Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

offthegrid.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–109 of 109 posts

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#101

Post by matt_attack »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #71
matt_attack wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost varies by cut width (44" is quite a bit cheaper) but yeah, it's very commercial oriented. It's intended for people who need to mow difficult slopes day in and day out. I'm not aware of really anything capable intended for homeowners besides a good ol' push mower.

There are homeowner-class track mowers that are designed for steep slopes. Our property is pretty hilly so I keep telling myself that when my Husqvarna riding mower finally dies (it's only 16 years old) I'll buy an electric one. Unfortunately that Kawasaki motor just keeps on going and I keep repairing everything else.

What models? I'm curious because my father is looking for a hill mower and most tracked ones I can find don't actually say their max slope which makes me think it's about the usual 15-20 degrees.

Being tracked only really solves the traction part of the equation so they aren't necessarily any better at navigating slopes safely than a wheeled mower.

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#102

Post by MisterMower »

MichaelCollins wrote: post #85
stinos wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there places where mice/rats aren't considered a disease vector All species? I actually don't know. But with 'depending on where you live' I also menat situations like mice entering your unused basement etc. Anyway: I'm mainly questioning whether 'long vegetation around my house means more chance of rodents in my house' is something general. Also because it's not my experience. Then again I don't live in, say, Au…

> situations like mice entering your unused basement etc. This is a bad situation, if anybody ever goes in that basement for any reason ever, they're at risk of catching numerous diseases from the rodent feces they stir up into the air by walking around. Hantavirus is spread this way, and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome kills about a third of the people who catch it. There is no reason to accept this risk if you have a…

Hauntavirus is no joke. I knew a piano tuner who got it, and it was not pretty. Mice droppings in an old upright, ironically in a house with a very poorly kept lawn. He was tuning it for a lady that was trying to sell it so she could move out.

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#104

Post by matt_attack »

mandross wrote: post #86
stevehawk wrote: post #15

I love the idea of this because I hate lawn maintenance. But the idea of letting software I wrote run around with whirling blades of death underneath of it would keep me from doing it.

I totally agree! Mower safety was also one of my worries once. It can be deadly even without software controlling it. A few days back in Poland a mower threw a piece of wire straight into a boy's heart (the kid is all right now). That being said, there is no way for the operator to constantly monitor what is happening around the mower. A set of sensors and software can be better at it. We can install cameras and LIDA…

Yeah, losing focus while a robot drives is impressively easy even if you know you need to watch for safety. For some reason it's just so easy to trust them once they work even for just a little bit. It's part of the reason "level 3" robotic vehicles won't pan out.

Can also confirm about the zero turn mowers. Recently switched jobs from automating cars/tanks to mowers myself. At the very minimum mowers have way tighter power and space constraints plus hydros are not easy to control well automatically.

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#105

Post by stinos »

z9znz wrote: post #97
stinos wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with your point - pretty much everyone is now properly aware of the climate crisis but for a bunch of reasons biodiversity crisis doesn't ring a lot of bells let alone people are willing to do anything about it. However: depending on where you live not mowing at all turns your meadow into a rough wilderness with only a couple of plant species (think nettles+blackberries) in no time, and later on in…

Sorry to make two posts, but also... In commercial farmlands, even in "progressive" countries like the Netherlands, the insect friendly unmowed zones are present but very minimal compared to the commercial farmlands. By my estimation, the unmowed insect strips are 1/50th or less than the crop areas. It is good to see that roadside zones are being allowed to grow a bit taller. As drivers, it's actually a negative beca…

the insect friendly unmowed zones are present but very minimal compared to the commercial farmlands

It's also quite debatable whether they're that friendly. Leaving it grow then mowing everything in one go and leaving all cuttings, as I see often in my neighborhoud, is more like creating a death trap for insects. Also because these zones are almost always subsidized, but not mandatory, so if the farmer feels like it they can just be removed again. One thing these zones are often good for though is catching mud streams from erosion. Ideally there would be no such erosion of course, but at leasts it provides some prevention of soil just washing away.

On a brighter side: if I got it correctly Europe is working on legislation which is going to make it mandatory for farmers to dedicate x% of land to nature. Not just zones with grass, also line elements with bushes etc. Essentially restoring what the land looked like here the past centuries before agricultural industrialization kicked in.

As drivers, it's actually a negative because it makes seeing around curves more difficult,

Pretty sure communities or whoever owns the road are allowed to mow curves and other spots throughout the year to guarantee visibility. But yes, there's quite some potential there (there, and in gardens): the total amount of area makes it well worth it. Still going to take a while before it gets done properly though (again: mowing everything in one go is quite detrimental).

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#106

Post by stinos »

z9znz wrote: post #95
stinos wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with your point - pretty much everyone is now properly aware of the climate crisis but for a bunch of reasons biodiversity crisis doesn't ring a lot of bells let alone people are willing to do anything about it. However: depending on where you live not mowing at all turns your meadow into a rough wilderness with only a couple of plant species (think nettles+blackberries) in no time, and later on in…

That's the thing about nature. It has immensely complex programming that we don't understand. Often a "plague" of one thing exists to rebalance another thing. If unmanaged nature does run wild with one or a few species, at some point they overstay their welcome and get rebalanced. Of course the final equalizer is fire. And that's something that we as humans really dislike, because it burns our work (and homes and som…

If unmanaged nature does run wild with one or a few species, at some point they overstay their welcome and get rebalanced.

The problem being that in the example I made, this balance is still man-made and not really natural. I.e. if you'd done the same 500 years ago, you'd get a balance with more than a few species. If you'd done the same like 5000 years ago (give or take), things would be even more different because there were still large flocks of wild grazers around.

After a few years, that "weed" stops growing and the soil nitrogen levels are more normal.

Except the deposition keeps on going, so depends on what 'normal' is the reference compared against.

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#107

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

matt_attack wrote: post #101
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are homeowner-class track mowers that are designed for steep slopes. Our property is pretty hilly so I keep telling myself that when my Husqvarna riding mower finally dies (it's only 16 years old) I'll buy an electric one. Unfortunately that Kawasaki motor just keeps on going and I keep repairing everything else.

What models? I'm curious because my father is looking for a hill mower and most tracked ones I can find don't actually say their max slope which makes me think it's about the usual 15-20 degrees. Being tracked only really solves the traction part of the equation so they aren't necessarily any better at navigating slopes safely than a wheeled mower.

The neighbor who had one recently moved, but I think it was an Altoz.

I thought the same thing about tracks: only solves the issue of traction/ground pressure, but for whatever reason they're supposed to be better on slopes.

My (wheeled) mower sometimes slips or gets stuck on a particular area on my property because I often don't have enough traction to mow up & down the slope if the ground is not extremely dry: grass is enough to cause slip. And sidehilling causes the upper wheels to lose traction. Perhaps the increased "bite" of the treads compensates for this? Dunno.

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#108

Post by causi »

hinkley wrote: post #94
swayvil wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've got them on push mowers too. You gotta keep a handle gripped for the mower to run. Let go and it stops

One of the complications of this is that it's very hard to hold the switch on certain types of terrain. Objectively, well over 80% of that terrain is situations where you have no business running a lawnmower in the first place, and so 'good!' is mostly the correct response to such complaints. But it's still a pain in the ass in other situations, like cornering past bushes. Me, I just don't have grass anymore. Fuck gr…

One of the complications of this is that it's very hard to hold the switch on certain types of terrain

I've never used a mower fitting that description. On all of mine the safety handle runs the entire length of the push handle and you have to essentially let go of the mower to disengage it.

Re: Remotely Controlled Lawn Tractor

#109

Post by z9znz »

stinos wrote: post #105
z9znz wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to make two posts, but also... In commercial farmlands, even in "progressive" countries like the Netherlands, the insect friendly unmowed zones are present but very minimal compared to the commercial farmlands. By my estimation, the unmowed insect strips are 1/50th or less than the crop areas. It is good to see that roadside zones are being allowed to grow a bit taller. As drivers, it's actually a negative beca…

the insect friendly unmowed zones are present but very minimal compared to the commercial farmlands It's also quite debatable whether they're that friendly. Leaving it grow then mowing everything in one go and leaving all cuttings, as I see often in my neighborhoud, is more like creating a death trap for insects. Also because these zones are almost always subsidized, but not mandatory, so if the farmer feels like it…

> legislation which is going to make it mandatory for farmers to dedicate x% of land to nature

Considering how badly the Dutch farmers have behaved thus far on any issue which “threatens” their way of life (profit maximization), I can only imagine how they will respond to this.

Maybe they will finally cross a line so bold that the Dutch government will stop bending over for them.

Post reply on HN