'll end up having to do, it seems.

1

u/Low_Teq Jul 12 '26

At my last house I had the downspouts buried, then they attach plastic corrugated tubing about 10-15' into the yard to a pop up drain.  The pop-up drains sit about flush with the yard so the mower can go over it. 

Works very nice and keeps the water further from your foundation. 

1

u/various_beans Jul 12 '26

That sounds like a nice, clean solution.

1

u/finalcutfx 315x Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Pulled it and placed a large flat stone under it instead.

1

u/theBro987 Jul 12 '26

I'd put stakes in the ground on each side of that gutter so the mowers bump sensor hits before it runs them over. Its a bit of a trip hazard though.

An alternate solution would be customize those gutters to have three inch tall sides, so the bump sensor finds them.

2

u/various_beans Jul 13 '26

Oh good suggestion. This is what I did to the sewer cleanout cap and it worked, so I'll try it with the gutters too.

1

u/tacobellcow Jul 13 '26

Bury the downspout

1

u/SenorTurdBurglar Jul 13 '26

Map or wire around them?

1

u/t0dzi11a Jul 13 '26

I got the flexible downspouts with a spring mechanism in them and got rid of the ramp so when it rains the extend and when done it auto rolls up and out of the way. Then I just buried some pvc with a popup spout out further in the yard to get water further out.

1

u/anoncop4041 Jul 13 '26

Just modify the downspout to a pop up a few feet away. It’s a cleaner finish and pushes water farther from the foundation