Blades are the number-one wear item. Most brands recommend replacing the small pivoting blades every 4-8 weeks of active mowing — sooner if you hit debris, later if your lawn is small and clean. Dull blades tear grass instead of cutting it, which turns tips brown within days and stresses the mower's motor. Blades are cheap; buy a season's supply up front and swap on a schedule instead of when performance drops.
The chassis needs a rinse every few weeks in summer. Grass builds up under the deck, holds moisture, and can jam the blade disc. Most mowers explicitly forbid pressure-washing — a hose on gentle spray with the unit inverted (and off) is the standard recommendation. Dry it before returning to the base. Check the manual: some units are IPX rated for full rain but not for pressure water.
Batteries follow the usual lithium rules. Storing a robot mower over winter at 50-70 percent charge is the standard advice for battery longevity, versus storing at 100 or 0 percent. Bring the mower and base station indoors if you get real winter — freeze-thaw cycles are hard on both the battery and any docking-plate contacts. Charge the battery to storage level, then disconnect if possible.
Spring re-startup is a bench check, not a plug-and-go. Inspect the wheels, clean the docking contacts, replace the blades, walk the boundary wire (or re-verify the wire-free map after any winter landscaping), and run a manual mow on the shortest zone first before scheduling the full lawn. Ten minutes of check-in prevents a week of chasing 'why is it not docking' errors.
MowerIndex · Updated Sep 2026