Life is pretty easy with a robot mower doing the yard work. Until the mower runs over a freshly laid dog poop!
Robot mowers and dog poop aren’t a match made in heaven so you’ll be forced to don some gloves and clean up the poop mess.
This is more common than you think, yet is probably the very last thing you would consider before purchasing a robot mower.
If the scenario of how robot mowers respond to dog poop has just crossed your mind, don’t worry, by the end of this short article, you will have all the basics about your mower getting through poop, and everything else you will need to know!
Robotic mowers running over dog poop is a common concern of new owners
Your dog will absolutely love your freshly mowed grass and enjoy a carpet-soft surface!
Your dog will do its business on that clean and soft litter surface whenever it has the opportunity.
Let me be clear. If you don’t pick up after your dog before allowing your robot to mow, the robot will pick up the poop, and its mowers will take that poop with it! I think you can imagine the rest – eww!
And it’s not just dog poop that can mess up your lawnmower
Pet-free or not, you may still constantly face deposits produced by your local wildlife, such as:
- Foxes
- Badgers
- Raccoons
- Cats
Regardless, dealing with these types of animal poop on a robot mower is much like picking up dog poop.
What your mower does to grass it will attempt to do a poo
In other words, your robotic mower will be rapidly cutting and mulching grass clippings directly over top of the dog poop. The outcomes of this are inconsistent, but are more often than not smelly and messy. A robotic mower can:
- if it is a large poop that has become a blockage, you should stop mowing and change direction
- break up the poop and smear it into the grass
- whip the poop around on your mowers cutting disk and blades as it continues its mow
- have the poop smeared on its underside and wheels
- have the poop catch a ride with you mower and cause it to move unsteadily
- fling and scatter the poop in many directions
- mulch down small and unnoticeable poops into the lawn
If you are about to tiptoe barefoot onto your lawn after any of these happenings you will be in for a nasty surprise, and perhaps a clean-up job.
Dog poo will not damage your robotic mower
Fortunately, the motor and rotary blades are strong enough that it isn’t too much of a concern when boils down to poop, besides the fact that it makes a mess.
Some owners of robotic lawnmowers let them continue cutting, and simply let the feces clean the mower up, using the sloppy mess as a form of organic fertilizer.
But those poopy robots in the heat of summer can smell awful very quickly!
Leaving poo on the lawn isn’t great for you or your grass
Do not be lazy. Dog droppings are bad for your grass, causing burns and discoloration. It is also a health risk, especially if you have children playing on your lawn.
No one wants old poop on their mower, and it will make the mower unsanitary.
Taking an hour or so to pick up the poop on your lawn will keep your robot mower looking and functioning as it should.
How to clean poop off your robotic mower
This task might be the least appealing, but cleaning your robotic lawnmower prevents it from becoming dirty and ensures that it functions correctly. To clean feces from your mower you will need:
- a bucket of warm water with some dish soap mixed in
- a stiff-bristled brush
- some cleaning rags
- an old towel
- gloves and safety glasses
In most circumstances, we recommend simply hosing off the chassis of your mower based on how heavily and where it is soiled. There is a simple and effective process to remove hard surfaces of poop on the blades and wheels of your mower.
- Turn your mower upside-down onto an old towel to prevent scratching or damaging the chassis.
- Use your stiff-bristled brush and dip it into your warm soapy water bucket and scrub the underside and wheels of your mower. In some cases, you may have to do have to repeat this step multiple times in order to work through dry poop.
- After solid poop and grass has been removed, rinse out the bucket of soapy water and use it to wipe the underside of the mower, including the blades, wearing gloves.
- And finally, dry off your robotic lawn mower with a soft cloth.
And to keep the poop problems at bay, why not get a helpful robot to pick up after your dog?
Could the way to solve the problem of dog poop underneath your robotic lawn mower be…. another robot? This neat little bot may sound a little too good to be true, but for about $400,000 it could be cleaning up your yard.
The Beetl is a robot that finds and picks up dog poop whenever and wherever the poop occurs. This little bot travels on two wheels and patrols your lawn with an onboard camera to recognize the poop it is programmed to retrieve.
It has been programmed to “see” poop on the lawn, then dart to that location, wherever that message is within the boundaries you have established.
Once it has located its “stinky” treasure, a trapdoor under the bot opens and the scoop scoops it up and places it into a sealed compartment.
This dung Beetl is only a prototype, but we would imagine then would be plenty of requests for this little helper.
Rounding up
Dealing with dog feces on your robotic mower is not pleasant. Fortunately, it neither requires drastic, large interventions, nor is it the end of your mowing session.
Clean the mower deck, and you and the mower can easily move on from that encounter with a little soap, water, and elbow grease.
As always, the absolute best solution to dog poop on robotic mowers is to check for fresh dog poop and to pick it up prior to the robot starting to mow!