Would you swap your lawn mower for a robot?

I imagine that it could be very restful watching one of these robotic lawnmowers in action. I don’t have a big enough lawn or lots of spare money, so I will stick with a conventional mower.

These seem awesome. They appear smaller than I expected and look compact. I could spend more time enjoying the lawn if I had one. I agree, the price has to be half for me to consider it.

I remember the first demonstration of one of these over 12 years ago when some East Enders star used an early version winning a sort of faked TV contest. I knew I would be hooked to something one could leave and let it do the job since my gardener (who takes my Gardening Which home) does tend to avoid the lawn even if the plants are fantastic.

I noticed all those years ago that there had to be a periphery wire which had to remain in place come winter, mini floods or shining sun, and this may still be required today despite the ever fantastic growth in electronic memory capabilities which never seem to end.

Over the years I have occasionaly taken a peep using Google at current prices and seen some at around £700 but one does get what one pays for even if the robotic version I witnessed on TV all those years ago was not much over £1100. Clearly, the price of these robotic lawnmowers are not totally dependent on the falling price of computer memory chips! It would be interesting to see if they have moved well away form using Ni-Cad type batteries too, which must also add to the manufacturing costs.

One of the earlier comments sums up these units: great when working.
I have owned 2 Mowbot 200 deluxe units, the second and current being supplied at half price because the first was so bad.
The first had wheel motors replaced twice, blade motor replaced, motherboard replaced, charger replaced and new NiCad batteries every year. The second with LioOn batteries is on its 3 rd in 4 years. The UK dealership was given to an Irish person who has a reputation which is bad and has had the dealership taken away. There is still one dealer over them but of course carriage is £50 before you start. End of last year, cost £150 to be told nothing wrong with it and it arrived back damaged and was told the problem is the ground cable. I replaced that over the last 2 weeks, and it still does not work. The best spare part I have is a petrol lawn mower.

I bought a Husquvarna 320 in April and have not cut the lawn since. Yes I have to do the edges but I had to do that with my walk behind mower. My lawn has really tough slopes in places and mowing was playing hell with my ageing ankle joints. It would take 5 hours to do the job including collection. Mulching was never an option because with our climate a few rainy days keep you indoors and then the grass is too long for mulching. The 320 is brilliant. It goes out rain or shine, is totally programmable and deal with virtually 45 degree slopes. A ride-on which would have been risky on the slopes would have cost me twice as much. Well worth getting someone to bring one in for you to demonstrate on your lawn.

My neighbours have a robot lawn mower. It has killed two hedgehogs in less than a month, despite manufacturer assurances that they are safe for wildlife.