Betsie Lawnbott

Yesterday I moved the home base from the back yard to the side yard. The power now comes from the garage outlet and exits via a window.

The home base is still inside the dog fence area (I don’t have a dog, it was set up for the previous tenant) so I can shut the double wide gate and keep Betsie in the side and back yard only.

The front yard… A field. I might have to break down and call the kid who wanted to mow it.

On the other hand. My push-powered rotary blade mower is not so bad at hacking down weeds. Especially if you mow around them in a circle.
It’s a good work out!

I met a guy today who stopped to ask about Betsie and ended up chatting for an hour or so. She actually showed off by going the whole length of the front yard and back before choking on a 18″ seed pod and shutting down. There is still hope.

I bordered out some of the 4×4 border of the “driveway” tonight. I might skip that and just smooth the transition out with a bag of dirt. It would probably work better anyway.

I have her working zones set to run from 17:30-23:30 and then 1:00-5:30 so she really only runs when I’m home. I check her whereabouts when I leave for work (and right now, before bed too because I’m curious).

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I was wondering if the Voltage show on Betsie’s display goes up or down as she decharges. Must go down… I’ve seen anywhere from 2700something to 2900something.

This site on batteries must say somewhere….
http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/bat.html

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Betsie had most of the back yard mowed after the first day. Then we worked on the area inside the dog fence. It’s mostly done.

Friday I laid wire around the perimeter of the front yard and yesterday took her out there to try it. Well, it’s hard. The lawn changes from field weeds, to dead grass and leaves, to very tall grass. She does fine until hitting the tallest, thick grass and then bogs down pretty quick. I may have to borrow a traditional lawn mower.

Apparently, the neighbor talked to Don and said “she’s gonna mow all that with just That thing? Do ya wanna borrow the ride-on?” He just waved them off. I wouldn’t mind a hand though. Lawnbotts aren’t designed for tall grass. Once it’s done once it’ll be fine for Betsie to keep up with.

I am wondering whether I should reposition the charging base to make the front yard the primary zone. It is the biggest… But I worry about her being out there alone. I guess we’ll see how she does once it’s mostly cut.

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> Got the wheels on. It’s a 3mm allen wrench by the way 🙂 I found a > set, but it wasn’t metric, so had to go back. No problem, I collect > tools as I need them and they come in handy.
>
> One advantage of laying the perimeter wire is knowing how big my yard > is. Another is finding the poison ivy early on in spring so it’s easy > to kill. I didn’t get any on me, luckily!
>
> Haven’t seen any of the neighbors yet, but my boyfriend is coming over > tonight and is excited to see my “new toy”. We’re both mechanical > engineers, so this is exciting!
>
> My 2 cats loved “helping” with the wire setup! I can’t imagine how > excited a kitten would be about slinky-things-moving-in-the-grass. My > cats are 6 years old and this was the first playfullness exhibited in > ages. They’re not quite as excited about Betsie herself, they stay out > of her way.
>
> What settings do you use for the automatic percentage? What about > cycles per secondary area? I’m enjoying experimenting.
>
> I think I am going to start a blog, or something, to post stories on > too. 🙂
>

Hi Sara!

First, in case I didn’t tell you, please start with the blade near the very top. Every other day or so lower it about 1/4 inch. This give the wire time to settle and the mower a chance to run free without bogging down.

I’d leave the cycles to the default, The Evolution will calculate how large your yard is. When it goes back to the charger it will tell you what percentage of the yard it mowed!

I like the automatic percentage set at 90. That way it goes out more often. You can set it for 70 if you want it to go out less often. I’ll do that during the winter time as the grass is really dormant but the neighbors love seeing it out playing.

Please send me your blog address when you get it going. I love to read the trials and tribulations. Dealers around the world link to my reviews. Every one is so thirsty for knowledge on these things and I am the only oasis on the ‘net.

You failed to tell me you were an engineer or I would have charged you 35% more. The smarter the person the more problems they have. I have no problems putting them-which gives away my intelligence level I guess. (GRIN)

By the end of May I hope to have a NAME list. It amazes me the names people come up with. One guy calls his Woody (because every guy wants a woody). Another calls theirs Mario (after the Nintendo character).

Keep me posted!
Kerry

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>> Got her yesterday, and set up the wire for the back yard.
>>
>> Caught and snapped the wire twice, but I remember you having trouble >> with that too. Once it’s grown under the grass a bit it should be >> fine. For now, I’m happy about getting the extra stakes.
>>
>> Can you help me put the spiked tires on? I don’t think I have the >> right tool to get the screw that’s in there out, so I thought I’d >> confirm that Is what I need to do.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Sara

> Hi Sara,
>
> DRAT! They still haven’t enclosed the little allen wrench with them. > Do you have a set of allen wrenches by chance?
>
> The screw for that holds the tire on needs to be taken out. The wheel > needs to be left on and the spiked tire placed over it and the enclosed > screws used to replace the old one.
>
> Sorry, I forgot to check to see if they had started enclosing them.
>
> Start with the blade nearly to the top and every two days or so lower > 1/4 inch. That will solve the wire problem.
>
> I am glad that you got it quickly and wasted no time getting it set up!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Kerry

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>> Will you need any spiked tires or extra pegs? I have those in stock >> and can ship them with your order with no shipping charges.
>
> The tires aren’t as expensive as I thought, and I will need more pegs > at some point.
> What’s your prefered order/payment method? Paypal from your website?

From Kerry,

Hi!

Since Amazon was still being a pain, and FREE is always good, I decided paypal was the way to go.

> You are the 3rd person to try and buy on Amazon, but they have the same > problem with their credit cards. It has been a long time since I > bought anything on Amazon. I guess they wouldn’t like my Paypal > debit/credit card because I get 1% back instantly.
>
> Amazon charges an AMAZING 8% and holds the money in an account for 15 > days or more before releasing it. But that is the price of doing > business with Amazon.

> I have the box loaded and standing by for Fed Ex ground shipment today.

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Turned out that my new credit card, the one with 0% financing, has a very low limit. Go figure. So, Amazon didn’t like that.

Amazon needs some updated information from you. As soon as they give me the okay, I will ship it out immediately.

Kerry

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I sent this email using the www.bamabots.com live help form…

Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 7:20 PM
Subject: Help – Contact

>Just wanted to drop a note saying I did a lot of research before deciding to order from you (via Amazon). Thanks for making the bots available on Amazon since it’s how I like to order and how I found you in the first place. Hope they don’t charge you too much for the listing. 🙂

And received this one back:

Thank you for the compliment. I have worked very hard to build a site that can help people make an educated decision.

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