Robot lawn mowers can be expensive because the robot lawn mower price may increase over time.
Some robot lawn mowers are more expensive than others, and some appear cheap but have additional hidden costs.
There are many additional costs that will increase the robot lawn mower ownership cost with time.
In this article, we look at the initial cost, installation time, and quality of most robot lawn mowers and how these factors increase the ownership price.
Perimeter Wires Raise Robot Mower Prices!
Most robot lawn mowers on the market today need a perimeter wire.
That robot lawn mower perimeter wire needs to be installed professionally and replaced over time.
Why would the perimeter wire need to be replaced again and again?
Well, the answer is simple!
The perimeter wire is placed on the boundary of your property and is subject to being broken!
For example, if your neighbor aerates his yard, your perimeter wire will break.
Furthermore, grass will grow so thick over the top of a perimeter wire that the robot mower can’t detect the perimeter wire any longer.
This means that the robot lawn mower wanders outside of your yard and into the street.
Then you have to replace the entire perimeter wire completely.
Doubling your cost of the initial installation and possibly the need to purchase a replacement unit.
All of those problems raise the robot lawn mower price!
Component Quality Matters!
In addition to the perimeter wire problems raising the robot lawn mower price, cheap components also increase the robot lawn mower price over time.
Cheap and thin metal lawnmower blades raise the robot lawn mower price over time.
One tactic some robot lawn mower manufacturers take is to use a low-cost lawn mower blade on the robot and then have the customer (you) purchase a new robot lawn mower blade every year.
This is the razor – razor blade model and over the life of the robot mower, which raises the price of robot lawn mowers by several hundred dollars.
Another factor that increases the price of robot lawn mower over the lifetime of the unit is poor quality motors.
Robot lawn mowers that use brushed motors have a lower entry cost initially, but you have to replace the motors every year.
Replacing robot lawn mower motors typically involves spending several hours working on the robot lawnmower.
Removing the wheels and electronics, removing screws, and then replacing the motors, and reinstalling all of the robot lawn mower parts.
Is that worth your time?
Brushless motors can even be poor quality
Yes, that’s right.
Robot Lawn Mowers can still advertise brushless motors but still have the poor quality to keep their prices low.
A good brushless motor is made of quality components and good bearings.
If you would like more information about brushless motors, we recommend the above video.
Robot Repair Centers
You could send your robot to a service center.
Robot service centers charge hundreds of dollars to service your unit, again, raising the ownership cost of that robot lawn mower every year!
At SmartMow, we believe we create more value for our customers by developing a high-quality robot lawn mower product.
Can you imagine the cost of logistics for that 40-pound robot to send it to the service center?
Don’t forget the replacement motors and replacement battery increasing the cost of that robot lawn mower every year!
That is a lot!
The initial price may grab your attention, however, you might end up spending even more than the best quality robot lawn mowers out there.
You can read more about the quality of the SmartMow product here.
You can read about SmartMow, the only robot lawn mower without perimeter wire here as well.