Huntsville’s New Remote Mowers Keep Workers Safe

The City of Huntsville is making grass cutting more advanced by using something ‘cutting edge’ which is a high-tech mower. The landscaping team even gave it a fun nickname, “R2-D2”. This remote control mower works for eight hours a day, just like the worker to keep the city’s lawn neat and clean.

“It cuts all around the city,” The city’s landscape manager Tony Ivey said.

Ivey said that the mower has been around for a little more than two years. It was brought to help the team those who are doing tough jobs like mowing on steep hills, and the areas with a lot of traffic, where regular mowers would struggle.  

“We pick and choose [where we use it] because it is a smaller mower compared to what we have,” he said. “We pick and choose the higher sloped pavement areas and traffic areas that we mow with it.”

Ivey explained that if a driver for a short time, is busy with his phone and accidentally drives into the middle of the road, it could lead to a serious accident where a worker might get hurt or even lose their life. It shows how important it is to stay focused while driving.

“One of our goals with this was just to try and keep it as safe for our workers and people that are out there providing services for the citizens of Huntsville, trying to, you know, let them go back home to their families,” he said.

When asked about safety, Ivey explained that remote control mowers have the same chance of breaking down as regular mowers, but they are safer because no one has to ride on them. 

He also reassured that using these robot mowers won’t take away jobs from people.

“Labor is our toughest asset right now,” said Ivey. “It’s tough to find a labor force, so it will relieve some of that in the future, but, remember, you still have to have someone operate it… it’s just not on top of the mower. So, it’s not really going to affect the labor force that much.”