Robocrop InRow Weeder vs Robovator
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Long-established tractor-mounted vision-guided weeder — video image analysis at 30 frames/second locates each individual plant and steers rotating in-row weeding discs around it, killing weeds between rows AND between plants within the row to ~8 mm of the stem. The 2025-season Robocrop AI upgrade adds green-on-green recognition fusing colour, infrared and depth imaging. Like One Smart Spray, this is AI-driven intelligence on a conventional tractor implement, not a standalone robot.
Best for: Transplanted vegetable growers (lettuce, brassicas, celery) and sugar-beet farms replacing hand-weeding gangs or herbicides with camera-guided mechanical in-row weeding on their existing tractor.Tractor-mounted, vision-guided intra-row hoeing implement from Danish manufacturer F. Poulsen Engineering — a camera above each row spots individual plants and hydraulically swings weeding knives out and back around them, removing weeds between plants without touching the crop. Commercially sold since the early 2010s and independently trialled in US vegetable production; configurable from 5 to 31 rows and adjustable to 25–75 cm row spacing.
Best for: Vegetable, sugar-beet and row-crop growers with a suitable PTO tractor who want camera-guided mechanical in-row weeding to cut herbicide use and hand-weeding labour, across a wide range of farm scales (5- to 31-row configurations).| Robocrop InRow Weeder Verified 2026-07-16 | Robovator Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | AI-assisted | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | Denmark |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Tractor-mounted implement, hydraulic drive | Tractor-mounted implement, PTO-driven hydraulics (~1 hp per row) |
| Required tractor power | Conventional tractor required; hydraulic side-shift steering of the toolbar | 3-point-hitch mounted; requires tractor PTO shaft speed of at least 420 rpm (hydraulic pressure and lamps cut out below ~360 rpm) |
| Dimensions | Working widths up to 6 m / up to 20 rows supplied; larger builds available | Configurable 5 to 31 rows; row spacing adjustable 25–75 cm (9–30 in); US-market spec sheet lists 6–12 lines per bed with 60–84 in bed spacing |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 700 kg (1,500 lb) base weight |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Forward speeds up to 6 plant spacings per second | Roughly 1.5–2 acres/hour depending on soil and plant conditions (per Pacific Ag Rentals, US distributor); manufacturer-stated field speed 2–8 km/h (1.2–5 mph) |
| Max speed | Crop-spacing dependent (up to 6 plants/s per row) | 2–8 km/h (1.2–5 mph) |
| Sensors | Robocrop video image analysis at 30 fps · Robocrop AI (2025) adds colour + infrared + depth green-on-green plant recognition · 10.1" in-cab terminal | One plant-detection camera per row for image-based crop location, functions in low light; automatic self-centring side-shift (±40 cm range, engages after ~1 m of travel) |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Buy via Garford and its UK/international dealer network | Buy — tractor-mounted implement sold direct from F. Poulsen Engineering (Denmark) and via distributors, including Agri Evolution (Netherlands, EU) and Pacific Ag Rentals (Salinas, California, western US) |
| Ongoing cost | Wear metal (discs, blades), camera care; no software subscription published | Wear parts (weeding knives/blades, camera lens care), hydraulic fluid and PTO shaft maintenance; no software subscription published |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | In-row weeding precision Mechanical weeding to ~8 mm from the plant stem · vendor | Intra-row weed removal vs. a standard cultivator +18 to +41 percentage points · independent |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | CE marked for EU sales; UKCA for the UK market | No CE-marking statement found in the manufacturer's public materials, so compliance is listed as not confirmed — although CE marking is legally required to place machinery on the EU market and F. Poulsen actively sells within the EU (Denmark, and via Netherlands distributor Agri Evolution) |
| Machinery Regulation | Tractor-mounted implement under the EU machinery regime; operator remains in control | Tractor-mounted implement falling under the EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230; the tractor operator remains in control at all times |
| CAP subsidy | Mechanical/herbicide-free weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion measures | Herbicide-free/reduced mechanical in-row weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic-conversion measures |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.