It’s time to be frank. It would be nice to believe that you will place your new robotic lawn mower down on a soft carpet of grass to simply maintain what you have done already, but you’re probably really hoping your little beetle-shaped robot mower can handle years of overgrown grass and weeds.
While robotic mowers are not weed-whackers, generally speaking, specifically the right models can cut long (really long) grass and keep some weed growth at bay.
This is particularly true since mowers are designed to mulch the grass rather than contained inside.
In This Article – We will cover everything you need to know regarding robotic mowers and cutting long grass, as well as whether they are any good for weeds.
Can Robotic Mowers Cut Long Grass?
Robotic mowers are most effective when the length of the grass blades is less than 10 centimeters.
When blade lengths exceed 15 centimeters, it can be a challenge for a robotic mower to effectively cut grass.
This is why robot mowers might be awesome for mowing properly and cleaning up a manicured ornamental lawn, but perhaps not so good for a garden that resembles the chaotic grasslands of the African savanna.
With Shorter Grass – A robot mower can keep the grass looking good while it simultaneously sows the lawn with mulched up grass clippings.
Over time, with their mowing circuits, they will automatically turn your lawn into a thick, soft, and healthy carpet.
But perhaps one of the primary reasons for getting a robotic mower is to lessen the time and effort of doing it yourself.
For many property owners, it may be a summer or two pass before and if the lawnmower gets pulled out of the shed at least once, so now he or she is pretty confident that their new robotic mower will also be dealing with uncontrolled grass and other weed growth – not to mention the occasional random landscaping object that is now resting on the lawn.
Other Reasons a Robotic Mower May Be Dealing with Long Grass
Your autonomous mower might be handling long grass due to you stopping its mowing schedule while you enjoyed a vacation, experiencing bad weather, or the grass was tall before the first cut in spring.
You may also be intentionally letting the grass grow longer for ecological or aesthetic purposes.
In these cases you will choose a robotic mower that cuts the grass to a higher height than most standard robotic mowers.
Weeds In Your Lawn Are Another Challenge for a Robotic Mower
Weeds will also cause problems for a typical robotic lawnmower.
While a mower will chop down and keep herbaceous weeds down, they are not grass and will take a lot more hard work from the mower to properly cut clear to the ground, especially once the stem is girthy.
More woody stems may dull mower blades faster, or even cause increased wear and tear on the engine and have more energy consumption.
If Your Lawn Has Long grass, choose powerful robotic mowers with a high maximum cutting height
When it comes to robotic mowers that can handle an overgrown lawn, you’ll want to pay careful attention to the specification of the mowers you are considering.
You want the most powerful motor + cutting capabilities, and you want the maximum cutting height to be as high as possible.
For the most part all robotic mowers have adjustable cutting heights that are about 2 cm to about 6 cm tall. The cutting heights can be adjusted by simply turning a dial on the mower.
There actually are a few models that do have a maximum cutting height that is 7 cm or better to help you with higher grass heights and bring it down to a proper cutting height.
Here are examples of powerful robotic mowers with higher maximum cutting heights
1. WORX WR165 Landroid S Robotic Lawn Mower
Technical Specifications
- Cutting width/height: 8 in/ 1.5 in to 3 in (20.32 cm/ 3.8 cm to 7.6 cm)
- Maximum lawn area mowed: 5445 square feet (506 square meters)
- Maximum gradient: 20 degrees
- Battery: Lithium-ion
- Working time: 3.5 hours
- Weight: 49.9 pounds (9.07 kilograms)
- Warranty: 3-year limited warranty
Description
This is the type of tough mower utilized to mow down an overgrown lawn properly.
It’s chunky and tough wheels will help navigate the uneven terrain of an overgrown lawn, and with a max cut height of 7.6 cms, you might just be able to get away with bringing some long grass back to a reasonable size.
2. Parcmow Robot Mower
Technical Specifications
- Cutting width/height: 24.9 in/ 0.78 in to 3.9 in (63.3 cm/ 2 to 10 cm)
- Maximum lawn area mowed: up to 12,000 square meters (6 acres)
- Maximum gradient: 35 %
- Battery: Lithium iron phosphate
- Weight: 105 pounds (48 kilograms)
Description
Belrobotics is famous for the performance professional mower.
This residential model from increases up to 10 centimeters in cutting height, allowing you to mow and keep the grass longer.
3 powerful blades head with 9 blades can mulch tall grass and weeds in even the largest gardens.
3. Husqvarna Automower® 430xH
Technical Specifications
- Cutting width/height: 9.45 in/ 2 in to 3.6 in (5 cm/ to 9.1 cm)
- Maximum lawn area mowed: 3237 square meters (0.8 acres)
- Maximum gradient: 45 degrees
- Battery: Lithium-ion
- Working time: 147 minutes
- Weight: 32.4 pounds (17 kilograms)
Descriptions
The 430XH is a high-spec mower that will deal quickly with large lawns of varying terrain, and is designed for longer grass types.
It has a powerful motor and long runtime to cope with longer grass, with a maximum cutting height of just over 9 cm.
The 430XH has powered back wheels with good tread to deal with uneven terrain.
Grass growth patterns mean that regular mowing is essential
It’s less about the height you mow for the first time and more about the height you will be maintaining the lawn.’
Most consumer robot mowers can take the long grass down to an acceptable height, but will always have to keep the grass maintained with regular mowing to keep it at a level height.
As a reminder – Most grasses grow at a rate of 2 to 3 cm every week!
Rounding up
A traditional robotic lawn mower may have difficulty with an area that has overgrown grass and weeds. However, you can find performance models that can handle this type of surface.
If you want to have a somewhat lower cutting height with your traditional robotic lawn mower to maintain a certain look or style for your lawn going forward, it might be well worth taking the time and physically mowing your lawn before you put your new robot lawn mower to work.