A Message from Allen, CEO & Founder of Yarbo

Yarbo Official Official News and Events
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Hello everyone,

I’m Allen, CEO and Founder of Yarbo, and I want to take a moment to speak directly to you as we look toward 2026.

First and foremost, thank you.

Your trust, your patience, and—just as importantly—your honest feedback are the reason Yarbo is still here, growing and improving. We are not just building machines; we are building something that shows up in your driveway, your yard, and your daily routine. That responsibility is never lost on us.

Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to visit and meet Yarbo users in person—standing in snowy driveways, walking uneven yards, and listening to real stories about what works, what doesn’t, and what truly matters. Those conversations were some of the most valuable insights I’ve gained as a founder. Seeing Yarbo operate in real conditions—not in a lab, not in a demo, but in your everyday environment—has deeply influenced how we think about our product and our priorities.

From day one, Yarbo was built around a simple belief: yard work shouldn’t be a burden. Whether it’s clearing heavy snow in winter or maintaining a large property in extreme summer heat, our goal has always been to give you back time, energy, and independence. Choosing to build the world’s first autonomous modular yard robot meant choosing a difficult path, and we’ve never underestimated that challenge.

2025 reminded us how complex real-world robotics truly is. Software stability, hardware reliability, supply chain constraints, and diverse usage scenarios constantly test our assumptions. We’ve made progress, but we’ve also made mistakes—and we’ve learned from them. That learning is shaping how we move forward.

As we enter 2026, our focus is clear and concrete. We are continuing to invest heavily in software—improving stability, intelligence, and overall behavior through consistent updates so every Yarbo owner benefits over time. At the same time, we are strengthening our service and support systems globally, because a great product experience doesn’t stop at hardware or code. Reliable support, clear processes, and long-term service matter just as much.

Our decision-making principle remains unchanged: users come first—always. When we face trade-offs, we ask what best serves the people who use Yarbo in real life, not just what looks good on paper. Yarbo grows because of you, and it improves because you hold us to a high standard.

There is still a long road ahead. It won’t always be easy, and it won’t always be perfect. But we are committed to building responsibly, listening closely, and improving continuously—step by step, season by season.

Thank you for believing in Yarbo and for being part of this journey with us.

Wishing you a meaningful close to 2025 and a strong, dependable start to 2026.

Warm regards,
Allen
CEO & Founder, Yarbo

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Allen, is there a better way to get a response from support? My Yarbo has been down for a day now, and the driveway has snow that needs plowing. I’m becoming a very frustrated customer and want to be a Yarbo evangelist, but that’s looking less likely at the moment.

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I share the same concern. My Core failed within about 10 days of activation with LW001 (“left wheel locked”), which appears to be a well-known left motor/drive issue. After a replacement, the snowblower hardware failed again within roughly two weeks—this time a timing belt failure (another early-stage hardware issue that I’m seeing reported by other users this season as well).

At this price point—closer to a used car than a conventional snowblower (e.g., Ariens) or even many lawn tractors—repeat hardware failures this early raise serious questions about durability, quality control, and design margin for real winter conditions. If these issues are as widespread as they appear, it seems like something that warrants a formal corrective action (at minimum a transparent service bulletin, and potentially a recall-level response for affected batches).

Yarbo has been in the market for years, and customers should not be functioning as paid beta testers—especially when downtime directly impacts basic snow removal and safety.

@Allen Allen, I hope you and the team are aware of how frequently these failures are happening and can share what specific engineering and support improvements are being implemented (and on what timeline).

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The two guys above were lucky. We got our yarbo in between seasons so by time we got to use it the 30 day return policy was long gone. We didn’t get to use it until June. Then we used it four times and that core stopped charging. They sent another core. Same thing. Now you think that they sent two cores as replacemetns which is great. Not at all. It took the whole summer to get them replaced. By time we got a working core, it was already end of summer. Winter came, first day we got cold weather .. minus 2 degrees celsius, the chute froze. We were told to bring it into a warm place to defrost it. Which worked. We had temperatures around the same.. until.. enter minus 10 and below. Chute freezes constantly. We bought a heat trace wire to wrap around it to keep it warm. Bought the yarbo snowblower module.. which is flawed also but that’s another story… and put it over to contain the heat from the heat trace. When we took it off this morning, the chute metal was actually warm.. but chute still seized. I took it inside… again.. to warm up and checked what could be freezing. We took towels to it and blew dry all the moisture out so there was nothign to freeze. Until we took the module off. And looked underneath it. The issue seems to be the metal inside and under the chute. It collects cold. ANd holds it. It’s that metal which most kids got their tongues stuck on during icy weather. It holds ice like no other. And that’s why. Because that cog that spins the chute freezes. The cog with the teeth that hooks to the connector plug inside the cord. You have to unscrew the cover to connect it. That has a cog attached to it that runs with the motor. But that cog freezes. Because it is exposed to cold weather. And the metal is what makes it more likely to freeze as that metal collects moisture even where there is none.
When you take off the module you can see snow and ice collecting on the metal under the module. Especially the cog that spins the chute. It’s completely exposed to cold and freezing.

Within minutes of bringing it inside to warm, the chute thaws and spins. We used to think it was the chute itself but its not.. its the gear that spins the chute underneath. With the teeth.
It needs a cover to protect it from the elements so it doesn’t collect ice and seize.
We couldn’t figure out how to wrap the heat trace wire underneath. Only wrapped it around the outside of the chute. And ti got warm so it works.

But doesn’t stop the gear/cog from freezing that spins it.
When you take the module off there is snow and ice built up so its definitely causnig the issue of the chute freezing.
My issue isn’t even with the machine.
If I’m given a solution to fix it, I’ll try it. Buy covers… etc … to work with it to make it work consistently.
The issue is support. Last time we had issues it took months to resolve.
But the chute freezing… that’ll just be what we have to deal with.
Our plan is simple.

A Yarbo Dog house.

Made of clear plastic sheeting so it doesn’t affect the signal. Allows the sun tow arm it up inside.. like a greenhouse.. maybe stick the heat trace wire inside so it becomes a source of heat. and hopefulyl that helps the chute from freezing.

I built a shed for my gas powered snowblower. So Yarbo deserves one on its own.

I recommended them building a yarbo dog house to offer that has connectivity so you’re not using the plastic pad your metal stubs on your tracks tear apart.
The dog house is the charging station.

Back to the snowblower module cover.

The issue is the auto auger movement feature snags it. And pulls it in. So what they should do is make a cover that leaves the auger exposed but allwos the rest of the machine to be covered. Even the chute. with a hole that is exposed for the chute. Plus that allow the camera to stay exposed while the cover is on.

Just some thoughts.
The issue comes when you wake up to go to work, turn on the yarbo.. and ti doesn’t work.

You just want tow ake up, yarbo works, and you go to work. Not fix the yarbo, defrost it. so it’ll work in cold weather.

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Allen, take a look at what your marketing department puts out. WHEN you get the product to that point we will be happy, till then, not so much.

This thing is more of a high school project than a real tool.

Sorry to be blunt, but understand we paid a lot of money for broken promises.

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You don’t find out it doesn’t work until its the day you need it to work most. Then you have to wait for support. I just try to find solutions on my own. As the support doesn’t really offer much support. So teh frustration is because when you need it, its not reliable. I shouldn’t have to warm the snowblwoer module so the chute thaws. Its a snowblower. It should work in the weather its claimed to work in. Still a fantastic machine when it works. Which it does when we thaw the chute. Once its diong its thing it has no real serious issues. But getting it working after sitting.. well that’s a gamble you risk dealing with after each snowstorm.

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I agree with the reply above, my unit was DOA and tomorrow will be a week since a ticket has been submitted with no response from the technicians. I was Sr. Quality Engineer for a medical device manufacturer. If our response took a week for a response we would not be in business. Also the product validation process is very thorough per component then as an assembly.

As of now I have had 2 snow storms where I am shoveling while my Yarbo, currently nicknamed Brick, has been snuggled up nice and warm in my garage watching me do the work. I hope timeliness of technical response becomes one of the metrics your team is measured against.

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Here is another issue…..

Parts!

Ordered 3 packs of 8 shear pins on December 12th. (Reason for so many pins is Yarbo software or lack of good software).

Still no product it is now 1/1/26. I looked up shipping tracking. It got to shipper on 12/16/25 and has been sitting there with 0 updates. I contacted yarbo shipping support, they told me do to new years delays are expected. Come on now. It should not take over a half a month to get simple parts to the customer, and I still don’t have a clue when I will see them.

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Here’s my last two days. Chute freezing. Auger stuck. Map issues. Now deflector issues. I brought the snowblower module inside.. and take it out after chute stops seizing.. and deflector seizes. My app error messages fluctuate between four different error messages. I clear one.. another one steps up to take its place thereafter. I truly believe you only gave working models to influencers to sell your product. The rest of us got yarbos made from leftover parts found on the ground. Clearly. I took my moduel inside to defrost the chute. And withing a minute of attachnig the module.. it says deflector has issues. ic an move it.. no problem but app constantly has error messages. I can’t even get a refund because you sent me the yarbo in between seasons. So i had to wait two months to even use the lawnmower and within a month the core broke. was sent another it broke two. Took months to get it .. lost the entire summer. now I have issues with the snowblower.. tell me.. when will i actualy get to use my yarbo? You made it. so you tell me. in what conditions does the yarbo actualyl work.. as for me.. its been no time. I don’t even trust it anymore. And i was one of your biggest enthusiasts.

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Correction, your machine doesn’t work in the winter, and I’m sorry to hear that. But mine does. Twice yesterday and once today. There are plenty of problems, and they should for sure fix the ones in your machine, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of people with success stories too.

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Agree with that post removal decision. The ole “do you want a cookie” comeback has told us what we need to know.

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did you want a cookie?

Is what I say to people who rush to a post about a broken yarbo and try to make the posta bout them.. thats narcissism.. i also say it to people like you who are too obtuse to know what narcissism is and defend posts by people who want to make everything about them. This post isn’t for him or you to come get angry because I’m sayig my yarbo doesn’t work. I’m not giddy on my yarbo as it has been a total failure since day one and I paid 10k for it. So if you can’t accept my frustration i could give two craps.>> Plus and this should hurt your narcissism.. I don’t care if you don’t like me.. even if you telling me makes you think i should care. I’m not here to be friends with Tom.C despite what you think, i’m here to get my perpetualyl broken 10k machine fixed.. Understand>? Did you need a diaper?

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:grin: This is good!

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So honest question here : Did you come to this forum to seek assistance in getting your Yarbo up and running, or did you come here to cause chaos and to pick fights?

So far, I have not seen anything that suggests you really want help from the people who are here to provide it. I don’t think having a bad attitude is going to help your situation or fix your Yarbo.

Maybe you should try to reset and start over. I’m sure we can help you. But being rude isn’t going to get you anywhere.

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Allen

Can you explain why when I checked on the status of my trimmer order i got this message

Thank you once again for your patience and continued support. We would like to share the latest update regarding the shipping progress of your Yarbo Trimmer Module.

United States

The cargo container is currently undergoing inspection at the Port of Los Angeles. This process includes a full physical examination of the container. At this time, no additional delivery timeline has been provided. Please rest assured that we are closely monitoring the situation and will share an update immediately once new information becomes available.

Today I get a email response telling me it is out of stock and it will now be march 2026 This was already late being delivered and now you tell me I have to wait an additional 3 + months. You offered to get it sooner or wait or accept your hocus pocus chucky cheese worthless points and get it later. Well the monopoly points did not interest me So I chose to get it sooner. I want what was agreed upon anything else is unacceptable. I would love to have a conversation with you directly

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Having my Yarbo for roughly a month and I’m quite impressed with the snow blowing unit.

Tks

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You shood look into geting a spel cheker.

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Allen, thank you for this new pioneering product in especially snow removal. Although it does need some work it has saved me tremendous amount of time and I could spend more time with my family and that is truly invaluable for me! Thanks again!

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Well would you look at that…. you can view someone’s profile and set them to “ignored”.

Who knew….

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Allen, Thank you for your engagement with your customers, listening to them and providing fixes as needed. This product is definitely not for everyone as it needs patience to get it get to work. When it goes down, there are no newly Yarbo repair/service shops available yet on the market. I have experienced difficulties to get it get going in the summer when I received it mainly from GPS signal loss to BMS issues when it is not charging, I also have mix reviews from the technical support when they lead you to the wrong solution and you have to be logical and decide if the solution they are giving you makes sense. I had to cut many trees down which was part of a project I was planning to do anyway to get Yarbo to be able to map, but this GPS loss issues maybe a real problem for others. This feedback may not be good for everyone, but it is our responsibilities to provide positive and negative feedback to Yarbo, so they can work on it. My overall experience with Yarbo is positive and had used Yarbo multiple times for snow blowing 2 long driveways and Yarbo had giving my time back and enjoyed seeing it to work beautifully. I’m looking forward to use it for mowing the lawn in the summer again. Thanks

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