What proportion of routine mowing should be carried out robotically? Compare conventional mowing with a hybrid robotic strategy using your own site, machine and supplier figures.
These figures update automatically as you change the inputs below.
This compares two ways of replacing the machine due for renewal: a new conventional mower, or a robotic system. Any other conventional mower the club retains continues to maintain the fairways outside the robot area either way, and is unaffected by this decision.
Annual cash savings include direct operating costs (diesel, electricity, maintenance and repairs) plus the annualised investment cost of whichever machine is bought — a new conventional mower in the Conventional column, or the robot system in the Hybrid column — based on each one's expected working life.
Greenkeeper employment costs are assumed to remain unchanged. Released capacity is shown separately and is not added to the annual cash saving.
The maintenance and repairs allowance is for the machine being replaced. If a robot is bought instead, that allowance is exchanged entirely for the robot's own maintenance cost — it does not carry over, since the machine it belonged to no longer exists.
These pale blue values are suitable for most initial assessments. They remain fully editable.
| Cost item | Conventional mowing | Hybrid mowing |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel / electricity | £0 | £0 |
| Maintenance and repairs | £0 | £0 |
| Robot maintenance | — | £0 |
| Extra wear on remaining mower(s) | — | £0 |
| Retained backup mower | — | £0 |
| New machine investment (annualised) | £0 | £0 |
| Total annual cash cost | £0 | £0 |
| Annual cash saving | — | £0 |
| Replacement conventional mower | £65,000 |
| Robot system | £35,000 |
These are the two one-off options for the machine being replaced. Each is spread over its own expected working life (see Assumptions) to give the annualised investment figures used in the cash cost comparison above.
Create the report: choose “Download two-page PDF”. The PDF is created directly in A4 portrait format; no printer settings are required.
Presenting to a Treasurer or Finance Committee? “How the Figures Are Derived” walks through every calculation in plain English using your own current figures, as backup to the business case.