Combining the speed and handling of a remote-controlled car with deadly sharp lawnmower blades, the ‘Mowrator’ is apparently just as fun as it sounds – and it’s available in Australia.
There’s no shortage of robo-butlers on the market waiting to do your bidding indoors. Whether it’s robot vacuums or robot mops, there’s no question that they can each get the job done well enough and take some household chores off of the cleaning list.
But in the backyard, it’s a different story. Sure, there are automated lawnmower bots on the market, but they do require a bit of set-up in the form of a physical boundary line around your yard and by all accounts, are pretty prone to getting lost or getting stuck on the terrain.
And more importantly, they’re boring. It might be the suburban dad DNA in me coming out, but there’s something ‘fun’ about tackling your backyard lawn on a Saturday morning with your own two hands and a noisy beaten-up Victa.
Well, a new lawnmower hitting the market seems to be dishing out the best of both worlds. Dubbed the ‘Mowrator S1’, this 4WD beauty is basically built to be a normal mower with one special trick – it’s remote-controlled.
That’s right, you can kick back with a beer and race this mower around the yard with a joystick just like your kid’s RC car.
Now the company are touting this as a “revolution” of the traditional lawn mower, but the Mowrator doesn’t seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s basically your bog standard (although high-end) lawnmower with 21-inch blades and a mulch bag that can be controlled hands-free.
That said, it does come with a few nifty smart features that will stop you from tearing up your garden bed. The front bumper sensors and ultrasonic sensors will help the mower steer clear of any backyard obstacles while the grass outlet cover sensor will send out an alert for when the bag is full of clippings, but these can be turned on and off as needed.
The mower also does away with petrol power for a removable battery on the top that you can carry inside to recharge. The battery is large enough to mow over an acre on a single charge and takes about 90 minutes to charge from depleted to 100 per cent, with each charge having a run time of about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Add in the 4WD capability, the ability to handle 75-degree slopes and its larger blades being able to cut tall grass and the Mowrator is shaping up to be a decent choice for any aging Aussie with a bit of land looking to kick back and get to work.
But the real draw card and the one thing that got me hooked was just how fun it looks to drive. Check this out.
The company team behind Mowrator apparently used to create consumer marker drones, so they’ve just taken their years of experience with controller layout and handling and put it into a lawnmower. And for someone who was obsessed with RC cars as a kid, this looks like the excuse I’ve been looking for to pick up the controller again as an adult.
While I haven’t got my hands on it (yet), other product reviewers like Maria Diaz from ZDNET say that this was “the most fun I’ve ever had cutting grass”, and based on the footage, I believe her.
But there is one major drawback – the price. The Mowrator will set you back a whopping $4,099 in Australia, or enough to buy three MoeBot S10 robot mowers and still have change to spare.
For those who can afford it though, it doesn’t look like it will disappoint. Just keep in mind that it does rely on having a ‘capable’ person to control it with the remote, so maybe get some practice in first on a toy Tonka truck.
