Worx Landroid: How easy is it to set up a Robot Lawnmower?

I’ve seen robot lawnmowers for many years, but I’ve never been game to take the plunge on one and see how they work – I mean surely it’s a complex setup and they can’t really cut as good as I would? So – to break that fear, Worx sent me their Landroid and challenged me to make a video of the setup process.

I’ve gotta say, the results surprised me!

At $1,499 a Robot Lawnmower is an investment in your backyard that’s for sure, and here are the questions I had about how it would work.

• Will it do my front yard too?
• Do I need a power point close?
• How deep do I have to bury the “guide wire” cable
• How well does it cut?
• What am I left to do?

And now I have the answers. Out of the box, this was the most I’ve ever read instructions – I didn’t want anything to go wrong.

The question of power was answered quickly, the “home” for the Worx Landroid – now known as Edward (scissorhands), is a large solid plastic base. This sits on grass, and the power cord is quite long, I’d say without checking it’s probably 10 meters.

This meant I could run it down to a temporary spot with an extension from the house, and if all goes well it’s a great spot for me to get an outdoor power point installed.

Next up is the boundary wire. This small wire runs all around your boundary – this is the area where your Landroid will cut.

Critically, it does not go ON the edge. For a hard boundary – like this drop off, or a fence, you place the wire 26 cm in from the edge.

For grass along a pathway you can run the wire 10cm in. This allows the Landroid to run over the path and grass and get that edge.

On the 26cm gap, your Landroid will run right up against the fence, cutting close but not right into the corner.

It’s at this point I’m clear that Edward the Landroid is not going out the front. He’d need to open one gate and get up one step to get out there, let alone navigate the different front lawns I have. So, no. Your lawns need to be contiguous and a clear path for the Robot bounded by wire. The robot will not cross the wire.

Under the hood (well the back actually) is a Worx battery that comes in the box, but also works on other Worx products, like the Jawsaw.

Place the Landroid on the charger, it connects with the charging points and is charging up.

The actual setup sequence was great, change the default PIN so anyone who steals your Robot can’t make any use of it, and let it charge.

Connect to your WiFi network via the Landroid App and you can do all the things needed like setting schedules.

Outside of that, choose a cutting height from the dial on top and let it go.

It’s bloody fascinating to watch.

Totally random, but – it did the job! My lawn is mowed! And now every day it gets a trim.

All that’s left for me is the edging. A quick 15 min with the whipper snipper and we’re off and running, place looks great!

That’s Edward setup, and he’s running. Over the next two weeks my curiosity will be focussed most on two things.

Firstly, how well is it cutting and maintaining the cut lawn?

Secondly, what issues do I have – those pegs didn’t seem totally secure in every instance, so, let’s see if Edward cuts the wire!