Yard Force X60i
Robot Lawn Mower Review (2020)
Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower is not the most basic of robot lawn mowers, but it’s not artificial intelligence level smart, and that’s what makes it fairly affordable still. It’s cheaper because it’s not pushing technological boundaries as it’s fairly basic and covers medium sized lawns in a fairly typical robot mower fashion.
So if you were looking to have your lawn mowed automatically, Yard Force X60i is an affordable option, assuming your lawn wasn’t bigger than 600m² and the mower’s features & price were right for you.
Check its price here: Yard Force X60i.
Quick Overview for the Hasty
Wi-Fi enabled Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower measures: 57.4 cm x 40 cm x 28.2 cm (length x width x height); weighs 8,5 kg, and has 3 pivoting razor-like blades for a cutting system. It’s got ultrasonic radar, rain, tilt, and lift sensors, and can operate in rain. Noise level is around 60 dB. Have a quick read while you’re at it: “Robot Lawn Mower Buying Guide.”
Before taking a look at its many features, let’s first analyze the raw data:
- Lawn coverage: 600m²
- Cutting rate: ??m² per hour
- Charging time: 60 minutes (avg. time)
- Mowing time: 60 minutes (average time)
Usually the cutting rate for robot mowers in general is somewhere around 30 m²/hour. With that generalization, it would be a sound assumption that this mower mower won’t cut the 600m² in one go either. It will likely take a good whole day or 2 instead.
A few days for the entire lawn to get cut may sound like a long time, but given how robot mowers work (designed to cut grass more often) it actually has a lot of healthy benefits for you lawn. You can add to that the low running costs as per usual in the case of robot lawn mowers.
Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower uses a 28v 2.0 Ah rechargeable Lithium-ion battery which uses around 9 kWh per month for a 600m² max capacity area (simply google the cost). The battery itself would last you anywhere from 2 to 6 years whilst using roughly 0.06 kWh per charge (calculated here). That’s still only a handful of cents a day.
What’s In the Box?
Robotic Mower
Charging Station
Additional blades
Installation Guide
Quick Start Guide
Safety Instructions
100m Boundary Wire
Boundary Wire Pegs (120)
Screws, battery, 9m charging cable, and the like.
Yard Force X60i Key Features & How It Works
Fairly affordable, relatively basic, but Wi-Fi enabled and remote controllable using an app, like most robot mowers, it cuts grass just fine. It’s got sufficient safety and security features.
If you’ve never had a robot mower before, you’ll love it to pieces. But if you already are used to a smart robot lawn mower, Yard Force X60i might become your new 1st world problem as it doesn’t do your dishes nor trim your hedges while requiring a perimeter wire and some babysitting in comparison.
It’s got your typical robot mower STOP button, control panel keypad, and cutting blade height adjustment knob (20 mm – 60 mm) with 5 different height options. The adjusting dial is under a protective hatch. However, the control panel settings are pretty basic, but the remote control app adds more options. There’s a bit more to unpack here.
Manual Control Panel Settings
- led light indicators
(located above the buttons are indicators that symbolize lift, boundary wire, low battery, and charging signal, in that order), - Signal Select button
(the selected signal number, “S1” or “S2”, has to match with the signal selected on the charging station), - Working Time button
(4 hour, 6H, 8H or 10H loop – it will work that amount of hours every single day until you reset it starting from the time you pressed the hours and Start button), - Return Home button
(pressing this button and closing the lid will make the mower return to the charging station to recharge – it will still continue to mow afterwards if the mowing schedule allows it), - Unlock button
(blinking light above the lock button indicates that the control panel is locked. To unlock it for the first time, you ought to simply press the lock button 4 times. Once that is done, you can actually set a proper random 4-digit pin code for the robot mower using “4H” for 0, “6H” for 1, “8H” for 2, “10H” for 3, “S1” for 4, and “S2” for 5. Further instructions in the manual), - Start button
(this will start the robot mower. Note that when you press this in conjunction with Working Time button then this will mark the beginning time for the mowing schedule for every single day going forward until you reset this cycle).
Yard Force X60i mows in a random pattern. That means it will drive in a straight line until it either detects an obstacle or reaches the perimeter wire, after which it just turns a little (they refer to it as turnover sensor) and starts going in a different direction.
The mower comes with a electrified perimeter wire (not harmful) which you should install around the area you want the robot mower to cut grass in. If you didn’t exclude a flowerbed from the cutting area using the wire and the path to it wasn’t blocked, the X60i robot mower will likely try to cut down things in there. It might drive them over and probably just scratch the bigger plants because it’s really only meant to handle grass clippings.
Additionally, the X60i mowing robot might have feature a multi-zone cutting function if you were able to get the app on your phone. If it has it, there should be 4 zones to configure.
There’s no mention of a collision sensor.
2) Charging system
Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower recharging and mowing loop is automatic. That means it will return to the charging station by following the perimeter wire all by itself when it becomes low on battery. Once it’s recharged itself, it will go back out to mowing again.
Setting things up is fairly straight forward (read installation guide), but I’d like to point out a few key things still. They’re mainly to do with the charging station placement requirements:
- It must be close to a wall socket;
- install on a relatively flat surface outdoors;
- Place the charging station under a shaded area;
- install it somewhere out of sight from bypassers;
- leave at least 2 meters of wire in front of the charging station;
- lay at least 50 cm of perimeter wire straight out to the side of the charging station facing the cutting area.
3) Cutting system
Yard Force X60i uses 3 pivoting razor-like blades that are attached to a rotating disc underneath.
When these blades come in contact with something harder than grass, rather than the blades cutting into it and getting stuck, these blades are pushed aside and slice the object rather than cut into it. And as you can see, these blades are pretty small, too.
Compared to a solid blade, Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower’s pivoting blades are quieter, safer, and more energy efficient.
As for the negatives, it’s a little less efficient at cutting things, though still perfectly fine at cutting grass. Another negative about these small blades when compared to solid blade is that the potential for the razor-like blade to break off is higher and you might have to watch your step when walking around the lawn barefoot.
4) Safety Features
Apart from having a big STOP button, being quiet (around 60 dB), moving slowly, and having a considerably weaker motor than your regular lawn mower has, meaning it will have a hard time with anything other than grass, along with blades being small and tucked deep under the chassis, Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower actually has a few more tricks under its belly (learn more: “Robotic Lawnmower Safety”).
Ultrasonic radar sensor
While this sensor helps the mower navigate around obstacles, it also acts as a safety feature. Instead of first bumping into things, Yard Force X60i will instead detect them as obstacles (if they’re higher than 100mm), back off, turn around, and start mowing in a different direction.
Tilt sensor
It’s what it sounds like – if the mower is tilted, it will come to a halt.
Lift sensor
Same deal – if the mower is lifted, it will come to a halt.
There’s no mention of collision sensor being present.
5) Security Features
Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower features just the PIN code security function. Although I’ve gone over the PIN code thing briefly, I’ll go over it once more.
PIN code
This feature is under the yellow Lock button on the control panel keypad. The code numbers are under “4H” for 0, “6H” for 1, “8H” for 2, “10H” for 3, “S1” for 4, and “S2” for 5. When you first get the mower, there’ll likely be no code submitted yet, so in order to unlock it the first time you have to press the Lock button 4 times. Once the mower is unlocked you can create your own PIN code – instructions in the manual.
Apart from the built-in security feature, there are a few things you can do yourself:
Hide from bypassers
Try installing the charging station somewhere hidden from bypassers for added protection.
Use a sticker
You can custom make a sticker with fake information about its security features and put it on the mower for the potential thief to kindly return the mower once they notice it – once they realize that they can’t do anything with it without knowing the PIN code, instead of just leaving it somewhere, they might return it knowing they could still get off easy. They might…
Fake surveillance system
Putting a camera, even if fake, in an obvious easy to spot location overlooking the area will at least make the potential thief think twice.
Yard Force X60i Robotic Lawnmower Care & Maintenance
As is with all robot lawn mowers, Yard Force X60i also requires very low maintenance:
- clean regularly;
- replace cutting blades when need be;
- replace rechargeable battery when it seems almost dead;
- install charging station in shaded area to protect the mower from the elements;
- don’t forget to unplug the power supply connected to the charging station you left outside for winter;
- when storing the robot mower itself, charge fully, turn off, clean, and place in dry indoor conditions, and avoid leaving in freezing temperature.
EXTRA READING
Best Cheap Robot Lawn Mowers in 2021 | post | Lawn Story
Robot lawn mower care & maintenance | post | Lawn Story
How much do robot mowers cost? | post | Lawn Story
How long do robot mowers last? | post | Lawn Story
Robot lawn mower buying guide | post | Lawn Story
How do robot mowers work? | post | Lawn Story
Robot lawn mower safety | post | Lawn Story
