★★★★★
Dean (07/28/2024)
Very Very Pleased
So far, I've used Yuka for 2 days and am very very pleased.
My setup:
Yuka 1500 (bagger/sweeper on order but not yet received). RTK station on roof of house. Yard encircles house. About 7,500 sq ft / 700 sqm / 0.17 acre. Alternating open vs tree coverage. Bermuda grass. 4 mowing zones. Both sidewalks and driveway separate zones.
Great GPS satellite coverage:
When mapping perimeter, perhaps 90% is what Mammotion calls "fix," which they say is accuracy to 1 inch. Other 10% is "float," or accuracy to roughly 2 feet.
I'd say only 50% of my perimeter has good access to the sky, so the fact that Yuka is "seeing" the satellites to enable geolocation to 1 inch 90% of the time is better than I expected.
Cut quality:
The thin blades don't do the best job cutting. Certainly nothing like a gas lawn mower. However, if I mow checkerboard, which is 2 passes in opposite directions, it cuts everything.
Thus, the remedy to poor cut quality is multiple passes. With a regular mowing this would mean more of my time, but with a robotic mower it's nothing more than a setting.
Mow time:
It seems to run approximately 90 minutes on a charge. That's actually an estimate, because after about 75 minutes, or when the charge is around 13%, it returns to the charger. It appears to take about 75 minutes to go back to 100%. That's a 1:1 relationship between charge rate and discharge rate.
How I'm programming it:
I've broken my lawn into 3 sections in hopes it can mow each section on a single charge. The mower will run every day for 1 to 1.5 hrs. Monday is section 1; Tues is section 2; Wed is section 3; Thurs is section 1; Fri section 2; and so on.
I've set it to zigzag, which is another way of saying it mows in rows. However, I've put it on a setting that changes the direction of those rows from one mow to the next. I expect this will ensure full cut across the lawn. It should also help to minimize ruts that could result if the wheels tread the same lines over and over.
What it can't do:
I have curbs, and Yuka cannot mow right up to them. The cutting edge is still about 4 inches inside the outer deck. (The mower is 20 inches wide and the cutting deck is 12.7 inches wide, leaving 3.7 inches on either side). Thus, I expect to mow my perimeter with my gas-powered push mower.
I don't believe any robotic mower can go any closer to the edge than Yuka does; this is something I expected and am fine with.
My thoughts:
I researched it enough to have an extremely good idea of what to expect. Yet I still viewed this as a somewhat risky purchase. I've never owned a robotic mower before. Nor do I have people to talk to for advice. And, this is new technology from China.
Now, having had 2 days to test it out and familiarize myself with all its features, I feel very good about the purchase. In terms of mowing capability, ease of use, and features, it's lived up to all my expectations and more.
The only unknown for me at this point is lifespan. As with all Mammotion mowers, Yuka comes with a 2 year warranty. However, this is new technology. How long it will last before, say, the battery degrades to 70% capacity, is something nobody knows. Will something else go out, such as the motor, that would necessitate buying a new mower? Again, nobody knows. Thus, I don't have any particular expectations. I suppose I certainly hope it will last at least 7 years, and preferably 10 or more years.
My verdict:
Only time will tell how long it will last, but right now, after 2 days of taking it through its paces, I am very very pleased.
