The Husqvarna Automower 315 is an intelligent, robot lawn mower with good looks and the ability to maintain lawns of up to 1,500 metres square in size. This means it can tackle areas much larger than most average gardens and quite capable of navigating narrow passages and weather conditions. This is a popular robot mower with loads of special attributes and features. Could this investment mean the end of your arduous hours of summer labour or expensive garden maintenance costs for good?
I will be breaking down the particulars of this mower to see how it measures up for the user.
Installation
The Husqvarna Automower 315 has a relatively straight forward installation process. With installation you have two main options: to install the unit yourself or seek the help of a professional installer.
If you have the time I believe it is good to go through the set up process this will enable you to understand everything you need to know about the device. By familiarising yourself with all its features, settings and capabilities early on you will have more flexibility to change things later
There are three main stages to the installation:
Charging Station
The charging station is the place where the Husqvarna will be all the time it is not carrying out mowing duties. There are some considerations involved when locating the charging station. You should bare in mind the charging station should preferably be located next to power source of some kind. This could be an external socket or a utility part of the home. Therefore It is best to place the charging station in a sheltered location where there will be minimal chance of it being exposed to extreme weather conditions. Although Robot lawn mowers are designed to deal with outside conditions it can provide extra longevity to an expensive item. The Automower 315 has numerous features built in to avoid theft but locating the charging unit away from the viewing public can minimise the risk.
Perimeter Cable
The perimeter cable is probably the most work of the whole operation. The cable should run the whole perimeter of the cutting area ending back at the charging station. The Husqvarna Automower 315 comes with pegs to fix the cable down into the lawn surface. Alternatively you create a grove to the outside of the lawn so you can sink the cable into the ground. Most robot lawn mower perimeter cables can be buried up to 1 inch into the soil.
Programming
The programming of the robot can be done via the key pad underneath the body housing. Here you can programme your mowing preferences including mowing frequency and cutting height. The 315 has many intelligent adaptive capabilities so it will learn as it goes!
Charging
The Husqvarna Automower 315 comes with a lithium Ion battery. This means after one hour of charging it will cut for around 70 minutes. This is quite reasonable considering in usually takes grass an average of two weeks to need cutting again in summer. When the mower senses it is getting low on charge it heads back to the charging station and docks over connective prongs. The battery within the robot is replaceable and is extremely energy efficient compared to conventional mowing methods.
Cutting
First off it has to be said the Husqvarna 315 has some simply amazing cutting capabilities.
The robot lawn mower has the ability to monitor the growth rate of your lawn so it knows at exactly what frequency to cut. Not only does this mean you end up with a perfect looking lawn at all times it is also extremely energy efficient. When you consider petrol lawn mowers are some of the most polluting engines on the planet! The 315 is an extremely ecological and economical way of cutting grass. By only weighing 8 kilograms and a powerful electric motor this robot powers through lawns with very little effort at all.
It is said that the Husqvarna Automower 315 has the most unique cutting system of any robot mower on the market today. The secret to its cutting system lie with the three cutting blades. The carbon steel blades are attached to a central hub shaft. When the shaft spins the centrifugal force forces them to spin out from the centre causing an extra quick whip like cutting motion. Although the blades of this robot are sharp the no rigid whipping motion means they are only powerful enough to cut grass. In the event of the mower encountering any toys or tree debris they will simply bounce back. This is an extras safety feature on top of obstacle and lift sensors on the device. The cutting blades are supposed to be replaces every 3 months which is more regularly than other mowers. The robot lawn mower comes with a year’s supply of blades on initial purchase.
The fast blitzing nature of this cutting system blasts the grass into tiny particles you can hardly see with the naked eye. This helps to put nutrients back into the lawn feeding it and helping it retain moisture. This also means there is no waste compartment for you to continuously empty like conventional mowers. Conventional mowers will mow on average once every two weeks in summer depending on the homeowner. This means the lawn is forever growing long and being cut down to the base. Robot lawn mowers cut at ‘high frequency’ cutting more often with little energy. This regime means grass grows thicker, denser and more horizontal leading to a healthier better looking lawn.
The Husqvarna Automower 315 is designed to be resilient of what the weather can throw at it. A water tight body and high traction wheels means wet weather is not a threat to this mower. Due to cutting being a messy business in the rain the robot has a weather sensor which tells it to head back to the charging station in wet weather.
With a powerful motor and the high traction rate of its wheels this robot mower can climb steep hills of up to 35 percent. This is much more than many of the other robot mowers on the market, ideal for hilly gardens. Even with a powerful driving system this robot is one of the quietest of its type only generating 58 decibels. This mower can navigate narrow passages with a ‘spot cutting mode’ which allows you to focus cutting in one specific area. Husqvarna have included the option of a downloadable app for this robot lawn mower. This means you can change all of the robots main controls and settings from the comfort of your living room.
Maintenance
The whole point of a robot lawn mower is to make your garden maintenance free and to fair after initial set up the are pretty effort free! The main work with the Husquarna 315 is changing the blades which is a quick and easy task. It is advised that every winter the robots moving parts should be cleaned and it kept inside until spring.
Safety
As ever safety is a concern with any appliance which has fast rotating cutting parts.
The Husqvarna Automower 315 comes with a series of sensors which activate when the mower is moved or tilted in any way. There are obstacle sensors which sense when there is an unexpected object in their way which automatically cuts off the power system to the robot. If a child tries to play with the robot once again the power system will cut out.
In the event a thief tries to make off with your robot mower the moment it is picked up a loud alarm will sound. The only way to stop the alarm is to type in the 4 digit code on the keypad. Even if a criminal made off with the mower it has a tracking device and is completely useless without the larger charging station.
Cost
I often think that the cost of robot lawn mowers combined with the idea of initial set up put people off the idea of making such an investment. Especially if you have a large a robot mower like the 315 will safe you hours of work every year. If you pay for grass mowing services you can recoup the cost of the mower gradually over time. At around £1700 pounds the 315 is not the cheapest robot mower. If however you value your free time and have a very large garden it is worth it in the end.
Conclusion
The Husqvarna Automower 315 is one of the best robot lawn mowers on the market today. Compared with most other robots it has pioneering features, problem solving intelligence and the best cutting blades. It has a robust frame, with a stealthy design making a novelty addition to any garden. The downloadable app gives you complete control whilst being able to work off its own learning capabilities. Consequently with the 315 you can be as involved or as hands off as you like. It is a reasonably expensive machine but packs in a lot of features! The 315 can maintain a large garden areas with steep slopes. Considering all factors this robot is a life changing, time saving purchase. Your new toy will be a garden talking point and will be the envy of all your friends.
If you have not yet decided which robot lawn mower to choose try our reviews page:
