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The Kress Voyager KR800 is a large (expensive) commercial machine designed to replace traditional mowing crews on route-based jobs. However, we think it is best used for large commercial type properties like, golf courses around the clubhouse, parks, apartment complexes, and commercial properties that have a lot of turf. Unlike typical robot mowers that use small razor-style swing blades, the Voyager utilizes THREE real steel lawn mower blades across its 40-inch cutting width for a true professional finish. It features a multi-sensor system combining 360-degree cameras, 360-degree ultrasonic sensors, and a front-facing LiDAR unit to ensure continuous obstacle detection and safety.

Key Specs:

• Max Lawn Size: Up to 7 acres per charge
• Battery Life: Up to 8 hours (can be extended with CyberPack batteries)
• Cutting Width: 40 inches
• Cutting Height: 1.25 – 5.0 inches
• Control: One-time smart mapping ride and Kress fleet app integration

Docs testing …

It’s Still Brand New… Be Patient

The tech dept at Kress is currently working on MANY updates to the APP and some of the “not so good” items are being fixed and will get better over the next 6 months. This unit is truly the upper end of robot mower technology, and its performance is pretty much flawless.

There are designs changes needed to really make this a “landscaping crew mower”.  Personally we feel it is better a commercial property mower. Good examples would be golf courses, around the clubhouse and member areas. Parks and recreation areas, sporting fields and school systems. Large apartments complexes that have several acres to maintain.

The finished cut this unit delivers truly is amazing and it is FAST. Now the “not so good”. 

Deck Design Flaws

The mower is said to be designed for “landscaping crews” but most crews start their day early and there is heavy dew on the grass. The mower deck does NOT have a well-designed airflow and discharge system like most zero turn mowers. Because of this and the standard BAFFLES installed, the mower deck packs up heavily within minutes of cutting wet grass. As shipped from the factory… it really is a MULCHING mower which most landscaping crews HATE. They are dealing with tall, often wet grass, and need a strong airflow and discharge. Doc removed ALL the baffles and installed high lift blades. They do offer “discharge baffles” but they have not been tested. We suggest having your dealer add them before taking delivery. This modification greatly improved the cut and performance.

No Real Discharge

They CLAIM… that the mower is a “rear discharge”. However, there are two metal plates that sandwich a rubber flap on the rear. This essentially CLOSES the deck. Doc removed all the metal plates and just reinstalled the rubber flap which allows for discharge on the unit.  Much better.

App Issues

Only two speeds. They need to add more speed levels, mostly needed is a SLOWER speed. Right now it’s slow and fast, but the slow is not slow enough when cutting a very bumpy lawn. Even $900 mowers offer a full range of speeds.

Zone selection on a multi-zone map. Almost all mowers let you pull up a map, select the zones that need to be cut, then START. We can not find this feature in the app and it needs to be added.

It’s HEAVY and no suspension

It’s a 600+ pound mower, and you really need to change mowing pattern each time you cut. They should include an “Auto Shift” feature that slightly varies the cut pattern. If not you WILL leave rut trails in the lawn. Right now we have to go zone by zone and change it which is tedious.

The mower deck and wheels are firmly connected to the main mower. There is no “floating deck” and the ride is VERY bumpy. We have seen people cutting on the FAST speed… but we will never use it. You run the risk of scalp cutting due to the bumpy ride. Surprising however, the cut quality is amazing on the slow speed, which is pretty fast.

No Tech Support…

Kress uses a dealer network ONLY… they have ZERO contact methods. All tech issues and warranty issues go through the dealer. No email, no phone, NADA. They have ZERO training videos.  It would be helpful if they at least had email support to answer higher tech issues and questions. Also, they NEED TO HAVE online training videos that go into detail. This would also reduce the burden on their dealers.

More to come..