Robotic mower maintenance: blades, cleaning and what to do in winter

A robotic mower works more hours than any other machine in the garden: easily 1,000 hours a year. It asks for so little attention that it is easy to forget it entirely — and that is when the faults we see every spring in the workshop start. With these routines, a good robot will pass ten years of service.

The blades: the most neglected job

Most robots cut with three small pivoting blades under the disc. They are cheap, but they go blunt in a matter of weeks: with worn blades the robot tears the grass instead of cutting it, the lawn takes on a yellowish cast at the tips, and the battery lasts less because the cutting motor is working under strain.

• Change them every 4 to 8 weeks in season, depending on the area and whether there is sand or pine needles about.
• Always change all three at once, using the new screws supplied: an unbalanced disc vibrates and eventually kills the bearing.
• Do it with gloves on, with the robot switched off and turned upside down on a cloth.

Cleaning: weekly, and never with a pressure washer

Once a week, turn it over and clear the grass stuck to the cutting disc, the wheels and the chassis with a brush or compressed air. A damp cloth for the sensors and the charging station contacts. Never use a pressure hose: water gets into the bearings and the electronics.

The boundary wire

If the robot stops with a "no loop signal" message, it is nearly always the wire: a spike from a rake, a rodent, or the grass growing back and leaving it exposed. Check the LED on the station and, if the break is not obvious, bring it to the workshop: we locate the break with a detector and repair it the same day. Satellite-navigation models have no wire, but they do need the antenna clean and clear of branches overhead.

Adjust it season by season

• Spring: start with the cutting height high and lower it week by week; increase the working hours once the grass is growing strongly.
• Summer in the Empordà: raise the height to 5-6 cm so the lawn can cope with the drought, and set it to run at night if the garden is irrigated.
• Autumn: with pine needles and leaves coming down, go for more short runs and clean it more often.

Winter storage

From November the grass barely grows and the robot can rest:

• Clean it thoroughly and charge it to 100%.
• Store it somewhere dry and frost-free, never outdoors: a lithium battery suffers in cold and damp.
• The charging station can stay in the garden if it is sheltered; if you take it in, disconnect the wire and protect the connectors from water.
• In February, give it a full charge again before setting it going.

Once a year, a workshop service

Just like a car: every winter we give robots a full service with a software update, a battery test, new blades, an internal clean and a check of the wheels, motors and seals. If you buy it from us or we install it, you have the workshop in Palafrugell five minutes away. And if you do not have one yet and you are weighing it up, read whether a robotic mower is worth it for your garden.