Robotic Lawnmower Failures LawnMaster
On the 11th May 2023 I bought my first robotic lawnmower. I purchased direct from the company Cleva and chose a LawnMaster VBRM16 Drop and Mow mower together with a grass strimmer as a set for £369.99. I had watched a number of Youtube videos and decided I would give this model a try as it did not need a boundary wire fitted. This I thought would save me hassle but as I shall explain later it was a short sighted decision.
Once un packed and its battery charged I put it to work. One of the first problems I found was it really did need a clear and defined boundary to work to. If you watch this short video clip you will see the small fence down the left hand side of the lawn I had to fit and the loose posts I laid across the lawn was to split the lawn in two to make it easier for the mower to do it in two halves.
You will notice how the wheels counter rotate when it encounters a barrier but I shall discuss this in greater detail later.
Apart from the need for clear boundaries I was really impressed with the mower and everyone who saw it was fascinated by how good it cut the lawn.
I was so impressed I decided to splash out on another robotic lawnmower for the front lawn! My only problem here the front is all open plan and hence I did not want to erect any fence barriers so I decided to go for a boundary wire mower. Cleva had the ideal mower in the shape of the LawnMaster L10 which I duly ordered on the 28th May 2023.
Installation of the boundary wire was not as problematic as I anticipated and once it was pegged around the boundary of the front lawn the L10 did a good job. It was able to be programmed to come out every other day for 4 hours which suited the size of my front lawn. This was programmed via a touch pad on the mower which also contained a security function of enabling you to set a 4 digit pin. As this was my front lawn I thought this necessary for security.
All was well for the first season. The front lawnmower drew lots of attention from passers by who would stop and watch the mower at work. Karen even had me putting eyes on the machines and each was given a name.
In January of 2024 I decided the front lawn could do with a good trim before the start of the mowing season. Both mowers had been stored away in my shed for the winter but I brought out the LawnmMaster L10 to do a quick cut to tidy the front lawn. After storage for the winter the battery needed to be charged and then the security pin was needed to start the mower. Alas the touch pad had failed.
You can see the touch pad was not registering the pressure of the digit.
As both mowers came with a 2 year guarantee I contacted Cleva customer services. I have to say they were brilliant. They requested a video of the problem and then immediately sent out a replacement L10 mower without any quibbles. I had to take the battery out of the faulty one as they sent a new mower minus a battery but it was easy to swap it over.
Having seen how the first one failed I changed the default pin code from 2323 to 4321 this way no one key would get excessive wear.
Sadly just 7 months later on the 9th August 2024 the keypad on the second L10 mower also failed.
Robotic Lawnmower Failures LawnMaster
Now knowing the routine I did a quick video and sent it off to Cleva. To my surprise they did not offer to replace this mower. Instead they gave me a full refund of £399.99. As I say I cannot fault the way the company handled the guarantee it was just the product L10 mower that was flawed.
At least the drop and mow was still working.
That was until the 2nd of April 2025 when I started the mower and it made a load clicking noise and started to drive around in circles!
The mower was still under guarantee by a few weeks so I uploaded the video and sent it to Cleva. They immediately sent me a replacement drop and mow machine. Their customer service is excellent even if the the LawnMaster products are not. I had forgotten the mention the LawnMaster strimmer I had with the first L10 failed in the first year but I did not bother to ask for a replacement as the strimmer was of poor quality and not up to the task for my garden.
I did strip down the drive gearbox of the drop and mow. Photos below. The reduction gears are made from a plastic like materiel. On closer inspection of the white coloured gear you can see the inside teeth of the gear was shredded. This was due to the constant reversing of each wheel when making a turn putting too much pressure on a cheap plastic like gear mechanism. Metal or brass gears would not have failed soo easily!
I cannot rely on the LawnMaster products so I have done my research and decided to buy another robotic lawnmower for the front lawn. This time I have gone for a Worx Landroid S300. This mower has a 3 year gurantee and more importantly it works via WiFi. That means I can control it via an App. That makes it a whole lot easier plus it will not wear out the touch pad which was the issue with the LawnMaster L10.
This is a much sturdier machine and cost less than the L10 at £349.99 when I purchased it on the 3rd May 2025.. Time will tell if I have made the right decision but first impressions are that it is way better quality than the LawnMaster products.
Robotic Lawnmower Failures LawnMaster
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