Anybody using robotic lawn mowers?

[JD318]

A neighbor that used to have an immaculate looking yard got one last year. Don't know if he got tired of working on it all the time or what. However, I drove by and hadn't even seen the robot mower yet, made the comment how awful his lawn looked. Couple weeks later I saw the little mower chewing up the grass. He continued to use the robot, but would then go over the lawn with his regular mower to make it look decent. Not sure what model he had, but it certainly put an end to any thought of ever having one.

JD

 

[Juliet Hotel]

I've gone through multiple lawn mowing companies that were only charging me $25 a pop but in the middle of a random Wednesday I would get a text message saying we're in your backyard and your dogs are barking at us and I'm like what the hell dude I thought you were coming on Saturday morning.

They always say well we were in your area so we decided to mow it today. All of the companies that can mow it in 15 minutes using 10 guys on riding mowers are like that

Find a company that likes dogs.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

People don't cut their own lawns anymore it seems?

I do... And I like it because I like operating machinery and the time it gives me to just think without interruption... But honestly, if I could cut back to once a month, I probably would. I could spend my summer Saturdays at the airport instead.

I'm not mowing my lawn. It is not a good use of my time. It takes me more than half of a Saturday to mow my yard.

Either your mower is too small, or you're not going fast enough.

Wondering if the robotic lawn mowers in might save money.

I think 2/3 of an acre is more than any of the current crop of robotic mowers will do. Last I looked, even the "big" ones were 1/2 acre or less.

I only have a little push mower

With an engine, or a reel mower?

I live in the burbs as well. I have to mow 1/2acre but not many trees. I had a JD185 with 48'deck for 20yrs (it was 30yrs old BTW). It would take 1hr to mow, maybe longer if I got behind.

I believe in overkill....sold the old tractor and found newer JD X500 with 54" deck. First time I mowed it took 21minutes!!!! If its really tall it takes about 35 minutes. And that is only mowing once per week even if it grows tall fast.

I say get a good rider unless you have a trillion trees to mow around or an aversion to spending $1,000,000 on a $400 problem LOL!!!

That's what I did. Picked up a used Simplicity Legacy with a 60" deck. I have two acres, so it still takes me an hour even if I'm really booking, but a lot of that is because I have a somewhat odd-shaped yard being at the corner of the subdivision (it's a pentagon, but one leg is really short) and I have a lot of trees to go around.

ps. Mine came with a 44" 2-stage blower....man did that get put to use this winter.

Yep. I have a 46" single stage, because the 2-stagers for my tractor are pretty much unobtanium. However, it's well designed and the tractor has enough oomph behind it that it has never clogged. Well, it kinda seemed like it did with some really awful heavy wet "stuff" a few weeks ago, but I realized I just needed to get MORE into it and it'd un-clog itself.

The other advantage to a snowblower attachment for those of us in the north is that it keeps the tractor running all year long. No worries with the engine rusting or fuel going bad.

Yeah, seriously. I seen men who have teenaged sons cutting their own grass, or worse yet, paying someone else to cut it. What's up with that? Once I got to fourth grade, my father didn't cut any grass.

Yep. My parents made me wait until I was 10 to start cutting the grass, but I was begging them to do it. I wanted to drive the lawn tractor so bad at that age! I would also help my dad with yard work because that usually meant at some point we'd be using the trailer to schlep something to somewhere. So, I got to learn how to maneuver a trailer as well. Until I got my first job in high school, nearly all my money came from lawn mowing.

1. You're the only person who has ever mentioned that he used lawn mowing to practice math.

I don't think I did that on my parents' lawn, but I'm sure I've done that while mowing my own lawn. I may have also started a timer and observed my lap times decreasing because I found it interesting. #nerd

2. My wife attempted to cut the grass in our yard once. Once, she said never again. Boys are usually physically stronger, so they get the more physically demanding chores. I don't ask my daughters to cut the grass for the same reason I would not suggest a career as a diesel mechanic to them, there's a physical strength component to the job and they're not up to it.

Women have plenty of strength to mow the lawn, but they don't seem to have the desire for the most part. My mom has done their lawn, but only rarely, and she did her very first snowblowing this winter at the age of 72. My sister has never done it. My wife did her parents' lawn growing up once, and she did ours last summer once (we went on vacation twice with only a week in between, and I was working hard that week, while she had summer vacation 'cuz she's a teacher) and she has no desire to do it again.

Something with guys and machines that make noise and belch fumes...

I do like machines, though I'm about done with the noise and fumes. I would buy an electric tractor if there was one that could handle my lawn and be had for a reasonable price. The only thing out there right now that can handle my lawn is a Mean Green, which starts at over $11,000 for a 60" (I think the "starting at" prices they list on their site are aimed at the commercial operators who are going to buy 3 battery packs, I only need 1). And then I would need to buy a separate snowblower because it's a ZTR.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Also it gets hot in Texas.

I'm not Mowing and that's final.
Get Off My Lawn!!!! (Unless you are going to mow it for me)

 

[FormerHangie]

I do... And I like it because I like operating machinery and the time it gives me to just think without interruption... But honestly, if I could cut back to once a month, I probably would. I could spend my summer Saturdays at the airport instead.



Either your mower is too small, or you're not going fast enough.



I think 2/3 of an acre is more than any of the current crop of robotic mowers will do. Last I looked, even the "big" ones were 1/2 acre or less.



With an engine, or a reel mower?



That's what I did. Picked up a used Simplicity Legacy with a 60" deck. I have two acres, so it still takes me an hour even if I'm really booking, but a lot of that is because I have a somewhat odd-shaped yard being at the corner of the subdivision (it's a pentagon, but one leg is really short) and I have a lot of trees to go around.



Yep. I have a 46" single stage, because the 2-stagers for my tractor are pretty much unobtanium. However, it's well designed and the tractor has enough oomph behind it that it has never clogged. Well, it kinda seemed like it did with some really awful heavy wet "stuff" a few weeks ago, but I realized I just needed to get MORE into it and it'd un-clog itself.

The other advantage to a snowblower attachment for those of us in the north is that it keeps the tractor running all year long. No worries with the engine rusting or fuel going bad.



Yep. My parents made me wait until I was 10 to start cutting the grass, but I was begging them to do it. I wanted to drive the lawn tractor so bad at that age! I would also help my dad with yard work because that usually meant at some point we'd be using the trailer to schlep something to somewhere. So, I got to learn how to maneuver a trailer as well. Until I got my first job in high school, nearly all my money came from lawn mowing.



I don't think I did that on my parents' lawn, but I'm sure I've done that while mowing my own lawn. I may have also started a timer and observed my lap times decreasing because I found it interesting. #nerd



Women have plenty of strength to mow the lawn, but they don't seem to have the desire for the most part. My mom has done their lawn, but only rarely, and she did her very first snowblowing this winter at the age of 72. My sister has never done it. My wife did her parents' lawn growing up once, and she did ours last summer once (we went on vacation twice with only a week in between, and I was working hard that week, while she had summer vacation 'cuz she's a teacher) and she has no desire to do it again.

Something with guys and machines that make noise and belch fumes...

I do like machines, though I'm about done with the noise and fumes. I would buy an electric tractor if there was one that could handle my lawn and be had for a reasonable price. The only thing out there right now that can handle my lawn is a Mean Green, which starts at over $11,000 for a 60" (I think the "starting at" prices they list on their site are aimed at the commercial operators who are going to buy 3 battery packs, I only need 1). And then I would need to buy a separate snowblower because it's a ZTR.

When I was in fourth grade, we moved out to the country, and had a riding mower. I was thusly nominated to operate it by my father. i was probably a bit too small to handle a push mower at that time, but I sure could drive a lawn tractor. I also had use of an International 240 utility tractor

though ours had a front end loader, which came in handy for mucking out stalls. My sister was supposed to be in charge of dishes but was such an *itch about it that my mother gave up trying to enforce that rule. Come to think of it, since it was her horse that lived in one of those stalls it would have been nice if she had done more of the cleaning. Three years later we moved back into the city and I was introduced to a push mower, which I could then handle.

My wife is 5' 3" and not particularly strong. Our yard is hilly, and it's hot during most of the mowing season. Despite being a southern girl, my wife is quite the heat hater, and wrestling a lawn mower up and down the hills is not something she's going to do. Both my daughters are now 5' 8", and neither of them is overly strong, so I've never asked them to try to cut the grass. I'm stuck with it as long as I am able.

 

[weilke]

I'm not mowing my lawn. It is not a good use of my time. It takes me more than half of a Saturday to mow my yard.

I'd rather fly and do family stuff.

But I'm paying 200 a month to have it mowed. Wondering if the robotic lawn mowers in might save money.

How big is your yard ?

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

How big is your yard ?

2/3 acre

 

[weilke]

2/3 acre

Just get a commercial walk behind that's wider and faster than what you have right now.

 

[Anymouse]

I looked at robotic mowers a few years back. I'm gone more than I'm at Anymouse Manor and was hoping for a set it and forget it deal so didn't come back to a jungle during my off time. Alas, that ain't happening. Also, I have roughly 4 1/2 acres or so to mow. There was a machine that could do two acres a while back. I think it's off the market now, but it was something like $5k.

For now, I have a neighbor that likes cutting grass. He does several of the neighbor's yards as well. He likes it so much he doesn't charge a dime, although I do leave ten gallons of gas for him every time I deploy. I really need to buy a couple more 5 gallon gas cans so I can leave him more gas.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Just get a commercial walk behind that's wider and faster than what you have right now.

Or one with a sulky.

 

[JOhnH]

Just get a commercial walk behind that's wider and faster than what you have right now.

Why should he do that if he really doesn't want to and it is not a productive use of his time?

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Yeah, i just wanted to know if anyone had tried the robotic ones.

 

[Banjo33]

Yeah, i just wanted to know if anyone had tried the robotic ones.

Well then why didn’t you just say that!?

 

[Sinistar]

So now you have me curious. A quick look shows lots of smaller yard versions (1/3 acre) for in the $600+ range give or take. Then there is this one: Husqvarna Automower 450X which covers over an acre. So that could be your machine but its $3000.

When I kidded about the lawn tractor cost I should have been more realistic. I spent $2900 on the used 2008 JD X500 with 485hrs which included the 54" deck and 44" 2-stage blower. I spent about $150 on parts and missing stuff. So that pretty much matches the big automower above.

For both of those scenarios above that's 15 months of mowing at your current monthly rate ($200). Up here in Minnesota I would need that service for Late April thru mid October or about 5 months. So the tractor / robo-mower break even is just 3 seasons.

I'm the type who bought a Honda Accord (@38mpg) but because I just didn't trust the hybrid/battery (@55mpg) car costs near the end of their life. I think for the robo mower I feel the same - will it last long enough to justify the cost. Is it good enough to be mainstream yet? Now compare to my last lawn tractor that was 33yrs old and I sold it in 100% working condition and it never had a motor or transmission or pto issue. Just some mower deck sheaves/bearings and front steering link joint/bearing.

If you're the type who wants a decent looking yard after mowing - you gotta do it yourself or hire a better service. Can you just use another service?

LOL....at your monthly yard service rate you could just buy the latest high capacity robo mower every 3 years

LOL....at you monthly yard service rate your cell phone bill will be more in like 2.7 years .... so you could buy a new cell phone every 3 yrs (that was my shot at 6PC humor ).

I am guessing the high end robo-mowers get stolen once in a while though unless in a fenced in yard. That would suck.

 

[NealRomeoGolf]

I’m just surprised you have 2/3 acres in Dallas. Texas yards are normally tiny. You must be a rich Cirrus pilot.

 

[weilke]

So who are you going to be mad at if RoboCop punches a hole in your gas meter ?