So, What Do You Get For Your Money?™
AL-KO Robolinho 3000;one of the most popular models, if not the cheapest, at around £2,000 as we went to press. So, what do you get for your money? The first difference between many of the mowers on the market an the AL-KO line is the blade configuration. The Robolinho has double-decker blades, apparently offering improved mulching and less grass build up. Regular readers will remember what happened to the Flymo 1200R when grass built up inside our mower. Long story short: the rubber dampers broke, presumably as a result of the acid in the grass. Anything that helps reduce grass build-up and mulch better at the same time is to be welcomed. The innovative twin blades are non-standard, though, which potentially makes them more expensive to replace. The Robolinho uses a standard boundary wire, but no return wire. So, unlike other mowers (actually, mainly those based on the Husqvarna Automower chassis, like the Gardena R40LI, or Flymo 1200), the mower has no easy way to get 'home'. It even has a 'home' button, which is an innovative feature, but without a return wire, I suspect it will spend a while bumping around until it finds, and presumably follows, the boundary wire. With a 1200 square meter mowing area, that could be a long journey! The home itself has to be placed on the boundary wire, akin to mowers from, for example, Bosch, and has a single transformer providing power. It's an open charging station, according to the installation manual. Looking at images of the charging unit, it seems that connection is provided by two pads, that match up to two pads on the base station. This could be an improvement over the 'slot in' connectors that other makes have to contend with, which can get dirty, but one has to question what happens if the pads become slightly burnished or if they are exposed to corrosion. The control panel looks about the same size as the Flymo 1200R, but seems to contain space for a bit more explanatory data judging by the screen shots in the manual. There are also some fairly self-explanatory buttons around the edge of the screen, which make programming easier. One of the additional features is the rain sensor, built into the mower, but the manufacturer also notes that the mower is quite capable of cutting the lawn in the rain. The upside carlisle smooth tire 18×9.50-8 is the large mowing area. In addition, the mower comes with rubber coated wheels, which I always find a bit of-putting. I swapped from rubber to solid wheels on the Gardena R40Li.
