Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower vs. Bosch Robotic Lawnmower: Which One Wins?
If mowing the lawn isn’t a popular chore in your household, Smart lawn mower technology can help to lighten the load. Self-propelled lawnmowers take the effort out of getting the lawn cut and you can even go completely hands-free by using a robotic lawnmower. Two great models on the market right now are the Makita self-propelled lawnmower and the Bosch robotic lawnmower. These are two very different types of mowers, but both will do a great job of keeping your lawn growth under control. To help you identify the best lawnmower for your property, we compare Makita self-propelled lawnmower vs. Bosch robotic lawnmower. Which one wins? Read on to find out!
Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower vs. Bosch Robotic Lawnmower: Side-By-Side Comparison
| Model Number | XML08PT136V (18V X2) LXT 21″ Self‑Propelled Lawn Mower | Indego M 700 Robotic Lawnmower |
| What It Is | Self-Propelled Mower | Robotic Lawnmower |
| Cutting Width | 21” | 7.4” |
| Deck Width | 22” | N/A |
| Cutting Height Range | 1¼” to 4” | 1.18” to 1.96” |
| Bag Capacity (Bushels) | 2 | N/A |
| Net Weight (with Battery) | 62.5 pounds | 16.7 pounds |
| Dimensions | 39.7” x 22.8” x 17” | 17.5” x 14.3” x 7.9” |
| Power Type | Cordless | Cordless |
| Battery | Two 18V Li-ion batteries (37 V) | 18V Li-ion battery |
| Battery Charge Time | 45 min | 60 min |
| Motor Type | Brushless | Brushless |
| Lawn Cut Per Charge | up to a ½ acre | 0.17 acre |
| Speed | Up to 3 MPH | 0.89 MPH |
| Country of Manufacture | China | China |
| Warranty | 3-year limited manufacturer’s warranty for tools and batteries | 3-year manufacturer’s warranty |
Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower vs. Bosch Robotic Lawnmower: What’s the Difference?
These two mowers could not be more different, but both still do a great job of cutting grass. Your ultimate choice of lawn mower will depend on just how involved you want to be in the mowing process. Here are the need-to-know differences between the Makita self-propelled lawn mower versus Bosch robotic lawnmower:
Will You or a Robot Be Mowing Your Lawn?
The Bosch lawnmower is an authentic robot. It will operate completely independently to mow your lawn according to the schedule you set. This robot maintains the lawn by running cycles of trimming and navigating around the lawn without human control.
The Makita has a more conventional design but saves you the hard work of pushing a lawnmower by driving itself. This self-propelling mower only requires your hands to guide it as it will automatically move forward in a straight line at speeds of up to 3 MPH.
Form Factors
The two mowers have completely different form factors. As noted above, the Makita mower is much more conventional. The Makita has a height of 39.7 inches while the Bosch is only 7.9 inches high. The robot is a compact cutting disc on wheels that operates close to the ground. This makes it highly portable and easy to store.
Speed
The Makita is built to mow your entire lawn quickly. The 21-inch blade of the Makita self-propelled lawn mower rotates at up to 3,000 RPM. Combined with self-propulsion at up to 3 MPH, this mower can cover a lot of lawn very rapidly with non-stop cutting for up to 2 miles on a single charge.
The Bosch robotic lawn mower has a much smaller cutting capacity but works differently from a conventional mower. Because it trims your lawn regularly and independently covers your lawn area over several hours it does not need as large a cutting radius as the Makita.
Perimeter Wire
The Bosch robotic mower uses a wireless signal from an installed perimeter wire to know the boundaries of your lawn. The wire works like wireless fencing for dogs, deterring the mower from straying into areas it is not required to mow. You can peg the boundary wire into place or bury it, but if it breaks the robotic mower will stop working.
Terrain and Weather
If your garden needs a brush cutter rather than a lawnmower, the Makita mower has a rugged build for tackling a rough and overgrown lawn. Rather than hollow plastic or composite material for the body, this mower has a commercial-grade steel deck, with IPX4 weather-resistant construction that keeps it durable.
The Bosch robotic mower is for less demanding garden conditions. Though it is solidly built and weather sealed, it uses plastic and composite material to keep it lightweight and nimble.
Charging the Battery
The Bosch battery is integrated into the robotic mower. Unlike the Makita mower, it does not have to be removed for regular charging. Instead, the mower automatically moves to its charging deck which is also its base when it isn’t in use. The robot can independently dock, charge and leave the charging deck to resume mowing when the battery is full.
on the Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower
The Makita 36V LXT 21″ Self‑Propelled Lawn Mower, is made by the Japanese power tool company Makita. It is 100% cord-free and runs on up to four 18V, 5Ah batteries. If you’re fed up with pouring gasoline and yanking on a pull cord, this cordless mower has a push-button start and cuts grass without the noise and exhaust.
Makita’s sturdy self-propelled lawn mower takes the effort out of maintaining your lawn with multiple features that make mowing easy. These include:
Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower vs. Bosch Robotic Lawnmower: Must-Know Facts
Both of these mowers are great mowers, but they have markedly different specifications and suitability for different lawns. If you have a large lawn that has rough areas and want a pro-caliber upright mower that is self-driving, the Makita mower is the best buy. This mower is rugged, powerful, and has the battery capacity to work hard and get your lawn mowed quickly. However, it does not fold down easily making storage a challenge if your property is small.
The Bosch robotic lawnmower is the better buy for smaller gardens. It is lightweight, unobtrusive, and compact enough to store easily through the cooler months. If you have a Smart home and want a mower that is completely hands-free, the Bosch Indego M 700 will fit right in.
- Variable speed setting of 1.5 to 3 MPH using a control on the handle
- 3-in-1 function that can mulch, bag, or discharge grass cuttings
- Commercial-grade steel deck with 21-inch cutting width
- Can mow up to 1/2 acre with four18V 5.0Ah batteries (included)
- Quiet Mode setting can reduce noise with constant speed at 2,300 RPM
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RC Mowers
We manufacture Autonomous Mowing Robots and Remote-Operated Robotic Mowers that solve business challenges and provide opportunities to profit and grow for landscaping contractors, public works departments, city, county, state and federal parks systems and roads departments, and more. Our American-made robotic mowers reduce the need for labor, improve profitability, create safer working conditions, and offer the opportunity for niche revenue.
All of our robotic mowers are designed and manufactured in the United States, have a 30-day buy-back guarantee and come with a 72-hour parts shipping guarantee. We are redefining the business of mowing.
Introducing the R Series, our newly updated and enhanced Remote-Operated Robotic Mower line. We are constantly evolving and raising the standards of excellence at RC Mowers. than ever, these machines are purpose-built for seriously steep slopes and truly extreme landscapes. While their performance in the field is incredible, what they can do for your business is game-changing.
Robotic lawn mower
A robotic lawn mower is an autonomous robot used to cut lawn grass. A typical robotic lawn mower (in particular earlier generation models) requires the user to set up a border wire around the lawn that defines the area to be mowed. The robot uses this wire to locate the boundary of the area to be trimmed and in some cases to locate a recharging dock. Robotic mowers are capable of maintaining up to 30,000 m 2 (320,000 sq ft) of grass.
Robotic lawn mowers are increasingly sophisticated, are self-docking and some contain rain sensors if necessary, nearly eliminating human interaction. Robotic lawn mowers represented the second largest category of domestic robots used by the end of 2005.
In 2012, the growth of robotic lawn mower sales was 15 times that of the traditional styles. [1] With the emergence of Smart phones some robotic mowers have integrated features within custom apps to adjust settings or scheduled mowing times and frequency, as well as manually control the mower with a digital joystick. [2]
Modern robotic lawn mowers can contain specialized sensors, allowing them to automatically mow around obstacles or even go to sleep when it starts to rain. [3] [4]
The vast majority of robotic lawn mowers tackle the task utilizing a “random” mowing system. Basically the machine bounces around on the lawn until it hits the boundary wire limiting the working area, then changes heading until it hits the wire again. [5] Depending on the lawn size, this might take a very long time, so the machine must more or less be in continuous operations. One exception is the Bosch robotic lawn mower “Indego” which creates a map of the users garden and then tackles the task in a systematic manner, [6] similar to the more modern robotic vacuum cleaners.
History [ edit ]
In 1969, the MowBot is introduced and patented by S Lawrence Bellinger and already showing many features of today’s most popular products. It weighed 125 pounds (57 kg), was selling for 800 (5600 in 2020 dollars [7] ) and had an autonomy of 3 hours and 3,000 square feet (280 m 2 ) [8] [9] [10] [11]
In 1992, the first fully solar powered robotic mower is patented by André Collens and sold to Husqvarna which markets it in 1995. [12] [13] [14] [15]
As of 2019, vision-based robotic mowers, without perimeter wire, were announced. [16] [17]
In 2020, Husqvarna announced a new robotic mower (EPOS) that can navigate completely without boundary wire, allowing location accuracy of 2-3 centimeters by using satellite navigation on a reference station. [18]
Technology [ edit ]
The mower can find its charging station via radio frequency emissions, by following a boundary wire, or by following an optional guide wire. This can eliminate wear patterns in the lawn caused by the mower only being able to follow one wire back to the station.
To get to remote areas or areas only accessible through narrow passages the mower can follow a guide wire or a boundary wire out of the station.
In 2019 an all-wheel-drive (AWD) drive robotic mower was released by Husqvarna. [19]
Build your own Smart lawn mower with Raspberry Pi
- 17th May 2022
- Ashley Whittaker
- 10 Комментарии и мнения владельцев
I’m sure you’ve heard that it rains a lot here and that we don’t get a lot of sun. So when those brief dry spells happen on a weekend, you pretty much have to mow your lawn right then, lest you find yourself overrun by undergrowth. However, mowing the lawn takes ages and is really boring. So we will be building this open-source lawn mower robot immediately.
To teach the robot where you want it cut the grass, you first have to drive it around the area using a remote control. Clemens’ dad taught his OpenMower using a standard Xbox controller. He mapped it to mow tightly up against the edges of the patio and to cut a neat circle around the base of a tree.
The robotic gardener starts off cutting the perimeter of your mapped area, then efficiently mows neat lines until it has cut the entire area.
How does it work?
Clemens picked up this off-the-shelf robotic lawn mower for €400. It meant that the main mowing motors and batteries were already in place in a neat waterproof package.
Clemens added Raspberry Pi 4 as the main processor of the OpenMower software. It handles all the big jobs like navigation and localisation. All the real-time tasks are a job for a Raspberry Pi Pico, which hides underneath the RTK GPS board.
Jump to:
Robot lawn mowers are growing in popularity, and for good reason. While some people take pride in breaking out their riding lawn mower to trim the grass, many of us probably prefer to relax on a perfectly warm day. Professional landscapers can help, sure, but that gets expensive, long-term. Why not just let a robot do the work for you?
The best robot lawn mowers take all the guesswork out of yard maintenance. Beyond automating the chore, they’re constantly roaming around, keeping your lawn level. Your grass stays freshly mowed, and you barely have to lift a finger. A robot lawn mower is a serious investment – a good one will likely cost between 450,000-5,000 – but it saves you a ton of time and effort.
The Best Robot Lawn Mowers
Husqvarna Automower 415X
Gardena Sileno Minimo
Husqvarna Automower 450X EPOS
Greenworks Optimow
Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD
Redback MowRo RM24
Worx WR147 Landroid
The Expert: I’m a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and many other places. I’m also constantly taking on new projects to improve things in and around my rural Appalachian Pennsylvania home, and there’s little I can’t build or fix. After spending many, many hours mowing lawns, I am content to let the robots take it from here.
How a Robot Lawn Mower Works
A robot mower consists of a plastic chassis, on which are mounted mower heads, a battery, drive motors, and one or more circuit boards to assess ground speed, direction, tilt, and obstacles. Most require you (or the dealer) to bury a wire in the lawn that forms a perimeter within which the robot mower will cut.
That wire leads to a charging station, which is plugged into a 120-volt exterior outlet. It also contains a generator that sends a low-power signal out on the wire. As the mower approaches the wire, it picks up the signal, stops, turns around, and heads off in another direction.
When its battery is nearly depleted, the mower heads to the station for recharging, which usually takes 1-3 hours. Some mowers have removable batteries, so you can swap fresh ones in to keep the mower going while you charge the dead ones separately.
The cutting action of a robot mower is significantly different than the typical walk-behind mower, which spins a large steel blade designed to cut an inch or more of grass in a single pass. A robot mower’s action is closer to shaving the grass down than cutting it down. The average robot mower (there are some exceptions) uses multiple small steel pieces, each about the size of a razor blade, to remove very small amounts of grass over many days and multiple passes. This style of gentle, low-impact mowing keeps your grass crisp and sharp all the time, but also means that the mower will be out there constantly shaving and re-shaving your lawn.
It’s also important to point out that, as continuously roams and trims, your robot mower will likely bump into lawn features and other objects within its boundaries, then redirect around them. The easiest way to keep the robo-mower from toppling over a vase or garden chair is to move as many lawn features as possible outside the boundaries set by the ground wire. advanced robot lawn mowers have sensors that can detect obstacles and maneuver around them. Others, like the wireless Husqvarna 450X EPOS, allow you to set “no-go zones” to keep the mower out, as you would with a robot vacuum inside your home.
For the most part, robot mowers are best suited to simple yards that are relatively smooth and flat. Yards with more complex geometry require you to lay more ground wire. The more wire you lay, the more you increase the likelihood of a break from somebody digging in the yard or a tunneling rodent chomping through it.
Also, it doesn’t take much to stop one of these robots. A deep divot or a mushy zone can bog it down. Pine cones, fruits, nuts, and fallen branches can get caught underneath it. There are some robot mowers designed for difficult turf conditions or more acreage: If you have a big yard or one with slopes and rough terrain, make sure you’re shopping for a mower specifically designed to handle it.
Finally, don’t get lulled into a sense of complacency with one of these machines and forget that you’ll have to periodically clean its undercarriage and sharpen or replace its lightweight steel blades. Still, none of this is any more than the attention that a gas-powered or electric lawn mower demands.
What to Consider When Buying a Robot Lawn Mower
Most robotic mowers require a pretty hefty investment – and it might be your first time bringing home a robot – so there’s a lot to think about before making your choice and buying one. We spoke to Jim Zwack, vice president of the Davey Institute, a nationwide horticultural firm that uses auto-mowers for a number of clients, about what to keep in mind when shopping for a robot lawn mower. Budget permitting, he believes most people will be thrilled with how good their yard looks after their lawn care responsibilities over to a machine.
“Robotic mowers are typically designed for smaller to medium-sized lawns,” says Zwack. If your lawn is too small, an auto-mower might be more trouble than it’s worth. And once you get above 2.5 acres, it’s pretty much impossible to find a residential robot mower that can handle that kind of area.
If you have a yard full of obstacles – think landscaped beds and ponds, fences, swing sets and lots of corners and angles – it’s going to be tough for even the best auto-mower to navigate.
If your lawn has “complex shapes and narrow passages,” says Zwack, “then your robotic mower should have advanced navigation and obstacle detection capabilities.”
Not all lawns are made equal. “Different grass types and seasons may require varying cutting heights,” says Zwack. “Look for a model that allows you to customize cutting height to suit your grass type.”
Most grasses, including fescue, ryegrass, bluegrass and bahia, remain healthy when regularly cut to between 2 and 3 inches. There are a few exceptions: Bermudagrass and zoysia, for instance, should be cut as low as an inch.
If you have kids and pets who spend time in your yard, it’s important to keep everyone safe. “Look for models with features such as lift sensors that automatically stop the blades when the mower is lifted and obstacle detection sensors to avoid collisions,” Zwack says.
When it comes to protecting the mower itself, look for models that offer security alarms, PIN codes, or GPS tracking to prevent theft and ensure you can track the mower down if it does disappear.
The Benefits of Robot Mowers for Large Lawns
Robotic lawn mowers mow every day so that you don’t have to. These battery-powered machines keep your lawn looking great all summer long, allowing you to kick back and enjoy the beautiful green grass.
Sound too good to be true? We understand if you’re skeptical. After all, how could such a tiny robot handle maintaining your massive yard on its own?
Good question. Here’s why robotic mowers are perfect for large lawns:
- Designed for Coverage – Manufacturers design different models for different size lawns. Many models on the market, including the ones below, can handle large lawns with ease.
- Handle Slopes – If your large lawn is also hilly, robot mowers can handle even the steepest slopes.
- Battery Life – The mowers also have plenty of battery life to cover large spaces. Plus, they can charge themselves when needed.
Beyond being designed to get the job done for you, robot mowers also have many other benefits, including:
- Dependable – Unlike hiring someone to mow your lawn, you can always count on a robot mower to mow when you need it.
- Quiet mowing – You’ll never have to listen to noisy mower engines again! Robot mowers mow very quietly for a peaceful outdoor experience.
- Ecofriendly – These completely electric mowers cut down on gas and harmful emissions.
- No clumping – The clippings robot mowers leave behind are so small that they will never clump!
We could keep going, but you get the idea! Robot mowers are a godsend for homeowners with large lawns. But which mower should you choose for your lawn? Time to look at some of the best options on the market today!