No AutoMower For You! (Not Yet, At Least!) #Automowerfirst

So, guys!  I have some fun news.  As part of an outreach campaign, the fine folks from Husqvarna have selected *this guy* to test out one of their Automowers.  They're having one delivered and if I comply with some asks (posting photos on social media, etc), I'll get to keep the mower.   So, that's pretty awesome, right?

The plan was for the Automower to be delivered in May and then use it all summer and have me document my experience here on the blog and on social (Twitter, Instagram).  I'm all for it!  But...I've had a little bit of an issue with *actually* getting the Automower.  Between some delays and then some scheduling confusion with the dealer in Roselle, my poor lawn (and kids!), who I have been bragging to about our soon-to-arrive lawn robot overlord, are starting to wonder if we'll ever get to see this thing in action.  I'm hoping we can get it figured out and the Automower will be in service next week!

In the meantime, the fine folks at Husqvarna sent along some literature and some swag.  That hat up at the top of this post was also sent along with a pretty rad Ocra tumblr (competitor to those sweet Yeti stainless steel cups/thermos/coolers that you see from time-to-time) that Nat has TOTALLY glommed onto.

So, I have those to hold me over.  While I read over and over longingly this brochure.

One of the things that I'm wondering about is whether I'm getting the 'right size' unit.  I'm slated to get the Husqvarna Automower 315.  Which, as you can see above is capable of covering 1/3 of an acre.  In square feet, that translates to 14,520 square feet.

Where we're currently living in Elmhurst, the lot is 65' wide by 165' deep.  That's a total of 10,725 square feet.  And there's the house, garage, driveway and play area that take up big parts of the square footage.  So, the Automower 315 is totally doable for that size space.

But, what happens if we move to something like a 65' wide by 300' deep lot?  That's 19,500 square feet.  Suddenly, we might be out of range for the Automower 315.  Husqvarna offers something called the Automower 450X that has 1.25 acre coverage.

An acre is 43,560 square feet, so the lot at just under 20K square feet is not at it's limit, but in looking around at other participants in the #Automowerfirst program, some of them are using the Automower 450X.  Thus...I'm wondering if I need to talk to the Husqvarna folks and see if we can get the bigger one for our future needs?  You can see others posting about their Husqvarna Automowers on the #AutomowerFirst tag on Instagram or Twitter.

Either way, I'm geeked.  C'mon Chambers Lawn and Power.  Let's get this delivery set up so I can watch this thing cut my grass!

(Reminder...I mentioned this up at the top, but to be clear:  Husqvarna is NOT paying me to write this post or any posts on social media about the Automower and #AutomowerFirst campaign, but they *are* giving me an Automower to use and test this summer.  And if I post about it on the blog and on social, they'll let me keep it!)