MORE MOWER-BLOGGING: I’ve gotten a lot of email on the subject of lawn mowers, but this one from Reid (no relation) Reynolds is especially interesting:
I tried one of those mowers. I should have warned you. They’re OK for touch ups in places you missed but, they’re pretty lousy overall. My lawn always looked like a kid who got hold of the scissors and cut their own hair.
If you want a quiet, environmentally conscious mower of the 21st century, this is the thing to get. I love mine and, I’ll never go back.
Mind you , mine’s the RL800 and was about half the price. Here’s the 850.
I’m not sure what the difference is that justifies several hundred bucks. One caveat: it cuts within an electronic fence you set up, which is fairly hard work. And, it cuts somewhat randomly so that, halfway through, your yard looks like the same kid with the scissors. But, it’s lightweight so it doesn’t leave tracks and, when it’s done, your yard looks smooth and beautiful. It takes a long time to finish because it goes over a lot of ground twice or thrice but, that’s time you’re not out there doing it yourself. It’s wonderful to be able to do other chores or go out and enjoy yourself and come back to a well mowed lawn. And, the neighbors sure do gawk and, it drives the dogs they are walking wild. They sit there barking at it and, it just ambles on its way, paying them no mind (which it doesn’t have, of course).
I love the idea, but after my unsatisfactory experience with the Roomba I’m skeptical. And I wonder how it would handle a slope. It’s also a bit pricey for my mowing budget. Still, if I can’t have a flying car, it does seem that I should at least have a robot to mow my lawn. This is the 21st century, after all.
UPDATE: Hey, here’s a whole list of robot servants! None look like Rosie, though.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Yeah, upsize these things to SUV-level, please.
MORE: A reader emails:
Some guy down the street from us has a robomower and it seems to work for him. His yard is fairly level, but slopes down at the sidewalk. It’s quiet and slow, but he does other things while it’s mowing.
It does seem like it would be easy to walk off with it, though…
Perhaps we need the self-defending Bolo Robomower!
STILL MORE: Another reader emails:
You might be interested in some of the lawn mowers’ military cousins — and one armed version.
Next thing, we are going to see the Terminator out there!
As I’ve said before — Bolos, please. No Terminators.