I realize the Yarbo mower can be improved. And many people are comparing the M1 with not only the M1 Pro but also a regular mower, for ease of use, cut quality, maintenance, etc. So I wanted to give a little perspective from a riding mower owner/user.
I bought a very expensive $4000+ Toro 50” gas-powered triple blade riding mower from a big box store a few years ago. It does a great job most of the time, but it is no panacea:
The cut quality with a riding mower is fine, but for thick grass it usually leaves raised strips. This can be from the caster wheels pushing down the grass before it gets cut, or grass cuttings slowing the belt down, or mowing too fast, or whatever. But usually, just like Yarbo, the best cut is when I cut twice in different directions.
I had a drive belt fall off during the first year. This is not a user-replaceable belt, and the riding mower was grounded. I had to tow it back with the car. I tried to unbolt the pulley and remove/replace the belt, but there was just no way. I had to have a service center pick it up. It has fallen off 2 more times, and I have gotten good (well…ok) at feeding it back on. But it’s nowhere near as secure as I think it should be.
The belt that cuts the grass needs periodic replacement as it gets very worn/stretched, and usually once a year it breaks. Putting on a new one is a pain. Obviously, Yarbo has no such belts.
The blades need sharpening/replacing once a year, which requires removing the heavy deck, or jacking the whole unit up. Yarbo’s blade replacement is worlds easier.
Routine deck washing is fairly easy, with the hose attachment. But fully cleaning the deck is much easier with Yarbo, which is very lightweight in comparison.
I have had a few flat tires with my riding mower, on the caster wheels and the main ones. They are a pain to try and find replacements, so I now store extras just in case.
I also do routine maintenance with the mower which includes a new fuel filter, air filter, oil filter, oil change, and battery charging/replacement.
The mower uses gas which may not be a big deal in theory, but this requires trips to the gas station with heavy handheld gas tanks and fuel stabilizer. Since I have been using my Yarbo, my trips are much less frequent.
My Toro is much more likely to get stuck in the mud than my Yarbo. As heavy as my Yarbo is, my Toro is much heavier and when it gets stuck there is much more pulling and a much deeper muddy pit left. I would take the random Yarbo bald patches over this mud trench any day.
The biggest advantage of the Toro is that I can see what areas need to be done, go over certain areas twice if needed, and it does a great job pulverizing sticks and other yard things. But of course it is 100% manual.
The other advantage of the Toro is the nearby service centers. If Yarbo and other yard robot manufacturers had service centers, this would solve a lot of issues for spare parts, maintenance, and repair.
So I still use my riding mower and I think most Yarbo owners could benefit from having a manual mower on-hand for areas Yarbo can’t do so well, while waiting for parts, or to mow potentially dangerous areas for a robot mower.
But it seems like people are comparing Yarbo to a mower that you just put gas in and it always works with no intervention, and that’s just not the case. The hours and dollars I’ve spent running and maintaining my Toro is much more than my Yarbo, even with the long setup and known issues.
Well said and I agree. Still have and use my zero turn for several spots (100% slope) that are sketchy for any riding mower but certainly for a robot mower. Nevertheless I spend a few mins every few weeks doing this vs several hours when I did the whole yard manually. I notice far less damage in my lawn from Yarbo vs my zero turn too. Plus when I would mow I would push it off as long as I could and if it rained that weekend, well it would certainly be another week before it’s getting mowed. So removing several inches with a mulching blade tends to leave a lot of thatch. Even going over it several times. Lots of dead grass on top killing grass underneath. I do not have that with my Yarbo at all.
I have to agree that the M1 Yarbo about pluses and minuses, given that Yarbo doesn’t handle all of my lawn. We mow 6+ acres, the Yarbo is normally handling 3+ acres (open lawn). 3 acres that the Yarbo does not do is a Grove of 100+ year old Oaks and Hickorys.
I have:
B2650 Kubota with 800lb 60" belly mower. (Maint. 2 hours/year, grease, oil, blades)
John Deere X495 with 650lb 62" belly mover. (Maint. 2 hours/year, grease, oil, blades)
Toro 54" Zero Turn with My-Ride, well worth the upcharge. (new this year). (Maint. not sure yet, zero so far.)
and my M1 Yarbo new this year. (Maint. 2 hours/week, blades monthly or more.) (my wife says it’s my new hobby.) 150lb compressed air is the best tool for cleaning up the M1 deck.
Each has pros and cons.
With Rollover turned off the Yarbo handles banks pretty well, not perfect.
Yarbo false alerts and locks up requiring battery disconnect to recover with rollover turned on.
I can’t take the Kubota cross-wise those slopes, it’s to top heavy having an air-conditioned cab.
John Deere handles the slops, wide enough wheel base. Slips a little when on the slopes cross-wise but because you are controlling no missed strips.
The Toro has traction issues (upper drive wheel) going cross-wise slopes.
The Yarbo handles the slops cross-wise better than up and down the slops, even though the Yarbo will slip sideways sometimes leaving un-mowed strips. Up and down the slopes it will error out often.
The 3 blade wide decks don’t evenly cut the grass as the lawn is not as level as the cutting decks are.
Yarbo is the only one that can’t handle sticks, Hickory nuts and acorns.
Oh Yarbo is the only one (that I’m aware of) that has killed mole that stuck it’s head up, wish I could program it to get more moles.
No, I have 2 sets of spare discs with blades mounted.
I rotate the disks side to side and the counter rotating disks use the other side of the blades that way, I do that every other week, so each side of the blades are used for 2 weeks. Then at the end of the month I replace the discs and with the rotation of the discs, I get a month. Then when I 2 sets of disc with old blades I get out the pressure washer and I have discs that look new and the phillips screws are nice and clean as I replace all the blades and I have 2 sets of disc made up and ready to go. Then with a long reach air gun (JASTIND High Pressure Air Blower Gun, 19-28 Inch Extension Long Air Nozzle Blow Gun with Rubber Grip & Quick Plug, Heavy Duty Industrial Air Blow Gun Pneumatic Tool for Air Compressor Attachments - Amazon.com) I set the blades to 1.2 inches lift the mower head and brace it and air pressure cleans out the guard, and support brackets. I also allow me to blow out all of the clippings from the tracks and the core. It would make it easier if I move the dock to be outside of where the air is.
Thank you for sharing your detailed experience — it offers a valuable perspective on the real-world strengths and trade-offs between traditional and robotic mowing solutions.
We agree that Yarbo still has room for improvement, and we’re actively working to address known limitations while continuing to refine both hardware and software. At the same time, we’re glad to hear that features like easier maintenance and reduced lawn impact have already made a difference in your experience.
We truly appreciate your support and insights as we continue working to make Yarbo even better.
