Few people enjoy doing yard work. One of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive jobs is mowing the lawn. If you're tired of constantly cleaning mower blades and emptying clipping bags, it might be time to switch out your standard mower for a robotic one.
Robotic lawn mowers are compact smart devices that will keep your yard looking its best. Once you've removed any major obstacles and programmed your device, a fully-charged mower will get to work trimming your grass. Interested in seeing what a robot lawn mower can do for you? Below, we weigh up the pros and cons of these innovative outdoor devices.
The Benefits of Robot Lawn Mowers
If you're looking to make yard work easier, a robot lawn mower is well worth the investment. Below, we explore some of the main perks of these innovative smart devices.
They Make Yard Work Less of a Chore
Even if your yard is on the small side, mowing the grass with a conventional mower takes time. Furthermore, a typical mower requires maintenance to ensure it does its job well. This isn't the case with robot lawnmowers. Once you've set your device up and added perimeter wires around obstacles like tree stumps, your robotic lawn mower is ready to go. The maintenance is minimal.
If you have limited mobility, robotic mowers are a godsend. What's more, the best models can cope with sloped terrain, ensuring perfect results throughout your garden.
There's No Chance of Accidents or Mishaps
According to a recent study, more than 6,000 people are sent to emergency rooms every year with mower-related injuries. It's easy to suffer sprains and strains when handling heavy equipment. Meanwhile, those sharp blades can quickly lead to a deep laceration.
Thankfully, robotic mowers are a far safer option. For starters, these are hands-off devices, meaning you won't be risking your fingers when changing blades or clearing away debris. Most automated mowers also come with robust safety features, with blades retracting whenever the devices are picked up. Blades will also retract should your mower make contact with an obstacle. This makes them ideal if you have young children or pets running around your yard.
Compact and Easy to Store
Not everyone has outdoor storage they can utilize. Are you tired of hauling your mower inside to store an indoor closet or under the stairs? A robotic mower is a way to go.
A typical robot mower is usually no larger than 28x24 inches. Although you'll need to combine the mower itself with a charging dock, the overall storage space required is negligible. This makes them a practical choice for people without a garden shed or garage.
Enhanced Security Features
Storing anything outside of the home is a worry. If you've lived in a property with a shed for many years, there's a good chance you've fallen foul of thieves at least once in your life. Fortunately, robot mowers come with nifty security features that make them a less lucrative prospect to would-be burglars.
Robotic lawnmowers come with GPS as standard. This GPS technology not only allows your devices to map terrain and plan routes, but it also gives you the option to track the location of your mower if it goes missing.
Furthermore, most mowers require the user to input a PIN to get the device started. Naturally, these enhanced security features make robot mowers an impractical target for thieves.
Perfect Results and Less Clean Up
Lawns with parallel lines are certainly attractive, but they require constant maintenance. Robotic mowers employ a more randomized approach to cutting grass. Although you won't see any visible patterns, you will benefit from a seamless and beautifully trimmed finish.
If your robot mower is left to do its work for long enough, you can also say goodbye to additional tasks like raking and removing grass clippings. If the clippings are fine enough, they can be left where they are to degrade and fertilize your lawn.
The Downsides of Robotic Lawn Mowers
Although there are plenty of reasons to invest in a robotic lawn mower, these automated devices aren't for everyone. Read on for some drawbacks of these gardening devices.
They Have Their Limits
The most advanced robot mower models can cope with challenging terrain. However, they can't deliver first-rate results throughout your garden. Those lawn edges will still need to be maintained with a traditional strimmer. What's more, they won't cope with dense areas of vegetation that have been left to overgrow.
They're an Expensive Option
If you're thinking about joining the automated revolution, expect to pay a premium price tag. Even a basic model is likely to cost you twice what a traditional lawn mower will set you back. Have you recently splashed out on a high-end manual mower? Think about getting your money's worth out of that before upgrading to a robotic alternative.
Don't Expect Instant Results
Robotic mowers are fairly small pieces of hardware. As such, they can take time to trim an entire yard. They also need to recover the same ground multiple times to ensure perfect results. If you have a larger yard, it may take many hours for a robotic mower to finish a task.
You'll also need to consider battery life limitations. Low-performance batteries are the main reason why people with larger yards tend to avoid robotic mowers. All robotic mowers come with a charging dock, but you'll need to allow for the downtime should your mower power down in the middle of a task.
Should You Invest in a Robot Lawn Mower?
Robot lawnmowers aren't for everyone. For starters, they're relatively expensive. Robotic mowers may also struggle with very steep terrain and lawn edges, meaning you'll need to undertake some manual yard work yourself.
However, the benefits far outweigh the bad. A robotic mower takes almost all the effort out of keeping your yard looking great. They're also incredibly safe, dramatically slashing the risk of accidents and injuries. You can also expect perfect results and won't need to constantly clear away clippings. These compact mowers are also easy to store indoors. However, if you decide to keep them in an outdoor storage shed, integrated GPS technology serves as an effective theft deterrent.
Author Bio:
Joe Doherty is the eCommerce manager at Atkins, a farm and garden machinery business in Ireland. They sell farm parts, garden parts, garden machinery, and more.
