u/Just_Wondering34

I keep thinking on this stuff. Still not convinced.... This is highly similar to cell phones and watching their growth about 20 yrs ago. Junk after junk, headache after headache, version after version....

So, my figuring is we have open and expanse field and we have regular yard height to cut. We use a zero turn on the open expanse and I was going to continue doing that while the robot mowers did the easy stuff.

The thought has occured that the robot mowers have some more years to go to get fine tuned so why don't I just automate the zero turn and retrofit automatic stuff to it and let it cut the open expanse. This would allow more years for the robot mowers to grow and be better.

I was interested in the Lymow because of the real blades. This is mostly non negotiable. So the question here is how long until another company comes out with a similar version? It's like the other companies have the better tech/programming and they can just make something similar to the lymow.

Also if you know of any resources for me to automate the 60" toro zero turn then feel free to let me know about then please. We might even save time and money by automating the zero turn and giving the robot mowers more years to grow/learn. We don't actually plan on getting rid of the zero turn when getting a robot mower because I don't think robot mowers are going to be on the same level for a "suitable cost/price".

Thanks

I'm not too impressed with these mowers. They are not as far along as I expected them to be at this point. They are still gathering data from the guinea pigs. I am looking for a robot mower for a property about 1.5 hr away that I certainly cannot just drive to everytime this thing has a problem. There is an aging family member there(still cuts the grass with a zero turn, I aim to start dropping this down slowly to weed eating).

We have a property which is about 3 plots that I want an auto mower to cut. Let's say that those 3 plots are kind of in a line and they are about an acre each. Let's say the middle one has about a football field length between itself and each of the other plots. One of those plots on a far end may have more difficult grass occasionally, like thicker or something, and is the only major slope at maybe 36 degrees or such(a hill basically).

The lymow is really attractive since it has real blades. I am not feeling good about rotors on these other mowers that basically have razor blades on them. Remember, I don't want the family member touching the blades nor much of anything except maybe a rinse down with the garden hose or something.

Ideally, I want all 3 of these plots complete within a 2 day time frame and I want the mower out of sight from running basically. We want to keep cutting the larger expanse of the property with a real zero turn mower.

I think I might be looking for an auto mower that will do good for the next 4-5 yrs while the industry plays around and makes their own products better. For now, I guess I'll have to keep the phone with the app that works this mower(I'm 1.5+ hrs away).

We do not plan too get rid of all our zero turns. I do expect to sell one the zero turns to get this robot mower. What thoughts do you have? Which mower have you basically already seen proven and no problems on something like this? Thanks

I'm not too impressed with these mowers. They are not as far along as I expected them to be at this point. They are still gathering data from the guinea pigs. I am looking for a robot mower for a property about 1.5 hr away that I certainly cannot just drive to everytime this thing has a problem. There is an aging family member there(still cuts the grass with a zero turn, I aim to start dropping this down slowly to weed eating).

We have a property which is about 3 plots that I want an auto mower to cut. Let's say that those 3 plots are kind of in a line and they are about an acre each. Let's say the middle one has about a football field length between itself and each of the other plots. One of those plots on a far end may have more difficult grass occasionally, like thicker or something, and is the only major slope at maybe 36 degrees or such(a hill basically).

The lymow is really attractive since it has real blades. I am not feeling good about rotors on these other mowers that basically have razor blades on them. Remember, I don't want the family member touching the blades nor much of anything except maybe a rinse down with the garden hose or something.

Ideally, I want all 3 of these plots complete within a 2 day time frame and I want the mower out of sight from running basically. We want to keep cutting the larger expanse of the property with a real zero turn mower.

I think I might be looking for an auto mower that will do good for the next 4-5 yrs while the industry plays around and makes their own products better. For now, I guess I'll have to keep the phone with the app that works this mower(I'm 1.5+ hrs away).

We do not plan too get rid of all our zero turns. I do expect to sell one the zero turns to get this robot mower. What thoughts do you have? Which mower have you basically already seen proven and no problems on something like this? Thanks

Just wondering what routes there are available for fast tracking these critical mineral mines. For example, if you look at a company like CRML, it is supposed to be like 2 yrs away in 2029... In reality, can't they move into an emergency route and fast track this stuff???? Seems plausible but I'm just here asking...

Thanks

Well, it might be the end of the line for me and my project. It's very sad. I basically have to hope and expect the fuel prices to come back down. They will make my product too expensive, I wouldn't even want to buy it myself.

Here's the thing... It's an interesting product and I couldn't find one on the market when I needed one. No literally spent the last few years training suppliers how to make this thing that I couldn't find. The product was never really able to be patented and I knew this. I went with a brand play and it's an interesting one. This one product that I have basically designed should gain good traction... I flashed it to multiple people and caught their attention.

Now hear me out. I narrowed down to one China supplier that has done a reasonable job sticking with the program. I literally am to the point where I have the last samples I want built. I'm about to hand over the blueprint to the supplier. I might even tell them where their strong points were and why they excelled above other suppliers. It's almost like If I give them these blueprints(that aren't patentable), then they will see what their interesting and unique capability is. If they catch on to this then they may show others their capabilities and then someone else buys the physical product and white labels it or something.

If that happens then it seems it is indeed more proof that the product can sell. This means I will save precious time proving the market of the product because someone else would already be selling it and engaging in proven sales....

It's basically like free proof of sales for me instead of me paying for the experiment and exposure.

What thoughts do you have? Thanks

Each of the 2 previous year have had their own delays... First year was the hardship of dealing with suppliers not listening... Second year was the tariffs increasing cost.... Third year is now the fuel price increase(for freight and then shipping to the end consumer)

Maybe I should just continue to sit it out through this year and see what next year brings? Should I hand over the interesting product the is not able to be patented and just let it run wide open In the market???

Anybody know how long it might take me to set one of these things up? Maybe I have about 3 main plots of grass that I want it to do. Say the rtk antenna would be on the corner of a barn and then cut around the barn. Then the two other plots are maybe a football field away from the antenna. There's a house on one of those plots(hope it doesn't obstruct signal). Not much obstruction from the rtk antenna to the sky and then the sky to the plots to cut. Each plot is maybe an acre give or take I suppose.

I think the robot mowers have massive problems right now and I consider this a MASSIVE risk. Even worse is this property is about 1.75 hrs away and I am the one that is tech savy. What is it using, a phone app or something? I will not really be able to trek a distance 1.5 HR away each time the mower acts up.

I guess the plots need mapped by the mower or something, maybe I could do that in one day?

I feel like we would just be buying a trap here but I feel like all these mowers are probably headaches for the next 4 years.

Can I use a burner phone with it so I don't have to carry service? Or do I basically have to connect it to my current cell phone or something. It would be great if we could just have a few burner cell phones that don't have cell service connected to them.

Thanks

Well, I have a low msrp item here in the US. It's kind of neat actually. Was just telling someone about it yesterday at a networking event and they loved it.

I've learned a lot doing my small business. I sell on the big online marketplace. The item certainly does sell through e-commerce and people like it.

Fuel price has gone up. This affects freight getting my product here to the US. This also affects shipping to the end consumer. This could be the end of my beautiful project because the price of the product may be too high. I probably would not want to pay that high if I wanted the product for myself.

So, I can delay and slow things down and wait til next year to ramp things up again. That's the issue... Last year, 2025, was tariffs. This year is the war fuel price increase. What will next year be? Is anybody already speculating what market variable will be driving price higher next year? I have worked for aged men like our current president and they often make imbalanced strong-arm decisions that create great turbulence. It's almost like it's expected at this point for next year. I don't know what it's going to be but it's sufficient for me to read/expect/plan for the future.

The supplier has been dragging their feet too. That's one reason the last few years have been slow too because of the hardship suppliers pose simply trying to twist the game plan. I could try to sell my product into the Chinese market but as much coercing as I've seen from China supporting parties I expect them to do similar and not care to support me.

So, what cost/variable do you suspect the US administration will put on the Small Businesses next year?

Thanks

(By the way... what options do you think there are to run in skeleton mode for a single member LLC for the next few years? My small business has a few useful US trademarks that need to stay used to keep them. I could try selling this to a retailer for a motivating low cost but I would need them to know it would go up when the market becomes stable again. Could I pledge 3 yrs of low cost to then? Would this drive away other prospective retailers if they see another retailer selling it for what they think is too low a price?)

Update: if you leave a comment then please do not quickly delete it to clear your record. I get mostly nothing out of those because the message is just chopped off in the notifications and I usually only get a few words

Well, I've known about robot mowers for a little bit now. I've not really been interested in them until my aged family member is about to start slowing down in the coming years. So I landed on the lymow one plus. It's got the blade style I'm looking for and I don't want razor blades because I have some hefty work in mind for it.

Where can I get a used one of these you think? The price is still too steep for not being very fine tuned. I have worked in manufacturing and around a brand too. I think these auto mowers have a good 4 years to go until good seating takes place. I literally did Lego robots in high school in the very early 2000s... I'm a little disappointed in how long it has taken for these things to come around and to know the mowers still have kinks to work out just so you can report back to the manufacturer the data.

Does anyone have any idea where I might get a used one that somebody just didn't match for their usage or something? I don't want to spend my family members money just for a slop set up. I'm not going to be able to go a few hours away each time there's an issue just to see the robot mower and straighten it up. How do I even find lymows dealer network because these things aren't there yet and I'm surprised how far the other ones are behind. I'm sure they catered to the easy customers first in the industry. I might be stuck waiting 3-4 yrs. My family member is probably ready for one of them right now so they can start tapering down their yard work. I need about 2.5 acres worth of cutting probably and yes there are some hills and yes there is some distance. I'm planning on us keeping a gas mower and only using a robot mower as an aid right now(saw this concept somewhere else too).

Update 1: thanks for thoughts. You all are basically confirming my suspicions. I can't be on the road 1.5 hrs one way each time this mower has a glitch that my non-technical savvy family member doesn't want to mess with it or cant. Since it's technology, the mfrs are sure to be looking for ways to keep you on their ball and chain as they learn how to figure out their problems. (I work for a mfr basically so I know first hand about consumers being the Guinea pig along with their wallet)

Update 2: I sent an inquiry to the lymow support to see if their software updates can be blocked once a mower is sufficiently set up. Got a response saying they may respond slow since their order volume "unexpectedly" picked up. just so you know, that is not how that works at a mfr. I have first hand experience with a mfr not sufficiently planning in advance for factors that are foreseeable well in advance but nothing is done to ease the customers work task.

What is everyone else reading on this one. I don't actually have time to study but I believe in this one and the Greenland venture. I know they're not fully geared up right now but it's almost like there might be a fast track process or something. I'm thinking about 56$ a share.

You all seen any news lately or have any legitimate convictions?

thanks

Just doing my business project still. Yes, the war factors concerning fuel price are wreaking havoc(I'm still going for now).

I have been selling through one of the big online marketplaces. I hear people use the marketplace for a "search engine" to find what they want. Let's pretend my product is a water bottle under $20. We know water bottles sell but how will a business know that water bottles sell in enough quantity through the big online 3rd party marketplace even if you sell the best water bottle? If that marketplace only gives 20% of the entire sales then I cannot say it is justified to sell the item there.

I'm also not looking for this to be a "modeling job" where revenue comes sporadically on one product and then you scrap the product and move on to the next category of item. I'm certain I have something that sells, it already does.

You cannot ask friends or family this basic question because they do not understand that just because a massive amount of people use the big online marketplace this does not mean something will simply sell there. Look at all the brands through decades past that built their products to simply have a big online marketplace wash it out.

I'm sure the big online marketplaces don't want you to have the data in advance to know if your stuff will actual sell there or not and they would rather you pay their fees and such and wash rinse and repeat to another seller. I can see what people search for on these big online marketplaces and they certainly search for something unique(but not far fetched) but a manufacturer is not really going to gear up production just to make the one unique water bottle that someone wants since there's only a small number of people that want it.

So, in short, how does one know or gauge that there would even be enough sales online to pursue those sales channels? (This is regardless of a basic pointless statement such as"well, everybody shops there". No, everyone does not shop there.)

Thanks

Ok, the question is about the wholesale pricing structure to retailers. It looks like I may be faced with simply taking market share before a retailer decides to listen and take on the product.

That's just it. Because the retailers didn't listen and take the product on sooner(they are missing out) then how much should I charge them more on their wholesale price of the product?

How about 3% price increase for 5 years??? I've already been willing to work with them but if they reject simply because they are not trained to think outside the box, or don't want to, then it seems there should be a type of increased price for the price of delaying my own small business.

Has anyone done something like this? Please don't give me a basic response such as, "they'll just make a similar product and sell it instead..."

I'm in my late 30s now... I got a whole life policy somewhere under 100k when I was younger 20s(recent death experience at that time).

Not too long ago I tried to go ahead and get a 20 yr 1 mil term life to carry the gap to near retirement age... I can tell us that I had flipped the whole life policy to have its dividends pay on the yearly premium. This just started whittling down my whole life monthly payments.... The whole life is nearly paid off here only just a little over 16 yrs past starting it. I was told I could do this eventually years ago and I considered that valuable to do when time got seated.

Now, back to the 1 mil term I wanted recently... What an absolute mess!!!! The people who sold me the whole life years ago when younger were absolutely right.. my medical stuff had drastically changed and it was going to make this 1 mil term policy be too high. I even went with a highly accepted financial groups recommendation... It was an absolute mess trying to get them to straighten the term application out and they seemed very twisty of the convo.

I never recognized a reason for a huge whole life ins. Policy for average income people... I'm glad my small whole life is down to nill in annual premium. I've got my term life at work that cannot be depended upon since my job can disappear.... It doesn't seem useful to hear of basic no brainer points on whole life insurance like a person could have invested that money in the market instead(this was insurance just like your car insurance doesn't give people a lot back). Anybody else have any true value stories for whole life?? that whole life has it's cash value just like I was told.. it can also be borrowed from...

What am I to do now that I'm basically priced out of term life insurance at this point. I don't plan on playing their game and paying high rate for term. It seems now I just focus on my retirement accounts. Any ideas or suggestions for me? The whole life policy basically did what they told me it would do when I bought it. What else now besides my 401k, roth ira, and then hsa that I'm moving forward with... I don't necessarily believe in this fire stuff depriving myself here while still somewhat younger to build a savings pot to invest for regular income(I've actually got a small business project I'm working on).