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Here in Humboldt County, it often seems as though we’re behind the times when it comes to cutting-edge technology and other modern luxuries that make people say “Wow!” Well, I think it’s safe to say those days are numbered, folks — Caltrans just got little ol’ Humboldt a tiny fleet of robotic lawn mowers. 

Well, technically, these remote-controlled mowers — Can we call them robots? I hope that’s OK. — are for Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Caltrans District 1 got one of these bad boys for their Mendocino crew a couple of years ago, and decided to score two more for its northern region.

The red one is an RC Mowers R-52, which has a “more traditional mower deck,” Caltrans Public Information Officer Myles Cochrane told the Outpost. “The green one is an MDB Green Climber LV 300 PRO, with front-mounted flail head and rotating hammer-style cutters that can handle thicker vegetation and rougher areas.” Wow!

“They are super useful on steep slopes, around tight spaces and in places that are harder to reach with a regular tractor mower,” he continued, emphasizing that the mowers are remote-controlled and not powered by AI. “A Caltrans employee operates the machine the entire time. The crews have had good luck learning the controls and have picked it up pretty quickly.”

Check out the video below to see these monsters absolutely decimate this patch of sweet pea flowers.

The main draw of the machines is safety, Cochrane said. Given the machine’s low center of gravity, it can easily climb up slopes and uneven terrain that could topple a regular tractor mower.

“They’re also easier to move from job to job,” he said. “They can make some jobs quicker by reaching places that would otherwise take more hand work or repeated repositioning with larger equipment, and pair well on jobs where we can use these and the tractor mower. … Both machines are designed to stop if they lose communication with the remote. They also have emergency-stop controls the operator can use.”

These robot mowers will add to Caltrans’ list of roadside vegetation management strategies, which include regular ol’ mowing, hand work and “severely limited, targeted herbicide applications in Humboldt County.” Caltrans doesn’t have any plans to get more, but Cochrane added, “Who knows what the future will bring if these become a huge success.”

The Outpost had to know: Have the li’l mower bots been given playful nicknames?

“No nicknames yet,” Cochrane said. “The crew has had the red one a little longer, so they are more familiar and comfortable with that one so far.”