Ready, Set, Mow!

For contractors looking for labor alternatives, Self Guided Systems offers a source more unique than newspaper classifieds and more dependable than word-of-mouth. Instead of hiring an extra employee to push the mower, why not purchase a mower that can push itself?

Memory Mower, an automatic, self-guided machine designed specifically for landscape companies and golf course maintenance departments, will be available to contractors next year. The robotic mower is a sturdier, commercial-grade version of the auto-mowers introduced in the homeowner market a couple years ago.

For contractors suffering from labor pains, the new invention might be the next best thing to a worker visa program - or at least an option to consider. 

"Seventy to 90 percent of the cost of cutting grass is labor and the mower cuts costs in half," pointed out Paul Angott, president, Self Guided Systems, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "The contractor can drop off a mower and then go to the next house, drop off a second mower and then go on to house No. 3. By this time, house No. 1 is done. That's all he does all day. He never does any work."

Sounds like a scheduling dream come true - especially for contractors who deal with frustrating "call offs" and sick days that drag down crews. Angott said the mower alleviates labor costs by nearly 50 percent, comparing an $86,000 yearly labor average to the $17,000 mower investment. "Any time you can eliminate labor, you can improve productivity and decrease costs," he added. Prices have not been locked in, however, and the product will not be available for one year.

Contractors' only task is transporting the mower to properties and initially programming site specifications. And though the mower might be the product of a R&D team of engineers and scientists, the programming process is far from rocket science. Small reflectors - 4 inches tall, 2 inches wide - serve as "bumpers," alerting the patented laser guiding system of a property's parameters. Contractors simply mount these pieces on the site's edges, set the cutting angle and let the mower do its work.

"It goes in straight, manicured lines at a computer-controlled speed, it slows down at curbs and it has a 1-inch accuracy, which is typically better than what a person can do," Angott said.

The Memory Mower weighs 300 pounds and boasts a low ground pressure for a "velvety look" that appeals to homeowners. In addition, a hybrid power system allows the mower to run for up to 12 hours on one tank of gas. "The drive motors and cutter mowers get power from batteries, so it uses 1/5 of the gas of a conventional mower," he added, noting the automated mower can cut 1 acre per hour.

Once programmed, the mower's sophisticated software program remembers each property's specifications, so contractors can drop off the mower and get on with business, Angott described. The red machine resembles a Jetson's appliance and looks much like a high-tech tank with its rotating siren-like light on top to gauge direction. It wheels itself around obstacles, stopping for people, animals and stationary objects, reversing when necessary to avoid obstructions. The patented laser guiding system ensures the mower doesn't move off track, he explained.

Angott, an engineer who holds 30 patents for his inventions and has sold more than $100 million in products, expects landscape contractors will find this creation appealing. So far, feedback has been encouraging, though the prototype was built only a few weeks ago, he noted. The product has been a six-year project for Angott and the research team. "Contractors will like it because of the labor - that is the biggest hassle they have," he reasoned.
For more information, log on towww.memorymower.com or e-mail pgangott@concast.net. Check out the video footage for a live demonstration HERE.

The author is Managing Editor - Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.