Can You Leave a Robot Mower Outside in Winter?

No. The mower comes inside for the winter, and so do its charging station and power supply. Two things can stay out: the base of the RTK antenna (or a Mammotion’s RTK reference station), and the boundary wire if you have an older wired mower.

This page is the why, part by part, and what to do if yours already spent a winter outside. For the steps themselves, see how to winterize a robot mower.

What happens to a robot mower left outside in winter?

The battery runs down in the cold. A mower sitting idle for four or five months slowly loses charge, and a lithium battery that runs all the way down can be damaged for good. Cold makes all of it worse. That’s why both Navimow and Mammotion have you charge to 80–85% and power the mower off before storage (the battery side, brand by brand).
Water gets in and freezes. A robot mower is sealed for rain and sprinklers. It isn’t built for water sitting in its seams, freezing, expanding and thawing again, over and over, for months. Those freeze-thaw cycles are what work seals and housings open.
The charging station takes a beating. Snow, ice and meltwater sit on the contacts and the electronics all winter. Navimow and Mammotion both have you take the station up.
It costs real money. Leaving it out all winter is one of the ten classic ways owners kill a robot mower, and a dead battery is the usual bill: here’s what a replacement pack costs.

What stays outside, and what comes in?

Part	Navimow	Mammotion
The mower	Inside, dry and frost-proof, between 41°F and 113°F	Inside, dry and well ventilated. Mammotion rates storage down to 14°F, and below that it must come indoors
Charging station	Comes in: unplugged, its 4 screws out, marker pegs left in the screw holes, packed in its box	Comes up: unplugged, stakes out, cleaned, taken up with its power supply (Mammotion requires it indoors below −4°F; we bring it in anyway)
Power supply	Inside	Inside
RTK antenna or reference station	The base stays. Wall or roof mount: a plastic bag over it. Ground pole: the head and upper pole come in, the bottom section stays	Stays put: unplugged, cable wrapped, a bag or cover over it. Where it regularly drops below −4°F, a ground-mounted one comes in

From Navimow’s winter storage guides for the X4 and i1, and Mammotion’s winter storage support article and LUBA 3 AWD winter maintenance guide. Your model’s manual has the final word.

Boundary wire: on an older wired mower, the wire stays in the ground. Husqvarna, for one, says the boundary and guide wires can stay installed all winter.

A Navimow Garage is a roof for the mowing season: shade while the mower charges, and leaves and rain off it. It doesn’t make the dock a place to spend the winter (which garage fits which mower).

Why does the antenna stay outside?

Because its position is what your map is built on. The mower measures every boundary you drew from that one point, so moving the base means mapping the lawn again in spring. Leave it exactly where it is and protect it instead: a bag over a wall or roof mount, open end down, held with a zip tie. On a ground pole, take the head and upper pole inside and leave the bottom section in the ground.

It’s the part you worked hardest to get right (why placement matters so much), and the winter shouldn’t undo it.

Does “inside” mean the garage or the shed?

Only if it stays warm enough. Navimow wants its mowers stored between 41°F and 113°F, and most unheated garages in the North and Mid-Atlantic drop below that in January. Mammotion’s floor is lower, at 14°F. If your garage or shed gets colder than your mower’s floor, the battery comes inside (on a Navimow X4 it’s a few Torx screws on the bottom), or the whole mower does. Winter battery storage has the temperatures side by side.

My robot mower was left outside all winter. What now?

Bring it inside with the power off. Don’t set it on its dock outside to charge.
Let it warm up and dry out, overnight at least. A lithium battery shouldn’t be charged while it’s below freezing, and a cold mower carried into a warm room collects condensation.
Look it over. Water inside the shell, cracks in the housing, corroded charging contacts, rusty blade screws, a deck packed with wet clippings.
Clean it. A brush and a damp cloth, or a garden hose on a Navimow. Never a pressure washer.
Charge it before you power it on, on its charging station.
If it won’t charge or won’t wake up, stop there. Don’t keep cycling it. A pack that sat empty all winter may be done, and a service center can test it before you buy a new one.
Then do the spring startup: fresh blades, the dock back on its spot, a firmware check and a test mow. Here’s the order.

Can’t bring it in yourself?

Second homes, rentals and busy falls are why we do it as a service. Zippy Lawnz customers can book a winterize visit: we charge it, put it in hibernation, clean it and store it, at your home or on our shelf, and your spring setup gets booked the same day. Owners of vacation homes and cabins lean on this one most.

Is there a robot that works outside all winter?

A different one. A Yarbo Core swaps its mower module for a snow blower module and clears the driveway every storm, while the mower deck waits indoors for spring. If winter is the season you dread, a robotic snow blower against a plow contract is the same math as a mower against a lawn service.

Get help with your robot mower

Zippy Lawnz is an authorized dealer and service center for Segway Navimow, Mammotion, Yarbo and Lopkin, with nationwide sales and remote support and hands-on service across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Colorado.

🤖 Register your mower in the app: My Mower keeps its maintenance plan, including a winterize reminder timed to your area’s typical first frost.
📞 Call or Text Us: 844-445-2969

In short: the mower, the charging station and the power supply come in · the antenna’s base stays and gets a bag · left out by mistake? warm it up and dry it out before you charge it

Frequently asked

Can a robot mower stay on its charging station all winter?

No. Navimow and Mammotion both have you charge the mower, power it off and store it indoors, and the charging station and its power supply come up too. A mower parked on its dock all winter sits in the wet and the cold for months, and a dock left out under snow and ice is electronics in the weather.

Can I leave the RTK antenna up over winter?

Yes, the base stays. On a Navimow, a wall- or roof-mounted antenna stays up with a plastic bag over it, and on a ground pole the head comes inside while the bottom section stays in the ground. A Mammotion RTK reference station stays where it is too, unplugged, its cable wrapped and a bag or cover over it; only where it regularly drops below −4°F does a ground-mounted one come down. Moving the base means mapping the lawn again in spring.

What should I do if my robot mower was left outside all winter?

Bring it inside and let it warm up and dry out before you charge it: a lithium battery shouldn't be charged while it's below freezing. Look for water inside the shell, cracks and corroded charging contacts, clean it, then charge it on its charging station before you power it on. If it won't charge or won't wake up, stop and call a service center rather than forcing it.

Does a waterproof robot mower need to come inside for winter?

Yes. A robot mower is sealed for rain and sprinklers during the mowing season. A winter outside is different: water sits in the seams, freezes, expands and thaws again for months, and the battery spends that time cold and slowly losing charge.

Can a robot mower mow in the snow?

No. The grass isn't growing, and a robot mower isn't built for snow or ice. The robot that does work all winter is a different machine: a Yarbo, whose Core swaps its mower module for a snow blower and clears the driveway every storm.