How much does a robotic mower cost. Electric robot lawn mower

What You Should Know About Commercial Robotic Lawn Mowers Your Property

So you’re driving along in southern Maryland and see a commercial riding mower cruising along cutting the grass. No big deal.

It’s not haunted.2. You’re not seeing things. 3. It’s OK to stop everything and just watch the magic happen.

While you may have seen small robotic lawn mowers scooting around doing their thing, the size of one of those Roomba vacuum cleaners, get ready for the next phase — full size 60-inch ride-on commercial robotic lawn mowers.

Except maybe we shouldn’t call them ride-on anymore, right?

These full-size commercial robotic mowers aren’t being mass produced anywhere yet, but Level Green Landscaping is ahead of the game, beta testing four of the next-generation machines in partnership with Electric Sheep Robotics, a developer of autonomous navigation technology for lawn mowers. The San Francisco company turns existing commercial lawn mowers, both gas and electric, into autonomous mowers.

Michael Mayberry, chief technology officer at Level Green Landscaping, shares why this is exciting — and what you can expect next.

Commercial Robotic Lawn Mowers are Getting Bigger

Level Green has been using four small Husqvarna robotic mowers on client properties for a while now.

The small mowers bustle around the lawn completely on their own, running on a battery charge quietly, efficiently mowing the lawn.

A boundary guide wire installed underground around a property keeps the mowers contained, sort of like invisible fencing for dogs.

When they’re done mowing, they head back to their charging stations — right on the clients’ property — and get ready for the next day’s work.

But these small commercial robotic lawn mowers only cut a 12-inch section of lawn at a time. That’s not practical for a commercial landscaping company like Level Green, with customers that often have large expanses of turf.

Meet Electric Sheep

Now Level Green has partnered with Electric Sheep to beta test four of their large mowers. The 60-inch zero-turn machines were manufactured by Gravely and fitted with autonomous technology by Electric Sheep. The robotic mowers use laser-based computer vision technology, cameras, GPS and ultrasonic sensors to maneuver across diverse terrain.

Level Green is using the mowers in Southern Maryland to mow the expansive properties of the St. Mary’s County parks and schools, which have lots of wide-open areas.

It’s Win-Win Mowing

The partnership benefits everybody involved, Mayberry says.

“As we use these robotic mowers it gives Electric Sheep data they need to improve the mowers’ function,” he says. “Meanwhile, it helps us get ahead of the game by figuring out the logistics well ahead of our competitors.

“Everything that’s happening on the mower is captured,” Mayberry says. “How much overlap is there in each pass? How is it doing on 3-point turns? How many acres are mowed in a day? How does temperature and weather affect function? Everything is logged.”

Meanwhile, Level Green is working out the complicated details of using larger commercial robotic lawn mowers — much sooner than any of their competitors.

“It’s a big challenge,” Mayberry says. “We have to rethink how we deploy mowers with our crews. Transportation is a challenge.”

These commercial robotic lawn mowers are fitted with delicate sensors, which means they need more space around them on trailers than standard riding mowers. That might mean two mowers per trailer instead of three.

Level Green has to work out the logistics in charging the mowers, too, including upgrading the shop’s power supply to power a whole fleet of electric equipment.

“As we give Electric Sheep the data they need to improve, we’re working through wrinkles on our end, too,” Mayberry says. “We’re doing it now, ahead of this technology going mainstream. We’re dealing with some inefficiencies now as we figure this out, but when all our competitors start doing it, we’ll already have all the logistics figured out and be ahead of the game.”

Why Should Our Customers Care?

Robotic Mowers Are Quiet

These mowers are nice and quiet, allowing early morning or nighttime use.

The Mowing Quality is Great

Commercial robotic lawn mowers have sensors on board, combined with algorithms that ensure there are no skipped spots in your lawn.

A robotic mower understands its location down to less than a centimeter. It will absolutely know what it has mowed and what it hasn’t, providing a very consistent cut.

Meanwhile, human crews can FOCUS on details like pruning, trimming, weeding, adding seasonal color and making sure your entrances look great.

They Help the Environment

Commercial robotic lawn mowers’ reduced noise and zero emissions are a big bonus for the environment.

They’ll Help Control Costs

“Long term, robots will help us keep labor costs down,” Mayberry says. “It’s changing the way we use crews. Maybe we send robot mowers out first, and send crews later for clean-up.

Meanwhile, other landscaping companies without commercial robotic lawn mowers will always need to pay their people more year after year. They’ll be less competitive when it comes to cost.

THIS Robot will END Lawn Mowing Forever. Ecoflow BLADE

“These mowers help us be more efficient, and that helps us control costs,” Mayberry says, “so we’ll be more competitive in pricing.”

The Future is Now

Riderless mowers cruising around your property might still seem like science fiction, but get ready.

“This is 100 percent happening,” Mayberry says. “At every single landscaping event or conference there’s a robotics panel.” He’s often on them, a sought-after expert in landscaping technology.

“It’s really intriguing to see how quickly this is catching on,” Mayberry says. “In five to 10 years these robotic mowers will be mainstream. The industry will be changed by this.”

Trust Your Commercial Property Landscape Maintenance to Level Green

As we add more commercial robotic lawn mowers to our fleet of equipment, we hope you’ll be as excited as we are.

The potential for your property is huge.

High-quality service. Even more attention to detail. Plus, they’re really cool.

If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers. Our FOCUS is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities, and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC, and parts of Virginia.

Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.

How much does a robotic mower cost?

It is common knowledge that robotic mowers are no bargain and cost much more than a simple electric mower. Yet the investment is worth it; the gain in leisure time is enormous. If you don’t want to invest several thousands of euros directly, you can still buy an entry-level model with only a few features since the price ranges of the products are wide.

While an electric lawn mower is already available for less than €100, even inexpensive robotic mowers from brand manufacturers cost around €1000. If you also want additional equipment or have a larger surface area, you can quickly expect to pay €2,000 or more. However, the purchase is well worth it because you have more time to do pleasant things in your garden. In addition, the lawn benefits from the care provided by a lawn robot, and the quality of the greenery in many gardens increases significantly. Whether the purchase is ultimately worthwhile depends on several factors.

The acquisition costs of the robotic lawnmower

The purchase price of a robotic mower is determined by the power, equipment and its functions. Thus, you will have to dig deeper into your s for a few hundred square meters more than for you would for a smaller model. The complexity of the lawn also determines the cost: if you have a lawn with many nooks and crannies, you will need maneuverability; if you have several mowing zones, the robot must be able to navigate from different starting points. Cost factors in the purchase of a robotic lawnmower are e.g.

• area output
• cutting width
• performance of the battery
• additional charging stations for separate areas
• need for perimeter wire beyond the scope of delivery
• traction wheels for slopes give better grip

Other features such as an edge cutting function are design-related and do not necessarily have to be reflected in a higher price. However, the numerous additional features are particularly expensive.

Additional features cost extra

There are inexpensive basic models that hardly have any additional functions, but are also limited to the essentials. Although these offer less comfort, they do not fulfill their task any less in some cases. These models are usually suitable mainly for small lawns and simple garden layouts.

If you attach importance to a high level of comfort in operation, the purchasing costs of a robotic lawnmower quickly increase. Nevertheless, the additional luxury often pays off in the form of easy handling, extended theft protection or increased efficiency through optimization via GPS analysis. Helpful features of a robotic lawnmower that increase ease of use include:

Electricity costs for the robotic lawnmower

How expensive the monthly electricity costs will be depends on the power of the robot. Assuming a device with a motor power of 20-25 watts, which is in operation for 10-12 hours a day, the monthly electricity costs will run between 6-8 kWh. When operating from March to November, the annual electricity costs are just €14-18 for the robotic lawnmower.

Electricity costs increase when you have an increase of power, but even for robotic lawnmowers suitable for areas of 4,000 m² and more, they are around €40, which is manageable.

Spare parts for the robotic lawnmower

The blades in particular are parts that wear out and must be replaced regularly on the robotic mower. According to the manufacturer, the blades of some robots can last for a season, which keeps the costs low. With other models, replacement is necessary every 4-6 weeks. However, at around €15, the cost of the required blades for a season is kept within limits.

An average battery lasts about 2,500 charging cycles and is reached after about 3-5 years. After this time, you should replace the battery to restore the original performance. In doing so, you can calculate around €80 for an original battery.

Comparison of costs

At first, the purchase of an electric or gasoline mower seems significantly cheaper than a robotic lawnmower. However, on closer inspection, the purchase price quickly pays for itself. This becomes particularly clear when the working time in hours is included in the calculation. In this case, an average robotic lawnmower for an area of 500 m² is only marginally more expensive in the first year and becomes significantly cheaper in subsequent years.

The BIG LIE with robot lawn mowers. Don’t fall for it.

The cost of a robotic lawnmower depends mainly on its performance and features. If you do not attach importance to a high level of operating convenience, inexpensive entry-level models are already available for around 1,000 euros. Compared to other types of lawn mowers, they pay for themselves quickly, so the purchase pays off quickly and not just by gaining leisure time.

The best cordless lawn mowers in 2023

Looking for the best cordless mower? Browse our experts’ pick, from budget to premium models.

A lawn mower may be one of the first purchases we make when getting a garden of our own, but that doesn’t mean finding a good quality one is easy. There are so many models and brands on the market to choose from, including corded electric and petrol, but as their range increases and fall, cordless, battery-powered models are an increasingly popular option.

Light and compact compared with traditional petrol models, cordless mowers are simple to use, easy to manoeuvre around the garden, and have none of the maintenance and servicing needs or costs of petrol lawnmowers. Powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which charges up quickly and won’t lose power in storage, they’re also quiet and emission free.

To compare these cordless mowers against other types of mower, we’ve reviewed the best lawn mowers, robotic lawn mowers, electric lawn mowers and push mowers, too. And if your lawn needs a bit of attention, our experts have tested a range of the best manual and powered aerators and scarifiers.Keep edges looking neat with our pick of the best strimmers, the best garden shears and the best lawn edging, and if you’re thinking about somewhere to store your new mower, our comprehensive guide to choosing the best garden shed will be helpful.

For your next DIY project, have a look at the best cordless drills.

The best cordless mowers to buy at a glance

Cordless mowers. Buyer’s Guide video

Many thanks to Rosie Yeomans and Sparsholt College for their help in making this video.

Getting the best cordless lawn mower for you means ensuring it has the correct cutting width, range of cutting heights, and weight plus a battery run time that matches the size of your lawn. We’ve tested a range of cordless push mowers, putting them through their paces across a range of grass and terrains, to help you find the right one for your garden.

Each mower has a detailed list of pros and cons for clarity and has been rated according to set up and storage, handling, mowing and value for money. Every mower in our round up below has scored a minimum of four out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.

In every review we award outstanding products our coveted Best Buy award. To see these and the others we recommend, browse our pick of the best cordless lawn mowers, below.

Best Buy cordless mowers

Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A

• Quiet
• Cuts even long grass with ease
• Battery level visible while mowing
• Small and compact for easy storage
• Part of the POWER FOR ALL cordless range

Part of the new Husqvarna Aspire cordless range, which includes a hedge trimmer, pruner and leaf blower, this 34cm mower is powered by an 18V POWER FOR ALL ALLIANCE battery and charger. These are interchangeable with tools in other leading brands such as Flymo, Gardena and Bosch so if you also invest in tools in these ranges, you’ll only need to buy the bare tool and won’t have different batteries and chargers taking up space in the shed.Great for small gardens the mower comes ready to go, there’s no assembly or handles to attach, and it folds down to a compact size when you’re finished, with a telescopic handle that folds completely flat over the body of the mower. It can then be stood up against a wall or hung up, and even comes with a handy hook. The 30l grass bag also flattens down to take up very little room and can be hung on the mower. The Aspire is light, with a carry handle so that lifting it up steps or into other areas is easy and it has an adjustable handle to suit different height users. It’s comfortable and easy to manoeuvre around the garden and has just four cutting heights to choose from, ranging from 25-65mm and changed easily with a single lever on the body of the mower. It cuts grass quietly and smoothly and has an automatic boost that increases blade speed when you’re mowing in tougher, longer areas that works well. You can hear it kick in when you push the mower into longer grass and unlike other cordless mowers that can cut out, just carries on cutting the grass. While you mow the battery charge level is always clearly visible so you know how much battery you have left and when it needs charging. It comes with a two year warranty and we awarded it a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy in 2023 for ease of use.

Specs: Battery: charge time. 95 mins; run time. 500sqm. Cutting: width. 34cm; height. 25-65mm. Grass box. 30 litre.

Buy the Husqvarna Aspire C34-P4A cordless mower from Husqvarna and Sam Turner

Greenworks GDG24LM33

• Easy to assemble and use
• Comfortable padded handle
• Choice of mulching or collecting clippings
• Interchangeable battery with Greenworks 24V family

Ideal for smaller gardens this sturdy, great value cordless mower is easy to put together, well thought out and simple to use. Thanks to a padded handle it’s comfortable to push, although it did feel a little short for our taller tester, and it’s light and easy to manoeuvre around trees and beds and borders. There are five cutting heights to choose from, adjusted with the simple lift of a lever and it offers the choice of collecting clippings in the 30 litre fabric grass bag or inserting the mulching plug and leaving them on the lawn to break down and feed the grass. It mows well but doesn’t like very long grass, with the battery cutting out occasionally but its long lasting brushless motor offers a a decent run time of 46 minutes and it charges in two hours. Plus, as part of the Greenworks 24V family, both the battery and charger are interchangeable with all the other tools in the range, saving you money if you invest in more in the future. We awarded it a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for the best budget cordless mower in 2023.

Specs: Battery: charge time. 120 mins; run time. 46mins. Cutting: width. 33cm; height. 25-70mm. Grass box. 30 litre.

Yard Force LMG37A 40v 37cm

This sturdy mower has a 37cm cutting width and useful features including a rear roller for those much desired stripes. Awarded a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy in 2022 for small to medium lawns, clippings are collected in the large 40 litre fabric grass bag. It offers a wide choice of seven cutting heights, from 25-75mm, and is easy to fold away at the end of the day. The 40V battery is quick to charge, taking just 50 minutes and when full it has the capacity to cut a 400m2 lawn.

Specs: Battery: charge time. 50 mins; run time. 400sqm. Cutting: width. 37cm; height. 25-75mm. Grass box. 40 litre.

Buy the Yard Force LMG37A 40V 37cm cordless mower from Yard Force, Amazon and Wickes

Toro Robotic Autonomous Lawn Mower

It’s interesting to see the evolution of autonomous robotic lawnmowers happen in real-time. What was once a thing of the future is becoming a reality right before our eyes. Toro’s autonomous robotic lawn mower hopes to change the industry even further with some state-of-the-art technology. While we wait for more information, we can at least tell you what we know so far.

Toro Robotic Lawn Mower – The Big Deal

While robotic lawn mowers aren’t unheard of in this day and age, many of them still rely on underground boundary wires. Installing such infrastructure can be an expensive hassle. Instead, Toro decided to design its autonomous robotic lawn mower to map out and localize your yard using multiple integrated cameras.

Toro claims that the robotic lawn mower’s camera technology is the industry’s first vision-based localization system. That appears true—at least with respect to the residential market.

Toro designed these mowers to navigate through tight spaces and around structures like trees and landscaping. In addition, crossing surfaces like driveways and sidewalks present no problem for Toro robotic mowers. The mower can even traverse over hills with its slope-friendly cutting capabilities.

Do you ever wish you could mow your yard from the office? There’s an app for that. Toro’s robotic lawn mowers can be controlled by a smartphone app. The app lets you schedule and also customize your mowing settings. It even recommends ideal cutting times based on recent weather patterns, so you don’t have to worry about planning ahead if the forecast calls for rain.

Additional Features

• Autonomous lawn mower with wire-free navigation
• Quiet functionality
• Grass height control with SmartZone settings
• Theft-proof features
• Third-party safety certification

Parting Thoughts

Toro isn’t first to the game with respect to an autonomous lawn mower. However, taking the multi-camera approach piques our interest. We will have to wait and see if this technology surpasses LiDAR and similar technologies. The idea of skipping boundary wires—which seem to suffer regularly from breaks and faults—definitely appeals to us.

Toro clearly doesn’t have everything ironed out as they were unable to provide us with additional info at this time. That means, pricing, cut height, runtime, battery-capacity…all are apparently up in the air at this point. We don’t even have a model number.

Toro Autonomous Robotic Lawn Mower Price and Availability

Even though no price has been specified thus far, we expect to hear updates before the estimated Spring 2023 release. Toro will begin taking pre-orders beginning in the Fall of 2022. You can find out more by visiting Toro’s webpage for its Robotic Lawn Mower.