When the Miami (Ohio) Conservancy District first considered purchasing an RC Mowers Remote-Operated Robotic Mower, they didn’t realize how much they could save on time spent maintaining public land.
The MCD is a regional government agency that has been at the forefront of flood control, conservation, and recreation since 1915 after the disastrous 1913 flood that caused widespread destruction and loss of life in the Miami Valley region. It spans 15 counties.
The MCD has a system of five dry dams, basins and 55 miles of levees. With all that responsibility comes many large levee slopes, steep terrain, and a big system of land management locations that require a lot of detailed mowing and trimming.
“So far, since putting the RC Mowers machine in service in May, we’ve logged approximately 70 hours and it is saving us lots of time, cutting the amount of time to mow steep, sensitive spots that would take 2-3 times as long with manual equipment,” said Ben Casper, manager of operations for MCD. “In addition to the time savings, the job is able to be done more safely and by not having the larger equipment with an extending arm on the bike path, bike trail users are not impacted.”
Casper said when they were first approached by a member of the RC Mowers sales team, they were intrigued by the mower’s ability to safely tackle steep slopes. He said that most of the land the district must maintain around the river corridors can be difficult to cut and trim.
“We evaluated many other robotic mowers but the way it sits lower to the ground and able to handle greater slope made the RC Mowers robotic mower a good selection for MCD,” he said.
Casper said the remote-operated mower will also help them consistently maintain locations that are difficult to get to. Casper said that the MCD has a truck and dedicated trailer it uses to haul the mower to various sites throughout the Great Miami River Watershed so that all the conservancy’s managed locations get to share in its efficiency.
“We want to improve our level of service to best serve our community,” he said. “We are already seeing results with this mower.”
