My application: Fenced in backyard, ~4000 sq ft of flat yard, no obstacles. Prior to installation, I made sure to mow the lawn myself to a short length that I would like the automower to maintain the lawn at. Deciding the location for the charging unit station, I found a relatively flat, partially shaded spot up against the house to provide some protection from the elements (I also later purchased a garage to cover the automower while parked). I did get a 12ft extension cable to connect to a nearby outdoor outlet by our A/C unit. The directions for the automower say there should be a clear direct path 6ft out from the charging unit (this is important for the automower returning to the charging station after mowing). I have witnessed the automower unable to connect itself back to the charger unit, or unable to place itself back into the charger because of this requirement. Choose this place carefully. No detail is too small. The flatter the surface, the easier it will be for the automower to enter the charging station. After finding a place for the charging base station, I laid out the boundary wire, essentially following my backyard fence line and rear of our home. The instructions do say you can lay the boundary wire above ground, secured with the hard plastic stakes that are included (there are a lot of them, so don't feel that you need to get extra). This is one part I skimped out on, and it's important that all boundary wire is secured close to the ground so that the automower's wheels do not get caught on them, or end up getting caught in the mower's cutting blades (both have happened to me, and I have made several more walkthroughs of the boundary wire to ensure nothing is sticking far above ground so as to get caught or cut). Properly laying your boundary wire and securing it with the stakes is the most essential part of this purchase. Put as much time and effort into this process as you can so as to avoid additional troubleshooting time and off-time of the mower in the future. Take your time with this, do not rush it like I did. After laying the boundary wire, laying the guide wire (using the same wire as you did for the boundary wire) required a lot less ground to cover, but still involved some additional work after the first time laying it down. I'd come out to the yard after several weeks of it running, to discover some of the wire had come up off the ground enough to get snagged by the automower. I think using a plastic stake every 8-12 inches of boundary and guide wire would be sufficient. Use your best judgement, but don't take any chances of any wire being exposed. If I had to do this part again, I would do a walkthrough of both the boundary and guide wire to ensure no wire was resting off the ground. I can't stress enough how important this part is. Once the wires were laid and secured, you simply attach both ends of the boundary wire as well as the guide wire to the back of the charging station after crimping them to a connector. Once this is complete, your ready to sit back and watch it mow. The troubleshooting I encountered in the first few weeks of ownership were the mower getting caught on boundary/guide wire, the dreaded no loop signal, and the automower not fully attaching itself to the charging station. Don't rush your installation. Take several days if you need to, but once you're 100% confident that the wire is laid securely, you can start it up and take great fun in watching it mow. This will save you a lot of time troubleshooting and worrying that your automower is not going to work out. It's saving me from mowing in this Texas heat, and I am quite certain doing this has saved some years of my life. Overall, I am happy with this investment.
