13 Common Questions About Smart Lawn Mowers Answered
What Are Smart Lawn Mowers?
The new trend in the gardens is the smart lawn mowers, and they seem to show a future with other automatic garden gadgets.
If you don’t have much time to mow the lawn, you might want to consider getting an automatic/smart lawn mower.
These smart machines are a part of the growing trend of utilizing robotic technologies in daily life. They take most of the work out of mowing and give you more time for other things you want to do with your life. But, you might ask, are they as effective as human mowers? Well, they are quite effective; you need to learn some things, though.
Like smart vacuum cleaners, smart lawn mowers do the work for you. They have charging stations, run on batteries, and are really quiet. Think of them as an army responsible for taking care of your lawn. Unfortunately, smart mowers run on random patterns, which is the main downside of the smart lawn mower movement. As a result, they aren’t as pleasing to the eye as a human mower laying striped patterns.
Smart mowers aren’t for you if you want your lawn to have striped patterns. Though recently, advancements in this area have been made, so be on the lookout for newer mowers! On the other hand, this may be a life-changing choice if you don’t mind the random patterns that a smart mower will make and do a little tidying up afterward. So sit back, open a beer and watch your little friend work.
How Do Smart Lawn Mowers Work?
Smart lawn mowers are almost plug-and-play level technology; they are really easy to use. There is some setup that needs to be done though. You need to run a low voltage wire around the areas you want to be mowed, similar to an invisible fence. These wires are sensed by the smart lawn mower so that its stays within the boundaries.
Also, an outdoor outlet is needed to charge the smart lawn mower. After these, the mower will take care of the rest. You can program smart lawn mowers to start working at certain times or use them through an app on your smartphone.
Smart lawn mowers have many safety features since they operate unsupervised. The blades are very small, not dangerous, and are only capable of cutting grass. The blades are also recessed, so no unprotected toes will get cut anything. If the smart lawn mower hits an obstruction, it will turn in a different direction.
Smart lawn mowers are a fairly new technology, but they have much to offer.
How Often Does A Robot Lawn Mower Mow?
Usually, the best way to have a great lawn is to cut “little and often”. Most people don’t have the time to cut little and often, but most smart lawn mowers mow based on a user-specified schedule. Usually, a smart lawn mower will be scheduled to cut every day to ensure the grass stays at the same height even when it is growing season. So smart lawn mowers take the “little and often” recommendation to the extreme!
How Does a Robot Mower Handle More Than One Area (front/back of a garden or a path between lawns)?
Three things to check when buying a smart lawn mower are:
- The total area you need to be covered
- How many different areas is it built to handle?
- Can it move from one area to another?
The manufacturer will state the area the smart lawn mower is capable of covering and how many areas it can cover. The perimeter wires need to be set to enclose all the areas in a completed loop. While going from one area to another, you will set a corridor with the perimeter wires where the smart lawn mower will move.
Can A Robot Mower Be Used On A Garden That Has Slopes?
Most of the smart lawn mowers are able to work on quite steep slopes, between 20-45%. Check the manual and see how steep areas the model you are looking for can work at. Also, check if it affects the total area it can cover.
Ideally, smart lawn mowers achieve maximum efficiency on a simple, rectangular area with no obstacles and level ground. But these conditions are usually found on sports fields and not in one’s own garden.
You can make sure your smart lawn mower will handle uneven terrain by checking if it has these features:
- A good battery capacity. Moving on uneven terrain will need more power compared to moving on flat terrain.
- Off-road tires. The more uneven the terrain, the better to have larger wheels that can maneuver.
- Maximum cutting height. Usually, uneven terrains come with a rather robust lawn growth like a meadow. Some models are made for these situations, and they exceed the otherwise usual 60mm cutting height up to 100mms.
- Star blades instead of blade discs. Star blades are better, especially if your smart mower is going to run over small branches or fallen fruit. In addition, they are the more robust choice as they can easily cut up small objects like nuts and twigs; meanwhile, blade discs can become jammed or break off.
- Sensors. On uneven terrain, the risk of the smart mower flipping over and exposing its underside is much higher. Therefore it is important to have sensitive lift and tilt sensors that immediately switch off the blade in case contact with the ground is lost.
Can I Install A Smart Lawn Mower By Myself?
Yes! Installation is only laying a perimeter wire and installing the station. Both of these are easy to do by yourself, and there are numerous installation videos to help on the internet. However, if you have a huge garden, i.e., requires a long perimeter wire, you might consider contacting the supplier to get professional installation.
Does The Smart Lawn Mowers Mow the Flowers?
Most smart lawn mowers require a perimeter wire which is laid around the edge of the area you want to have mown. A very low voltage electrical pulse is sent down the wire, and when the smart lawn mower reaches the wire, it turns around just like when it encounters an obstacle. If, for some reason, the power goes off, the smart lawn mower stops. So, there is no danger to your flowers.
What does a Smart Lawn Mower Do With the Cut Grass?
As the smart lawn mowers are cutting little and often, you don’t need to collect the cut grass, they can be used as mulch. Mulching is a great way to return the nutrients to the soil, and you will need around %20 less fertilizer this way.
How Does A Smart Lawn Mower Cope With Leaves?
Smart lawn mowers will cut the grass-height leaves, but they will not clear your lawn of them. But they will keep the grass short on your lawn all the time, so hopefully, the leaves won’t be caught up in grass and blow away.
How To Decide Which is the Most Appropriate Smart Lawn Mower For My Garden?
There are three main things to consider when choosing a smart mower:
- The area that needs to be mown
- How many areas need to be mown – areas need to be connected with a corridor, so the mower can move between them.
- How much time do you want your lawn to be robot-free – For example, if you want your smart lawn mower to mow only at night, you need to check if it will cover the area within that time frame
Do Smart Lawn Mowers Get Stolen?
A smart lawn mower can look inviting as it is an expensive piece of technology moving around unsupervised. So, they do get stolen from time to time. But do not despair! Models with security features make them traceable and useless to anyone but you. Also, check your insurance; they are usually not covered by your house insurance.
What Happens If the Perimeter Wire Gets Broken?
You can bury the perimeter wire, which makes it unlikely for it to get broken, but it can still happen. There are many ways to find the break. The most likely places for breaks to occur are the joints in the wire. Check the joints first. Walk around the wire and look for obvious possibilities. After the installation, it is good to walk near the perimeter and take a video to know where the wire is for later examination. With some models, you can use AM radio to find the break; other models have other ways. Many ideas are occurring on YouTube to find a break in your perimeter wire, so check there also. If all fails, then you can always call in professional help from your supplier. They use special tools to locate the breaks.
How Long Do Smart Lawn Mowers Last?
Usually, all parts are replaceable on smart mowers, so; theoretically, they can last for 10+ years. Most certain and the earliest future expense will be replacing the batteries.
You can learn more about smart lawn mowers from here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_lawn_mower
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