ZIPmow Background

Lawn mowers take many forms for different purposes. There are large commercial types typically consisting of a tractor pulling a deck of cutting blades down to smaller size mowers that consist of a small tractor with a cutting deck beneath. These mowers usually have powerful gasoline engines to get the job done quickly. They usually have a person riding on the machine to control it.

Then there are the residential lawn mowers which range from the small commercial sized ride-on mowers, to small, push-mowers. These mowers are usually gas-powered also. These mowers allow the operator to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. But these gas mowers have a problem. They are very loud, they are dangerous for the operator and bystanders, they are expensive to buy, they are heavy and difficult to manage, they may require physical labor, and they emit large amounts of air pollution. In fact, according to the EPA, one new gas mower emits the same amount of air pollution as 11 new gas cars.

Electric mowers eliminate some of the problems of the gas-powered mowers. They are more quiet, they may be more affordable, and they do not pollute the air. But electric push-mowers are still dangerous, they are difficult to manage (especially those without batteries that require dragging a power cord all over the yard), and they require physical labor. These mowers are also still rather large and heavy (> 50 lbs).

Now the robotic residential mowers have appeared. They are all electric, battery powered machines that require no operator. Most of the problems of gas mowers stated above are eliminated with these new robotic mowers, except for the price. They are quite expensive for their size. But they have their own problems. The current robotic mowers cut a very narrow strip of grass and take hours or days to get the job done. They are relatively small and low powered compared to their predecessors. Also, they don’t do a very good job because of the random pattern of mowing that looks uneven compared to the clean lines cut by a riding mower or push-mower. The worst part is that the robotic mowers cannot yet do the edging of the yard, which leaves the yard looking like an unfinished mess. This part needs to be done manually, and so partially defeating the purpose of the automatic robotic mower. And finally there is the problem of leaving a $1000-$4000+ machine out in the yard all night. The manufacturers are incorporating various theft deterrents, from alarms to GPS, but the risk is there and it is something else to worry about. What is needed is a better solution to get the job of cutting grass done quickly and easily.  That solution is ZIPmow!