Robotzoo

Which Robotic Lawn Mower Is Right For You

Cutting Through The Confusion!

We appreciate that there has been a surge of interest in the topic of robot lawn mowers.
And so this article has been put together to help you decide which robotic lawn mower is best for your yard.
It follows on from our previous articles:

In fact, we have produced so many useful articles about robotic lawnmowers and how to use them, for our followers, such as:

So it’s fairly clear that we have a lot to say about using robots in lawncare, for anybody who wants to listen and learn.
We hope that when our followers read these articles, they will understand our expertise of many years solving problems in this space.
For those who want to do their research before using robot mowers for the first time, all of these articles are recommended.

Mowing Down Misinformation!

We realised that it would be useful to provide householders with tips about robotic mowers, if that’s the way they have decided to go.
And, you might think that the choices would be fairly simple. But as the saying “oils ain’t oils” goes. so too “mowers ain’t mowers”.
There are a few things to consider when deciding which robotic mower is most suitable for your place.
And a little forethought can once again save a lot of regret later on.
We’re able to share what we’ve learnt having seen different robotic mowers being used in different types of lawns.
We will try here to focus on the important points, and be as objective as we can.
Only you can decide which robotic lawn mower would be the best rob ot mower for your place.
Of course, it’s given that we and many customers think that our battery powered pool lawn mowers are a wonderful innovation.

Asking The Right Questions

The most relevant qualifying questions that we always ask anyone who calls us about their lawn mowing needs are about:

  • The shape and size of your lawn?:  Most robotic mowers are designed for standard lawns.
    Whereas not all lawns are a standard shape and size,
  • What is the surface of the lawn?: Buffalo, Cooch, Kikuyu, are different species of grass.
    And they all provide different levels of traction.
  • Are there any unusual features or obstacles?: Hedges, Trees; Garden Beds, Furniture, Sheds, etc…
    these all pose a challenge for lawnmowing robots
  • Where do you live?  The strong sun can make it challenging to get out and take care of lawns.
    This is especially true in the far north of Australia.

And there are other questions that determine which robotic lawn mower you should go with, such as:

  • What about Safety?
  • What about Spare Parts?
  • What about support?

Which Robotic Lawn Mower For Different Lawn Designs?

It's Not Just The Mower that Matters, It's Also The Lawn

At robotzoo we are very aware of right-sizing the solution for a given situation.
But this is a difficult message to get across, so we will categorise different models.
Firstly according to the dimensions of the lawn space they need to tackle.
We do that so users can see understand what they are getting, in terms of price versus performance.
A common mistake is to assume all mowers are the same, thinking that a smaller mower can manage a larger lawn.
And many distributors rely on ignorance of this point.
They will gladly sell customers an underpowered mower at an overpowered price.

Lawn Size

robot mowers are usually designed to a lawn size.
That’s why we say size is important, so we categorise by size, eg:

  • Small Lawns: 500 sqm to 1,000 sqm.
  • Medium Lawns: 1,000 sqm to 2,000 sqm
  • Larger Lawns: 2,000 sqm to 4,000 sqm
  • Fields and Paddocks: Greater than 4,000 sqm.
Wombat Junior II, Robot Mower

Lawn Shape

A perfectly rectangular piece of lawn, bounded by fences on all sides is a rare thing.
The average metropolitan house site in Australia is about 650 sqm.
Of this, about half might be lawn.
And very often, the lawn can be split into front yard and rear yard.
What’s more, the yards may be bisected by a path.
All of this creates a layout challenge for lawnmowing with robots.
What it all means is that in even the most regular situations, planning is required,
eg.:
Perimeter wire layout, base station position,
and division of the mowing space into sub-areas.
And don’t imagine that all problems go away with perimeter wire-less models.
Those technologies have their own issues which raise a different set of challenges.
The tried and tested technology is to fix a perimeter wire to the ground.
And sometimes, users attracted to new tech have wished they had gone with this.
robot mower wire placement

Which Robotic Lawn Mower For The Design of Your Lawn?

Household landscapes can come in all kinds of exotic shapes and sizes.
And it seems that landscape designers don’t always consider the aspect of maintaining the garden.
Automated sprinkler systems, yes, and automated lighting. But automating lawn maintenance tasks?
The types of things that an automated mower will have to contend with are outlined below:

Trees

Where the trunk rises straight out of the ground, these are often called ‘columnar’ trees.
Like many cypresses, spruces or pines, and fruit trees like apple, pear and lemon.
With these, the mower can ‘bounce’ off the trunk of the tree and reverse direction.
That is, as long as the lower branches are trimmed back.
That’s so that the mower doesn’t get tangled in them.
However, some trees have ‘surface roots’ that show above the ground.
these can cause problems for automated mowers.
These include: palms; eucalyptus; fig; camphor laurel; liquidambar; oak; poplar; etc.
These varieties may cause the mower to ‘ride up’ the roots, and even overturn.
So they need to be ‘ringfenced’ by the perimiter wire.
And just a note about the boundary wire-less models that are being advertised now.
Some of these models supposedly rely on a high accuracy version of GPS.
However, It seems that trees can interfere with the signals.
This interference can make the device lose its position, and subsequently have to stop.

 
robot mower,  boundary wire

Garden Beds

Robotic lawnmowers are not meant to get into garden beds.
But even the best robot mower will if it is allowed to.
Garden beds are normally depressed lower than the level of the lawn.
And so a mower somehow can manage to fall down into a garden bed.
And when it does this, then it will probably not be able to reverse out.
robot mower,  boundary wire

Swimming Pools

So many Australian backyards have swimming pools.
And, fortunately, in the interests of safety, most pools are fenced off.
But this is not always the case.
And you don’t want your robot mower ending up in the pool!
So it may be necessary to ‘ringfence’ the pool area with perimeter wire.
robot mower,  boundary wire

Obstacles in the Lawn

There is no such thing as a clear patch of lawn.
Many backyards will be littered with obstacles:
furniture; toys; play equipment; sports equipment; clotheslines; hoses; etc.; etc.
You may even find: vehicles; animals; tools; construction materials;  you name it!
It will be possible for a robot mower to simply ‘bounce’ off many obstacles.
It will then change direction, and go off on its merry way.
That is, if the obstacle is fixed, if it is heaver than the robot mower.
And if it rises straight out of the ground.
This is made possible because most robot mowers (like ours) have ‘bump’ sensors.
Sensors can detect when they hit something, and tell the mower to change direction.
There are other types of obstacles which are not so easy to ‘bounce off’.
Some mowers now have camera detection, or what they call LIDAR to manage this.
These sensors help to see if an obstacle is getting close.
And they tell the mower to change direction, before any bump occurs.
We have models that do this too.
If you want to know which robotic lawn mower can do this, check out our models.
robot mower, challenge, wombat

Pets, and What They Leave Behind

Pets are wonderful. However, pets and robot mowers don’t always mix well.
It is always advised to pick up any pet droppings before the mower goes out.

Otherwise, you may find youself hosing out underneath the mower.

What does robotzoo do?

Our clever devices help households do mundane chores.

And maintain the floors, windows, pools and lawns.

There’s a robot for almost every chore:

  • Automatic battery driven robotic lawnmowers;
  • Cordless pool cleaning robots;
  • Frameless glass detecting robotic window cleaners; and,
  • Self-emptying robotic floor vacs.

You can source them all from the one responsible local supplier.
With the assurance of a local warranty for every device.

Want to Find Out More?

If you would like us to assess the suitability of your pool or lawn for our devices, please just fill out the enquiry form. Alternatively, if you would prefer to speak to us first, please call us on
1 3000 ROBOT. (1 3000 76268)
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