Winter Storage and Spring Startup for Robot Lawn Mowers

How to read this guide. The steps below are drawn primarily from Husqvarna’s official Automower seasonal and winter-storage guidance. Other brands have their own manuals, and some older Automower models have different battery-storage rules. When your operator’s manual disagrees with this overview, follow the manual.

A robot mower is not a shovel you can lean in a garage all winter and forget. The battery, the charging station, and the blades all have an official off-season routine. Skipping it is a common way to start April with a flat battery, corroded contacts, or a dull disc — problems that look like a broken robot.

This guide walks through shutdown, storage, and spring startup as manufacturers describe them, then notes where wire and wire-free setups differ. For how the machine works during the season, see how robot lawn mowers work. For whether the mower can replace a crew year-round, see robot mower vs. a lawn service.

When to stop mowing

Follow grass growth, not a calendar date. Husqvarna’s winter guidance is to leave the grass a little longer heading into cold weather — the US Automower FAQ says not to mow the grass too short before winter, because longer grass is better protected in the cold; the company’s complete winter-storage guide similarly suggests leaving grass slightly longer (it gives a 6–8 cm / about 2.4–3.2 inch range in that document) (Automower US FAQ; complete winter storage guide). That is turf advice from the manufacturer, not a climate model. In a mild-winter area where grass never really stops, you may store later, or not at all, if the official manual allows year-round use and you can keep the station clear of debris.

Shutdown checklist

Husqvarna’s US FAQ and winter-storage guide agree on the core sequence (US FAQ; winter storage guide; seasonal support guide):

1. Fully charge the mower, then turn it off. The company says this protects battery health during storage.
2. Check GeoFence, if you have it. The US FAQ says to keep GeoFence active if you store the mower inside the set GeoFence area, and to disable GeoFence before powering off if you will move the mower outside that area.
3. Clean the mower and the charging station thoroughly. Body, chassis, blade disc, and other moving parts. Dried clippings and mud are easier to remove now than in March.
4. Change blades and screws. Husqvarna’s winter guidance is to replace both, so you are not putting a rusted or dull set back into service in spring, and so you are not reusing a worn screw.
5. Inspect wear parts. The FAQ specifically mentions checking lower front wheel bearings, rotating the wheels, and listening for squeaking; contact a dealer if something is wrong.
6. Unplug the power supply and store it in a dry, frost-free place.
7. Label boundary and guide wires if you disconnect them. The wires themselves can stay in the ground. Husqvarna suggests organizing connectors (it sells a connector box) and tagging wires so spring reconnection is obvious.
8. Store the mower — and, in most cases, the charging station — indoors, dry, and above freezing. Rest the mower on all of its wheels on level ground, or use an official wall hanger. Do not park it on its side or lean it at an angle the manual does not allow.

On charging during storage, Husqvarna is explicit: most Automower models do not need to be charged while stored, as long as they were fully charged before shutdown; some older models need a charge every three months, and you should check the operator’s manual for your model (US FAQ; winter storage guide). Do not invent a monthly ritual if your manual says to leave a full battery alone.

What can stay outside

Boundary and guide wires may remain in the ground all winter (US FAQ). That is one advantage of a finished wire install.

The charging station should go indoors if you can. The US FAQ says that if you cannot store the charging station indoors, it must remain connected to mains, the boundary wire, and the guide wires for the entire winter. The UK winter-storage guide adds a model-specific exception: on Automower NERA models, the top of the charging station should be stored indoors, while the baseplate is designed to remain outside (winter storage guide). Check whether your model is in that family before you leave a baseplate out.

EPOS / wire-free reference hardware is a different case. Husqvarna’s seasonal guide says the EPOS reference station is weatherproof and designed for year-round outdoor use; if you store it indoors, keep the mounting arm in place so reinstallation is easy. In spring, reinstall the reference station if it was stored, review work areas and stay-out zones, and, for setups that use EPOS via Husqvarna Cloud on Wi-Fi-connected mowers, verify Wi-Fi coverage across the work area (seasonal support guide). Other wire-free brands have their own antenna and reference-station rules — read those manuals rather than copying Automower’s.

If you want a dealer to do the off-season work, Husqvarna recommends an annual service and lists typical contents: general maintenance and wear parts, firmware, diagnostics, cleaning, blade replacement, battery test, charging, safety tests, and a function check (US FAQ). That is a paid option, not a requirement in this article.

Spring startup

Husqvarna’s spring materials give a practical order (seasonal support guide; US FAQ spring checklist):

• Wait until the grass is growing and has some height. The seasonal guide says to wait until the grass reaches 5–7 cm before the first mow of the year, start with a high cutting height, and lower it gradually. Do not ask the robot to take down a winter hayfield in one pass.
• Rake leaves and clear debris so the first cuts are not a blade-eating slog.
• Reinstall the charging station if you stored it. Reconnect wires if you labeled and disconnected them. Plug the power supply into the correct outlet. Confirm a solid green charging-station light before you call the install finished. The US FAQ’s spring list is the same idea: return the station, connect wires and the 110-volt cord, and check for a green light.
• Install firmware updates and use a current official app.
• For wire setups, walk the loop and look for loose stakes or damage.
• For EPOS / wire-free setups, reinstall any stored reference station and review zones in the app, as above.
• Check blades; replace them and the screws if you did not do that at storage.
• Seat the mower in the station, confirm charging, then confirm time, date, and schedule.

If the mower was stored without a full charge, Husqvarna’s charging-error article says the battery may be too deeply discharged to begin charging normally; it tells owners to bring the mower indoors, place it on the charging station, and leave it for several hours (Automower won’t charge / empty battery). That is a recovery step, not a reason to skip the fall full-charge instruction.

A short owner’s calendar

Late season: raise the cut a little, let the last growth stay longer, pick a shutdown week.

Shutdown day: full charge, GeoFence check, deep clean, new blades and screws, unplug the supply, label wires, move the mower (and usually the station) indoors, on its wheels, above freezing.

Mid-winter: do nothing for most current Automower models; charge only if your manual is one of the older exceptions.

First growth: clear the lawn, reinstall the station, wait for a solid green light, update firmware, start high, and only then lower the cut.

If you do that, spring is a startup, not a rescue. If you skip it, start with the official recovery steps before you assume you need a new machine.

Sources

• Husqvarna US, Automower FAQ (winter storage, indoor storage above freezing, wires remaining in the ground, most models not needing winter charging, dealer service, spring checklist): husqvarna.com/us/discover/automower-faq
• Husqvarna, “Automower winter maintenance and storage” (full charge, cleaning, blades and screws, NERA baseplate exception, older-model 90-day charge): husqvarna.com
• Husqvarna, “Automower support guide by season” (spring first-mow height, firmware, EPOS reference-station notes, green charging-station light): husqvarna.com
• Husqvarna, “Automower won’t charge or shows empty battery error,” including after-winter recovery: husqvarna.com