How to install the McCulloch robotic lawnmower

The first thing you should do is to make a simple sketch of your garden, to get an overview. This will help you plan your boundary and guide wire placement.

To do this you have to understand the purpose of the wires. The boundary wire will determine the mowing area, the robotic mower will never go outside the this area. It can also wire of smaller areas within your garden.

The guide wire will guide the robotic mower back to the charging station when charging is needed but also guide it to mowing areas that can be tricky to reach if there is narrow passage.

In an open garden the charging station should be set up in a central place.

But in garden like this it is a good idea to put it in a corner and lead the guide wire through narrow passages to remote mowing areas. You can then program the robotic mower to follow the guide wire out and start mowing at different positions according to size.

When deciding where to place the charging station also consider where you can find an electric mains power outlet.

First just place the station; do not secure it with the screws yet.

Later you will have to align the rear of the charging station with the boundary wire. For the robotic mower to optimally function there should be 1.50 meters free space to the sides and two metres in front of the charging station.

The location must be level to ensure that the robotic mower drives into the charging station without problems. If possible – pick a shady location.

So that you may start mowing as soon as you have finished installation, we advise you to put the robotic mower on charge now. Plug the low voltage cable into the charging station and the power supply into the electric mains power outlet.

Turn the main power switch ON and push your Robotic mower into the charging station. The robotic mower will now start charging. Doesn't show the power switch being turned on.

Start laying the boundary wire and begin at the charging station. Take approximately 50cm of additional wire, and secure it with a peg.

As the Robotic mower always passes the wire a few centimetres before it turns, the wire must be laid at different distances from obstacles.

Here, the ruler comes in handy. It has three printed distances.

In front of hard walls, you should use 30 cm distance – otherwise the robotic mower will collide with the wall at every turn.

With flower beds, where there is no risk of collision, 20 cm distance is sufficient. If the distance is smaller, the robotic mower may drive over the edge and get stuck.

Near paved paths on level with the lawn, we recommend using 5 centimetres. The Robotic mower will use a part of the path to turn and no uncut grass will remain.

However if you have hard-surfaced paths like this that divide the lawn, you can just allow the robotic mower to pass over.

On gravel paths like this, there is a risk that the robotic mower will get stuck – therefore use the 20 cm distance.

Around ponds, use 30 cm distance and there should also be a barrier with approximately 15 cm height.

All these are guide distances. To optimize mowing results, you can adjust the wire once you’ve learned how the Robotic mower works in your garden.

Place the pegs on level lawn areas at a distance of about 70 cm.

This is only a guide-distance and depends on how even your lawn is. If an uneven lawn makes the wire sit above the lawn, you will need to use extra peg to fix this – otherwise there is a risk that the robotic mower will cut it.

Alternative, you can also make a thin slit in the lawn with a spade, like this. Lay the wire approximately 5 cm into the ground. This is a good option if your lawn is very uneven, if you would like aerate without problems, or if you want to hide the wire when installing. But even if you lay the wire on the ground, it will be completely overgrown after a few months.

If there are areas or obstacles on your lawn where you do not want your robotic mower to enter, you’ll need to create islands with the boundary wire.

Lay the wire from the garden border to and around the obstacle. The direction is very important, do not cross the wire – you should view this as an extension of your boundary wire. If you’re coming from right, start on the right side of the obstacle.

When you close the circle, place the wires tight together on the way back.

When the wires are placed close to each other the signal is cancelled; the Robotic mower doesn’t register a signal and passes by.

If you cross the wires, the robotic mower will not recognise this as an island and cannot pass. It stops and you’ll receive an error message on the display.

If you have several obstacles close to each other you can do like this.

The body cover of The McCulloch robotic mower is equipped with collision sensors, when it hits something it will stop and change direction. As it is designed to regularly handle gentle bumps, obstacles like trees and walls don't always need to be fenced by the boundary wire.

It is, however, important that the tree doesn’t have visible roots.

Again, it is good to create a sketch of your garden at the beginning because the guide wire later needs to be connected with the boundary wire in a central place across from the charging station. If you have pre-planned this spot, you can leave approximately 10 cm wire more at this location.

When you return to the charging station, leave 50 cm wire for the connection and cut the wire.

Now it's time to lay the guide wire. The guide wire will guide the robotic mower back to the charging station when charging is needed but also guide it to mowing areas that can be tricky to reach if there is narrow passage.

If you have an open garden, lay the wire to the opposite side of the charging station. If you have a remote section in your garden, you should lead the wire in to that area.

When the robotic mower needs to be charged it will seek the guide wire.

Turn charging station upside down and fasten the guide wire in snap locks at the bottom of charging station, leave 50cm for the connection

Make sure the wire is straight for two meters in front of the charging station. Use the pegs and place the wire as you did with the boundary wire. Do not make sharp corners, try to soften them with extra pegs. Also keep a distance to obstacles as the robotic mower will follow the wire up to a meter offset.

If the guide wire passes a slope, lay the wire diagonally so that the robotic mower will have optimal traction.

Continue until you reach the planned spot at the end of the lawn. If you planned for this spot when placing the boundary wire, you’ll have left extra wire to connect the guide wire with the boundary wire. If not, you may need to extend the wire with a coupler. Cut the boundary wire and guide wire.

Use this coupler – it has three holes – and thread all three wires to the bottom of the coupler. It doesn’t matter in which hole you put the wires. Then squeeze the coupler with gas pipe pliers – the plug is filled with grease that makes it weather-proof.

Use the pegs to secure everything in the lawn.

In this video, we have handled a few garden layouts. In the manual, you will find more examples that might be helpful for your individual installation.

If you have a garden with a remote section it’s a good idea to connect the guide wire here.

In the passage, the minimum distance between the boundary wires is 60cm.

As the robotic mower tries to avoid creating tracks in the lawn it follows the guide in various distances.

The robotic mower always drives to the left of the guide wire towards the charging station. Therefore the guide wire should be placed closer to the right boundary wire, seen from this view.

In this case there are two remote areas, you can do as follows:

One option is to place the charging station in one of the remote areas, in this case it will also be hidden in the back garden, then lay the guide wire through both narrow passages. In the robotic mower settings you can program it to start in the different areas according to size.

The next option is to keep the charging station in the main area - in this case you should always lay the wire through the smallest passage. You can then set the robotic mower to follow the boundary wire to the other remote area.

Now we are almost finished with the installation of the McCulloch Robotic mower – you just need to connect all the wires.

On the back part of the charging station are three wire ends that need to be equipped with connectors.

Make sure to take an extra 5cm of wire for the contacts on the charging station – place the wire into the connector - fold over, and squeeze with pliers. Cut off any surplus wire. Once you've done all three, connect them. This is important: the boundary wire from the left side must be connected to the left connection and vice-versa – finally connect the guide wire to its blue-marked connector.

Place the charging station on the ground and secure it with the supplied screws. Make sure no wires can get in contact with the robotic mower.

If installation has been done correctly, the LED light in the charging station will glow steady green and the robotic mower can start its work.

If your garden is divided into several areas that are separated, for example, by gravel paths, borders or terraces that render the areas inaccessible to the robotic mower, or if you have a front garden, then you can create several working areas and simply carry the lightweight robotic mower between them.

When laying the boundary wire, choose a suitable spot from the main- to the secondary area. Lay the wire to the other area and continue laying the boundary wire around the secondary area. Be careful that the wire is not crossed.

You can add secondary areas during initial installation or add them later.

When you’d like to mow the secondary area, make sure the Robotic mower is fully charged and lift it to the area. Enter menu and select MANUAL mode. Press the START button and let the robotic mower work until the battery is empty. Bring the robotic mower back to the charging station to recharge – repeat the process until the secondary area is completely mowed.

Don’t forget to reset the menu to AUTOMATIC mode when you want the main area mowed.

Before starting your McCulloch Robotic mower, remove objects such as pine cones, children’s toys or smaller obstacles from the lawn.

Follow the start-up wizard.

If you prefer, you can just let your robotic mower work with the standard factory settings, but we recommend that you make your personal choices according to the circumstances of your garden.

Please read the McCulloch robotic operators manual for detailed menu information.

At the beginning, set the cutting height to Max. After a few days, you can start lowering the cutting height.

Your new Robotic mower will start with a test of your installation and the robotic mower will start to work.

At any time, you can test that the robotic mower finds its way to the charging station.

Place the robotic mower pointing toward the guide wire.

Enter the menu and select Test in

When you start the robotic mower, it should follow the guide wire all the way back to the charging station and dock.

Set the robotic mower to AUTO mode – that is what you normally use. Watch the Robotic mower in action, especially how it keeps the desired distance to obstacles – you’ll normally need to adjust the wire in a few places.