MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) – The City of Manhattan is deploying robotic lawnmowers into its Parks and Recreation Department.
28 robotic lawnmowers are currently deployed throughout the city, and Manhattan Parks and Rec says they’ll have a total of 39 within a month.
“If we were mowing it with our manpower, we would probably be on a sports field mowing twice a week,” said Casey Smithson, Manhattan Parks and Rec Superintendent. “These mowers are mowing every day, overnight. We start at 11 o’clock at night and they mow throughout the night. Also, that’s when our staff is not here.”
The city used a $117,000 grant to purchase some of the lawnmowers. They’ll cut different fields, parks, and the brand new Steel and Pipe Supply Ballpark.
“We applied for the U.S. Department of Energy grant, which allowed us to get an additional 23 units here in the city,” Smithson said. “Which is what we’re working on, expanding our process right here. That’s taking a little time, but we’re working our way through.”
They work much like a robotic vacuum. Staff programs a path, sets a timer, and that’s it. The mower returns to a charger when the job is done.
Smithson says the switch saves money.
“We were able to take mowing contracts out, so we’re saving in the mid $30,000’s per year that we reduce paying contractors to mow some of the park lands with these mowers that are paid through the grant,” he said.
He also clarified that his staff isn’t going anywhere.
“The mowers mow, but we still have to do maintenance on them, and we still also have to string, trim, and edge to make sure that our park lands and our facilities look good,” Smithson said. “So that’s where the human factor comes in.”
Smithson says this summer will be a great way to keep testing the lawnmowers before adding more to the fleet.
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