{"id":1055,"date":"2020-07-13T13:14:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T17:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.seagrant.w3.uvm.edu\/2020\/07\/13\/mo-monday-installation-day\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T17:49:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:49:21","slug":"mo-monday-installation-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/2020\/07\/13\/mo-monday-installation-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Mo Monday: Installation Day!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\tIt took us about 3 hours (including a break and a trip to the store for more wire) to install Mo\u2019s boundary wire in our 1\/3-acre yard. It was a fairly simple process, aided significantly by a measuring tool my husband crafted part way through the installation. We also got into a rhythm with assigned roles between the two of us. So, it went more quickly as the time passed.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe boundary wire is like an invisible dog fence. Mo follows it to get \u201chome\u201d when it\u2019s time for a recharge (more about this another time), and he uses it to know where he should and shouldn\u2019t mow.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIf you will be doing this, the main things to know to install the wire are to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\tIgnore\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/outreach\/stormwater\/lawn-care-best-practices\/raise-blade-research\">Raise the Blade<\/a>\u00a0lawn mowing best practices for the day, and cut the grass quite short with a regular mower along the path where you will lay the wire. This eases the wire installation process.<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tPlan to place the wire 14\u2033 from edges you want the mower to avoid, and place the wire closer to edges where the mower can safely operate off of the grass. For instance, Mo can happily move along with two wheels on our driveway and two in the grass. That saves us time weed whacking along the driveway.)<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tPlan to make corners into curves with the wire, as Mo (and his cousins) cannot make 90 degree turns.<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tPosition the base so the mower can enter it in a counter-clockwise direction (that is, it will be moving from right to left to enter the base).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tHere is what was needed for the wire installation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\ta hammer or rubber mallet<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tthe stakes<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\twire<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\ta way to measure 14\u2033 and 24\u2033 (the recommended distance between stakes)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tI found that wearing knee pads really helped my ability to crawl along the ground for the time it took to do the installation.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<picture  data-picture-mapping=\"quarter_width\" data-picture-align=\"left\">\n<!--[if IE 9]><video style=\"display: none;\"><![endif]--><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/quarter-width__wide\/public\/uploads\/MeasuringwTool600.jpg?itok=shfqXFnS 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" \/><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/quarter-width__desk\/public\/uploads\/MeasuringwTool600.jpg?itok=9ycHdhzJ 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\" \/><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/half-width__tablet\/public\/uploads\/MeasuringwTool600.jpg?itok=kIEf_5m7 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 600px)\" \/><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full-width__mobile\/public\/uploads\/MeasuringwTool600.jpg?itok=cGpZtovm 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 0)\" \/><!--[if IE 9]><\/video><![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]>\n<img decoding=\"async\"  data-picture-mapping=\"quarter_width\" data-picture-align=\"left\" src=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/flexslider_full\/public\/uploads\/MeasuringwTool600.jpg?itok=0xvfq3I3\" alt=\"Measuring with L-shaped tool\" title=\"\" \/>\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--[if !lt IE 9]><!--><br \/>\n<img  data-picture-mapping=\"quarter_width\" data-picture-align=\"left\" srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/flexslider_full\/public\/uploads\/MeasuringwTool600.jpg?itok=0xvfq3I3 800w\" alt=\"Measuring with L-shaped tool\" title=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<!-- <![endif]-->\n<\/picture> We originally used a measuring tape and a piece of wood to measure the 14\u2033 and 24\u2033\u00a0respectively. That was slow and cumbersome, however.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAt some point in the process, we advanced, like ancient peoples discovering the wheel, when my husband invented a tool specific to the task at hand. It measured 14\u2033 inches wide and 24\u2033 in length.\u00a0Its size and L-shape allowed for the wire to be easily lined up at the correct distance from the edge of the grass, and for stakes to be placed 24\u2033 apart.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSince we wanted Mo to do his job in both the front and back yards, we had to supplement the supplied wire with some from the local hardware store. We used wire cutters to strip the wire.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThen we simply twisted the two together, and sealed the connection point with electrical tape. (Note: We have had no issues with this junction or any others we have had to make for various reasons over the last few years.\u2026Knock on wood I have not just blown our luck by saying that.)<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAfter the wire was installed, the installation was nearly complete! The last step was to install Mo\u2019s home base where he returns to charge. The two ends of the wire simply connect to the base at provided connection points. Then the power cable on the base plugs into a standard outlet. We had an existing hole in our house from an old dryer vent, so we ran the power cable through that to reach an indoor outlet, and then sealed up around it.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<picture  title=\"http:\/\/www.mofarah.com\/#images\" data-picture-mapping=\"quarter_width\" data-picture-align=\"left\">\n<!--[if IE 9]><video style=\"display: none;\"><![endif]--><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/quarter-width__wide\/public\/uploads\/madame-t2.jpg?itok=cJcQS6n3 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" \/><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/quarter-width__desk\/public\/uploads\/madame-t2.jpg?itok=ax8P9NKd 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\" \/><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/half-width__tablet\/public\/uploads\/madame-t2.jpg?itok=aPYjj-mQ 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 600px)\" \/><source srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full-width__mobile\/public\/uploads\/madame-t2.jpg?itok=feZbKdUo 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 0)\" \/><!--[if IE 9]><\/video><![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]>\n<img decoding=\"async\"  data-picture-mapping=\"quarter_width\" data-picture-align=\"left\" src=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/flexslider_full\/public\/uploads\/madame-t2.jpg?itok=pLpQKXn1\" alt=\"Mo Farah \" title=\"http:\/\/www.mofarah.com\/#images\" \/>\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--[if !lt IE 9]><!--><br \/>\n<img  data-picture-mapping=\"quarter_width\" data-picture-align=\"left\" srcset=\"\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/flexslider_full\/public\/uploads\/madame-t2.jpg?itok=pLpQKXn1 800w\" alt=\"Mo Farah \" title=\"http:\/\/www.mofarah.com\/#images\" \/><br \/>\n<!-- <![endif]-->\n<\/picture>That\u2019s all there was to it! Below is a link to a video of Mo\u2019s maiden mowing expedition (which followed him taking one victory lap around the entire boundary wire in Sir Mo Farah-style). We didn\u2019t see him doing the Mobot in celebration like Sir Mo in this photo I found on his\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mofarah.com\/#images\">official website<\/a>, but we will keep our eyes peeled for that!<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu-mo\/2020\/07\/06\/installing-mo\/\">For more completely photo-illustrated instructions, view the blog on Kris&#8217; blog site<\/a> where you can find the whole Mo Monday series.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<strong>View a video of Mo\u2019s maiden voyage:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"video-filter\"><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WrxTbN5sDx4?modestbranding=0&#038;html5=1&#038;rel=0&#038;autoplay=0&#038;wmode=opaque&#038;loop=0&#038;controls=1&#038;autohide=0&#038;showinfo=0&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;enablejsapi=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"video-filter video-youtube vf-wrxtbn5sdx4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It took us about 3 hours (including a break and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1055"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}