One system or two? The WayPick 2 against the RM21 with BP02

If you want ball collection on your range handled by a robot, there are two roads to it. One is a dedicated machine that does nothing else. The other is a robot mower you may already own, fitted with a collector.

They are not the same purchase, and the difference matters more than the specification sheets suggest. One of them we can quote you today. The other we cannot — and that is part of the answer.

The two roads

Road one: the robot you already have. The FJDynamics RM21 is a robot mower built for rough, semi-rough and sports fields. Two collectors can be fitted to it. The BP01 is a mountable collector that you empty yourself. The BP02 turns the RM21 into an autonomous ball picker. FJDynamics specifies a 900 mm picking width, up to 3,000 balls an hour, a 1,000-ball basket the robot empties itself, and up to 63,000 balls a day across 21 operating hours.

The unloading ramp stands on existing hardstanding — the robot drives up, empties itself and goes back out. A ramp for the RM21 + BP02 is available from next season. It is not included in the price — and neither is the unloading solution on the other side of this comparison.

Road two: the specialist. The Wayrobo WayPick 2 is built for one job. It collects balls, docks at its own unloading station, empties itself and goes back out. According to Wayrobo it takes up to 2,000 balls per round, runs about ten hours on a charge and works at night.

What they cost

This is where the comparison stops being symmetrical, so let us be plain about it.

We can price our own road exactly, because the products are in our catalogue with public prices:

All prices excluding VAT. Two things belong next to that number. The BP02 is sold excluding the unloading ramp, and a ramp for the RM21 + BP02 becomes available from next season as a separate cost. Budget for it — but note that the same is true of the WayPick 2, whose unloading station is also an addition rather than something that comes in the box. And the RM21 is a mower first: the collector is something you add to a machine that also has other work to do.

For the WayPick 2 we cannot give you a figure. Pricing for the Swedish market is not established, and we are not going to invent one. And the unloading station is a cost on top there too, exactly as the ramp is here — neither manufacturer includes it. What Wayrobo does say is that their station is placed on existing hardstanding without terrain modification or permits, which is worth knowing when you compare what has to be prepared on site.

Wayrobo's unloading station is placed on existing hardstanding. Manufacturer's image.

One system instead of two

This is the argument that usually decides it, and it has nothing to do with either machine's specification.

A dedicated ball picker is a second system to own. That means a second app to learn, a second positioning setup to configure, a second service relationship, a second spare parts chain, a second set of staff who know how it behaves — and a second machine standing still whenever the range is closed or the season is over.

The RM21 with a collector is one system. One robot, one app, one RTK account, one service agreement, one supplier, one training session. And critically: outside the hours it spends picking balls, it is doing the job it was built for — mowing rough, semi-rough or the sports fields next door. A machine that earns its keep on two jobs is a different investment from one that waits for the range to open.

That is the honest core of it. For most Swedish golf facilities — a course to maintain and a range attached to it — one machine that does both is easier to own than two machines that each do one thing well.

Where the specialist genuinely wins

We would be doing you no favours by pretending otherwise. There are places where a dedicated rig is the better tool — and one where we expected it to win and it does not.

One job at a time is a real limit. The RM21 mows or it collects. It does not do both at once. If your range needs picking every day and your rough needs cutting every day, you are queueing two jobs onto one machine — and at some point the honest answer is that you need two machines regardless of which brand they carry.

Volume — and here the numbers surprised us. This is where we expected the specialist to win. On the manufacturers' own figures it does not. Wayrobo states a 2,000-ball basket and up to 40,000 balls a day. FJDynamics states a smaller 1,000-ball basket, but 3,000 balls an hour and up to 63,000 balls a day. The WayPick carries more per trip; the RM21 with BP02 empties more often and, on paper, moves more balls.

Built to be hit. A busy range means balls landing while the machine works. Wayrobo describes an anti-projectile structure designed for exactly that. A mower with a collector bolted on is a mower — it was designed for grass, not for incoming.

Where the RM21 route wins

You can buy it, today. It is in the catalogue, we hold stock, and we can quote it with a firm figure. The WayPick 2 has no established Swedish price and no Swedish installation.

Somebody services it here. RoboService has workshops in Svedala and Dalarna, spare parts on the shelf, trained technicians and Swedish customers who have run these machines through full seasons. If a specialist machine breaks down in July, the question of who comes out and how fast stops being theoretical.

It is not a single-purpose asset. Twelve months of the year, a mower with a collector has something to do. That matters to the calculation in a way that a specification comparison never shows.

One supplier to hold accountable. When the robot, the positioning, the app and the service all come from the same place, nobody can point at anybody else.

Side by side

So how should you choose?

Answer one question honestly and the rest follows: is the range the main job, or one job among several?

If you run a high-volume driving range where picking is a daily task in its own right, measured in tens of thousands of balls, a dedicated machine earns its place — and the second system is a price worth paying. Talk to us anyway, because we would rather help you think it through than watch you buy the wrong thing.

If you run a golf facility where the range is one part of the operation and there is grass to cut as well, one machine that does both is almost always the better economics and certainly the easier ownership. That is the road we can take you down today, with a price, a delivery date and a workshop behind it.

What we deliver today

The RM21 and its collectors are part of a larger picture — reel mowing for fairways, rough mowing, scanning and the platform that ties it together:

Robot solutions for golf facilities · FJDynamics RM21 · BP02 collector · BP01 collector · GolfMind

Want the technical background on the WayPick 2 itself? We wrote that up separately: read our market watch piece.

Questions and answers

Why can you price one and not the other?
Because we sell one of them. The RM21 and its collectors are our products with public prices. The WayPick 2 has no established price for the Swedish market, and quoting a number we cannot stand behind would help nobody.

Is the unloading ramp included?
No — on either side. A ramp for the RM21 + BP02 becomes available from next season, but it is an added cost, and the WayPick 2's unloading station is an addition as well. Budget for the unloading solution whichever road you take, and ask us and we will price it for your site.

Can the RM21 mow and collect balls on the same day?
Yes, but not at the same time. Changing between the tasks is work, and if both jobs are daily and heavy you should plan for the machine's time rather than assume it stretches.

Is the BP01 enough, or do we need the BP02?
The BP01 is emptied by hand, the BP02 empties itself into a ramp. If someone is on site anyway and the volumes are moderate, the BP01 does the job for a considerably lower cost and no groundwork.

Do you plan to sell the WayPick 2?
Nothing is decided. We follow it and talk to the manufacturer. If automated ball collection matters to your facility, tell us — the facilities that speak up early are the ones that shape what we bring to Sweden.

What about the Z42P ball picker?
The Z42P has its own picker attachment and follows the same logic as the RM21 with a collector: one machine, one job at a time, dimensioned for the areas the mower already works.