What is the actual cost of mowing a lawn?

We took a closer look at all the factors affecting the price tag of lawn mowing – and there are quite a few of them. Then, we compiled a checklist for comparison purposes that we will be happy to walk you through. When finished, we have a quite accurate answer to the question in the headline – the actual cost of mowing your lawn.

Don’t underestimate the cost of a ride-on mower.

They come at a price, those large professional mowers, and they are normally written off in five years. Those are predictable maths, but other factors are tougher to estimate. Costs are mainly driven by the number of hours the operator spends on the mower. Industry surveys will tell you that only about 55 % of the working hours are actually used to mow lawns. The remaining 45 % are consumed by transportation, fueling, service hours, etc.

Heavy ride-on mowers may also damage lawns, buildings, lampposts, and other objects that refuse to move. From experience, we know that this will add unwelcome extra costs for both operators and clients.

Given all of the above, the service of mowing lawns by conventional methods is a rather unreliable revenue source. Bottom line numbers will possibly even be in the red.

Why so few robotic lawn mowers in public spaces?

There are two main reasons: First, installing a power outlet in every area comes at a cost which will be off-putting to many.

Second, there is the issue of vandalism. In public spaces, it often happens on evenings and weekends. The risk is elevated for anything that looks more interesting than a wooden bench. These random cost items are tough to predict. Still, they add to the total. The MowFleet system minimizes the problem since all equipment will be brought back home at the end of the day.

In addition to the above-mentioned, servicing multiple robotic mowers required for a stationary system often turns expensive. On top of this, adding the upfront investment to purchase all the robots needed if going stationary is challenging