Eco-Conscious Residential Lawn Mowing

Residential and small commercial business choices for mowing lawns

The Robomow RS622 in action, mowing a rural large lawn in Vermont. Courtesy photo

Green Energy Times Staff

Each year, we give our readers an update on environmentally-friendly lawn mowers. Part of the reason we do this is that lawn mowing is one of the most polluting activities people commonly do. Fortunately for us, this year we got help from a web site, Wiki.ezvid.com, which supplied ratings for both robotic and walk-behind mowers.

Robotic mowers – Ah! The good life!

Take it easy. You can sit on a lawn chair and watch a robotic mower do your biggest Saturday chore. And it can do that chore so well that your lawn might just look like a golf course. Gas-powered lawn mowers are not just noisy, they are astonishingly polluting and require a lot of maintenance. By comparison, electric mowers are very quiet, non-polluting, and nearly maintenance-free. By going a step further, to a robotic mower, a person can get the anticipated benefit of getting rid of a chore, and the unexpected pleasure of having a nearly perfect lawn.

This year, Robomow won three of the top five positions in Ezvid Wiki’s evaluation. This included the number one place. Here is what Ezvid Wiki had to say:

“The folks at Ezvid Wiki spent 29 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top picks for this wiki. This robotic mower review is what it’s all about when it comes to useful technology. You can use one of these robotic mowers to cut your lawn while you sit back sipping on a cold one. These models can handle everything from a modest yard to a spread of over an acre.”

Robomow RS cutting the edge of a lawn. Photo: Robomow

1. “The #1 pick is the Robomow RS622, [which] does an outstanding job of cutting uneven and irregularly-shaped lawns, handling up to [3/4] acre and grades of up to 36% with ease. Its feature-rich design includes smartphone app integration, multi-zone functionality, rain sensor and a child safety lock. It also has bagless operation, a modular design with snap on blades, and unique edge mode.” [We found these at prices from $2199.]

2. “Using perimeter wire and GPS navigation to negotiate complex spaces and narrow passages with as much as a 45% slope, the high-end Husqvarna Automower 450X covers a lot of ground and provides exceptional performance for those who can afford it.” [from $3953.95]

3. “Slopes of up to 35% are no problem for the Robomow RC306, which is designed to crop up to 6,500 square feet of lawn to a uniform height of 3-1/4 inches. Extra-wide wheels and an 11-inch heavy-duty cutting blade make it a powerful tool for remotely trimming the grass.” [from $1299]

4. “For automated lawn care on a budget, the Worx Landroid offers customizable cutting heights and scheduling to manage lawns of up to one-quarter acre, taking only 45 minutes to charge, and using shock-detection and rain sensors to avoid collisions or inclement weather.” [from $923.72]

5. “The Robomow RS612 can manage slopes with a grade as steep as 36% and features a durable brushless motor and child lock for safety. An included remote control makes it easier to maneuver around tricky lawn features, and a rain sensor helps avoid mowing in soggy conditions.” [from $1899]

To see a video of the pros and cons to each of these mowers visit http://bit.ly/ezvid-robotic-mowers.

The publisher of Green Energy Times loves having a Robomow RS622 on her own rural large lawn. See a review in our June 2016 edition of GET on our website: http://bit.ly/GET-it-mows-you-dont. One feature that should be mentioned is that it double mulches the grass as it cuts and never leaves anything to be raked up later.

Husqvarna Automower 450X

This mower’s easy operation has freed up innumerable hours of work, and it keeps this former pasture looking like a golf course – always! It has no emissions, uses no fossil fuels, and requires no human attention. It is great for off-grid lawns too, with minimal draw on a battery bank. If on the grid, it uses less than $30 of electricity per season at present electric rates. But please consider having some solar to make your electrical consumption as clean as possible, and making your lawn mowing downright good for the planet.

Robomow also has a new, smaller, and lower priced model. See the ad on this page.

Walk behind mowers – for those who insist on doing it themselves

We recommend you consider these battery-powered lawn mowing options, if you have free time to spare. For the full rating, visit Ezvid Wiki at http://bit.ly/ezvid-electric-mowers.

1. Ego Power Cordless [from $329.99]

2. Sun Joe iON16LM [from $199.99]

3. GreenWorks 25022 [from $147.99]

4. Earthwise 50214 [$138.49]

5. Worx WG782 [$195.08]

Riding Mowers

We were able to find the following electric riding mowers

1. Mean Green Nemesis NXR is a commercial mower, please see the article on page 38.

2. Cub Cadet RZT S Zero [from $2,699]

3. Ryobi RM480E [from $2,699]