Robotic Lawn Mower Buying Guide

Can a robot really mow my lawn?

Not only can a robotic lawn mower mow, but it can mow better than a regular gas or electric lawn mower. Unlike most traditional consumer lawn mower blades, which rotate at approximately 2,000-2,500 RPM, robotic lawn mower blades are twice as fast, rotating at 5,800 RPM. The practical result of this high-speed lawn mowing action is a smooth, manicured look.

Robotic lawn mowers mulch the grass, and the high cutting speed results in very fine cuttings. The mulched grass remains on the lawn to give the yard much-needed nutrients that provide for the long-term health of your lawn.

On the downside, robotic lawn mowers circulate around your lawn in predetermined algorithmic patterns, which won’t produce the crisp diagonal lines preferred by some homeowners. However, lawn care experts recommend that homeowners cut grass from different angles to ensure health and even growth, so the robotic lawn mower provides the added benefit of avoiding unnaturally straight cuts. Most robotic lawn mowers also provide manual controls, so if you have a tricky section of the yard or simply want to move it to a different area, you can take manual control of the lawn mower and adjust it.

If your yard has a steep slope, you may run into trouble with your robotic lawn mower. Experts and consumer reviewers alike agree that robotic lawn mowers are not well equipped to handle hilly areas.

Hey, come back here! That’s the neighbor’s lawn!

Believe it or not, robotic lawn mower developers have designed equipment that knows how to respect the property line. Robotic lawn mowers come complete with kits to set up a perimeter for your new lawn mower. These kits consist of a thin wire that tells the robotic lawn mower where the property line or sidewalk is located, and small pegs to hold the wire in place around the edge of the lawn. When the robotic lawn mower reaches the wire, it changes direction and continues mowing.

For a prettier yard, cut the lawn short before installing the wire. When the grass grows, it will hide the wire. You’ll never see that wire again, but the robotic lawn mower still knows that it’s there. Robotic lawn mowers that use GPS and lasers for perimeter programming are in development, but that technology is not yet available to consumers.

Don’t eat my yard gnome!

Even if you have decorations, trees, or children and pets, the robotic lawn mower is a safe alternative to a traditional lawn mower. Developers have equipped robotic lawn mowers with a number of safety measures to prevent accidental misuse or destruction of property.

All robotic lawn mowers are equipped with bumper panels around the entire perimeter of the machine that cause the lawn mower to stop and change direction if it encounters an obstacle. It won’t plow over your lawn gnome; when the robotic mower bumps into it, it will go around. If a robotic lawn mower encounters anything that causes it to lift or begin to tip, the blades stop spinning immediately. If a curious child or dog tries to pick up the robotic lawn mower, the blades lock and the mower shuts off.

Depending on the model, robotic lawn mowers come equipped with child-lock features, anti-theft alarms, rain detectors and even programmable settings that tell it to run at a specific time every day, or once a week. Because robotic lawn mowers are so quiet, you can even program them to run at night.

A “green” machine

Another feature that many people love about robotic lawn mowers is that they are battery operated. Robotic lawn mowers are much more environmentally friendly than traditional gas-operated lawn mowers. Some gas mowers are comparable in emissions to SUVs, while a robotic lawn mower takes about the same amount of power as a light bulb and produces no emissions.

Most robotic lawn mowers return to their docking stations automatically to recharge after mowing. Recharging the battery takes approximately 24 hours. If you have a particularly large yard, you may need to run the robotic lawn mower twice to cover the whole property, as a single battery charge powers a robotic lawn mower for approximately 5,000 square feet of mowing.

If you have a very large yard, consider getting a second battery to swap out during mowing so that the robotic lawn mower can complete the job. Look for NiMh and Lithium-ion batteries that are less likely to develop charging memory than lead-acid batteries.

Caring for your robot friend

Keeping your lawn mower blades in good condition is the key to having a beautiful, well-manicured lawn. To maintain good performance, it’s a good idea to clean the lawn mower blades every three to five uses, roughly the same as a traditional lawn mower.

You’ll need to replace the robotic lawn mower’s blades every three years to ensure that your grass is getting a clean cut.

Depending on the type of battery and whether your robotic lawn mower sees year-round use, you will have to replace the battery every four or five years. Compare that to traditional lawn mower maintenance: you have to service gas mowers every year, burn gasoline and oil to operate them and replace blades on a similar schedule. Robotic lawn mowers cost less to operate, and the ongoing maintenance costs are lower than those of traditional lawn mowers.

Need to know more?

• Are Robotic Lawn Mowers in Your Future?
  http://knowhow-now.com/GardenAccessories-article26233-AreRoboticLawnMowersinYourFuture.html
• Robotic Lawn Mowers – Quick Info
  http://www.probotics.com/robotic-lawn-mowers/robotic-lawnmowers-quick.htm
• Proper Mowing Is Key to a Healthy Lawn
  http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/Articles/2004/mowing.shtml