What Happens at a Free Mowing Lot Site Assessment

What does a free site assessment produce?

A free site assessment for a mowing lot is a structured walk with a clear output. The reviewer maps the open turf a robot can cut, checks how much sky the mower can see, measures slopes, and notes how the equipment would be watched and protected when no crew is on site. The result is a written record of the lot, not a machine recommendation.

The lease quote comes after that record exists. We do not state a fixed lease payment until the walk has revealed which zones are open, which need extra handling, and which should stay with the crew. That order keeps the number tied to the ground rather than to a generic lot size.

How is the open turf mapped?

Mapping starts with the base station. Survey practice is to place the base where it has a clear sky view, then drive the mower around the perimeter so it can build the map. Trees may mean moving the base or adding repeaters, according to Mowrator's guide to RTK mowers.

The walk also records what splits a lot into work areas: beds and islands, walks and drives, drains on record, edging lines, and any stored equipment or debris. Each one becomes a boundary, a keep out area, or a zone the crew keeps for itself.

Does sky view decide how the mower finds its position?

It does. RTK positioning depends on a clear view of the sky, and when trees or buildings block that view, the mower can lose position and need a manual reset, according to Mowrator. Most RTK systems also need a base antenna on a pole or roofline with an open sky view, per an Inspect and Test guide to robotic mowers.

Some mowers switch to camera or LiDAR positioning under shade. The WORX example in that guide uses vision and SLAM in heavy shade. Shade still deserves a direct check, because results on open turf say little about a canopy line.

There is no published threshold for how much sky a site needs, so the assessment judges it on the ground. The reviewer notes where trees, eaves or wall corners would cut the line of sight between the base and the mower.

How are slopes measured against a mower's rating?

Slope ratings are usually given as a percent, where a 25 percent grade rises one unit for every four units of run. Entry level mowers are often rated around 20 percent, and hillside models reach 35 percent or more, according to Sunseeker's consumer blog.

A rating is a limit, not a target. Eufy describes its maximum slope rating as an absolute limit, and says running near the top of the range strains the motor and drains the battery faster. Wet grass cuts traction even within the rating, so a damp bank deserves a closer look than a dry one.

Some four wheel drive and all wheel drive models are listed at 80 percent or higher. The Ecovacs GOAT A2000 is listed at 84 percent and the Dreame A3 AWD at 80 percent, as reported by Inspect and Test as of November 2026. Those are manufacturer figures, so the reviewer records the grade on the lot and compares it with the listed number.

No standard or tested method for slope measurement turned up in our research, so the slope record is a field note. It is not a certified survey, and it should be treated as the starting point for a test run.

What does the supervision and theft review check?

Theft does happen, but Mammotion reports it is not common, and most cases are opportunistic, with mowers left in open or easy to reach areas. That makes placement part of the review, not an afterthought.

Common antitheft layers include PIN locks, lift and tilt alarms, GPS tracking, geofencing and account locking, according to Mammotion. The walk asks where the charging station sits, what can see it from a road or gate, and who should receive an alert if a unit leaves its zone.

A Dallas case reported by CBS Texas involved a GPS equipped mower that led officers to thieves. That outcome is the reason tracking belongs in the review.

How is the lease quote built after the assessment?

The quote is built from the record, in order: usable turf, the zones that need extra handling, the sky and slope limits, and the security measures the site can support. Only then is a lease offered. Service Robot Co. leases robots through financing on a three year lease, with one fixed lease payment quoted after the site assessment.

We are OEM neutral. We pick the right robots across manufacturers, then finance, deploy, integrate, train and service every unit through a nationwide US engineer network, so the lot works with one vendor for the whole lifecycle. The unit count follows the walk, not a template.

Lease terms vary across providers. Robotics Center (SVRC) publishes fixed lease terms of three, six or twelve months and describes longer options of one to three years, as of November 2026. RobotLAB describes its pre installation survey as an engineering assessment covering robot placement, route programming and obstacles, and says it offers a free site survey, as of November 2026.

What should a contractor prepare before the walk?

Bring what already exists. An aerial image or site plan, a list of gates and power locations, drains on record, known tree lines, and your live mowing schedule all shorten the walk. A note on where crews already work around the lot helps too.

Expect questions about supervision, not only grass. Who checks each unit daily, what happens after a wet week, and how the crew takes over if a unit stalls all shape the zones. Those answers belong in the record before any number appears.

A mower that performs well on a flat test pad may not match a shaded, sloped lot. The assessment exists to catch that gap before a unit ever leaves the truck. Ask for the written record and the quote together, so every line can be traced back to something the walk found.