# Anyone here used a Robomow? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117 "2007-04-21T22:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/1 "2007-04-21T22:51:55Z")
[It’s like a Roomba for your lawn](http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/). [You can get it for the price of a middlin’ lawn tractor.](http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/search.do?searchtype=simple&catg=3721&simplesearchfor=robomower&simpleitemtype=0&x=0&y=0) The idea of having a gizmo mow my lawn for me while I sip a margarita on the deck is really, really tempting, even at that price. (Hell, that’s about what a decent computer cost, just 6-7 years ago.) But some customer feedback would be helpful in deciding. So, anyone here have one of these, or know someone who does? How good a job does it do? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/2 "2007-04-22T05:42:25Z")
I wonder if it has safety sensors. I’ve always thought about something like this, but then I think about some kid say “Hey what’s this thing” and putting his hands under it to pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/3 "2007-04-22T07:23:57Z")
Well, from the first picture, it looks like it is mowing artificial grass - which I think would probably be a bad thing. Having spent the better part of my youth mowing grass for the neighbors, and then getting a job mowing grass for the city in parks and on highway berms, I can see some problems. Mowing over plastic bags, tissues, twigs, dead rodents, water sprinkler heads, flowers, rocks, ant hills…let’s just say that unless your lawn currently looks like a putting green at a golf course, there are little hazards that could make this machine a disaster in the making. Plus, how does it work if you forget and the grass gets a little too long, or if the grass is a bit wet from the rain? And depending on the size of your lawn, the random criss-cross could take some time for it to hit every square inch. For $1,500 I think I could convince little Billy down the street to mow my lawn every week until he went off to college. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/4 "2007-04-22T10:53:05Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] Having spent the better part of my youth mowing grass for the neighbors, and then getting a job mowing grass for the city in parks and on highway berms, I can see some problems. Mowing over plastic bags, tissues, twigs, dead rodents, water sprinkler heads, flowers, rocks, ant hills…let’s just say that unless your lawn currently looks like a putting green at a golf course, there are little hazards that could make this machine a disaster in the making. [/quote] Hell, when I do my own mowing, I pick up any trash, tree limbs, sprinklers and hoses on my lawn, and get them out of the way. I’ve yet to have any rocks or dead rodents magically appear in my yard, so that’s not an issue. > [@](#): > > And depending on the size of your lawn, the random criss-cross could take some time for it to hit every square inch. Sure, but so what? My Roomba takes way longer to vacuum a room than it takes me to do so. _But I don’t have to do it._ > [@](#): > > For $1,500 I think I could convince little Billy down the street to mow my lawn every week until he went off to college. At $30 a pop, $1500 will get me little Billy for 50 mowings, which is about a year and a half where I live. Besides, the price at my second link was $1150, which gets me 38 mowings, or barely more than a season’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/5 "2007-04-22T10:59:29Z")
I think my yard is much too big, but I have given it some serious thought. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/6 "2007-04-22T15:35:20Z")
Hah! My yard would EAT a robomow. Bwahahaha. But I would so love to see my dogs and cats react to it… ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/7 "2007-04-22T16:34:59Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] For $1,500 I think I could convince little Billy down the street to mow my lawn every week until he went off to college. [/QUOTE] Not these days. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/8 "2007-04-22T16:52:21Z")
Neighbor has one. My beagles just stare at it and occasionally bark. I think he has to put sensors out in a rectangular area before turning it on. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/9 "2007-04-23T04:18:14Z")
Good friends of ours (local) have one and it does a great job. He’s got wires almost underground for guiding it in tricky areas. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-used-a-robomow/401117/10 "2007-04-23T09:58:59Z")
Of course, if I have a Roomba inside and a Robomow outside, I might should have [Yoshimi](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/f/theflaminglipslyrics/yoshimibattlesthepinkrobotspart1lyrics.html) on speed dial… 😉