Go-Go Debuts in our #NewOldBackyard

That's our Husqvarna Automower back in business, but in our #NewOldBackyard.  I've written a few times about our Automower here on the blog.  And, on my linkblog/other note-taking/link-saving thing, I even chronicled how we arrived at his/her name:  Go-Go.

We had Go-Go installed at Equation Boy/Man's place, so when we were moving out, I went around the perimiter of the lawn and picked up the boundary wire and stakes.  When we got to the #newoldfarmhouse, it took me a few weeks to find the time to spend in the yard putting the boundary (and guide) wires in around the edges of the yard.  Our #newoldbackyard is quite a bit bigger, so the wire installation kit that I ended up buying was the 'medium' version and as it turned out, we had *just* enough wire.  Like maybe 10 extra feet total.  And that's after deciding to not have Go-Go cut certain parts of the current lawn.    All the way in the back there's a densely shaded area that doesn't really have much growing on it and it is super uneven.  So, I opted to create the boundary to exclude that portion.  Same with the area along the north property line/fence line that is close to our house/screened porch that we're planning on planting a line of trees (European Hornbeams/Frans Fontaines, I hope!).  There's currently sod there, but we'll be digging it up at some point, so I routed the boundary wire to avoid that area.  And, of course, there's the whole front and side yards.

Go-Go is only set up to deal with the backyard.  That means that the landscaping crew, who has been cutting my grass since we moved in (I lost my mower in the tearing down of the shed!?!) will now have to just edge with his weedwhip the backyard and cut the front and side yards.  It has been a few days since the install and Go-Go has been doing a pretty good job.  There's a lot more lines from the wheels in our #newoldbackyard that I remember in Elmhurst, but that could because it is cutting on sod?  I've picked it up a few times and set it to 'spot cut' to get some problematic areas that Go-Go seemed to miss, but otherwise, it has done a pretty decent job of cutting the entire yard.

Now...as for the equipment: We have the Automower 315.  But I have my eyes on the 450x.  It has double the capacity in terms of coverage, but I think I'd end up needing to run both mowers, so capacity isn't really the issue.  The 450x has a couple of things that the 315 doesn't including GPS navigation, a mobile phone monitoring app called Connect and it allows for 3 guidewires (the 315 base station only allows for 1 guidewire).  Those 2 additional guidewires would allow me to set it up to handle complex situations like cutting the backyard, then navigating a guide to a 2nd zone (the sideyard) and potentially even another zone.  If we had one of the mowers out front doing the front yard and the parkway, the other could be going in the back.  But the price tag?  Wowsa.  Takes me a lot of checks to the landscape company to claw back the money needed for the 450x.  A guy can dream, right?