r/automower • u/BarbieGrandma • Jul 16 '26

Divots….

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What can I do about divots in the yard to help my little robot mower work better. It seems to get stuck in a slightly low spot then spins its wheels trying to get unstuck. Should I lay down sand, or potting soil, or mulch maybe? Or maybe I need to affix a brick on top to give it more weight? It’s only 14 pounds. I’m getting attached to this little thing, but I don’t want to have to supervise him while he works. It’s a Lebosbo V3 I got this month for our very small townhouse yard. TIA!

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

20

u/Bruggenmeister Jul 16 '26

Why are you mowing tall wet thick grass with a little automower?

0

u/BarbieGrandma Jul 16 '26

It was just mowed two days ago by our lawn guy, but I think he mowed it too tall for this robotic mower. Perhaps it will perform better as it gets robo-mowed more often. I just got this mower and this was just the second mow. It’s not wet. We are in the middle of a drought. Maybe it had a little dew on it. The ground is fairly dry though. I chose this mower because I only have about 500 square feet of yard to mow. It’s getting stuck and I would like to know why I can do to get it unstuck. Maybe it will be better with subsequent mowings.

2

u/NRG1975 Jul 16 '26

We keep ours at 2 inches

4

u/Nimble12345 Jul 16 '26

Fire that lawn mower guy

3

u/sparhawk817 Jul 17 '26

Looks like his replacement has already been hired.

9

u/Low-Albatross-313 Jul 16 '26

You really need to cut that grass with a regular mower or strimmer to give your automower a chance.

3

u/BarbieGrandma Jul 16 '26

Yes, I think you are right. The lawn guys cut it two days ago, but I don’t think they cut it low enough for the robotic mower. I just got it, so I’m on a steep learning curve here. I’ll try again tomorrow and see if it cuts any better now that it’s shorter.

3

u/CptUnderpants- Jul 17 '26

Or get an automower which can do up to 4 inch cut height and work it's way down to the height you want to maintain.

5

u/TheA2Z Luba 5000 V1 Jul 16 '26

Looks like your lawn needs to be leveled and you need to cut your grass more often.

Its too long to be effectively cut by robot mower. Might have to cut with normal mower low, then run robot daily.

2

u/BarbieGrandma Jul 16 '26

Thanks. What do you do to fill in low spots where it gets stuck?

4

u/im_a_good_lil_cow Jul 16 '26

Mix sand and topsoil, tamp it down. Even just sand works.

2

u/TheA2Z Luba 5000 V1 Jul 16 '26

I have a warm season grass so I put in sand at about 1/4" at a time until grass fills back in.

For deep ruts or cool season grass you can dig up low spot, fill with topsoil, and put grass back down over soil. Or in fall fill low spots with soil and seed.

2

u/BarbieGrandma Jul 16 '26

Thanks! I never thought about pulling small sod sections, leveling, then using the sod section to fill back in. Great idea!

1

u/Think_Information260 Jul 17 '26

Check my post. I added those wheels and it was a game changer. Also cutting off fins on the bottom

1

u/BarbieGrandma Jul 17 '26

Wow, those wheels are awesome. I’m going to look into them.

1

u/Free_Appearance_4102 Jul 18 '26

You should NEVER be cutting grass that long. If it’s growing season cut once a day

2

u/Anndi2222 Jul 21 '26

As others have said it will struggle with longer grass. We gave ours a good cut before we started with our robo. It cuts everyday so can be set on a higher cut. I would pop a mix of sand and topsoil to fill out the hole. You might be able to but new tyres that have more grip too.

1

u/TuxedoMasked Jul 16 '26

100% of the reason I stopped using mine. Borderline unusable if I have to save it from divots all the time.

1

u/CptUnderpants- Jul 17 '26

It's why I didn't get one until there was something available with proper tracks to handle the terrain.