This is a continuation of the second part of the article under the name of Lawn Care Equipment: Trimmers, Lawn Mowers, Gas Pumps, Scissors.
Secrets of electricity
A new trend in the development of lawn technique-increasing the number of battery models, from mower to small scissors. The basic principles-weight reduction, increasing the capacity of batteries and, which is especially nice for buyers, lower prices.
Batteries become lighter and more compact, they are already able to power the engines without recharging much longer, and the charging of devices takes less time, but is still far from ideal, because on average this process takes at least 8-10 hours. The latest models of rechargeable lawn mowers are easier to maintain and operate (in comparison with gasoline analogues) and not much more expensive. Thanks to the use of 48 V lead-acid battery of new generation, they can work continuously for one and a half hours, mowing grass on an area of up to 2000 m2. The advantages of mobility, which provides this technique, and we can not say: compact size and the lack of cord, coupled with technical innovations (for example, telescopic rotary handle and wheels of increased cross-country), significantly facilitate the work of the gardener.
Accumulator trimmer EasyCut Li-18/23R (Gardena) is able to work 50 minutes without recharging.
Rechargeable mower VIKING MA 443 C is equipped with a comfortable folding monocularly with 2-stage height adjustment and a powerful DC motor with battery drive.
The trimmer 536 Li L (Husqvarna) is very comfortable in work due to the balance of the tool and its light weight.
STIGA SB 1000 J electric pump works perfectly not only with fishing line, but also with a steel knife. The electric motor is quiet and maintenance-free, and its power reserve is enough to effectively mow the grass with thick stems.
One drive, different nozzles
The modern fashion for tools tends to be multifunctional. Trimmer, brush cutter and cutter in one tool – a typical example. The powerful drive here provides high performance, and the ergonomic handle can adapt to different tasks. With the nozzle-trimmer tool length is about 1.7 m. Turning into a brush cutter with a special cutting part, the unit grows to 2.3 m, and with the nozzle-a cutter (a small tire with sharp teeth, like a chain saw) becomes almost three meters. Changing the configuration of the universal tool, you can carefully cut the grass, cut in the horizontal plane of the high hedge or remove at the height of the tree branches without using a ladder. The drive is equipped with a special lock for quick change of nozzles. The nozzles are attached to the handle in just three steps: loosen the adjusting screw, install the nozzle until it is fixed, tighten the screw. And now the trimmer-brush-cutter is ready to work.
Stihl KM 55 R, depending on the selected nozzle, is capable of turning into a motor-mocos with a cutting disc for grass or into an altimeter with an increased (from 50 cm to 1 m) radius of action.
Important: ergonomic handles have a truly magical property – they can be adjusted to the growth of the employee.
Shears for lawn
For mowing the main area of the lawn is good lawn mower, in remote places will be useful trimmer, but what about the corners, where useless and the other equipment? Here it is time to remember about the battery shears, which are ideal for bringing in order the areas located next to the fence, around flower beds, trees and shrubs. The blades, capable of turning 90°, without problems will cut the grass growing through the cracks of masonry or in other hard-to-reach places. But the main advantage of the magic device is not even the speed and accuracy of its work, but the safety for the surrounding plants: putting in order the space around the flower beds, injuring or cutting down a Bush under the root is almost impossible.
The principle of operation of garden shears is simple: the upper knife of the device moves from side to side, and the lower one remains motionless. Factory laser sharpening knives enough for a long time, but over time they lose their sharpness. The gardener will immediately understand when this moment comes, because labor productivity will begin to fall sharply, the grass will break and hammer the working part of the tool. Then the cutting surfaces should be sharpened or replaced with new ones.
Tip: when buying scissors, be sure to purchase an additional battery, then you do not have to wait a few hours until the battery is fully charged.
Battery-operated scissors WOLF-Garten LI-IONPOWER-FINESSE50-3-Set thanks to 3 interchangeable blades can change the width of the haircut from 60 to 80 mm, as well as turn into a device for the care of hedges. Working time on full charge – up to 50 min —
GARDENA Comfort swivel grass scissors allow you to easily and accurately trim the edges of lawns, as well as easily handle hard-to-reach areas in your garden. The 360° blade rotation function allows you to work comfortably with both right and left hand.
From the life of robots
Home robotic vacuum cleaners are no longer surprising for Housewives, but with a similar design lawn mower is much more difficult: this machine will cost much more than a vacuum cleaner, and the design of it is more difficult, because it is connected with the working conditions outside the room.
The GARDENA r50li lawn mower robot has a simple and intuitive menu that allows you to easily program smart equipment for optimal operation, rotary knives make its operation safe.
On the site, properly prepared, the robot lawn mower moves confidently, and when hitting any obstacle moves back and bypasses it. Reaching the edge of the lawn, the unit turns and rolls in the opposite direction. An uninitiated observer may think that the “turtle” sees and feels the environment and knows exactly when to start work, and when to return to recharge at the base.
The Husqvarna Automower 320 robot lawn mower cuts grass day and night in both clear weather and rain. Independently determines when it is necessary to return to the station for charging and after a full charge of the battery returns to work.
In fact, the device works according to a certain program, which is set by a person. Some parameters are initially determined by the manufacturer, the other owner chooses to your taste of the possible and the options offered. Each model has its own set of settings and its own features of their installation. The most common tasks: time, angle of rotation when hitting an obstacle and the height of mowing. The possibilities of artificial intelligence are determined by the price of the robot. Budget machine will understand only the boundary of the site and feel the obstacles. You will lay and fix the pegs around the perimeter of the lawn special cable. It will see the robot. More advanced and expensive models have grass sensors. This means that, without feeling the lawn (for example, being on a paved path), the robot will turn around and go in the opposite direction. In even more complex models, there are sensors that can recognize an already beveled area. This useful option allows the system to choose a rational path without having to go through the same places twice. As for the batteries, in the simplest models, the batteries are charged manually: they are simply included in the network. The advanced robot finds the charging station, connects to it and after charging goes back to work. And there are the most modern models, additionally equipped with solar panels.
The drawback, still not overcome by robotics, is that automation does not exclude completely manual labor. Small objects and stones can still get under the body and damage the knives, so the cleanliness of the lawn and the absence of foreign objects on it-the main requirement for the treated area, which should take into account the owners of the site.