This channel is about the Amish Farm that we bought and plan to convert to a small off-grid homestead with a large garden. Currently it will not be our primary residence but with the current times who knows. I have a ton of work to do to get the place ready and I am filming the bulk of what I am doing the best I can. I hope you enjoy!
I used a lithium battery that I already had and purchased a 6 gallon boat fuel tank. It's been running well and keeping the rooms around 50 degrees. I have had to put a battery charger on the batteries about once a week.
Updated/Edited 05/29/24. This was originally written for the Original Luba Mower, but I was able to trade my original model for a new Luba 2, which now has a "Stereo" Camera mounted for aid in determining distance to near objects. The Camera is combined w/ the other onboard sensors to allow the new Luba 2 to operate for a few meters more than the Original could when GPS Satellite signals drop below minimums. There are several other changes and improvements that come w/ the Luba 2. This robot mower represents a decent sized chunk of change and investment into Lawn care. If I'm going to spend nearly 2$ Grand on a Lawn Care item, I'm going to do some research first, so for that reason I watched more RU-vid Reviews on this Autonomous mower than I care to admit. that and i read thru the stupid User Manual . . . several times. : / The "Chinglish" User Manual for the Luba 2 has several discrepancies and contradictory statements on a few details & particulars, and some facts within it don't match what the Websight says, but overall, it's better than most Chinese to English User Manuals and it's not too difficult to decipher & determine what needs to be done to get this robot Mower working. So, this guy in this review made the same mistakes as 90% of initial reviewers make here on RU-vid when setting up this Mower. He didn't read up thoroughly on setting up the RTK Reference Antenna, and that little mistake will cost you a LOT of rework after the initial Setup. Most don't admit to having to completely Re-Map their entire lawn and "No Go" zones because they had to relocate the RTK Reference Antenna, but some do admit to this mistake. Get that Antenna located and mounted right the first time and you're ahead of 90% of those who end up relocating the thing and then re-mapping their entire lawn & no-go zones all over again. Everyone's Lawn layout is different, especially when you consider that GPS Signals are easily weakened by pretty much everything. Building structures, High ground or rocks, Trees, Power Lines, Fences, R/V's, Decking, Swing sets or Trampolines and Atmosphere & Weather all have an effect on GPS signals. The result of these effects are inaccurate signals that throw off the Luba's accuracy. The Mowers accuracy is determined by Two GPS Receivers, the fixed in place RTK Antenna and the GPS receiver onboard the Luba mower. The fixed RTK quickly learns its Exact location and uses that info to transmit corrective data, via a 900Mhz radio signal, to the Luba's GPS Receiver. It's the Luba's GPS receiver that constantly moves, and therefore finds weakened GPS signals by getting near the objects mentioned earlier, so it usually needs corrected data from the RTK Reference Antenna. Actually, the Minimum number of good GPS signals for Both the Ref Antenna & Mower are 20 Sat's min, not the 2 or 3 mentioned in this vid/review. Both the Reference Antenna And Luba Mower Must "see" (get strong GPS signals) at least 20 GPS Satellites each, and those Satellites must be the Same ones. At any given time, there are only 31 usable GPS Satellites that the RTK Antenna and Mower can use because every Satellite below 45 degrees in the sky has distorted signals caused by Atmosphere that make them unusable. The RTK GNSS Ref Antenna (Real Time Kinematics & Global Navigation Satellite System) must see "Clear Sky" at 45 degrees in all directions above the Antenna. IOW, if the structure or object you need to stay clear of is 50ft tall, the Ref Antenna must be located at least 50ft away from it, if it's a 100ft tall tree then the RTK must be 100ft away from it, simple. If you don't have a "clear sky" view of 45 degrees in all directions for the RTK Antenna, there's a good chance you will get mower stoppages that may or may not clear and allow the Luba to continue cutting. Once the RTK Antenna is properly placed, it can pinpoint its exact location, commit that info in memory, and send out corrective GPS references to the Luba 2 (or the original Luba) so that the mowing accuracy can get as good as 5 cm (2 inches). The GNSS consists of 4 Global GPS Satellite systems, the USA GPS system, the GLONASS system (Russian), the BEIDOU system (Chinese) and Galileo system (European). At any given time there are only 31 Satellites within the entire GNSS System that the Luba Mower & Ref Antenna can "see". Any satellite in that system that is below 45 degrees in any direction isn't usable due to distorted/weakened signal strength caused by Atmosphere. Both the RTK Antenna & the Mower need to "see" 20 good signals at min to achieve a 15cm (6in) accuracy. When they both acquire 29+ good Sat signals, the Mower accuracy improves to 5cm (2 inches). If placed correctly, the Ref Antenna will see 29+ Sat's 24/7 and will then always have the most accurate location stored in memory. The Luba Mowers GPS Antenna and may move into areas w/ less or weakened Sat coverage. If Either or Both the Mower and Ref Ant see less than 20 Sat's, the Original Luba Mower will stop and give a "Positioning Error" and then wait for that 20th Satellite to come back "online" so the mower can continue. Sometimes it will reacquire the 20 Satellite min and start up again, sometimes not. The new Luba 2 CAN operate on less than the 20 Satellite min for 50 meters, using the Camera and other sensors. That's usually enough distance to regain the 20 Sat min and continue w/o a delaying stoppage. The Luba 2 has a few other additional changes that enhance its mowing abilities and its theft protections. It also has added a SIM Card feature that allows you to mow up to 3 miles away from the RTK Ref Antenna (w/o the SIM Card the range from the RTK is 490ft or 150m). The SIM Card addition also allows remote control w/ Alexa or Google Assistant. There is even a feature that allows patterns or lettering to be mowed into your lawn (I think it actually mows around the letters or patterns and these can be uploaded to allow customization) Hot Tip #1. For those w/ complex landscaping, Trees, flower beds, fences, Kids Swing Sets, power lines, tall structures etc., you will find areas of Low GPS Signal strength (less than 20 Sat's), near these structures. Fear Not, for you can download an App on your Cell Phone called "GPS Test". You can set it up to see Only the GNSS Satellite network and walk the perimeter of your property to check Signal Strength AND how many Satellites are "seen" in each area. This step could save you a Lot of time & Expense. Hot Tip #2. Because of GPS Satellite locations, movements around the planet & the changes in the Satellites inclination during orbit, certain times of the day will have Better GPS Signals than others. So, if you do Test the Signal Strength & number of Sat's available, do so at different times of the day and you Will likely find a "best" time for GPS reception and possibly reduce Positioning Errors. Hot Tip #3. Mammotion offers a Free evaluation service for checking the feasibility of these Luba Mowers on your property. Go to their website Homepage, hit the "Support" drop down menu and select "Get Customer Support". You will be taken to the "Contact Us" page and find another Drop Down menu. Select "Ask more about the Product before buying". Use this page to download screenshots of the Best Satellite Views of your property (Do a search for better Satellite views if you're not satisfied w/ Google Maps), and ask for an evaluation in the text section. 😊 They took about three days to get back to me w/ an evaluation. Hot Tip #4. If you find you must relocate the RTK Antenna, then you Must Re-map the mowing areas. Read the Manual on Antenna Placement carefully and save yourself a day or two of additional Time & Labor doing rework. There is the option to Edit existing mapped Mowing Zones if you make changes to the Charge Station location, Antenna location or No Go zones. However, many within these Luba Mower user reviews have made the Antenna relocation and/or Charge Station relocation, and then Edited their existing Mowing Zones & No-Go areas and then find the mower sometimes reverting back to, or getting stuck in the original mapped Zone. MaMotion is aware of this problem and may provide a software fix. It's suggested that if you relocate the Antenna or Charge Station, then you should Delete the original mapped Zones entirely and start anew to prevent any possible confusion w/ the original mapped areas. This has been reported in several Luba user/reviews, I'm just relaying the info.
Yeah, there is some tweaking required with any new technology. The Luba works great and has saved my countless hours of mowing. I would buy it again. Thank you for all the info, that’s really going to help the Luba community.
@@ramblingfarmshomestead9045 I did purchase a model 3000 thru Amazon last November during a "Black Friday" sale and saved around $500 bucks. I'd have purchased directly from Mammotion but amazon's return policy was much better. I had the Original Luba out in the garage, unopened, when Mammotion sent me an e-mail in early January announcing the Pre-sale of the Luba 2. I returned the Original Luba and by mid January had placed an order for the Luba 2. It arrived the first week of March, (about a week ago), and so far I'm still waiting for the Weather to dry up a bit and the Lawn to take off growing. I'm sure your aware of the many improvements made w/ the new Luba, and among the biggest is the Twin Camera's mounted on the Deck. I haven't tested this yet but between what Mammotion's website says and a couple of short RU-vid reviews, the Camera's use its "stereoscopic" ability to judge distance & help Navigation during a loss in GPS signals. The Sonic Sensors & Front Bumper combine their input w/ the Camera info and supposedly allow the Luba 2 to mow for 20+ meters w/o the full complement of GPS Satellite signals thet are normally required. Another big improvement is the "talk-back" range between the RTK Antenna & Mower. It want from 120 meters (394 ft), up to an advertised range of 5,000 meters (3 miles). What they haven't made clear is what the new SIM Card function does. I know it'll help w/ recovery after a theft and to enable Remote App Control, but I don't know if the SIM Card is needed for the extended RTK Reference range. Mammotion hasn't been clear on that at all. I'll just e-mail them & ask directly, they've been pretty good at responding to my other questions. I don't need the extra RTK to Mower renge for my own Lawn, but I have a Neighbor who suddenly can't mow her own Lawn due to an injury, so I thought I'd offer to help with that task. If it turns out that I have to purchase a 4G SIM Cars data plan, I think I'll just let her Brother come mow the Lawn for her. Maybe I'll get motivated & throw together a Luba 2 review but thats a Big maybe for me. Thx for the Feedback !
Nope, it will clog the bottom every time. It will tell you in the app if it is clogged or the blade is not working correctly. I set mine to mow starting around noon when the dew is dried up. Works very well doing it that way.
It is not an ideal choice to place the charger station under a tree because Luba may lose satellites signal when it is charging. It should be under the open sky
Obviously somebody has wired it we've seen the breaker box. Definitely don't tear it down keep it as a guest house. I'm sure you're well has been replace with an electric pump. If the old system is still there I'd keep it for a backup. The whole point of a homestead should be to incorporate Off the Grid as much as possible. Just moved into a 3200 ft2 Amish home 8 years old with no electricity. Was shocked at the number of people that thought I should be torn down. People should be more concerned with it being able to impress their dog then their so-called friends. You're going to live a lot longer and be a lot happier. Upgrade the wood stove with a glass door. It'll add years to your life if you spend time sitting in front of it instead of a TV
Ahh, too late. I tore the house down about a year ago. Although you can't see it on film it was in really bad shape and had mold all in the basement. My wife, who could give a blood hound a run for his money, couldn't stand the smell.I really did want to make it work but in the end I think we made the right choice. The house was sold to a "English" and they did run wire and was using a generator going into the electrical box. They only owned the home for 6 months before I bought it. His job had him move out of state. The well actually didn't work at all. I think it was in my second episode I pulled it up and replaced the pump. Works great now. My favorite thing is sitting on the porch in the evening and throwing the ball for my dog. I did reuse the existing stove in the sunroom that I built. I like having something from the Amish home in the house, but I do wish it had a glass door. Thanks for watching!!
@@ramblingfarmshomestead9045 I forgot about the mold. The Amish really don't address that well. I saw your newer video you sure made the place look nice. I bet you're happy you're living there considering what the world looks like now
Lovely spot. If it were me i would keep the house for storage, project room or guest house and build the real house in a different area. With a new house you can floor plan exactly what you need and want. You can plan the house for the long term, so you can stay in it longer.
