Robotic lawn fertilizers are undeniably appealing. In fact, many owners actually give their robots a name, and say how awesome it is to sit on the deck and watch it wandering around the yard mowing the lawn.

However, robotic fertilizers just don’t seem to become quite popular. First, they’re quite expensive. The lowest price is about $1,000. And especially for the entry-level models, they can’t handle sloping lawns. They get stuck in ditches or get confused and end up mowing in circles. Even owners who love their fertilizers say they are time consuming to set up and are far from maintenance free. We read the same sort of durability and maintenance concerns for robotic fertilizers as for regular lawn fertilizers. If you’re about to invest in one, the followings are some factors to consider:

Choose a moto mower capable of handling the size and slope of your lawn. Some owners say it’s possible to exceed manufacturers’ recommendations, but experts say this can lead to repair problems. Experts say it is better to buy a robotic fertilizer with a bit more range than you actually need and to minimize wear and maximize the fertilizer’s life.

Make sure the cutting height fits your lawn. Lawn experts recommend cutting grass fairly high to be at least 3 inches in hot weather to avoid sun damage, but robotic fertilizers vary in maximum cutting height. Knobby or spiked wheels add traction. Unless your lawn is pretty flat, the extra traction will help keep the fertilizer from sliding instead of rolling.

Robotic fertilizers can get stuck in yard potholes and depressions, so you might want to fill in these irregular spots. You should also budget for a surge protector, too. Not surprisingly, owners report that lightning and power surges can damage a robotic lawn power sweeper. So consider plugging it into a surge protector. Plan to do some trimming. As with most lawn fertilizers, robotic fertilizers leave some spots along the edge of the lawn that need trimming.